Conversion Conference 2014: Best Tips from Day 1

As we promised, now that Conversion Conference in San Francisco has come to an end, it’s time to reveal some of the highlights that came out of each day we were there. So, if you couldn’t make it to San Francisco, this post is going to get you up to speed on everything! Not just a quick summary, but also the best tips from some of the top conversion experts that were there. Ok, so let’s get started!

#Convcon 2014 Day One

The Conversion Maturity Model - A Roadmap to Profitability by Tim Ash.

Tim Ash opened the event with his session about the differing Phases of CRO, from a company that’s basically an un-optimized company to an advanced, well optimized company.

Here’s how Tim explained these two phases. Basically, when a company transitions from where the CEO decides everything with regards to website optimization, with no testing or measurement (in other words, un-optimized) to a company where there is a formal conversion optimization process ( or advanced).

This final phase will usually take the form of an organized conversion optimization team that reports directly to the CEO alone. Everything will be tested strategically and every action is measured and analyzed fully.

Tim explained that there are only just a few companies that will fall along the advanced stage of the pyramid, because there is almost always something to improve in all of our conversion optimization processes.

Improving Conversions Through Useful Content Marketing by Arnie Kuenn, President at Vertical Measures.

Arnie did a fantastic job of explaining how content is becoming more and more important in helping increase conversions and also how now “Relationships Are Created With Information Not People". He shared how engaging content is always the way to get people interested in your brand before they starting thinking about buying from you initially.

Arnie also expounded on the fact that the convergence of search, social and content marketing is a good way to give users a better experience.

He offered different tools to create good content, such as Google Reasearch Tools, Yahoo Answers or Quora to listen to Frequently Asked Questions of potential clients. Also, he mentioned that LinkedIn groups are a great way for B2B companies as well.

Arnie recommended creating an editorial calendar of at least 30 to 60 days with ideas ranging from blog posts, whitepapers, videos, social media posts, etc. Also he offered 6 content ideas below that you can apply to your site or blog:

• Address Pricing / Cost

• Use Comparisons

• Offer Webinars

• Start creating Videos

• Product Pages (1 for each product)

• Guides, Case Studies and White Papers

User Experience Optimization by Lance Loveday, Founder & CEO at ClosedLoop.

Lance Loveday explained to the audience how User Experience can increase conversions by improving the way your visitors interact with your site or landing page.

In many organizations, he said, design is not necessarily a critical skill, and also that the use of templates can hurt the user’s experience. He mentioned that just a simple “one size fit’s all” template solution won’t fit for all of the differing situations and different audiences.

Some of the best tips he offered were the following:

• Sometimes people think the landing page is the problem when really it isn’t. You need to think holistically about the entire process

• Design for humans.

• Think beyond the conversion

• Don’t focus on just one way to get feedback, use qualitative and quantitative sources.

Best Tips From the Top 10 Sessions of Day 1 at #ConvCon

1. Convergence of Search, Social and Content Marketing

“Buyers need and crave information that helps  them make informed decisions. Businesses that provide the  content people are searching  for will win” . By Arnie Kuenn,Vertical Measures.

2. Infusing UX into your LPO:  How to make the experience “feel right”, by Lance Loveday.

• Design for humans

• Think beyond conversion

• Don’t break the user’s mental model

• Use hot triggers to generate persuasive momentum

• Design for desired behavior

• Never be satisfied

3. The Keys to Success by Tim Ash.

• Dedication – Some people in your organization  must have CRO as their only job, and have a higher-level support

• Honesty – Problems and shortcomings should be addressed directly & openly

• Focus – Well-defined business goals should be set, executed, tracked, and incentivized

• Flexibility – Everything should be quickly changed when necessary: business models, branding, allocated resources, and tools

4. Dave Rogers, Principal at ConvertClick Showed us 8 Elements That You Can Test on an eCommerce Site.

1. Page Order
2. Title
3. Price Presentation
4. GiftBox Presentation
5. Contnue Shopping
6. Button Text
7. Button Shape
8. Button Color

5. Don’t Rely on User Knowledge, by Larry Marine, Principle at Intuitive Design.

• Identify what knowledge users will have

• Determine what they need to know to succeed

• Bridge the gap with your knowledge.

6. How do we Deliver the Best Experience Exactly When & Where the Customer Wants It? By Kevin Lindsay, Adobe.

• Be a data guru.

• Always be testing.

• Go digital. Everywhere

• Social is about relationships

• Think Super Channel

7. QA is Optimization, by Joel Harvey, Conversion Sciences

• Understand your visitors

• Make sure control is not broken

• Generate great hypotheses & test them

• Don’t pollute your test data

• Do what the data tells you to do

8. Why You Should Test Mobile Traffic Separately? by Danny Gonzalez, ConversionIQ

• People on mobile devices DO NOT behave like people on tablets and laptops

• Changes that help persuade on laptops, may add too much information and contribute to friction on mobile devices.

9. Brian Lewis Director of Optimization SiteTuners Explained That User Scenarios Determine:

• Home Page Design

• Information Architecture

• Messaging

10. Jaan-Matti Lillevälja, From Markitekt, Told us What Mobile Optimization is About:

• Finding where the opportunities are

• Knowing why people are not converting

• Creating treatments for the issues

Wait that’s not all!

As you read, this is just the tip of the iceberg! Day 1 was an amazing day full of new ideas and wise advice regarding Conversion Optimization, Content Marketing, A/b Test, Buyer Personas and more. If you want to check and download the slides of each presentation, enter here and feel like you've been there too!

However, while we’re getting ready to present the best of day #2, check out our interviews with top conversion experts such as Tim Ash, Rich Page and Bryan Eisenberg.

Check it out here!

And remember stay tuned for the best of day 2.

Big Surprise: We Have Something For You!

We don't forget about our awesome users and visitors like you! That's why our team comes bearing gifts! We have 3 different books from some of the Conversion Experts, to give away. These books are:

Landing Page  Optimization by Tim Ash

A/B Testing by Dan Siroker and  Pete Koome (a gift from Optimizely)

Accelerate by Arnie Kuenn.

So what do I have to do to win these amazing books?

Just leave us a comment on this post saying you want one of the books, or share this post with your friends by clicking here!

That's all you have to do, we'll announce the winners though our Social Media Channels such ash Twitter, Facebook and Google+, and also though our blog. So stay tuned to know if you were one the lucky ones! Good luck!

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