Conversion (marketing)
Conversion , from English conversion , describes in marketing , especially in online marketing, the conversion of the status of a target person into a new status, e.g. B. converting a prospect into a customer.
aims
Goals and their conversion in online marketing can include B. be:
- Conversion of search results in search engines into page views of a website
- Conversion of the user of a search engine into a visitor to a website
- Conversion of a visitor to a website into an interested party for a download offer
- Conversion of website visitors to contact requests
- Conversion of a prospective buyer into a buyer on a website or in an online shop
- Registration for a newsletter on a website
- Filling out a request for quotation in an online shop
However, there are also examples of conversion in traditional marketing, such as
- the return of a reply postcard
- the request for information by means of a coupon for an advertisement
- the reaction to a competition (addresses are generated)
- Ordering a catalog after a mailing
In the online area, one speaks of the conversion rate, which is one of the central parameters of web analysis. So-called conversion tracking is used to track the conversion rate .
Conversion rate
The conversion is measured by the conversion rate (conversion rate, conversion rate (CR), prospect conversion rate (PCR)). This indicates the number of prospective buyers who visit a particular website and thereby become buyers.
The conversion rate is calculated as follows:
In this calculation, the individual “visitor” (unique visitor) is used for the calculation. This does not take into account how many “visits” (visits / sessions) the potential buyer required.
A certain period of time is always selected for this calculation and only one conversion per unique visitor per day is calculated. The size of the page impressions is irrelevant for the calculation.
The effectiveness of an advertising measure is determined with the help of the conversion rate. Values between one and five percent are typical, which means that out of 100 new visitors to an online shop, one to five make a purchase (ie "convert" from visitor / reader to buyer). Maximum conversion rates are around 10 percent.
More generally, the conversion rate says how many of the visitors to a website perform a desired action; this action can also be, for example, posting a comment or clicking a banner . The increase in the conversion rate goes hand in hand with the targeted reduction in the abandonment rates of a marketing measure, e.g. B. leaving a website or hiding an advertisement. Since z. If, for example, commercial websites generate visitors via costly online advertising measures, a targeted, systematic increase in the conversion rate increases not only sales but also returns .
Measures to increase conversion in e-commerce
There are numerous measures and approaches to increase the conversion rate. The most relevant are:
- direct alignment of the website to a clearly defined conversion target (e.g. "increase newsletter registrations")
- Improvement of the content of the website (text, images, videos) in order to serve the conversion goal
- Improving the shopping experience
- Improvement of the user-friendliness in order to break down barriers to achieving the conversion goal and thereby reduce the dropout rate
- Use of online product advisors and guided selling systems to increase the conversion rate for online shops and manufacturer websites in order to improve the product search and product advice process
- Use of online quality seals to increase the trust of (new) customers in the shop.
- Reduction of elements that distract the user from achieving the conversion goal. One example is hiding the main menu in the shopping cart.
Increase in the conversion rate in an online shop
The following sample calculation should be used for a better explanation. It is considered how a change in the conversion rate for new customers affects the sales of an online shop. The following sample calculation does not take any customer churn into account
- Visits from new customers per year: 50,000
- Average shopping cart value : 80 EUR
- Proportion of new customers who become regular customers: 25%
- Repeat purchases per customer per year: 2
What happens if the conversion rate for new customers increases by 1 percentage point?
- Additional new customers acquired per year: 500
- Additional sales in the first year: 40,000 EUR
- Additional sales in the second year: EUR 60,000
- Additional sales in the third year: 80,000 EUR
It becomes clear that even a slight increase in the conversion rate can have a significant impact on the company's sales.
Example of an income statement
| Before | later | |
|---|---|---|
| Unique visits / month | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| Conversion rate | 3% | 4% |
| Orders | 300 | 400 |
| Shopping cart value | 100 € | 100 € |
| sales | € 30,000 | € 40,000 |
| margin | 20% | 20% |
| Yield | € 6,000 | € 8,000 |
With an increase in the conversion rate of one percentage point, the monthly income could be increased by 2,000 euros.
Conversion funnel
While initially only the conversion of a visitor to an online shop to a buyer or customer was measured, today so-called conversion funnels are formed. These form a series of logically successive conversions, e.g. B. a visitor to a website should go through, as a filtering process in the sense of a funnel.
How visitors perceive a website
The following list can help you put yourself in the shoes of visitors to a website or online shop.
- Is what I see on the page exactly what I'm looking for or did it surprise me in a positive way with something else so that I stay anyway?
- What's in it for me if I continue to occupy myself with the site?
- Can I trust the provider of the site at all?
- Do I understand the meaning of what I am being shown or does it seem puzzling to me?
- Where should I actually do what on the page?
- Why should I do this right here and now and not somewhere else later?
- What if there are any problems afterward?
- How complex will it be if I choose the offer?
- Does the whole thing make a personable impression?
- Overall, does my gut feeling say yes?
These points help the visitor to understand better and to optimize them in the sense of the conversion funnel. Nevertheless, it is always advisable to secure every optimization with A / B tests .
Typical areas of application
Shopping cart or checkout process
The conversion optimization (in German conversion optimization) is often used in online shops to optimize the ordering process or the checkout process. This increases the purchase rate and increases sales through various measures. The measures themselves result from a hypothetical measure and also the previous analysis by appropriate programs.
Customer registrations
In addition to classic registrations on landing pages, SaaS solutions, conversion optimization also describes improvements in newsletter registration. So-called heatmap tools are usually used to cover the positioning of the registration elements with the mouse movements of the visitors in order to reduce weaknesses in the conversion - i.e. the leads.
See also
literature
- André Morys: Conversion Optimization. Practical methods for more market success on the web. Kindle edition, 2011.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Example calculation for the conversion rate . Ecommerce Guide website. Retrieved January 18, 2010.