MARKETING

7 Ways To Improve The Conversion Rate Of Your Funnel

Published

2 years ago

August 5, 2022

7 Ways To Improve The Conversion Rate Of Your Funnel

As advertisers, we focus a lot of our energy on ensuring our ad campaigns are performing and converting as best as they possibly can.

But that’s only one part of the equation.

What happens after the click is just as important (if not more important!)

You can have the most incredible ad campaign set-up, but if the funnel you’re sending traffic to doesn’t convert, it doesn’t matter how great your campaign is – you simply won’t see the results you desire.

And so, in this article, I’m going to share 7 ways you can improve the conversion rate of your funnel, leading to better overall performance and results.

1649689727 580 What Does it Take to be the Head of Marketing

1. Include the 3 argument types on each page

Whenever someone makes a buying decision, they use two different parts of their brain.

There’s the emotional part (the limbic brain) and the logical part (the frontal lobe). It’s important to understand this because it plays a big role in how we structure the pages in our funnel.

When humans make a purchasing decision, it’s mainly an emotional reaction. A study by a Harvard School of Business Professor, Gerald Zaltman, concluded that 95% of purchase decisions are made by the limbic system (the emotional part).

We see something, like it and decide we want it. Once we’ve decided we want something, the frontal lobe then helps sway us on whether we actually buy the thing by processing it logically.

Think about someone buying their dream house.

They go to view the house and fall in love with it instantly and decide they want to buy it – that’s the limbic brain. It’s only when they get home and start looking at things like the area, electricity bills, neighbourhood and all the other bits that they start thinking about the purchase logically.

And so, when it comes to our marketing (and our funnel specifically), we need to understand this as it impacts how we should structure the pages.

Regardless of the type of page you’re sending people to (whether it’s a lead gen funnel or e-commerce) you need to be making three types of arguments:

Emotional arguments

Logical arguments

Urgency

And we want to make them in this order too – since that’s the order in which someone makes a purchasing decision.

Have your emotional arguments at the top of the page, above the fold. What are the emotional reasons someone would purchase your product? It can often be as simple as saving time, stress or money.

As you move down the page, you can start talking about the logical arguments. These are often features and benefits. What would someone need to know/understand in order to purchase the product or service?

And lastly, for good measure – always include urgency in your messaging to further push those people to take action. There are people out there that simply won’t take action unless you give them a reason to take it now. Some good ways to do this are: Give them a certain timeframe, warn them about limited stock or simply talk about why it’s so important they take action now.

By doing this you’re structuring the pages in a way that flows with how we make purchasing decisions as human beings – setting you up for the best chance of success.

2. Benefits > Features

There’s a common saying in the copywriting world: “features tell, benefits sell.”

However, when most come to write copy for their product/service, they write about all the features without explaining the benefits.

Features focus on the product/service itself. Such as what you receive, what it does or how it works.

Some examples of features are:

Storage up to 1TB
Access to a free Facebook group
Latest waterproof technology

Those things are great, but they don’t tell the end consumer the benefit to them, which makes it less compelling.

Benefits focus on the outcome of the product/service, telling the customer exactly what the feature will mean for them. Bringing it back to the first point – this is how we start to build emotion into our copy.

By telling people what a feature means to them, they start to visualise themselves using it – which creates the emotional reaction we need.

Luckily for you, I’ve got a super simple way to turn your features into benefits.

The “so that” statement

This is a tactic I use every single time I write copy.

If you’re like most people and tend to write about the features, simply add the words “so that” to the end of your sentence. This forces you to explain the benefit that’s tied to the feature, making your copy much more hard-hitting.

The formula you can use is:

If ___ so that you can ___.

Let’s take our examples from above.

Storage up to 1TB so that you can save all your files without ever worrying about running out of space.
Get access to our free Facebook group so that you can network with like-minded individuals.
The latest waterproof technology so that you can hike out in the rain for longer without getting wet feet.

Review all your copy and ensure every feature is combined with the real benefit. This will make your copy much more emotionally driven and compelling to anyone that’s reading it.

3. Split test all pages

The key to success in any advertising campaign is comprehensive testing. Testing images, copy, creative types and audiences. But the importance of testing doesn’t stop at the advertising campaign – it’s just as important to continuously test the pages in your sales funnel.

You should test at least 2 variants of every page in your sales funnel. Tests can be big or small, from having completely different designs to changing the colours of a button. It doesn’t matter what you test so much. The most important thing is just that you are testing… because that allows you to learn what works and what doesn’t.

