Tactics vs. strategy
It’s first important to understand the difference between conversion optimization tactics and strategy. Conversion optimization tactics will help improve specific on-page actions such as the user’s time on page or number of form completions.
Conversion optimization strategy focuses on the bigger picture conversions that drive your business revenue.
This sort of optimization is meant to better understand your customer, how they make decisions, and make sure your website supports their journey through your conversion funnel.
The LIFT Model
This is where the LIFT model comes into play. By using this approach to test various methods of improving conversion on your website, it can be easier to get into the mind of your website visitors.
As a result, you will be laying down a strategy that can scale and ultimately improve your business on and even off your website.
As you can see from the model above, there are six different factors involved with the model.
1. Discover your value proposition
The most important of the six factors is what the entire model is measured on: your value proposition.
In essence, this is the promise of value that your business provides to the customer and whether or not they believe it. Understanding your value proposition allows you to comprehend how to influence all LIFT model factors, create the strategy, and employ the tactics to support that strategy.
In order to establish your value proposition, you need to identify what is important to your target audience and figure out how you measure up.
You need to establish what your potential customers hold to the highest importance and make sure you’re delivering. If they want the lowest prices, figure out your profit margins on products/services and make sure you’re providing the lowest prices (while still gaining profit).
The remaining factors of the LIFT model are what affect your value proposition, negatively or positively, and can be improved by different conversion optimization tactics.
2. Establish clarity
In order to communicate your value proposition, it’s important to be clear and cohesive in your messaging. You need to perfect the writing on your pages so it speaks to your target audience in terms they understand.
The images and design of the website pages can also contribute to the clarity of the message you are trying to get across.
For practice, let’s evaluate some value propositions. First, we’ll take a look at Tymetal Corporation’s value proposition.
Across the company’s homepage slider, there are a number of call-to-actions aimed at getting their customers to contact them for a quote on the security gate they would need.
However, the call-to-action ‘We Close Openings’ could be misleading. While playful, visitors typically respond to obvious CTAs.
After A/B testing, the change in the site’s CTAs meant a 28% increase in leads generated a month. Thus proving the impact of clarity.
When compared to the CTAs of the homepage slider, Tymetal’s highest converting landing page that leads their visitors through the funnel comes from their business security gates page.
This ‘sub’ value proposition, one that is a subset to reinforce the company wide value proposition, is as simple and clear as they come. “Commercial Security Gates for your Business.” No visitor could ever doubt if that page is relevant to their visit or not.
3. Improving your relevance
You can be clear and accurate with your words, but are they relevant to your consumer? Not only does understanding target audience help define your value proposition, but it also allows helps determine how you can communicate what is important to them.
It doesn’t matter how clear your messaging is; if it isn’t relevant to what users are expecting it won’t be effective.
4. Create a sense of urgency
It’s also important to convey the importance of the product or service being talked about. You need to tell your potential customer why they need to act quickly, and you need to provide incentive for them to do so.
Giving a consistent message to the user of why now is the time to act will help drill the feel of urgency into their thoughts (consciously and subconsciously).
5. Removing anxiety
There are often many reasons a user won’t follow through with a conversion because of anxiety. On an ecommerce website, they could feel the checkout process isn’t secure enough.
Or, if a consumer is using a service but doesn’t see testimonials or reassurance of the service quality, it could lead to them not trusting the company. Whenever possible, it’s essential to ease any potential anxiety a user might have about following through with a conversion.
6. Minimizing distractions
The attention span of an internet user is much more difficult to gain than it is offline. The eyes can easily be diverted by too many links, a busy web design, offensive colors, and a number of other on-page factors.
Making sure your website pages are clear of distractions will allow a consumer to see the clear, relevant, and urgent messaging crafted for your website.
An example of successfully taking these five factors into consideration can be found on Paula’s Choice. At the top of the homepage there is a “daily deal” that gives 20% off all exfoliant products. This integrates and considers the five factors listed above by:
- Clarity: The benefits of the deal are clearly expressed with large font and images of the products next to the text to support it.
- Relevance: Visitors on this website are concerned with their skin health and beauty, and the messaging shows how the products offered in this deal will help improve skin health and appearance.
- Urgency: Since this is a “daily deal”, users know they have limited time to act and purchase these discounted products.
- Anxiety: The message promises that these products are clinically proven to be non-irritating, not tested on animals, and guaranteed for success. This messaging helps the user feel more secure with the products by removing their anxiety.
- Distraction: The message appears at the top of the homepage which is a prominent spot that grabs users’ attention. This combined with an already clean web design help to keep the user focused on the message.
Testing the results
By following and paying attention to six factors of the LIFT model, one can better understand how to improve the pages on their website.
However, perfection is rarely (or possibly ever) achieved. There is always room to experiment with different messaging, different web designs, and how your present the content on a page.
Testing these tactics will allow you to ensure your hypotheses about your consumers’ values are correct.
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