When marketing dollars are limited, it's tempting to prioritize other activities above conversion rate optimization (CRO). But CRO is always a good investment.
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What is the number one goal of any business-to-business (B2B) website? That's right! It's leads. Without leads, no new business can come in because, in the world of B2B, the sales cycle requires a lot of nurturing. But leads don't just happen. Websites must change with user needs and behavior patterns to support conversion rates.
Conversion rate optimization (CRO) means increasing the percentage of conversions through improved messaging, design, or user experience. CRO can improve the volume of traffic, customers, and sales. It sounds obvious when we describe it in these simple terms, but businesses need all those things to stay afloat.
However, many companies view CRO as a one-off project rather than an ongoing strategy. Sure, you can run CRO activities as projects using a partner, but they should be ongoing, not occasional afterthoughts.
Why you should champion CRO
Increase your efficacy
Even the best websites fall victim to seemingly harmless actions: uploading uncompressed images (big lag), running third-party scripts (huge slow-down), and producing less relevant content (one of the cardinal marketing sins). All of these items can make you less effective and decrease your conversion rate.
Improve your bottom line
Are you testing your website regularly? That's one quick way to learn and make improvements. Testing is the primary mechanism used in any CRO strategy. There are A/B, multivariate, and split tests to take advantage of, and virtually everything can be evaluated! Headlines, calls to action (CTAs), personalized messaging—it's all up for grabs. Wouldn't you want to be the best you could be? Of course, you do.
Key insight: Make sure to run tests long enough for them to have statistical significance, but also consider that you may need to retest to confirm your findings. Our Lead Web Engineer, Linnea Hartsuyker,explains this in more depth in The power of A/B testing & how we did it on Craft CMS
Deliver the right content when it's needed most
Do you know what your audience wants and if they are finding it easily enough? CRO tests and analysis can reveal that. If you don't continuously perform CRO actions, you might harbor preconceived notions or outdated information that is just plain wrong about your audience. Honestly, you may find out that the audience you think aligns with your brand doesn't do that at all.
Connecting with your audience
Hotjar came right out and said it. "The main mistake that everyone at some point is making is that they are forgetting that behind every website/product build is another person that will interact with it. Not a robot, but instead a REAL HUMAN BEING."
The moment you forget that your website visitors are real people, you fail them. This failure can cost you. CRO can help bring this to light and assist you in making your user journey, and in particular, your online messaging, more relevant.
CRO can benefit businesses that want to scale
Better conversion rates mean more business and ongoing optimization is the way to achieve that. This is particularly important for businesses actively attempting to scale because success from each test can be built on. Every win—even small ones—stacks!
"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out." –Robert Collier
How often should you be running CRO projects?
"CRO isn’t a one-time fix. It’s an ongoing process where you adapt to new technologies, trends, and consumer preferences. Businesses optimizing for consumer preferences, in particular, are seeing large returns on their investments." –Shopify
CRO isn't just testing, though! It involves reviewing and optimizing your current state, conducting and monitoring testing, and analyzing results and implementing changes.
To facilitate all these activities, it's important that you run CRO projects at least one to two times per year. This will help you evolve with new technology, meet client needs, and stay ahead of your competitors. Regular CRO is imperative to long-term business success.
Cutting costs
So yes, we understand that costs must be cut when times get lean, but when you're considering what to slice, remember that CRO must continue if you want to keep leads flowing. Without leads, there can be no B2B success.
Also, consider this... cutting your lead lifeline and then having to rebuild when your budget refreshes can be much harder than maintaining a strong footprint in the market to begin with. You worked hard to carve out your spot in your sector, don't let it go!
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CRO touches everything from design and messaging to the general user experience your website offers. If you're ready to improve every day but need support getting there, Imarc can help. All you need to do is say hello.
By the way, did you know that Imarc has its own ebook centered on CRO strategy and the tools you'll need to create one? We do! It's free and right here, just for you.
