PRWD Reveal Online 2015: How To Sell In Conversion Optimisation - Matt Lacey

@matt_lacey12 #PRWDReveal

HOW TO SELL IN

CONVERSION RATE OPTIMISATION

Matt Lacey

Head of

Optimisation


GETTING

STARTED

Assumption: Conversion

Optimisation is crucial for

innovation, continuous improvement

and business growth

Focus: Selling Conversion

Optimisation, not broader sales

techniques.


53% of survey participants

intend to increase their budget

for optimisation in 2016

OPTIMIZELY


HOW WE MAKE

DECISIONS



DECISION MAKING IS RELATIVE

x

xB

A

x

Decoy


“WE DON’T HAVE AN INTERNAL VALUE

METER THAT TELLS US HOW MUCH THINGS

ARE WORTH.

RATHER WE FOCUS ON RELATIVE

ADVANTAGE OF ONE THING OVER ANOTHER,

AND ESTIMATE VALUE ACCORDINGLY.”

DAN ARIELY


LOSS AVERSION

“PEOPLE HAVE A

NATURAL TENDENCY

TO STRONGLY PREFER

AVOIDING LOSSES TO

ACQUIRING GAINS.”


1

.

It explains why senior decision

makers may be acutely aware

of some risks associated with

Conversion Optimisation

HOW LOSS

AVERSION

EFFECTS

BEHAVIOUR 2

.

It explains why managers may

be rooted in methods that are

currently working even if

performance could be better

3

.

It makes it hard to rationally

evaluate the value of

Conversion Optimisation


These could be risks to their business,

but also to their personal business

challenges.

“What is the risk of not pursuing

or investing further in

conversion optimisation ?”


WHAT DOES

THIS MEAN

FOR US?

We need to be intentional and clear

about how we present Conversion

Optimisation for consideration

within the business.

We need to think about how our

proposal will be received and what

other factors play a part in the

decision-making process.


1. KNOW YOUR

AUDIENCE

Identifying who you need to convince

and what they already understand


“We’ll make the big changes

and you can just do the

optimisation.”

“Conversion Optimisation &

Continuous Improvement are

part of our DNA.”


CONVERSION

OPTIMISATION IS NOT

JUST TESTING . . .

. . . BUT IT IS AN

ESSENTIAL ELEMENT.


As marketers, we know how important

it is to know your audience and prepare

messaging accordingly. The same rule

applies here.

Who do you need to convince and who

is the final decision maker?

How do they make decisions? If you

work closely with the person in

question, what do you know about their

personality that might effect how you

present your business case.

KNOW YOUR

AUDIENCE


2. KNOW

THE FACTS

Tackling Risk and Myth Busting


BE CLEAR

ABOUT THE

POTENTIAL

BENEFITS

Become a high performing growth lever

in your business

Deliver fantastic ROI

Significantly impact bottom line

Provide insurance against ideas that

turn out to have a negative impact

Improve the performance of your

acquisition efforts

Promote a test and learn culture within

your business

Outgrow your competition

Make you a hero within your business


“THERE CAN BE NO

GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT

WITHOUT RISK.”Neil Armstrong


1

.

The risk of faulty testsLEARN TO

ANSWER

COMMON

OBJECTIONS

2

.

The risk of poor performance

due to sub-optimal A/B test

variations

3

.

The risk of not testing!

Mitigation: Thorough QA Process

Mitigation: Control traffic. Carefully

monitor performance and react. Start

small and demonstrate value.

Mitigation: Highlight the alternative of

making decisions based on gut feel

and intuition. Lose ground to

competitors.


Speak the language of your company

where possible.

If your senior managers or company

culture dictates that you bring data,

make sure that you do.

It may be that a compelling narrative

backed up with case studies is more

likely to be persuasive for your

audience.

Prepare well and try to anticipate the

type of questions that you will have to

answer.

COMMUNICATION

& DECISION

MAKING STYLES


3. Defining

Success

How to use numbers &

letting the data do the talking


5% CONVERSION

RATE IMPROVEMENT


[Optimizely survey]


Use KPIs and metrics that the

business are familiar with and that

really matter to them.

Think about how the figures are

framed and to what they will be

compared.

How can they be made to feel

tangible?

• Revenue Figures

• Comparison: e.g. more valuable

than opening a new store every

month

• Competitors or benchmarking

BUILDING

YOUR CASE


4. PRIORITISE

SPENDING

How to explain CRO’s impact on your

marketing spend, customer

understanding and innovation


“WE TEND TO FOCUS ON COMPARING THINGS

THAT ARE EASILY COMPARABLE - AND

AVOID THINGS THAT CANNOT BE EASILY

COMPARED.”

DAN ARIELY


What is CRO being compared against?

• Search Engine Marketing

• Paid Advertising

• Email

• Remarketing

• A Redesign

COMPARISON

How are competing activities

measured?

• ROI

• Conversion Metrics

• Engagement Metrics

How can you create favourable

comparisons?


Based on a one month period for an ecommerce site, AOV of £60

SCENARIO

ACQ. Spend Sessions CR Revenue CR LiftRev

ChangeROI

£100,000 285,000 3% £514,000 - - 514%



What happens if we reduce acquisition costs and reinvest it in improving CR?

SCENARIO

ACQ. Spend Sessions CR Revenue CR LiftRev

ChangeROI

£100,000 285,000 3% £514,000 - - 514%

£90,000 257,000 3.45% £532,000 15% +£18,000 532%



What happens if we reduce acquisition costs further to deliver bigger uplifts?

SCENARIO

ACQ. Spend Sessions CR Revenue CR Lift Rev Change ROI

£100,000 285,000 3% £514,000 - - 514%

£90,000 257,000 3.45% £532,000 15% +£18,000 532%

£80,000 228,000 3.9% £600,000 30% +£87,000 600%


5. CONVERSION

(IM)MATURITY

Taking Conversion Optimisation

to the next level


PILLARS OF CONVERSION MATURITY


MAKING PROGRESS


EXECUTIVE

AWARENESS

OF CRO2. Aspiring

Some limited executive awareness

3. Progressive

Awareness amongst key executive

stakeholders

4. Strategic

Broad executive awareness

5. Transformational

Universal executive awareness

1. Beginner

No executive awareness


BUDGET

SETTING2. Aspiring

Marketing Budgets are fixed

Quarterly

3. Progressive

Marketing Budgets have some limited

flexibility & can be periodically

reprioritised

4. Strategic

Marketing Budgets are flexible and

can be periodically reprioritised

5. Transformational

There are no fixed budgets and

spending is quickly prioritised

1. Beginner

Marketing Budgets are fixed

annually


3. EXPECTED IMPACT

2. WHY CRO?

1. OPPORTUNITY

RECIPE FOR A GOOD PITCH:


3. DEFINE SUCCESS

2. KNOW THE FACTS

1. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

5. CONVERSION ( IM)MATURITY

4. PRIORITISE SPENDING


CONVERSION

OPTIMISATION

CAN...

Become a high performing growth lever

in your business

Deliver fantastic ROI

Significantly impact bottom line

Provide insurance against ideas that

turn out to have a negative impact

Improve the performance of your

acquisition efforts

Promote a test and learn culture within

your business

Outgrow your competition

Make you a hero within your business

PAUL ROUKE

Founder & Director of

Optimisation

@paulrouke

QUESTIONS

MATT LACEY

Head of Optimisation

@matt_lacey12 bit.ly/CROresources