And like all great marketers do: do more of what works and do less of what doesn’t.

Things you can test at each stage of the sales funnel

Headline/subtitle – this is arguably the most important thing to test because it’s the first thing people see and read when they land on a page. Little changes in a headline can have a huge impact on conversion rates. The headline is where you want your biggest emotional argument on the page.
Main image/video – most funnel pages will have imagery or videos on them. This is another key thing to test out. Try different styles of images and videos to see which ones perform better, such as professionally designed images vs iPhone shot photos.
Sales copy – try testing different features and benefits. Even testing the order in which you share the features can make a difference. If you’re listing benefits in bullet point format, the first and last bullets are the most important.
Call to action – the copy you use on the button can make a huge impact on performance. Try ditching the boring “Learn more” and try something more unique such as “Get Started – See How 97% Lose Weight In Just 30 Days”

Upsells/Cross-sells – test different offers throughout your funnel to see which products/offerings people find more compelling.

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4. Improve average order value with offers

The success of a campaign isn’t always just based on the conversion rate of the campaigns and funnels. Sometimes it can come down to how much money people are spending on your funnel.

You can have a funnel that converts, but if the money being made isn’t providing good levels of profit on top of ad spend, you have a problem.

We recently worked with an e-commerce store that sold home gifts. We managed to optimise the campaigns so successfully that we were able to get our cost per sale down to less than £5. However, because the average order value of the site was only £15, the ROAS wasn’t sustainable.

In order for us to make the campaigns successful overall, we had to improve the conversion rate of the site – specifically focussing on increasing the Average Order Value (how much someone spends per transaction, on averageGavin Bel).

To do this, we added in what is called order bumps and one-time offers.

An order bump is an offer made at the checkout, right before someone hits the pay button. A common order bump might be to “supersize” the order for a reduced rate or to get another product at a low price. These convert extremely well.

A one-time offer is what it says on the tin.

Once someone has made a purchase, another offer appears on the screen inviting them to purchase a related product at a discounted price.

Adding both of these increased the AOV of our client’s site by 20%, vastly improving the campaign’s overall effectiveness. Even if AOV isn’t a problem for you, look at adding these two tactics to improve it.

By not doing it, you’re essentially leaving money on the table!

5. Improve the quality of traffic on the page

If your funnel isn’t converting, it might simply be because you’re attracting the wrong people in the first place.

You can have the best funnel and offer in the world, but if the people visiting it aren’t relevant, it’ll never convert. This is why it’s so important to ensure you’re performing lots of campaign tests – testing which audiences work and which ones don’t.

With all of the advertising platforms, it’s very easy to see which audiences are bringing in the best returns. And like I mentioned earlier, simply do more of what’s working and turn off what’s not.

There is one fool-proof way of ensuring you’re only getting the highest quality people to your sales funnel: content creation.

Creating content is one of the most effective ways to attract an audience of people who definitely have an interest in what you offer and it’s something we advise every single client to do – either in written or video format.

The biggest objection we face is “but I don’t know what to write about?!”

And so if that’s you, I’ve got you covered.

The simplest way to start creating effective content is to simply answer the questions, objections and queries your customers have.

Here’s how to approach it:

Create a list of all the questions you’re asked as a business (get your team involved in this)
Turn those questions into eye-catching headlines
Sit down in front of a camera and record the answers (or write them up)

This is so effective for two reasons:

Only people who are genuinely interested in what you do will consume the content
When you promote the content through advertising, it’s super cheap because you’re not selling anything, you’re providing value.

Pretty quickly, you start to build a large audience of people who have an interest in your offering.

Let’s say you’re a physiotherapist. You could film a 60s video titled “5 reasons you have back pain”. You could then set up a basic ad campaign targeting people in your local area (that fit your basic customer avatar).

Who’s going to watch that video?

People in the local area who have back pain!

Which, for a physiotherapist, is the perfect audience. What’s better is, these people are qualified AND educated. They know who the physiotherapist is already (building trust) and making them much more likely to take action and convert.

And to supercharge this strategy, you could run retargeting ads to the people who watched the video, pushing them to your sales funnel.

6. Increase or decrease form friction

When it comes to lead generation funnels, there’s a fine line between lead quantity and lead quality.

It’s not hard to generate lots of leads at a low cost, but it is difficult to generate lots of QUALIFIED leads at a low cost.

It’s a constant balancing act, ensuring that you have both quality and quantity.

The best way to strike the balance is to simply increase or decrease the fields you have in the form.

