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Conversion Rate Optimization

30 Psychological CRO Tests to Run on Your E-Commerce Site ft. @ObjeqtEcomm

April 13, 2017 by Nichole Elizabeth DeMeré

Image created by Yasmine Sedky (@yazsedky).

Conversion rate optimization is all about psychology. But where psychologists are trying to figure out why people do what they do, the Conversion Rate Optimizer’s challenge is to know what stimuli will get people to take the action you want them to take. In this post we list 30 psychological CRO tests to run on your e-commerce site.

It’s not about being manipulative. That’s the dark side.

Noooo! I won’t! Even though that cookie is a really good incentive that preys upon my desire for immediate gratification (we’ll get to that later).

On the side of good: This is about showing people what they want and giving them every reason and every chance to get it. You might say it’s about helping people to achieve their goals – as much as it is about achieving yours.

The CRO also has tools and tests to know, beyond a Rorschach ink blot of a doubt, whether the psychological trigger s/he’s employed works… or doesn’t.

This is where we bring psychology and testing together, so you can try these already-proven, scientifically based psychological action triggers and see how they work on your very own e-commerce website.

For each trigger, we’ll include ideas for how to use it on your website – in your product pages, landing pages, or CTA buttons. From there, it’s up to you to A/B test these suggestions against what you currently have.

Read More on Objeqt

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Conversion Rate Optimization, E-Commerce, Emotion

Colors & Conversions in E-Commerce Design ft. @ObjeqtEcomm

April 3, 2017 by Nichole Elizabeth DeMeré

Image created by Yasmine Sedky (@yazsedky).

The psychology of color is a subject of strong disagreement in marketing. We know we need it, and we’d like there to be a list of rules to follow that remain the same in all instances – but there isn’t. Color preference, associations, and color cause and effect, vary widely between individuals and cultures.

So, what we’re left with is what we’ve always been left with…

We have to design based on close research of our target audience – and that goes for colors too.

That’s not to say that there aren’t valuable guidelines for color selection that are grounded in science – there are (and they’re outlined below).

Here is what we know, what we think, and what has been proven to work when it comes to color and conversion in e-commerce design.

Read More on Objeqt

Let’s Get SaaSsy – I’m offering a limited number of SaaS consulting engagements.

Conversion Rate Optimization

Pricing CRO Style: Matching Price to Audience ft. @ObjeqtEcomm, @taliagw, @CopyHackers

March 18, 2017 by Nichole Elizabeth DeMeré

Image created by Yasmine Sedky (@yazsedky).

Pricing has so many roles to play in e-commerce. It has to cover product costs, personnel costs, and marketing costs to keep the business running (and profitable!), and it can act as a marketing tool, differentiating you from higher priced competitors. It’s a fine line to walk if you try to do it all – and most companies think they have to do it all.

But when it comes to conversion rate optimization (CRO), the lowest possible price isn’t always the right price – in fact price doesn’t necessarily depend on what the other guys are doing. The price you can charge for optimal conversions is based on a whole other criterion: Your audience.

Playing The Price is Right

Let’s play a game: True or False

If you lower your prices, your conversions will improve.

Well?

False – it depends on your audience and your unique value proposition (why they’re buying from you, rather than anyone else).

It’s counter-intuitive, but people don’t buy based on lowest price. They buy based on:

Trust
Brand (which is tied to trust)
Ease of purchasing
How well you communicate your value proposition
Proof your product will deliver the buyer’s desired outcome (also tied to trust)
Reduction or removal of risk (read: Trust)
Immediate action incentives

Basically, your sale depends on building trust, delivering desired outcomes, and tipping the scales of decision by gently prodding your buyer to act. When you have that combo in place, you’re no longer a price-based decision, you’re a value-based decision.

But – if your value proposition is, in fact, that you guarantee the cheapest price around, and that’s working well for you, then you’re already appealing to your target audience of bargain hunters. You don’t necessarily need to attract those who seek value to run a profitable business. Just look at Wal-Mart. You do still have to understand your audience and gain their trust though, because cheap prices won’t overcome those deficiencies. So read on.

Read More on Objeqt

Let’s Get SaaSsy – I’m offering a limited number of SaaS consulting engagements.

Conversion Rate Optimization, Emotion

3 Tried and Tested Emotional Triggers that Increase Conversion Rates ft. @TaliaGw

March 1, 2017 by Nichole Elizabeth DeMeré

I don’t know about you, but every “fun” purchase I make is an emotional roller coaster. There’s the thrill of hunting for just the right thing. The greater thrill of finding it. And then – if it’s on sale – Game on. I have to have it. NOW! Before someone else gets it! Last one? Oh no! Typing in my credit card number as fast as my fingers can fly. Phew! Okay, it’s being shipped. **Breathe**

And all of that happens before the object of desire even arrives. I don’t even know if it will fit, but my desires are fueled with dreams of mass admiration and glory.

Hey, your buyer’s journey may be different (you might not be as vain), but it’s probably not that different. Why? Because we’re all human here, we’re all impacted by emotion. Would impulse purchases happen on planet Vulcan?

