Why does it matter to improve mobile conversion?
‘Smartphones are the most common starting place for online activities.’ Increasing the conversion on this medium means increase in revenues and higher profits with no additional cost of acquisition.
Mobile optimised content also means a higher traffic and increased market shares. The possibility to use geolocation also makes it easier for customers to get in touch with you. All these elements could significantly increase the lead generation.
The problem however is that people are more distracted on mobile. They flip through pages fast and the screen is smaller. Which means that the information presented should be immediately accessible to the prospect or buyer.
How well your content is performing on mobile? Probably too cluttered and in a desperate need of optimisation to remove the friction that prevent users to access the information they want faster.
Stephen Pavlovich, founder and CEO of conversion.com, speaking at Ayima Insights 2016, shared the three steps to create a highly converting mobile content:
- Goals
It’s important to understand the goals of your customers when they reach your page and what you want them to do.
If the customer is looking to book a flight for example, he or she might do so in multiple sessions. Also the buying journey although started on mobile can end up on a desktop. So having a save button to keep what has been done during a session and retrieve it at a later stage should be a primary feature to offer.
- Data & insights
To understand how customers behave online, you can use the behaviour model, B. J. Fogg 2007, to figure out where to focus efforts. The higher the motivation and ability to buy, the more likely the punter will take action. Your job is to ensure the user is highly motivated by the content and it’s very easy to do what you want them to do.
Let’s say you access Interflora website a Friday morning at 8 am on your smartphone. What is the action you are likely to perform? There is probably a sense of urgency. You forgot to buy a present for your friend’s birthday and want to order something to be delivered quickly. You don’t want many options. Same day delivery option should be a featured option on the page.
Your ability to prioritise content is key to get the prospect to take the right action.
But how do you find out what customers expect to see?
Talk to people and observe how they are using your content on mobile. Use heatmap tools like Hotjar or Clicktale to dig further their needs, wants and pain points.
Then strip information down to get to the core of the information needed using wireframing or just a blank business card size paper to write only the words that will make a difference.
Researches have shown that the majority of forms on mobile have some sort of problems; they need to be fixed to make the experience smooth. Use this guide to figure out how to set up bug-free fields forms.
Your new optimised content is now ready to launch and to be tested.
- Testing
How do you decide what to test and if it’s worth the effort?
Tricky question indeed. Steven recommends these two questions to do the right kind of tests:
- Will it be impactful?
- Will it be easy to do?
The more impactful and easy it is to do, the better. Avoid the temptation to do meaningless tests, the context should guide you. Does it matter if the colour of a button is red or blue if someone is looking to book a flight? Probably not. But would it matter to rearrange information in a different order to find out which one performs better? Certainly.
Set up a scalable testing workflow to do a split test with an app like optimizely and analyse the results when the test finishes. There will be one of these two results: lose or win. Try to determine the cause and the action to take:
If the test loses:
- Is the concept flawed? Abandon
- Did you encounter an execution issue? Reprioritise and retest
- External factor prevented the test to go as planned? retest
If the test wins:
- Amplify: continue with the same concept and same page
- Scale: apply the same concept to other pages
- Share: with other departments and apply to other products
How do you know what to attribute the failure or success of a test to?
Difficult to tell for sure. Listen to feedback, ask people why they did or didn’t book, use a mix of surveys and analytics to determine patterns.
Do you have other tips that gave you great results? Share your thoughts below.
We are now entering the second quarter of the year. Are you looking to fine tune your strategy to accelerate your results for the year? I am holding a special 121 Digital Strategic Clinic the 04th and 5th April to review your marketing strategy. Book a complimentary call now. Places are limited.
About Francine Beleyi
Francine Beleyi is a digital content strategist, entrepreneurial journalist, and change agent who helps businesses to produce engaging content for their audience and thrive in the digital age. She spends her days speaking with and studying the most successful entrepreneurs in the new economy, and sharing her findings with those who are open to new ideas and want to increase their results.
Photo: nenetus / Freedigitalphotos.net