Did you know that only 22% of companies are happy with their conversion rates? If you’re not happy with your conversion rate, you’re not alone. Many companies look to improve their conversion rates to help boost company sales and revenue.
That’s why we’ve compiled this list of conversion rate optimization (CRO) trends to help you improve your conversion rate. You can see what’s trending and how to adjust your marketing strategy to follow these trends and improve your business’s performance.
Keep reading to learn about the top CRO trends for 2023 including:
- Personalization for users
- Chatbots for top-notch customer service
- Short forms to fill out
- More user-generated content (UGC)
- Simplified checkout process
- A strong cart abandonment email strategy
- Fast websites for faster shopping
- Mobile-optimized websites
- Trust signals
- Harnessing the power of video
- Offering special discounts or loyalty rewards
- Using customer relationship management (CRM) software
Keep reading to see how you can capitalize on these conversion rate optimization trends for your business!
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Conversion rate optimization trend #1: Personalization for users
If you look at trends in conversion rate optimization every year, you probably see personalization on the list every time. That’s because personalization continues to play a critical role in helping you earn more leads, sales, and revenue for your business.
Personalization enables you to deliver an experience tailored to individuals in your target audience so they only see what they want to see. With so many companies vying for your audience’s attention, they don’t have time to waste on irrelevant promotions and offers.
By personalizing your marketing, you show prospects what they want to see and keep them engaged with your business.
How to capitalize on this CRO trend
If you want to capitalize on this CRO trend, try integrating personalized aspects into your marketing campaigns. One common way to deliver a personalized experience is to use a prospect’s name when sending an email.
You can also personalize a user’s experience by delivering content most relevant to their interests. Consider segmenting your email lists or personalizing your website to provide the experience most relevant to your audience.
Conversion rate optimization trend #2: Chatbots for top-notch customer service
Next on this list of conversion rate optimization trends is chatbots. To improve your conversion rate, you must deliver top-notch customer service. Poor customer service negatively impacts prospects –– 56% of users unfollow brands on social media due to poor customer service.
That’s why using chatbots is number two on this list of conversion rate optimization trends.
Chatbots enable you to provide top-notch customer service, even if your business is closed or you don’t have a customer service agent available. Website visitors can ask questions and have them answered by a chatbot. Not only do these shoppers get the answers they need, but they get a fast response, which makes them happy.
Overall, chatbots are a great tool to help you provide prospects with the information they need to become customers.
How to capitalize on this CRO trend
To deliver top-tier customer service, start by installing a chatbot into your company’s live chat software. Platforms like Birdeye, for example, come with the option to integrate chatbots for your website.
For more information on chatbots, check out our guide to chatbot marketing!
Conversion rate optimization trend #3: Short forms to fill out
Another conversion rate optimization trend you’ll want to follow is shortening forms. For many businesses, a key component of CRO is capturing leads through forms. For 2023, you’ll want to ensure those forms are short.
While forms are an excellent medium for capturing important information about your audience, long forms often deter people from converting. People don’t want to spend a lot of time filling in multiple lines of information –– they want forms to be quick and easy.
That’s why short forms are a CRO trend for 2023. By keeping forms short and only asking for the necessary information, you’ll earn more conversions for your business.
How to capitalize on this CRO trend
When you create your forms, you can simplify them to only ask for the most important information. If you want to obtain more information, you can always follow up with those prospects later to get it.
So, for example, you may only ask someone for their name, email, and phone number. You can then use those communication channels to follow up and get more information from your subscribers.
Conversion rate optimization trend #4: More user-generated content (UGC)
Next on this list of conversion rate optimization trends is to create more user-generated content (UGC). With user-generated content, you post and share your target audience’s posts where they use your products or services.
UGC is a great way for you to give testimonials about your products or services from people who actually used them. These authentic experiences can help boost your conversion rate because it builds your audiences’ confidence that they’ll have a positive experience with your product or service too.
By sharing content from your audience, you’ll help nudge more people towards converting.
How to capitalize on this CRO trend
With this conversion rate optimization trend, you’ll want to look for content your audience posts. You can search your brand name, products, or any hashtags you use with your content to help you find relevant content.
Once you find user-generated content you like, share it to your profile. If you’re on a platform like Instagram where you may have to screenshot to repost, make sure you ask permission first before posting.
Conversion rate optimization trend #5: Simplified checkout process
Another one of the top trends in conversion rate optimization for 2023 is a simplified checkout process. When it comes to checking out, people don’t want to jump through hoops to place their orders.