Nope. Here on Earth? Oh yes.

Emotion is inextricably tied to decision-making, and therefore conversion. It’s been scientifically proven a number of times.

Time number one:

When neuroscientist Antonio Damasio studied people who had sustained brain damage to areas of the brain that generate emotions, they were unable to make even the smallest of decisions. They still had logic and reasoning, but if they were asked to choose between pasta and risotto for dinner, they couldn’t do it.

Time number two:

Researchers at UCLA and George Washington University created two types of ads, one with facts and figures, which they called “logical persuasion” or “LP״, and one with fun, vague, or sexy scenes which they termed “non-rational influence” or “NI.”

They found that the brain regions involved in decision-making and emotional processing had significantly higher activity when participants looked at the logical persuasion ads. Sounds good, right? Unfortunately for CROs, these are the same brain regions responsible for inhibiting responses, like impulse purchases.

The non-rational influence ads, on the other hand, didn’t cause any major activity in those brain regions, suggesting that they lead to less behavioral inhibition – and less restraint when there’s a “Buy” button involved.

Time number three:

A study out of Missouri University of Science and Technology said that “atmospheric cues” – the web interface and the “look and feel” of design features of e-commerce stores – affect buyer behavior. In fact, the researchers posited that “consumers’ emotional responses” were predictive of whether they would buy. This study might seem a little obvious – a richer, more interactive environment produces more positive emotions which produces higher intentions to purchase. In plain English, we buy from stores we enjoy. Since emotion is clearly super-glued to the decision-making process, there are two questions that I’m burning to ask:

Why has it taken us this long to try and measure it?
Why are we only now finding ways to use it?!

The only answer I have is that it’s only been recently that technology and psychological awareness have come together to make measuring and manipulating emotion more possible now than it has ever been.

We’re swimming in the swell of a wave that hasn’t even crested yet because our understanding of human emotion is in its infancy. Paddle fast my friends – you don’t want this wave to pass you by.

E-commerce Differentiation: Stand out, sell more ft. @ObjeqtEcomm

February 21, 2017 by Nichole Elizabeth DeMeré

Image created by Yasmine Sedky (@yazsedky).

Differentiation is, literally, what separates you from your competition. It’s why your customers will only buy from you, no matter what the other guys are offering. When you hit just the right differentiator for your target audience, you’ll convince them that they can only get their desired outcome from you.

What is differentiation?

Differentiation is what makes your product unique and valuable for your target audience. It’s what sets you apart. Grabs attention. Says to the world “I’m the only place you’ll find THIS!”

It can take many forms. Price can be a differentiator (“best value!”, “Cheapest rates!”). Quality can be a differentiator. Brand names and social cachet (aka. “perceived value”) can be differentiators. The fact that your product is on Oprah’s “Favorite Things” list is a differentiator. Features can be differentiators, but features can also be easily copied by competitors (which means if people love a feature, it won’t be a differentiator for long). Longevity, even, can be a differentiator (“Dine at London’s oldest restaurant”). It can be your company ethics, your founder, your driving philosophy, even your personality.

Most importantly, the differentiator you choose to highlight in your value proposition and marketing should be something no one can take away from you.

Read More on Objeqt

Let’s Get SaaSsy – I’m offering a limited number of SaaS consulting engagements.

Conversion Rate Optimization, E-Commerce

6 Ways to Alter Perceived Value to Improve Your CRO ft. @ObjeqtEcomm

February 21, 2017 by Nichole Elizabeth DeMeré

Image created by Yasmine Sedky (@yazsedky).

What is it about that blue box – the iconic Tiffany’s box.

What’s inside isn’t, typically, very exciting in purely objective terms. A relatively plain diamond engagement ring (okay, the engagement itself is exciting), a charm bracelet, heart necklace or pair of generic earrings the like of which you could easily find at Zales? Half the magic of Tiffany’s is knowing it came from Tiffany’s – the iconic mecca for diamond and Audrey Hepburn fans. There’s romance in that box that is only tangentially related to the jewelry.

There’s also social cachet.

I don’t mean to sound jaded. I wouldn’t turn a down a blue box or its contents. But I do want to point out that its value isn’t intrinsic: it’s perceptual.

Perception is a very individual thing, influenced by life experience, personality, past interactions with your brand and your competitors (and with certain classic movies). Perception is the voice that whispers “Yes, you should buy the Poinsettia Flower Pot Cake for $165 because Oprah said so,” or “Hey, maybe I’ll give AirBnB a chance – Kim looks really comfy.”

Just checked into our NYC penthouse. Thanks @airbnb for the gift of our home away from home.

A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Aug 30, 2016 at 9:19am PDT

Perception is so subtle, many of us don’t pay it much attention. But marketers do. CROs do. And you should, too.

Even the words you use in your value proposition, marketing, and product pages will mean slightly different things to different people. The words quality, premium, economy, value, guarantee might mean “an intelligent purchase decision” to some buyers, or just mean “cheap” to others.

