DTC marketers are always looking for ways to improve their conversion rate.
Thankfully, there are so many different tactics and a/b tests you can try to convert more visitors and drive more purchases.
In this blog post, I'll cover the five things that I always love to do which are not only forgotten or overlooked but will also increase conversions and make you better than your competition.
1. Respond to every comment on your Facebook and Instagram ads
You'd be shocked how many times comments go unanswered. Unanswered comments lead to more customers with the same unanswered questions, or even worse, insights for you on how to make your homepage, product page, or landing page better.
You should listen to what your customers are saying in the comments and use that information to improve your website's conversion rate. Responding to ad comments from the page that is advertising can reduce your acquisition cost by about 20% on average.
In addition, you'll find that if you have common questions being asked in your comments, you can use those insights to tweak your ad or website copy to make things more obvious. A portfolio company of mine this week told me they always get asked if their products are TSA-friendly, and my response was to put that in the ad copy and the website. The conversion rate went up.
2. Make your ad unit aesthetically-pleasing
This doesn't mean that you need to go all out with designers on your ad (although it should be "Thumb Stopping Content"). This means you should make the way your ad copy fits on one or two lines look good on a mobile device.
This eliminates excess content and distractions while making the content look pleasing to the prospect. Either just use one line or use two full lines. Don't just do one line with one word on the second line.
Do the same with the ad copy above the image/video. You shouldn't have to click "See More" to get the punch line of the ad.
3. Run your website and creative by someone who's not drinking the Kool-Aid
If you follow me on Twitter, you've probably seen me say, "If your ad is too complicated for a drunk person to understand it, you need to fix it." It's true.
However, if you don't want to drink, show it to someone who's not looking at your brand on a daily basis. This could be your mom, grandma, sisters, etc. If they can't figure out exactly why they should spend the money, then no one will.
This is a simple way to eliminate assumptions and understand if an unfamiliar audience understands your offering and is motivated to take the desired action highlighted in the CTA button attached to the ad.
4. Don't look at isolated performance on marketing channels
Look at your holistic numbers, not just channel performance.
You can't just look at the view-through or click-through CPA when you add a channel like Quantcast (programmatic display) or LiveIntent (programmatic display inside newsletters). You have to think about it as a larger marketing strategy and look at your CPA as total customers/total spend across Facebook, Google, Quantcast, and more.
In most cases, you'll realize your macro CPA drops while you're able to get more customers, but just looking at an isolated one will either make you happy or angry. Look at the macro.
5. Focus on the why not the why
If you are buying a Rolls Royce, you're not buying it because it gets you from A to B on wheels. You're buying it for the comfort, the luxury, the brand equity, and the status that a Rolls Royce gives you. Buyers have an understanding of the brand behind the product before purchasing.
In a similar fashion, when someone is browsing, it's incredibly important to focus on selling the reason why they will want this product in their life.
To understand what's important to your customers, create buyer personas, live chat with prospects, engage with your subscribers, and read customer reviews. This can help you discover what is the most compelling "why" behind your product.
For example, with Hint, it's not just "flavored water." It's a great way to stay on your diet with fruit-infused goodness that has no sugar, sweeteners, or anything artificial. With JUDY, it's not just an "emergency preparedness kit." It's a way to ensure your family is safe when a disaster strikes without warning, leaving no time for you to prepare.
The easiest place to figure out your WHY is your ad comments from past customers, inbound customer DMs, customer service emails, or just random tweets like this. If you don't have any of that, think about how you'd explain why someone should buy it to a friend... focus on outcomes, not value props!
Optimizing for conversions
These are just five of the thousands of things you can do to increase your eCommerce conversion rate. Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is an important aspect of marketing that sometimes gets left deprioritized behind other initiatives.
However, if you know what you're doing, and follow these recommendations, you can reach your conversion goals. There is no greater loss than when a shopper who was ready to purchase exits your site due to a slow page speed/poor load time, clunky checkout process, unclear navigation bar, or another issue.
By focusing on your CRO, you can optimize your site and ensure you are making the buying process as compelling, straightforward, and seamless as it can be for your prospective customers.