Shoppers will abandon their purchase if the checkout process is too long or confusing. If they must do too many steps to check out, they will likely be deterred from completing the order.
Additionally, if they encounter hidden or unexpected costs towards the end, they may be deterred from purchasing.
By simplifying your checkout process and being upfront about all costs, you’ll encourage more people to complete their purchases and convert.
How to capitalize on this CRO trend
If you want to take advantage of this CRO trend, start by analyzing your checkout process. Look at places where you could cut out or refine steps for your target audience so they don’t have to spend as long checking out.
You’ll also want to consider taking an approach like Lego. When shoppers visit their “cart,” they can input their zip code and immediately see the shipping cost and taxes. They can also see how much more they need to purchase to get a special perk, like free delivery.
This approach lets shoppers know the total of their purchases before they opt to continue. As a result, shoppers aren’t surprised by hidden costs halfway through checkout.
When you simplify and adjust your checkout process to focus on the user and their experience, you’ll encourage more people to complete their purchases.
Conversion rate optimization trend #6: A strong cart abandonment email strategy
Next on this list of conversion rate optimization trends is having a strong cart abandonment email strategy. Abandoned carts are a common occurrence in online shopping, so it’s critical to have a strategy in place to combat the issue.
Not only does today’s world offer a lot of options, but it’s also a busy world. People often get distracted by all their options or need more time to think before purchasing. As a result, many people will abandon their shopping carts and forget about them.
That’s why you must hop on the abandoned cart email strategy trend.
By sending abandoned cart emails, you can capture some of those conversions for your business. On average, 45% of abandoned cart emails are open. On top of that, conversion rates increase 18% after sending abandoned cart emails.
It’s an effective strategy to help you recover lost sales and boost revenue for your business.
How to capitalize on this CRO trend
If you want to create a cart abandonment email strategy, you need to do two things. First, start by crafting emails that not only remind your audience about their forgotten cart but entice them to want to complete the purchase.
Think about ways you can sweeten the deal for your audience. You may offer special discounts or promotions, like free shipping, to convince those prospects to convert.
Second, you need to get to the root of why people abandon their carts. Are they incurring hidden costs in the middle of checkout, or did they just get distracted? What could be holding them back from purchasing?
By identifying potential roadblocks, you can try to fix them to prevent cart abandonment in the first place.
Conversion rate optimization trend #7: Fast websites for faster shopping
One of the biggest CRO trends for 2023 is having a fast website. In today’s fast-paced world, you can’t have a slow website. People want to make their purchases fast –– shopping cart abandonment increases by 30% when websites load too slowly.
Not only do slow-loading websites lead to abandoned carts, but it also leads to revenue loss. Slow-loading websites cause $2.6 billion in revenue loss annually. If you want to increase conversions and revenue, you need to ensure your website loads quickly.
A fast-loading website enables shoppers to browse your website easily and find what they need fast.
How to capitalize on this CRO trend
With this conversion rate optimization trend, start by seeing how quickly your website loads now. You can use a tool like Google PageSpeed Insights to help you see your website’s current load time and any problems you may need to fix.
Once you identify the issues in PageSpeed Insights, you can implement those changes to help improve your load times.
Some common ways to improve website load times are to:
- Compress image files
- Improve server response time
- Use browser caching
- Minify coding
Conversion rate optimization trend #8: Mobile-optimized websites
Did you know that over 40% of online transactions happen on mobile? More people use their mobile devices to shop than ever, so it’s critical to have a mobile-friendly website. That’s why, next on this list of CRO trends, we’re talking about mobile-optimized websites.
Having a mobile-optimized website means that you deliver a positive mobile experience for your audience. Since these devices are smaller, your website needs to scale to your audience’s devices to ensure a positive experience.
A positive mobile experience is critical to your business’s success –– 52% of people are less likely to engage with a company that has a poor mobile experience.
When you have a website optimized for mobile, people are more likely to shop from you, which increases your conversion rate.
How to capitalize on this CRO trend
To stay on top of this conversion rate optimization trend, start by integrating responsive design into your website. Responsive design enables your website to adapt to whatever device your audience uses to access your website. Whether it’s a smartphone or tablet, your audience will have an experience that fits their device’s screen, so they can browse and shop with ease.
Conversion rate optimization trend #9: Trust signals
One of the biggest conversion rate optimization trends for 2023 is integrating trust signals. Today’s market is a tricky place to navigate –– there are thousands of options to choose from and dozens of brands you’re discovering for the first time.
