Our Top CRO Tactics to Optimize Your Marketing Funnel

Alchemy Collective is dedicated to helping our clients achieve and surpass their business goals. We put in the work to find the key points of leverage in their marketing funnels that can have significant impact, and then we execute new designs and experiments to make improvements to the user experience. Even small changes that are backed by data can add up to large gains in sales and customer lifetime value. Through extensive experimentation across various marketing funnel stages, we've identified several highly effective CRO tactics. Here are some of our top performers:

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1. Add search to the top of your funnel

Adding a search function to the top of your marketing funnel can significantly reduce bounce rates and increase engagement with your product or website. Here's how:

1. Improved User Experience:

• A search bar provides users with an easy and convenient way to find the information or products they're looking for. This enhances the user experience, making it more likely for visitors to stay on your website and explore further.

2. Reduced Cognitive Load:

• By offering a search option, you eliminate the need for users to navigate through multiple pages or menus to find what they're looking for. This reduces cognitive load and makes it easier for users to engage with your content.

3. Increased Relevance:

• When users can search for specific keywords or phrases, they're more likely to find content that is relevant to their needs and interests. This increased relevance helps keep users engaged and reduces the chances of them bouncing from your website.

4. Faster Time to Information:

• A search function allows users to quickly find the information they need without having to scroll through pages of content. This saves time and improves the overall efficiency of your website.

5. Improved Lead Generation:

• By providing a search function, you make it easier for users to find the products and services they are looking for, and provide data signals that can be used to refine your retargeting campaigns. This can lead to increased conversions and more leads for the middle of your marketing funnel.

We’ve seen up to a 20% reduction in bounce rate by simply adding a search function to the top of our clients marketing funnels. This one enhancement to the user experience can significantly reduce bounce rates, increase middle of the funnel engagement, and generate more leads for your business.

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2. Decrease friction with simple registration UX

Now let’s focus on the first conversion step within your marketing funnel, getting visitors to sign up and create an account. The key here is to cut anything out of the registration experience that isn’t absolutely necessary. Here are a few strategies we’ve seen perform well with our clients:

1. Adding One-Click Social Login or Magic Links

• There are no fewer steps to create a new account than one-click. Options like social login, which allows users to create an account using their Google account or other popular platforms, and magic links, which allow users to create an account with just an email alone, can reduce steps in a registration flow to their absolute bare minimum.

2. Removing All Unnecessary Form Fields

• Here is where the less is more theory applies better than anywhere else. Any question you pose to the visitor that requires them to think before they’ve successfully created an account increases the odds that they will not sign up. Simply removing these fields altogether can increase the sign ups your website or product will generate.

3. Qualify Leads After Successful Registration

• Oftentimes those form fields you may have removed from the registration experience we’re helpful in understanding how likely this user is to purchase, or what product or service they may be interested in. To that end you may find it necessary to ask a qualifying question or two, and doing so after the user has successfully registered will ensure you haven’t disrupted the registration experience. We still caution our clients to be as minimally invasive or least disruptive as possible however we also understand that balancing quantity with quality leads matters.

By employing a mix of or all of the above strategies we’ve helped clients increase their registration conversion rates by up to ~15%. 

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3. Personalize landing pages for mid-funnel visitors

Personalizing landing pages for mid-funnel visitors can significantly increase conversion rates by meeting users where they are in their customer journey and addressing their specific needs and interests. Here are a few key ways personalization can enhance the user experience and drive conversions:

1. Meeting the User Where They're At with Relevant Copy and Content:

• Tailor the messaging and content on your landing page to match the interests and intent of mid-funnel visitors. Use language and imagery that resonates with their pain points and aspirations. Highlight the benefits and features of your product or service that are most relevant to their needs.

2. Matching Search Terms with Headings:

• One great way to scale the amount of landing pages you have is to dynamically change your heading (h1) to match the visitors search query intent. By incorporating the visitors' search terms into the headings and subheadings on our clients landing pages we’ve observed longer session durations, deeper scroll depths, and cheaper cost per clicks. This requires coordination with your performance marketing program and website CMS, and of course, you need to be sure you are offering the solution you are promising.

3. Including Testimonials and Case Studies:

• Feature testimonials from satisfied customers or case studies that demonstrate how your product or service has helped other visitors like them achieve their goals. This social proof can build trust and credibility, making visitors more likely to convert.

