{"id":11072,"date":"2021-07-07T21:10:13","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T15:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rocketium.com\/academy\/?p=11072"},"modified":"2021-10-11T12:05:03","modified_gmt":"2021-10-11T06:35:03","slug":"what-are-the-steps-of-conversion-optimization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rocketium.com\/academy\/what-are-the-steps-of-conversion-optimization\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Proven Steps of Conversion Optimization from a Growth Expert"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What if we told you, you can generate more revenue with the existing amount of traffic?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conversion optimization typically translates to better conversions from your current traffic. Better conversions mean more revenue, and more revenue leads to more growth and overall business prosperity.
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Now that\u2019s every business\u2019 ultimate goal. And, that\u2019s the reason marketers obsess over conversion rate optimization.
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However, the issue with any obsession is that people try to discover the simplest or quickest route to their goal. Not many people are aware that conversion optimization is a step-by-step process that demands patience and persistent efforts.
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We teamed up with Growthfolks, India\u2019s largest community of growth enthusiasts, to host a three-part series called \u201cGrowthshops: Unlock Growth Experiments<\/a>.\u201d This blog will cover the steps of conversion optimization from the third session by a growth marketer with six years of experience in the consumer-tech industry – Raghav Shukla, Growth & Product, Urban Company (Ex-Uber, OYO)<\/strong>.
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What are the steps of Conversion Optimization?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Contextual Targeting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Contextual targeting requires you to understand who your users are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not all users are looking for the same thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understand at which stage of the customer lifecycle they\u2019re at and target them based on marketing goals set for that stage.
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\"Conversion<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is an example of the typical lifecycle that a customer would have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Platform Education<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

