Think It’s Okay To Ignore Small Conversions? Think Again

It was Constantin Stanislavski who said “There are no small parts, only small actors,” meaning that every role holds significance. His words, of course, were intended for the theater. But the same logic can also be applied to CRO: there are no small conversions, only small marketers.

Every conversion, no matter how small, holds significance.

Obviously, bigger conversions, like making a purchase or signing up for a subscription, are super important, as they play the leading roles in impacting your bottom line. However, “if you are only focusing on the ‘bigger conversions’ in your conversion optimization strategy, you may be guilty of a bit of myopia,” says entrepreneur and digital marketing expert John Unger.

Your target audience might fit a particular avatar, but your customers are still individuals.

This means your customers may decide to purchase or subscribe at different rates. Some may be ready to whip their credit cards out right away (although that’s far less likely) while others may want to take their time.
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John Unger: “It may help to think of your website as if it were a brick and mortar store selling high-end chocolates. Sure, you will have customers who will simply walk in your door, look around for a few moments, grab what they want, and make a purchase.

However, you will also have many customers who take a slower approach. On their first visit, they may just take a look around. On the next, they may ask a few questions and walk out with a sales flyer. They may come back and ask for a sample. Eventually, if you treat them right, throughout all of those little actions, they will come in and make a purchase.”

The Value Of Micro-Conversions

Smaller conversions are also known as micro-conversions and they are important to track, as they act as “goals” that help to engage, inform, and build relationships with your visitors.

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According to Thom Craver, the buying process consists of five stages:

  1. “Recognizing a problem/need
  2. Searching for a solution to the problem
  3. Evaluating options discovered
  4. Purchasing
  5. Post-purchase evaluation”

And as you can see, only stage four involves a “big conversion.” So the majority of visitors who come to your site are not going to convert in this way. Therefore, it’s useful to segment your visitors based on micro-conversions and track and measure them the same way you would sales or leads.

Some of the biggest benefits of measuring micro-conversions include the following:

  • Gaining a thorough understanding of your site’s visitors and what they’re interested in, so you know what to focus on
  • Identifying the areas where visitors are getting turned off or stuck in the conversion process
  • Providing you with tons of useful A/B testing fodder.

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Which Smaller Conversions Should You Pay Attention To With Your CRO Strategy?

This list is by no means exhaustive, but it’s a good place to start:

  1. Downloading a free trial or demo
  2. Signing up to receive a newsletter
  3. Requesting additional information via a contact form
  4. Clicking on links, especially to view product descriptions or to “learn more” in some way
  5. Sharing content on social media (liking, tweeting, pinning, etc.)
  6. Watching a video

All of these micro-conversions, especially 1-3, are indicative of interest from potential customers. People who visit your site wouldn’t take these actions unless they felt some enthusiasm for your company or offer.

With customers who convert in one or two small ways, there’s a greater chance that they will eventually buy from you. And this is why you, as a marketer, should strive to make the user experience as seamless and friendly as possible and why you should also be tracking these micro-conversions. Additionally, it’s beneficial to assign a dollar value to micro-conversions whenever possible.

What’s your attitude towards micro-conversions? Are you guilty of ignoring them?