This increases or decreases the friction that someone has to go through in order to convert. The more questions/fields, the higher the friction. The fewer fields, the lower the friction.

If you’re struggling with lead quality, try and add some more fields to the form, specifically around the main reason your quality is low. For example, if you find the people you speak to aren’t motivated, add a “how motivated are you?” question.

If you’re not getting enough leads, try reducing the number of questions in the form and monitor what impact that has.

Whenever we’re starting a new campaign, we will always start with fewer fields to make sure we generate as many leads as possible. And then if we feel like we need to improve the quality of the leads, we’ll start slowly adding more fields to the form.

7. Include social proof throughout

If there’s one thing that stops people from converting in a funnel, it’s a lack of trust.

A lack of trust in the people behind the funnel, the offer itself or the promise the funnel is making.

So, how do you build trust with people? How do you show them that your offer is legitimate and will have an impact on their lives?

Show the results that other people have achieved.

Everyone in the world has problems. And they have desired results.

Your job as a marketer is to show people how your product/service is a bridge from their problems to their desired results.

And the most effective way to do that is by showing the stories of others who have successfully achieved that with your product/service.

Social proof can take the form of: case studies, testimonials and even quotes from previous customers and people who have already converted through the funnel. The more you can share, the better.

Even better – if you can have your social proof cover the main objections you know people have when converting, your social proof will do some of the selling for you!

Wrapping up…

Improving the funnel conversion rate can have a drastic effect on the performance of your overall campaigns and business. If you’re able to get your funnel and ad campaigns to a point where they are profitable, you can scale your spend quickly.

Start implementing some of these strategies and I guarantee that you’ll see improvements in your overall results.

Let me know – have you tried any of these? Which was the most effective for you?

Related Topics:Conversion funnel Improve Rate Ways

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MARKETING

Generative Engine Optimization Framework Introduced in New Research

Published

2 mins ago

May 2, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Generative Engine Optimization Framework Introduced in New Research

There are several AI chatbot-like features available in the current search engines, including Bing Copilot, Google, Bard, and Gemini. They help to optimize the content visibility in the search results with the help of an AI-powered Search engine known as a Generative engine or AI Search.

A traditional search engine like Bing, Google, or Yahoo ranks and displays information in the SERPs based on the search terms a user inputs. 🔎

The generative engine, on the other hand, generates comprehensive, accurate, and relevant results and information with the help of Generative AI or Large Language Models (LLMs) such as chatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. They understand and integrate information from various sources for the user’s queries.

In this blog, We will discuss the GEO that is introduced in the new research, its framework, and how it can change traditional Search engine optimization (SEO) practices and optimize content for visibility.

The Key Components of the GEO Framework and How They Transform Traditional SEO Practices

GEO is described in the research paper as: “A novel paradigm to aid content creators in improving the visibility of their content in Generative Engine responses through a black-box optimization framework for optimizing and defining visibility metrics. We facilitate systematic evaluation in this new paradigm by introducing GEO-bench, a benchmark of diverse user queries across multiple domains, coupled with sources required to answer these queries.”

Traditional SEO depends upon the keyword volume, difficulty, and optimization for the specific search terms, which focus less on an interpretation relationship between the concepts of keywords or user queries. SEO practices prioritize text-based source content over other sources of content format where regular updating of fresh content is not a primary focus. Also, metrics like impression and click rates affect ranking system results in traditional methods.

GEO encourages detailed information over just the keyword, addressing the related main queries by creating depth content and potential subtopics with the understanding of concept and relationship, encouraging the other formats, such as visual, audio, and images, not just text-based. Moreover, it emphasizes the latest updated content information with continuous accuracy and relevance to provide the most accurate and up-to-date details.

The Impact of Introducing GEO on Website Ranking and Content Relevancy

A generative engine relies on traditional SEO practices like user intent and algorithms for ranking to a degree, such as keyword stuffing. Although it focuses on keywords, it tries to find connections and meanings beyond the keywords in order to create high-quality content.

GEO doesn’t directly indicate the web visibility or page ranking in the Search Engine Result Page. However, it can optimize the overall website visibility and indirectly drive user traffic to your websites through generated responsive data and information.

GEO-optimized content provides the AI Search or a Large Language Model (LLM) with reliable and completely detailed information, enabling them to generate the most accurate and relevant information for responses to user questions or inputs.

These AI-powered engines can deliver a vibrant user experience using optimized content for user engagement and interactive experiences. Furthermore, It also builds trust with a user as it relies on renowned and credible sources, which enhances the effectiveness and reliability of the generated response data and provides synthesizing information.

