The common aim of most startups is to increase traffic to their website or patronage of their services. You get the traffic, but it does not guarantee that it will result to more sales most of the time.
The site has many followers but visitors go there and do not interact, it is not an issue of traffic but of conversion. Unfortunately, that is the place where conversion rate optimization (CRO) comes in.
A fractional CMO understands how to convert an incoming traffic source into actual buyers. Rather than invest in ads anymore, it enhances the message, optimizes the interface, and reduces hindrances of acquiring its service.
In this guide, we will understand to which extent fractional CMO contributes to the conversion that shall help the startups in increasing their revenue without further investing in the traffic.
Why Conversion Rate Optimization Matters
Taking the target group to the site is costly. Anytime you use ads to bring the visitors in, it implies you will have to spend some money and time to do that.
However, what if you could make more sales to the same clients visiting your site over and over again? That’s the power of CRO.
Conversion rate optimization makes sure the visiting audience is not just a spectator but an actor. The whole perspective of conversion rate optimization can be defined as the action, which helps to enhance the number of clients ready to make a particular action, be it a purchase, a demo, or a subscription to a newsletter.
This is a considerable meaning of a fractional CMO, where a company can have a great improvement with small changes. Startups can reduce the cost of acquiring customers and boost their revenues by improving the rates of conversions.
Analyzing the Conversion Funnel
Before assimilating changes as a fractional CMO, the marketing executive initially evaluates the funnel that the startup employs.
Anytime, there is a situation that shows visitors are leaving at different intervals, this is a clear indication that something is wrong.
Some common problems include poor site design, especially in terms of the structure of the site, slow loading of pages, or poor conveying of information. These are the areas that define the first stage of CRO as it aims at pointing out and then solving these pains.
Optimizing Landing Pages for Higher Conversions
Landing pages are the first points of contact between the startup and the end consumers and are therefore very crucial. This means that if the visitors are not engaged adequately, then conversion rates will be affected.
That is why a fractional CMO would ensure that the landing page created is simple and concise and that the call-to-action is compelling. They focus on:
- Effective and persuasive header forms derived from the use of benefits
- A preview of the best copy that aims to get straight to the point by identifying and satisfying the customers’ needs
- Well-defined buttons with calls to action.
- Fast loading of the sites to prevent visitors from leaving the site prematurely.
Landing pages refer to web pages that are geared towards encouraging a particular call to action on a particular page; through page refinement, startup businesses are likely to experience high conversion rate improvements at first instance.
Enhancing Qualitative and Quantitative Experience of a Website for Conversions
UX is another important factor that has a direct impact to the conversion rate. If the guests have a hard time going through a site, they will leave without a conversion.
A fractional CMO ensures that a site is user-friendly and therefore enhances the level of UX. They ensure that:
- The flow of navigation is straightforward, and there is hardly any difficulty while using it.
- It is short, less time-consuming, and easy to fill in various forms.
- During the checkout phase, steps are minimized to minimize the inconvenience and time of the customer.
The Power of A/B Testing
A/B testing is one of the most effective. This comprises comparing a given web page in two different versions to determine which one yields the highest result.
A fractional CMO performs experiments on parts of the content and the page such as headlines, call-to-action buttons, and design.
It can also be seen that small altercations may end up producing larger changes, for instance, changing the actual word on CTA.
Leveraging Social Proof for Trust and Credibility
A fractional CMO involves the application of social proof components that include:
- Customer testimonials and reviews
- Case studies showcasing success stories
- Trust badges and certifications
The general public feels more convinced when fellow human beings attest to how beneficial a product is or how effective a particular service is.
Personalizing the Customer Journey
The type and characteristics of visitors differ among themselves depending on what they want to achieve when they visit a certain site. A fractional CMO is aware of this and indeed the marketing approach adopted is going to be a customer journey based on the user data.
They use strategies like:
- Information readings that vary with the preferences put by the users
- It entails maintaining staggered and unique email sequences for leads that are nurtured.
- Special offers and promotions based on the gallery, place, and articles viewed
Personalization acts as a tool to endorse the feeling of being valued in the users’ eyes hence making them more likely to convert.
Reducing Cart Abandonment for More Sales
A lot of startups fail to capture business from the customers most of which is usually at the point of purchase. Cart abandonment is one of the challenges, but a fractional CMO understands how to address it.
They implement tactics such as:
- Easing the flow at the final stage of the purchasing process and reducing the number of actions required
- This is because it is important to provide clients with multiple convenient payment methods.
- The last option includes exit-intent popups which alert the users of the abandoned cart.
This is the reason through; by facilitating the final sale, startups can easily regain the initial sales that they lose.
The Role of Retargeting in CRO
A fractional CMO employs retargeting ads to bring the customer back. They bring back to the attention of the visitors something they saw they might have forgotten and therefore lead to a higher rate of changing their mind to buy.
Retargeting makes users who may not have initially wanted to purchase into paying customers when the brand is top of mind.
How a Fractional CMO Measures CRO Success
CRO is not something that one implements and is done with, it ever changing due to the dynamic nature of users and their behavior. The fractional CMO is involved in the ongoing monitoring of those metrics to improve them gradually.
They track:
- Conversion rate has been defined as the number of visitors who make a desired action as compared to the total number of visitors.
- The former is known as bounce rate (a portion of users who leave without even going through)
- The amount of time visitors spend on a site which can be referred to as the average session duration
- Click-through rates on CTAs
They also enhance the strategies for optimum performance levels by analyzing the mentioned parameters.
Final Thoughts
In a start-up’s case, traffic is not the only way to enhance it. It would also be logical to suggest that significant improvements may sometimes come from how things are already there.
A fractional CMO is beneficial for startups as they acute the number of sales from existing traffic by using conversion rate optimization. Thus, they ensure that all the processes are data-oriented, ranging from landing pages to UX optimization and using social proof.
Specifically, for startups that are seeking to increase their sales while avoiding adding expense to ad expenditure, then CRO is the best investment. The reality is that when everything is said and done, every single percent of optimization that can be accomplished can mean huge leaps forward.
