If you’re running an e-commerce site, you’ve probably heard about the concept of a conversion tunnel or conversion funnel. A conversion funnel is a marketing model that represents the journey a customer takes from being a mere visitor to becoming a loyal customer. The average shopping cart abandonment rate is a whopping 70%, making it a daunting task to convert every visit into a purchase. However, you can increase your conversion rate by developing an effective conversion funnel. Here are five simple steps to help you create one.
Step 1: Drawing Traffic to Your Website
The first step is to identify potential customers and find effective ways to get their email addresses. It’s important to understand what you can offer these potential customers, their interests, and how your competitors are interacting with them. Tailoring your approach to fit their needs will attract more high-quality leads to your site.
One effective way of drawing in potential customers is through newsletters. Offering incentives, like a 20% discount for subscribing to your newsletter, can be an excellent way to get users to willingly provide their email addresses.
Creating a customer area on your site is another key step in setting up a conversion funnel. When a visitor clicks “add to cart” and validates their choices, they enter the first stage of the conversion funnel. Encourage them to register at this stage by asking for their email address. This gives you a way to contact them later if they decide to abandon their purchase.
Step 2: Improving User Experience
The aesthetic of your site and ease of navigation alone may not be enough to establish a strong connection with your visitors. You need to create emotional content that anticipates and fulfills their expectations, and that helps convert them into customers.
One way to engage your visitors is by setting up a system of attractive offers. These could range from invitations to web conferences, free trial periods, coaching sessions, or even loyalty programs.
Don’t forget about the importance of content in your conversion funnel. Good, clear, and concise content will guide your prospects through their purchase decision. Test your content with friends to see how effective it is, and make necessary changes to improve its clarity and appeal.
Step 3: Shopping Cart Management
Just because a prospect has filled their shopping cart doesn’t mean you’ve won. Nearly three-quarters of online shoppers abandon their carts. You need to optimize your cart page to keep them engaged.
Solutions to cart abandonment may include onsite re-engagement strategies such as displaying a message when the user is about to leave the site, email remarketing techniques like sending promotional offers to users who have abandoned their carts, and retargeting ads that remind users about items they’ve left behind.
Step 4: The Crucial Checkout Step
This is where you need to reassure your customers by providing clear, comforting information. Make sure they understand the transaction is secure and that deliveries will arrive on time. Also, offer a clear summary of the products in the cart and provide full details of the amounts, including subtotal, delivery costs, and total.
Consider offering a “guest checkout” option, allowing users to make a purchase without creating an account. This can be seen as a time saver and increase the likelihood of purchase completion.
Step 5: Conversion – The End of the Tunnel
Even after customers have clicked “confirm purchase,” your work isn’t done. The final step is to gather data to further optimize your conversion funnel.
Sending customers a short questionnaire about their experience on your site can provide valuable insights. Additionally, creating a conversion table in Google Analytics can help you collect data to improve your funnel.
Creating an effective conversion tunnel is a journey that requires studying and implementing key web marketing strategies. But once it’s optimized, you’ll attract higher traffic and convert prospects into customers more easily, thereby improving the effectiveness of your e-commerce site.