4. Dynamic Content Based on User Behavior:

• Use marketing automation tools to track user behavior on your website and deliver personalized content based on their actions. For example, you could display different landing pages to visitors who have viewed specific product pages or engaged with certain content.

5. Personalizing the Call to Action:

• Tailor the call to action on your landing page to match the visitor's stage in the buying process. For example, you might use a softer call to action, such as "Learn More," for visitors who are still in the research phase. For those who are closer to making a purchase, you could use a stronger call to action such as "Buy Now."

By personalizing landing pages for mid-funnel visitors you can provide a more relevant and engaging experience that addresses their specific needs and interests. We’ve launched hundreds of mid-funnel landing pages for our clients and have observed higher conversion rates and improved marketing ROI.

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4. Fix the leaks in your bottom funnel

Once you're confident a user has explored your product and offering, and is at the stage where they are ready to buy, it's best to present a narrow funnel with minimal distractions and as few links to leave the purchase funnel as possible. Here are a few experiments we’ve seen win when optimizing the bottom of the funnel user experience:

1. Remove Links from the Global Navigation

• Temporarily remove links from the global navigation menu from pricing pages through the checkout process. This helps prevent users from navigating away and abandoning their purchase.

2. Remove Search Experiences

• Unlike earlier where we want users to experience the product and/or services if they are in the top of the funnel, here at the bottom of the funnel we want to prevent users from getting sidetracked and searching for other products or information. Removing search experiences helps keep users focused on completing their purchase.

3. Use strong Call to Actions that Reveal Purchase Intent

• Use action-oriented verbs like "Buy Now," "Complete Purchase," or "Subscribe" to indicate the next step. Place multiple CTAs throughout the experience to encourage users to proceed.

By implementing these strategies, businesses can create a streamlined and focused purchase funnel that minimizes distractions and encourages users to initiate their buying journey.

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5. Continuously improve your pricing and checkout UX

By this time, your potential buyer should be ready to reach for their wallet. Here are just a few tactics you can use to increase the probability that the purchase is made:

1. Good, Better, Best Positioning Works

• Clear Value Differentiation: Offering tiered pricing plans (e.g., Basic, Premium, Enterprise) with distinct features and benefits helps users quickly understand the value proposition of each option. This simplifies decision-making and guides them towards the plan that best suits their needs.
• Anchoring Effect: The "Good" option acts as an anchor, making the "Better" and "Best" options seem more appealing in comparison. This can encourage users to choose higher-priced plans, increasing average order value.
• Upselling Opportunities: By clearly highlighting the additional benefits of higher-priced plans, you can entice users to upgrade for a more comprehensive experience.

2. Tell Your User Which Plan Is Best For Them

• Personalized Recommendations: Use data and user behavior or widgets to suggest the most suitable plan based on their needs and preferences. This reduces friction and makes decision-making easier.
• Highlighting Popular Choices: Indicating the most popular plan can act as social proof, reassuring users that they're making a good choice.
• Clear Comparison Tables: Present the features and benefits of each plan in an easy-to-compare format, allowing users to quickly identify the best option for them.

3. Copy Matters, More Than You Think

• Persuasive Language: Use compelling language to describe the benefits of each plan and highlight the value proposition. The right words can make a significant difference in influencing user decisions.
• Feature Emphasis: Strategically emphasize the most appealing features of each plan to attract different user segments. For example, highlight cost savings for budget-conscious users and advanced features for power users.
• Clarity and Transparency: Use clear and concise language to explain pricing details, terms, and conditions. Avoid hidden fees or confusing jargon that can erode trust and lead to cart abandonment.

By implementing these tactics, you can create a pricing and checkout experience that is user-friendly, persuasive, and optimized for conversions.

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Ready to Transform Your Marketing Funnel?

Combined, we’ve observed these CRO tactics to deliver 2-3x improvements in our clients' conversion rates. Results may vary depending on your industry, product, and customer base but we suggest analyzing your funnel to see where drop-off is the greatest and starting there. Like any data-driven growth strategy these CRO tactics are iterative and often times surprising. These experiment ideas are just a glimpse into the overall strategy we employ at Alchemy Collective to help our clients achieve significant results. If you're ready to optimize your marketing funnel, increase conversions, and drive sustainable growth, we're here to help. Our growth team of marketers, designers, and data scientists are passionate about data-driven experimentation and delivering measurable results. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you achieve your business goals.