For new users, build an onboarding journey that clearly conveys your core value proposition. Give them an overview of your platform without diving deep into granular details.  
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For example, Amazon never shows the subscription offers they have to new users. That\u2019s because it would pose too many questions to a person who has not fully gotten to know the platform.
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The goal is to familiarize them with the platform and clear any doubts or questions they might have upfront, instead of unloading all your features and offers at the get-go.
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Keep some information up your sleeve and serve it to them in bits across intervals. This way, your audience will stay engaged and respond better. 
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Check out how India\u2019s largest Cashback and Coupon site does its onboarding<\/a><\/h4>
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\u201cSpend time building good, educational journeys that can be both on product and in your communications.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Encourage First Transaction<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Once the user has onboarded to your platform, the next step is to get him\/her to make their first transaction. Incentivize, ease and nudge the users into their first transaction.
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Incentivizing does not essentially have to mean offering a discount. Instead, you can incentivize by making changes to the way you present the product to match the consumer’s buying intent and purchasing power. 
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\u201cBy incentivizing, I do not mean bring the price down. Rather, bring the product to the level at which a person can afford it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith Uber, in India, we started with Uber X only, which was the most premium category in San Francisco. We realized that\u2019s not where the customer is. So we had to build UberGo – we realized, in India, that\u2019s not where the customer is either, so we built UberMoto and Uber Auto. All these products exist because people are coming on the platform and it is important that their expectations are in sync with the product.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make the transaction process easy. Understand what\u2019s holding them back from making a transaction. Is it a lack of choice in payment methods? Or, a complicated checkout process? Figure out the cause for concern and double down on solutions. 
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Build Feedback Loops<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Building feedback loops might not be relevant to all organizations and requires a lot of product interventions. But if you can, it opens the door to better engagement and retention.
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The first step in building a feedback loop is identifying your product\u2019s basic feedback loops. What are your users’ most common, repetitive behaviors?
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Almost all social media platforms have the following feedback loop: A user posts something, people see it, click a button to like it, and the likes are presented back to the user.
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But, identifying your product\u2019s feedback loops can be harder to spot. Yelp<\/a> built a great feedback loop around their review system wherein customers dine in, leave reviews, and their reviews are in turn reviewed by other people (people can rate the review as \u201cUseful\u201d, \u201cFunny\u201d, \u201cCool\u201d). This loop is intended to boost engagement and generate content valuable to Yelp’s business.
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Drive Advocacy<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Once a user has become a repeat customer, the next step is to get him\/her to promote your business with their friends, family, colleagues, etc. Transform your most loyal customers to brand advocates. 
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There are many ways to drive advocacy and engage your most loyal customers, but most marketers gravitate towards running a loyalty program or a referral program<\/a>.
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\u201cLike loyalty – loyalty programs are a two-way street. Best of the loyalty programs deliver both for the customer and the business.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are thinking of building a loyalty program, sign users up and not give them the kind of incentives or discounts they were looking for, can be disastrous. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It needs to be incentivized, but you also have to make sure that you make money out of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This balancing act is what makes running a loyalty program challenging to pull off. But, as with all complex challenges, the rewards are there to be reaped.
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Goibibo\u2019s <\/a>Refer and Earn program syncs your contact book so that you get an amount whenever a contact makes a booking on Goibibo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’ll also find out who hasn’t registered on Goibibo, allowing you to invite them and earn money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is an excellent referral program and also performs the function of a great feedback loop.
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Winback Your Customers<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Churned users – this is where 60% to 80% of your customers always lie.
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\u201cThe cost of resurrection is always less than the cost of acquisition. While as an anecdote, this might sound simple and vague – essentially, it means you\u2019ve already invested in acquiring the churned users. And if you acquire more, there\u2019s a 60% chance that they\u2019ll get churned too. Instead, you could take all these churned customers and tell them how you\u2019ve changed or how your platform is better now and invest in that.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first step to sustainable growth is to fix or improve what you have. There\u2019s no point burning your marketing budget on acquisition if your new users face the same issues as your churned users.
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Find out the reason why your customers churned. The cause of churn could be the product, platform, or communications. Find out what it is, and make changes where necessary. 
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We recommend that you interact with these four types of customers<\/a> to determine the hiccups in your workflow.
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\u201c At OYO, in 2017-18, we did a lot of impact programs, where we talked about how OYO has changed. We only targeted customers who left a bad review or rating because we knew their pain point. We told them we are sorry – we\u2019ve changed, and here\u2019s some incentive to get going on the platform.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also Read<\/strong>: How To Use In-App Messaging Across Consumer Lifecycle<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

2. Contextual Messaging<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Communication is the cornerstone of any business. Understand your users and communicate precisely that which will get them to engage on your platform.
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 As we mentioned, not all users are equal or the same. Therefore, your messaging will vary depending on the type of user you are targeting. 
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In the first step, you understand who your users are and what the goals are for each of them. Next, you move onto what to communicate with them to get the conversion.
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For New Users<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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This is an example of a classic new user email. They are just conveying what the platform is about and what they will do to make it easy for the users to try their product. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They have broken what they\u2019ll do into three simple steps that are meant to guide the users to the final goal: conversion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No overload of information, no over-the-top exaggeration, just simple communication.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That should be your mantra for new user messaging.
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For Repeat Users<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Remind them to complete a task that they might have abandoned and handhold them towards their goal. These are your most active users, and a little nudge will keep the habit loop intact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For an eCommerce company, this could be as simple as sending an abandoned cart email or notification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Churned Users<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Understand what could be the reason they churned. Then, work on their feedback and convey the changes you have made. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the case of Grammarly, they would\u2019ve found that users churned because they didn\u2019t want to use a secondary app but use it across different sites. So they made the changes and sent the message to only churned users. 
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Also Read<\/strong>: 10 Best In-App Messaging Examples<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

3. Send Users to Apt Landing Pages<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUser is always telling you what they want. They drop enough cues across the platform through what they are clicking. We just need to make that wish happen faster.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Apt<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Where do you send users when they are clicking on\/to your platform?
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