It’s because perception is so varied, and I would argue malleable, that it can be influenced to generate higher conversions – without increasing your own costs.

And you don’t need Oprah or Kim to do it.

Hey now – this isn’t entirely self-serving. Customers want to feel good about their purchases, that they’ve made the best possible decision on a product that meets their practical and emotional needs. And, when they do feel that way, they tend to be more loyal. Everybody wins.

Read More on Objeqt

Let’s Get SaaSsy – I’m offering a limited number of SaaS consulting engagements.

Conversion Rate Optimization, Visual Communication

Here’s How to Create Original Images That Boost Conversions ft. @VisageCo

September 30, 2016 by Nichole Elizabeth DeMeré

how-to-create-original-imgs

Image created by Yasmine Sedky (@yazsedky).

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is a complex business with many different ways to approach it. One aspect of CRO that hasn’t been discussed nearly enough is the potential for images to increase views, clicks, and conversions — in addition to customer success and net promoter scores (NPS).

But discussing what you can do with the right images isn’t helpful unless you know how to find or create these images quickly and economically.

A crash course in the power of pictures

To get to the root of how images improve conversion rates, we first have to look at the series of events that creates conversions.

According to Dr. Robert Cialdini’s 6 Principles of Influence, people…

Feel obligated to reciprocate – give them something, and they’ll want to give you something
Honor their commitments – if they say they’ll do something, they’ll likely do it, because they’ve established that goal as an integral part of their self-image
Believe the word of their peers (which is why user reviews are so powerful) and copy behaviors they see
Follow authority figures.
Buy from people they like
Act faster if they perceive scarcity (On Sale Now for a Limited Time!)

Our brains are hardwired to believe what we see over what we hear or read. Images have a way of driving straight to our emotional centers.

Based on Cialdini’s research, some of the ways images can be used for influence include:

Giving away a high-value infographic or set of high-quality stock photos that anyone can use (all they have to do is sign up for your newsletter)
Creating a series of motivational images that encourage viewers to keep the goals they’ve set for themselves (which your product can help them do)
Encouraging users to submit photos of themselves using, wearing, or enjoying your products (or, if you’re selling a service, including images of actual customers next to their reviews or testimonials)
Using professional photos and/or high-quality stock images on your website
Creating funny, personality-rich images, videos, or GIFs for your social media posts and emails
Thinking of creative ways to visually represent scarcity — maybe by making a GIF of a warehouse as it goes from full to empty, or by creating an image that expresses the disappointment someone will fill if they miss out on an opportunity

Companies are also using images to delight existing customers and help them become more successful (which improves net promoter scores and leads to increased upsell opportunities). A customer success team, for example, could create GIF screencasts in response to help tickets or even stock an FAQ page with visual demonstrations of how to solve the most common customer support issues.

How to Effectively Use Images For Better Conversion by @NikkiElizDeMere

August 2, 2016 by Nichole Elizabeth DeMeré

howtouseimages

Image created by Yasmine Sedky (@yazsedky).

There’s a boring definition of conversion, but I prefer to simplify it down to monkeys.

Monkey see. Monkey do.

The “do” is the conversion. But the magic is in the “see.” What does a monkey — or person — see that spurs them into doing? And what gets in the way between the “see” and the “do” that makes “doing” less likely?

Using images to improve conversion rates requires answering those two questions. Essentially, you need an image that creates a desire to take action and reduces any friction.

How to Create Images That Attract & Convince Your Target Niche ft. @VisageCo

July 8, 2016 by Nichole Elizabeth DeMeré

how-to-create-images

Image created by Yasmine Sedky (@yazsedky).

Any old picture might be worth a thousand words. But your target niche doesn’t need or want a thousand words. Your ideal audience needs the right words, paired with the right images, to tell a story that uniquely appeals to their deepest desires.

Studies show that people understand images faster than words, remember them longer, and if there’s a discrepancy between what we see and what we hear, our brains will choose to believe what they see. Our brains prioritize visual information over any other kind, which makes images the fast-track to connection all marketers are looking for.

So don’t just slap some text on a stock photo and call it good. You can do better. Much better. And I’ll show you how.

Hot or Not? 🔥 Check Your Images with Heat Maps by @NikkiElizDeMere

May 25, 2016 by Nichole Elizabeth DeMeré

heatmaps

Image created by Yasmine Sedky (@yazsedky).

Do you suspect that your sales page leaves people cold? Do you think nobody’s reading your content – or, at the very least, they’re ignoring your Call to Action (CTA) buttons? Are the images on your website turning visitors off – or confusing them?

What are your visitors thinking?!?!

If you’ve posed any of these questions, or just want to know what your visitors like and don’t like, heat maps are the super simple (and crazy valuable) answer.

Copywriters and designers take note: This will change the way you do everything. Ready? I’m going to show you how to use heat maps to get the most out of your visual content. Best part? These programs are usually free or affordable (I recommend five favorites at the bottom).