Digital performance is now a key issue for e-tailers. As a result, optimizing advertising campaigns can no longer be as simple as attracting traffic.
To maximize the impact of their investments, brands are now applying Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) strategies to media campaigns.
This approach aims to improve the user journey from ad exposure to final conversion, enabling advertisers to make the most of every euro spent on advertising.
We sat down with Youssef, Media Scientist at Dataïads and CRO specialist, to decipher best practices and understand how CRO principles can be applied to acquisition campaigns.
In this article, Youssef Mejjati Alami reveals the essential strategies and tools, technical challenges and innovative solutions for optimizing every stage of the user journey, from advertising to purchase.
For many years, brands have adopted the strategy of basing their recruitment of new customers on traffic acquisition, without worrying too much about the conversion rate.
Except that, for some time now, these same brands have been reaching a traffic ceiling. So they've realized they need to go further.
And decorrelate the conversion objective for their acquisition campaigns: sales, new subscriptions, viewed content, leads.
It is therefore necessary to focus on strategic and precise points to improve the conversion rate of campaigns.
Without necessarily increasing their traffic massively.
Let's take a concrete example:
An e-commerce brand implements a Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) strategy to increase the percentage of visitors who carry out a desired action on its site, such as a purchase or registration.
The aim is to improve site efficiency without necessarily increasing traffic, which can be costly. For example, if the site receives 10,000 visitors per month with a conversion rate of 2%, this represents 200 sales.
By optimizing the conversion rate to 3%, you can achieve 300 sales with the same number of visitors. This increases revenues and improves the return on investment of marketing efforts.
The most commonly used CRO approaches include the What/How/Why method
What is determined by the data.
How translates into the use of tools such as Contentsquare or Hotjar, which enable us to understand the user journey.
The Why is accompanied by campaigns to collect user feedback. Form tools such as SurveyMonkey or GetFeedback can be used.
The best CRO approach includes answers to these 3 questions.
We use this data to define hypotheses that we can then compare with the user's experience on the current site.
Let's take a specific example: should we prefer a single form on one page or a funnel of several questions spread over several pages?
Then we move on from testing to personalizing the site, for example to meet different motivations. Recently viewed items, for example, can be personalized. The basket that can be taken back.
There are several issues that hamper the performance of acquisition campaigns:
- Inadequate targeting: campaigns reach an irrelevant audience, reducing effectiveness.
- Uninviting creative elements: ads that don't attract attention or clearly communicate the value proposition.
- Lack of consistency: a disconnect between the ad message and the landing page can disorientate the user.
- Ad overload: too many ads can tire the audience and lead to a drop in performance.
- Inadequate tracking and attribution: failure to measure performance properly prevents campaign optimization.
CRO is often perceived as site-centric. How do CRO methods apply to media buying?
CRO methods can be applied to media buying, optimizing every stage of the user journey, from exposure to the ad to final conversion.
For example, CRO methods can be used at every stage:
-A/B testing of ads: Test different visuals, messages or calls to action to identify what generates the most engagement. At campaign, ad set or ad level
-Landing page optimization: Ensure that the page the user arrives at after clicking on an ad is relevant and encourages the desired action.
-Segmentation and personalization: Adapt advertising campaigns to different audience segments for greater relevance. For example, campaigns on brand and non-brand queries.
By integrating CRO principles into media buying, we maximize the effectiveness of advertising spend by continuously improving performance.
For example, some platforms recommend less than 20% text on visuals, a CRO principle applied to ad visuals.
E-commerce sites can be subject to a number of technical limitations and restrictions.
And unfortunately, these constraints limit campaign performance.
Technical obstacles regularly encountered on e-commerce sites:
- Slow loading times: pages that take too long to load increase the abandonment rate.
- Insufficient mobile compatibility: with the majority of users browsing on mobile, a non-optimized site loses conversion opportunities.
- Tracking errors: incorrectly installed pixels or attribution problems can distort performance data.
- Limited site security: the absence of SSL certificates can discourage users from interacting with the site.
- UX issues: a confusing interface or technical bugs can frustrate users.
What if your acquisition efforts were wiped out by an unsatisfactory buying experience?
User experience (UX) is a key element of CRO.
A good UX facilitates navigation, reduces friction and makes the purchasing process pleasant.
For example, a simplified checkout process or intuitive navigation can significantly increase conversion rates.
Investing in UX means ensuring that efforts to attract visitors aren't wasted by a poor experience on the site.
The more disruptive the UX experiment, the greater the chance of significant results.
AB testing in media campaigns involves creating different versions of an ad or landing page to determine which performs best.
Here's how AB testing is applied to CRO actions:
-Define a variable to be tested: for example, the ad title, the image used or the call to action. Do not multiply the variables to be tested, to ensure that you select the variable that generates success.
-Create two versions: version A (control) and version B (variation). Or more. For example, test 4 different product titles.
-Split traffic: users are randomly exposed to one of the two versions.
-Measure results: analyze performance in terms of clicks, conversions or other relevant KPIs. It's essential to define the primary KPI in advance.
-Implement the best version: Once significant results have been obtained, adopt the best-performing version.
As with any marketing action, a well-chosen tool is usually the key to success.
Essential CRO tools :
-Web analytics tools: Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, Piano Analytics, to understand user behavior.
-A/B testing platforms: Optimizely, AB Tasty, Kameleoon, VWO for experimenting with landing pages and websites.
-Heatmapping tools: ContentSquare, Clarity, Hotjar, Crazy Egg to visualize user interaction with the site.
-Tag managers: Google Tag Manager for managing tracking scripts without touching the source code, Adobe Tag Management
-Advertising platforms with testing capabilities: Facebook Ads Manager, Google Ads allow you to test different versions of ads.
-User feedback tools: GetFeedback (formerly usabilla), SurveyMonkey, Typeform to gather insights directly from users.
These tools enable you to collect precise data, test hypotheses and implement effective optimizations.
To round off our discussions with Youssef, we asked him what his secret weapon was for the CRO.
His answer: there really is no miracle solution. You just have to be surprised, naive and ask questions.
The most important thing for objective judgment and the best results is to put your own biases aside.
With rigor and empathy, we have to put ourselves in the users' shoes, to best meet their expectations and improve the service we offer.
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As acquisition campaigns are increasingly challenged to achieve their objectives,the integration of Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) methods into media strategies is proving an effective response to maximize performance.
By leveraging accurate data, continually testing assumptions and optimizing every user touchpoint, brands can not only improve their conversion rates, but also deliver a more relevant and seamless customer experience.
As Youssef points out, this approach requires real rigor and an openness to experimentation. By putting themselves in the users' shoes, marketing teams can identify hidden growth levers and overcome the obstacles holding back campaign performance.
Ultimately, CRO applied to media campaigns is not just about improving metrics, but building more engaging journeys and creating value for every interaction.
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