Conversion Optimization Agency Programs

Conversion optimization projects can often be even more intense than your regular marketing projects, which pose enough complications on their own. It is no longer enough to just have an “eye” or know a few CRO “best practices” (whatever that is).

Nowadays, conversion rate optimization has gained momentum in creating great customer experiences through rigorous research, experimentation, and iteration more than craft, more than science, more than artistry. It is plain fun!

CRO workplace trends demand greater depth and breadth of skills.

Success in today’s workplace calls for expanded capabilities, from demonstrating technical expertise to meeting with clients, identifying business opportunities, setting up client relationships, or bird-dogging the details of getting projects finished or working with teams across disciplines and countries. The implications are vast, particularly for millennials.

The expanded range of job duties may find you doing the analysis part of things or the technical side of things like coding. There is also the statistics element and the creativity angle, i.e., how you are presenting your problem-solving ideas to people. You also encounter a lot of visual and design aspects.

Achieving all the above and wearing the different hats seamlessly means that you must be good at project management and skilled business-wise.

Conversion Optimization Program Management 

Getting the results you want with conversion optimization and experimentation is all about knowing what to do. It is a field where you need to know a lot about a lot to start getting more and bigger wins.

It goes beyond merely finding the “low hanging fruits” and making UX fixes, which may be a treat by itself anyway that can give you an immediate lift, perhaps even end up with big revenue/conversion rate increases, and significant wins.

The huge world of conversion optimization requires you to dive deep and understand the methodology, tools, and mindset needed to become a successful optimizer – and make any website sell.

You must be able to systematically identify:

1. All the places where a website is leaking money,
2. Figure out exactly why
3. Create data-backed hypotheses,
4. Run tests for learning,
5. Improve your customer theory.

True conversion optimization is not about guesswork or running random tests. It is a process. It is what separates wannabes from conversion pros. Amateurs think in terms of tactics, while the pros uncover the real issues by following a proven methodology.

Below is a broad categorization of the key areas you need to cover well:

·        How to design, Roll Out & Scale an Optimization Program – understand how to hire and deploy models for CRO, track success, and scale experimentation programs locally and globally

·        Evangelizing for optimization in the enterprise – Explore ways to establish and grow a CRO program within a large enterprise organization with pre-established modes of operation.

·        Building your optimization technology stack - Know how to choose CRO tools, get the necessary budget, and squeeze all you can out of them.

·        CRO agency masterclass - Learn how to best sell CRO services as an agency and manage those projects once you have the clients.

·        Optimize your optimization program – Continual improvement of your program is the norm, rather than the exception.

1.     Knowing how to design, roll out and scale your optimization program.

Several variables play a pivotal role in getting your CRO program off the ground successfully. In this course, you will gain industry-specific insights into hiring models, tracking success, and scaling locally and globally.

At a bare minimum, you need to:

·                    Identify what type of business model to implement.

·                    Find talent that is right for your business needs.

·                    Know the key business metrics to track to measure program growth.

·                    Know how to communicate your program’s value in terms of dollars.

·                    Focus on making big wins early on.

2.     Evangelizing for optimization in the enterprise.

Establishing and growing a CRO program within a large enterprise organization with pre-established modes of operation is almost a stand-alone job. Garnering support and spreading education to countless different departments takes a great deal of planning apart from the energy required to operate the program itself. Fortunately, this can be accomplished by correcting common misconceptions about CRO, assuming the burden of proof, and extending educational activities and resources to other departments.

Within this area, you will explore how to:

·     Carve out headspace for CRO by encouraging change & challenging the status quo.

·     Extend educational activities and outreach programs to build interest for CRO.

·     Campaign for a budget for resources and technology.

·     Correct misconceptions about CRO in other parts of your company.

·     Communicate test results to executives.

3.     Building your optimization technology stack

Growing a CRO team from nascency to a position of vitality in an enterprise environment can happen as quickly or as slowly as the team lets it.

One of the most effective ways to catapult this growth is by constructing a thorough and articulate plan for investing in technology. Having a vision and knowing what to expect at each stage of your program’s growth is crucial.

Herein, you need to figure out:

·        What kinds of tools to invest in (or not invest in)?

·        How to collaboratively campaign for the budget.

·        How to get the most out of the tools you already have.

·        How to write resourceful, compelling business plans.

·        How much budget to spend on people vs technology.

·        Rules of thumb for measuring success (over time and case-by-case).

·        A picture of what a CRO program’s technology stack should be at the crawl, walk, and run stage.

4.     Building a CRO Agency

Finally, you need to learn how to best start, build and market yourself as a CRO agency from scratch. This involves being able to sell CRO services as an agency and managing those projects once you have the clients.

Not every client or lead is a good fit. You need to fine-tune and pre-qualify every lead you acquire. Companies that are too small will not cut it because the CRO is about increasing the revenue, sales, and transaction volume.