That’s why integrating trust signals is vital to improving your conversion rate. If someone is discovering your brand for the first time, you need to build their confidence in buying from you. Trust signals help to build that confidence.
How to capitalize on this CRO trend
To take advantage of this CRO trend, start by integrating trust signals. There are multiple types of trust signals you can integrate into your website, including:
- Guarantees: Many businesses will offer money-back guarantees if customers aren’t happy. This type of trust signal can build confidence with shoppers and make them want to buy.
- Social proof: Providing testimonials from real customers can help build confidence in shoppers.
- Associations: If you’ve partnered with some big-name brands, it’s great to mention your association with them. This trust signal can help build confidence with shoppers who know and trust big-name brands.
- Memberships: Memberships to accredited groups can help build confidence. Being a BBB-accredited business, for example, helps shoppers know your company is legit.
Conversion rate optimization trend #10: Harnessing the power of video
Next on this list of trends in conversion rate optimization is harnessing the power of video. Did you know that 90% of people say videos help them make purchasing decisions? Videos are a powerful medium for helping you increase conversions for your business.
Videos help you deliver a lot of information in a short period. Additionally, it’s an engaging medium to use to share that information with your audience. You can present critical information to your audience in a fun and engaging way, which helps you boost conversions for your business.
How to capitalize on this CRO trend
If you want to take advantage of this CRO trend, start generating video ideas for your business. You can create multiple types of videos, from promotional to informational. Videos are great for helping you promote your latest sale or introduce a new product.
Once you’ve generated a list of video ideas, you’ll want to start planning how to develop the video. What information do you need to include? What’s your video’s goal? These are all questions you’ll want to answer before shooting your video.
When you’re ready to shoot your video, keep in mind that you don’t need fancy video equipment to film a high-quality video. Many of today’s smartphones have high-quality cameras that will suffice for making your videos.
Once you create and edit your videos, be sure to share them through different channels your business uses, like email and social media.
Conversion rate optimization trend #11: Offering special discounts or loyalty rewards
One of the biggest CRO trends for 2023 is offering special discounts or loyalty rewards. Shoppers today want to take advantage of every discount and special offer to help them get the most for their dollar.
If you want to increase conversions for your business, consider offering special discounts for shoppers. Many businesses will offer discounts for someone’s first purchase in exchange for joining their email list, which can be a great way to motivate shoppers to buy.
If you want to keep customers coming back, consider using loyalty rewards. Loyalty rewards encourage people to want to keep buying from you, which helps you increase conversions for your business.
How to capitalize on this CRO trend
Want to take advantage of this CRO trend? Start by thinking about what discounts you can offer and when. For example, offering a discount for first-time buyers and cart abandoners are two great instances where offering a discount can result in a conversion.
There are multiple types of discounts you can offer, from a percentage off a shopper’s purchase to free shipping. Always make sure you consider the context and what kind of discount would make shoppers more inclined to purchase.
If you have a loyalty program, consider what you can offer to entice people to shop more with your brand. Would a free gift sweeten the deal, or would a free credit encourage more purchases? Think about your audience and what is likely to get them to purchase repeatedly from your business.
Conversion rate optimization trend #12: Using customer relationship management (CRM) software
The last item on our list of trends in conversion rate optimization is using customer relationship management (CRM) software. CRM software is a critical piece to your conversion rate puzzle because it helps you continually nudge prospects toward converting.
With CRM software, you can keep track of prospects as they move through the sales funnel. It enables you to see where prospects are, so you can improve your speed to lead, and deliver the information and promotional materials that help them convert.
When you deliver the right information to prospects at the right time, you can improve your conversion rate.
How to capitalize on this CRO trend
If you want to take advantage of this CRO trend, start by looking at your sales funnel. Think about what prospects want most at each stage. Are they looking for information about a product, or do they want to see testimonials that will convince them to buy?
When you can identify what information will help prospects most, you can then create the content they need to move closer to converting.
Take advantage of these conversion rate optimization trends today
If you’re looking to improve your conversion rate, you need to stay on top of the latest CRO trends. Following CRO trends will help you set your business up to improve your conversion rate and increase your sales and revenue.
If you need help optimizing your marketing strategy to earn more conversions, WebFX can help. As a full-service digital marketing agency, we offer dozens of services to help you improve your marketing and boost conversions.
Not to mention, we’ve already driven $3 billion in revenue for our clients.
Ready to increase your conversions? View our CRO pricing and plans and then contact us online or call us today at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist about our conversion rate optimization services!
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