Conversion Rate Optimisation — Three basics the best never forget.
Most of the world’s online. And nearly everyone who’s online is selling. Cute plushies (amazon), pleasures of the skin (only fans), to a majority of hours from their day (LinkedIn), to their ideas (right here), to their companionship (tinder). I could go on, but you get the plot. And as is with most things people do, only a few are very good at selling what they are. These are the ones laughing their way to the banks, flying private, speaking at seminars, and being closely followed by the rest of the world so it can understand their “secrets”. They want to identify the “hacks”, the apparent shortcuts that’ve brought about such success. And as is with most thing people do, only a few are very good at identifying the obvious. Dancing is kind of hard when you don’t even know how to walk. All. And I mean ALL the brands that do well online have their basics in place. Basics, that have been a part of their identities for so long that they’re mentioned up and front on the brand bibles. This post is all about those basics that the big ones never forget to nail. And anyone who is selling online (you) shouldn’t either. That is, if you want to succeed.
Imagery
You know how before the internet, everyone went to physical stores to buy stuff and met each other in person at parties to pick a partner? (Okay. Happens nowadays as well.) The produce would be spruced up and the best kept up front. The stores would pay extra care to have merchandising in place and the latest would be up front and centre, displayed in a way to catch best the buyer’s fancy. It’s the same with people. We’ve dressed up (and still do) per our best efforts for social situations. Especially so in situations where life’s big decisions were to be made (job interviews, weddings… Coachella). Then why are the images on your e-store so second grade? We first consume with our eyes. If our visual expectation doesn’t align with what is presented, we WILL reject the proposal at hand. It’s only when it looks appealing, will we start to consider a product / service, and then move on to other attributes. It’s just basic human psychology. But it’s surprisingly well ignored too. You go online and see product images that are blurry, shot in sub-optimal lighting, shot with cameras that measure images in potatoes rather than pixels, badly cropped, badly shopped, so on and so forth. You know how Apple makes beautiful products? (I mean everyone can debate about the tech specs, but the aesthetic is non-debatable IMO.) They have physical stores as well. And extremely well done stores at that. Plus they’re a proven, dependable brand that’s been around for a fair while. Ever seen the images on their keynotes and website? Of all the brands, they could easily get away with doing basic, but well shot images. However, with every launch, the images get more detailed, better rendered and awe-inspiring. If Apple is putting THAT much effort in getting their imagery right, there could be a “hack” right there yes?
Descriptions
Ever been to a country / region with a language different than yours and gone shopping? How was the experience? Less than optimal at best, and frustrating at worst? Sure it might have been exiting as you were travelling and its all a part of the “travel experience”. But how about going online to buy something and not being able to understand the details? Would you buy that something? Hey, not being able to understand how to rub the magic lamp right in a souk is all giggles. But not being able to understand whether the smoothie maker on amazon has two or three speed settings is straight addition the bounce rate. That’s why stores have sales assistants. And that’s why your online listings should have the best possible descriptions. Unless you want your prospective customers to buy from another brand. Also, I am not talking about having W. Shakespeare shuttle through in a time machine and pen down heart rendering sonnets. You can do that when you afford to have that tech invented. But for now, well written descriptions in simple english (or relevant language) covering the basics and important specials will do. It’s not even that hard really. You just have to benchmark against the category leader and add your own alterations / flavours to be done for the first cut. For the second, you could throw in generous measures of brand persona. However, nothing replaces the essentials in your first cut. So get the descriptions in place. The other option is failure.
Conversations
Social animals. That’s what they call us. We also have this beautiful capability to learn new things and pass them near immediately to others. We’ve grown as a species as much due to our shared banks of knowledge as we have because of our ingenuity. We learn, and we communicate. And then we learn from that communication. This is where conversations between brand and consumer, as well as between consumers about the brand kick in. The easiest conversation to manage obviously would be the one between brand and consumer / customer as you have very little control about the ones happening between the latter. Critical then to answer doubts, engage with users, douse fires, amplify evangelists, highlight successes, and resolve concerns as quickly as is possible.
Be aware that negative stories have a much higher peer-to-peer rate of spread versus the positive ones. Humans have a tendency to gravitate towards problems so we can resolve them and move forward. But this same strength can turn into a cesspool of toxicity if things go wrong. Add to that, silence from the brand / product owners, and the conversations can reach frantic levels that can bring empires down. If you think I am exaggerating, you might want to look up bank runs. And stock market crashes. So be available, manage conversations and resolve issues before they fester. And while you’re at it, keep it positive. There we are.
The three most critical eCommerce aspects the best-of-the-best never screw up on, and honestly neither should you.