Comparison with Existing SEO Models: Why GEO Stands Out in Enhancing Search Engine Performance

GEO utilizes auto-generative algorithms for content generation based on predetermined objectives and standards where generated content can cover a broader range of keywords and related topics in various formats like image and visual.

A generative search engine uses modern optimization techniques that involve cognitive SEO, NLP (natural language processing), and structured data markup to maintain and improve content leverage, relevancy, and search engine visibility. In addition, it introduces new methods for determining citations’ importance and website visibility, as well as improving user-centric content by using impression metrics.

Traditional SEO models rely upon and use specific keywords to optimize and rank manually in search results. It uses traditional optimization techniques like link building, meta tags, and URLs.

In traditional search optimization, content creation and optimization can be slow and have low content scalability compared to AI-powered, requiring manual effort for generation and optimization. Constant monitoring and adaptation to platform algorithms are needed to produce the latest and updated information for dynamic user behavior.

Both are equally responsible for improving the brand or website’s online visibility; traditional SEO models require the manual touch for content creation and optimization. GEO tends to use generative responses automatically for content generation as per user queries, making it more effective for user-centric content creation, optimization, and stability in related topics or keywords.

9 Test research findings to improve the website content in GEO

The researchers from Princeton University, Georgia Tech, Allen Institute for AI, and IIT Delhi tested nine various GEO approaches to improve site content for generative engines. Techniques that have been tried and tested over 10,000 search queries, nine optimization strategies were tested on something that “closely resembles the design of BingChat”:

1714643800 803 Generative Engine Optimization Framework Introduced in New Research

Authoritative: The content was altered to be more compelling while conveying definitive claims.
Keyword Stuffing: More keywords were added to match the query.
Statistics Addition: Instead of a qualitative conversation, quantitative statistics were included.
Sources: Relevant citations have been added. Like quotes statistics
Quotation Addition: Quotations from reliable sources have been included.
Easy-to-understand: Simplified the language.
Fluency Optimisation: Improved fluency.
Unique Words: Used in the text whenever possible.
Technical terms: Technical terms have been incorporated into the content.

The data set for search queries was obtained from Google, Microsoft Bing, and Perplexity. Sources include AI Discover, GPT-4, and others.

So, focus on creating detailed and comprehensive blogs or articles by defining the relation and highlighting the context for deeper meaning. Utilize the various formats for content creation to enrich information and diversify the learning perspective.

Also, update your content with the latest information and trends to maintain regular effectiveness and relevancy in the generative engines.

Conclusion:

In the end, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) provides a more automated, scalable, and adaptive method of content creation and optimization than traditional Search Engine Optimization (SEO) approaches, which need manual and constant work for the optimization and ranking. Compared to traditional search engines, generative engines give instant and detailed personalized information to users’ queries for improved engagement.

Conventional SEO uses metrics like impression, session duration, and click-through rate (CTR), whereas GEO proposes new metrics to measure the relevance and visibility of citations within generative engine responses, making users eliminate the need to visit individual websites for information as it generates the responses on users queries from the reliable, relevant, and various sources.

AI-powered search optimization is still developing and becoming popular since most users and business owners are using generative AI as their source of information and improved visibility with universally applicable diverse content formats.

MARKETING

How To Develop a Great Creative Brief and Get On-Target Content

Published

22 hours ago

May 1, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

How To Develop a Great Creative Brief and Get On-Target Content

Every editor knows what it feels like to sit exasperated in front of the computer, screaming internally, “It would have been easier if I’d done it myself.”

If your role involves commissioning and approving content, you know that sinking feeling: Ten seconds into reviewing a piece, it’s obvious the creator hasn’t understood (or never bothered to listen to) a damn thing you told them. As you go deeper, your fingertips switch gears from polite tapping to a digital Riverdance as your annoyance spews onto the keyboard. We’ve all been there. It’s why we drink. Or do yoga. Or practice voodoo.

In truth, even your best writer, designer, or audiovisual content creator can turn in a bad job. Maybe they had an off day. Perhaps they rushed to meet a deadline. Or maybe they just didn’t understand the brief.

The first two excuses go to the content creator’s professionalism. You’re allowed to get grumpy about that. But if your content creator didn’t understand the brief, then you, as the editor, are at least partly to blame.

Taking the time to create a thorough but concise brief is the single greatest investment you can make in your work efficiency and sanity. The contrast in emotions when a perfectly constructed piece of content lands in your inbox could not be starker. It’s like the sun has burst through the clouds, someone has released a dozen white doves, and that orchestra that follows you around has started playing the lovely bit from Madame Butterfly — all at once.

