Marketing Funnel – The Conversion Stage

Think of conversion as the process of getting a potential customer to take the desired action. This could be to make a purchase, sign up for a consultation, or even register as a volunteer. We’re going to focus on online purchases. This should be an easy process.

Related Article: Introduction to the marketing funnel

But often, we have difficulty during the checkout process or get distracted and don’t complete the transaction. What if someone is interested in your product or service but is still undecided if it’s right for them? It’s crucial the checkout process goes smoothly for your customers. Making it as easy as possible increases the likelihood that the customer makes a purchase. Your main goal here is to increase the conversion rate or the percentage of people that make the purchase.

The average conversion rate of an e-commerce business is around 1-2%. That means that, on average, one or two people out of a hundred that visit your product page will make a purchase. What if you increased that to three people out of a hundred? You would increase your business revenue by 33%. Sometimes, that can be done with some simple changes. That would have a huge impact on your revenue! What are some ways you can do that?

Streamline your checkout process

When a customer decides to check out, it should be with as few clicks as possible. Every additional step a person needs to make will likely reduce your conversion rate. For example, do you need their address or phone number? If not, get rid of those fields in your checkout forms.

Change the purchase button

Something as simple as changing a word or two can have massive impacts on your conversion rate. Instead of “add to cart,” try “buy now.” And if it says buy now, then make sure they really can buy now, with as few clicks as possible.

Add better images

Did you know your conversion rate can be affected by the quality and number of images you have on your website? Use high-quality photos with varied angles to make things more interesting. Instead of product photos, consider adding lifestyle photos, showing someone actually using your product or benefitting from your service. Encourage your customers to add their own lifestyle photos to their product reviews and tag you when they post them on social media.

Strengthen your copy

Copy is simply written material that encourages a customer to buy a product or a service. It can be very easy to have it be all about product details but put yourself in your customer’s place. What do they care about? What will show them they need to buy your product? It should be persuasive when a potential customer reads about your product or service. Make sure your copy not only explains the product but also communicates the Unique Reasons to Buy.

Go after abandoned carts

We’ve all done it. We’ve added products to a cart, and we mean to check out, but something comes up, and then we forget. We never buy the product. Billions of dollars a year are lost in abandoned carts. Red OnX has included abandoned cart recovery as a standard feature. When a cart is abandoned, automatically send them a reminder email, letting them know they still have items in their cart. Some customers will revisit your website and finish their purchase. Additionally, this is a great opportunity to send a remarketed ad. Going after abandoned carts is a great way to increase conversion as they were interested enough to add the item to the cart in the first place.

Increase website speed

At Red OnX, we do everything we can to ensure your website is as fast as possible. But using images that are too large, or preloaded video can slow your site down. For example, on your site, you have an image that is displayed as 300×300 pixels. But your actual image size is 1800X1800. The site may show the image in the smaller size, but it is actually using the larger image, requiring the site to download an image much larger than needed. According to a study by The State of Online Retail Performance, for every second delay in page load speed, conversions can fall by 20%.

Offer a trial or money-back guarantee

While this isn’t possible for all products or services, it can nudge a customer to a purchase. This works very well, especially if someone is purchasing something in a new category, and are perhaps apprehensive about trying it in the first place. Or, when ordering clothing items or fragrances online, without trying them on or experiencing them first. You typically encounter a money-back guarantee for more expensive purchases.

Return Policy

If you are selling products, it is crucial to have a return policy. How long? Under what circumstances? What condition should the product be in? How do you deal with DOA deliveries? Do you cover return postage, or does it depend on the situation? Does your policy differ for someone out of town or out of the country? It’s important to understand what you legally need to offer and what your customers would reasonably want. Remember, your legal requirements can vary by state, country, and the products you sell.

Privacy Policy

Like a return policy, a privacy policy can go a long way to putting your potential customer’s mind at ease. Not only that, Privacy policies are a legal requirement. Whether you are collecting an email to send a virtual product or collecting in-depth information for a credit report, you have to be very clear about when, where, why, and how that information will be used. Privacy requirements vary from state to state and country to country. Lack of a clear privacy policy or non-compliance can lead to all sorts of legal issues.

When implementing any strategy to increase conversion, you must keep the return rate in mind. It doesn’t benefit a company if, when the conversion goes up, so does the amount of products returned. In fact, a high number of returns can hurt your company by leading to negative reviews and chargebacks. A high number of chargebacks can cause problems with your merchant account.