Why CRO Is More That Just Capturing a Lead

This article looks at what Conversion Rate Optimisation means within in the context of B2C lead generation. Specifically, we try to explain why CRO is actually a lot more than simply “capturing” a lead, and in order to do that we spoke to Will Laurenson from Customers Who Click who specialise in CRO.

• What does CRO mean?
• What are the things brands and lead generators can do to sort of lay those foundations for eventual success?
• What are some of the tactics people typically use to improve CRO?
• What are the big CRO mistakes?
• Why do so many brands only go after immediate sales and neglect building a stronger relationship with prospects?

We try and get you answers to the above question, and always, end up finding out a lot more. Check out the full podcast if you want to receive updates.

Firstly, what is CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation)?

Conversion Rate Optimisation is the practice of maximising the number of users or visitors who perform a given action. Within Lead Gen CRO methods can include optimising adverts and landing page to maximise the number of prospects who eventually become a “lead.”

Beyond that, CRO can also refer to the life time value of a lead as they become a customer and they develop a relationship with a brand, and as such is an ongoing process closely tied with nurturing.

Let’s begin by looking at the ways in which we can build a relationship with a lead before they become a customer. What are the things brands and lead generators can do in terms of CRO to lay the foundations for eventual success?

Will Laurenson: You can never go wrong with good information. What problems are they facing that has resulted in them filling in the form? How do you help them overcome those problems?

In a lot of cases - especially in B2C - you can give so much information to leads and they still have to actually come to you to purchase and to fix the problem.

Let’s say I want a mortgage or insurance or a car rental or something like that, which each of those I still have to go and purchase from that provider. They can give me loads of information on why their product or service is the best and how it’s going to fix my problems.

In B2C - at least in a lot of verticals - conversion rates (from being a lead into being a customer) can be as low as 10% providing the call centre is hitting ROI. That represents a huge opportunity for CRO, right?

I think part of the problem is that there’s almost that expectation that when people click on an advert they are interested in what you’re selling, that once they complete that form they’re going to buy, that once they go to the landing page they’re either going to buy or they’re not going to buy and there’s nothing you can really do to change that.

But that’s not the case at all.

People have questions and they want more info. People have different preferred methods of being sold to.

The problem is, if companies are hitting their targets with a low conversion rate, there’s no motivation to go after the rest. For some reason they’re not saying “well what about the rest of the audience?”

What are some of the tactics people typically use to improve CRO?

The three main areas that I look at are Usability, Anxiety and Motivation.

So Usability is all around the functional stuff on the website. So, are your forms too long? Can you cut down the fields in the forms? Could you split the forms into a couple of pages? Is there a sticky call to action? If you’ve got a lot of information on your landing page can you have a sticky call to action so people can click that and start the process as soon as they’ve found that bit on information that convinces them?

Then you’ve got Anxiety which is kind of around confirming to the potential customer - or the lead - that they are making the right decision. That’s things like social proof, security logos, for finance leads it tends to be around how secure they are and how well backed the company is.

Motivation is around just nudging people over that line, so that’s things like scarcity, urgency. Making people understand they need to get on with it.

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