Here’s what a good brief does:

It clearly and concisely sets out your expectations (so be specific).
It focuses the content creator’s mind on the areas of most importance.
It encourages the content creator to do a thorough job rather than an “it’ll-do” job.
It results in more accurate and more effective content (content that hits the mark).
It saves hours of unnecessary labor and stress in the editing process.
It can make all the difference between profit and loss.

Arming content creators with a thorough brief gives them the best possible chance of at least creating something fit for purpose — even if it’s not quite how you would have done it. Give them too little information, and there’s almost no hope they’ll deliver what you need.

On the flip side, overloading your content creators with more information than they need can be counterproductive. I know a writer who was given a 65-page sales deck to read as background for a 500-word blog post. Do that, and you risk several things happening:

It’s not worth the content creator’s time reading it, so they don’t.
Even if they do read it, you risk them missing out on the key points.
They’ll charge you a fortune because they’re losing money doing that amount of preparation.
They’re never going to work with you again.

There’s a balance to strike.

There’s a balance to be struck.

Knowing how to give useful and concise briefs is something I’ve learned the hard way over 20 years as a journalist and editor. What follows is some of what I’ve found works well. Some of this might read like I’m teaching grandma to suck eggs, but I’m surprised how many of these points often get forgotten.

Who is the client?

Provide your content creator with a half- or one-page summary of the business:

Who it is
What it does
Whom it services
What its story is
Details about any relevant products and services

Include the elevator pitch and other key messaging so your content creator understands how the company positions itself and what kind of language to weave into the piece.

Who is the audience?

Include a paragraph or two about the intended audience. If a company has more than one audience (for example, a recruitment company might have job candidates and recruiters), then be specific. Even a sentence will do, but don’t leave your content creator guessing. They need to know who the content is for.

What needs to be known?

This is the bit where you tell your content creator what you want them to create. Be sure to include three things:

The purpose of the piece
The angle to lead with
The message the audience should leave with

I find it helps to provide links to relevant background information if you have it available, particularly if the information inspired or contributed to the content idea, rather than rely on content creators to find their own. It can be frustrating when their research doesn’t match or is inferior to your own.

How does the brand communicate?

Include any information the content creators need to ensure that they’re communicating in an authentic voice of the brand.

Tone of voice: The easiest way to provide guidance on tone of voice is to provide one or two examples that demonstrate it well. It’s much easier for your content creators to mimic a specific example they’ve seen, read, or heard than it is to interpret vague terms like “formal,” “casual,” or “informative but friendly.”
Style guide: Giving your content creator a style guide can save you a lot of tinkering. This is essential for visuals but also important for written content if you don’t want to spend a lot of time changing “%” to “percent” or uncapitalizing job titles. Summarize the key points or most common errors.
Examples: Examples aren’t just good for tone of voice; they’re also handy for layout and design to demonstrate how you expect a piece of content to be submitted. This is especially handy if your template includes social media posts, meta descriptions, and so on.

All the elements in a documented brief

Here are nine basic things every single brief requires:

Title: What are we calling this thing? (A working title is fine so that everyone knows how to refer to this project.)
Client: Who is it for, and what do they do?
Deadline: When is the final content due?
The brief itself: What is the angle, the message, and the editorial purpose of the content? Include here who the audience is.
Specifications: What is the word count, format, aspect ratio, or run time?
Submission: How and where should the content be filed? To whom?
Contact information: Who is the commissioning editor, the client (if appropriate), and the talent?
Resources: What blogging template, style guide, key messaging, access to image libraries, and other elements are required to create and deliver the content?
Fee: What is the agreed price/rate? Not everyone includes this in the brief, but it should be included if appropriate.

Depending on your business or the kind of content involved, you might have other important information to include here, too. Put it all in a template and make it the front page of your brief.

Prepare your briefs early

It’s entirely possible you’re reading this, screaming internally, “By the time I’ve done all that, I could have written the damn thing myself.”

But much of this information doesn’t change. Well in advance, you can document the background about a company, its audience, and how it speaks doesn’t change. You can pull all those resources into a one- or two-page document, add some high-quality previous examples, throw in the templates they’ll need, and bam! You’ve created a short, useful briefing package you can provide to any new content creator whenever it is needed. You can do this well ahead of time.

I expect these tips will save you a lot of internal screaming in the future. Not to mention drink, yoga, and voodoo.

This is an update of a January 2019 CCO article.

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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute