Month: June 2020

Branding: The Key To Establishing A Successful Business

Post author By Valerie Cher
Post date June 26, 2020
No Comments on Branding: The Key To Establishing A Successful Business

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Branding: The Key To Establishing A Successful Business

Look at the above logos. Do they remind you of something?

What emotions do they evoke in you? Trendy, satisfaction, happiness?

The reason why you can easily identify with logos without needing the brand name to be spelt out visibly is due to the strong branding behind these corporations. These logos are the faces of the companies and they form the brand image.

Of course, logos are just one part of branding. There are many other aspects of branding, some being customer service and advertising. Effectively, branding is how you establish an identity for your brand which differentiates itself from your competitors. When consumers see or hear of your brand, they can easily identify it with something, be it an emotion, an experience, or a combination of both.

For instance, when you think of Apple, you associate it with minimalism. When you think of Disney, you associate it with happiness. When you think of Gucci, you associate it with luxury.

Branding is an important aspect of any business as it ensures that the consumer’s perception of the brand is in line with the message that the company is trying to communicate. The brand in itself is an asset to the company, creating a positive and long-lasting impression on the consumers. This not only creates a strong and loyal customer base but generates a steady stream of revenue in the long term.

Constituents reported an average of 33% in growth if they maintained brand consistency.

Source: Lucidpress

Branding is a very effective marketing strategy when done well and we shall delve deeper into the importance of branding.

Why Is Branding Important?

1. Creates Customer Loyalty

If you are a Pepsi drinker, how likely are you to switch to Coca-Cola?

If you are a Coca-Cola drinker, how likely are you to switch to Pepsi?

Unlikely, isn’t it?

There may be various reasons as to why you refuse to do a brand switch, such as the preference for a particular taste, or the habit of buying a specific brand.

Ultimately, when branding is done correctly, it can instill a sense of loyalty in your customers and they will choose your brand over another. The satisfaction derived from consuming or utilizing your product or service keeps them coming back for more. Not just that, they will be more willing to try other products of the same brand due to the positive perception associated with it.

It costs about 5 to 10 times more to find a new customer than to keep your existing one.

Current customers tend to spend 67% more than new customers do.

Source: Penefit

Strong branding campaigns have the ability to retain your customers and convert them into long-term loyal customers. This secures a constant inflow of revenue for your company, once again proving that customer loyalty is key to running a successful business.

2. Establish Credibility and Trust

Look at GoPro. GoPro branded itself as “the world’s most versatile action cameras” and even though it was only founded in 2002, it has sold over 30 million action cameras since 2009. GoPro is known for its really small cameras, yet offer quality recording for different kinds of action. How then, did it manage to gain customers’ trust despite being a relatively new player in the market?

Well, GoPro focused its branding on the nature of action and adventure. It was able to communicate to the customers about its unique features and functions. Of course, GoPro did not just make empty promises. It was able to deliver quality photos and videos produced from its cameras, further strengthening its credibility as the producer of the world’s most versatile action cameras.

62% of customers state that they are loyal to brands that they can trust.

Source: Business2community

For someone who may not require or own an action camera, it is difficult not to know about the existence of GoPro due to the extensive branding done by them. Branding as a marketing strategy helps to put your brand out there, showcasing it to the world and letting everyone know about it. When done well, the image of your brand and its story will be remembered by people, even by those who have yet to become your customers. This builds credibility for your brand and product, allowing anyone (both customers and non-customers) to fully trust what you are offering.

3. Form An Emotional Connection With Your Customers

Besides earning the trust of your customers and their loyalty towards your brand, branding gives you the ability to develop an emotional connection with your customers.

Look at Disney. The word “Disney” itself evokes a sense of happiness and nostalgia. Disney attracts people of all ages and across all countries. With a market capitalization hovering near $200 billion, the Disney brand is constantly expanding and growing. The answer in Disney’s success lies in its branding strategy.

Disney is able to effectively communicate a brand story to its audience. It creates a whole new world of the impossible and conveys these emotions through storytelling. By first creating a story, Disney is then able to build a product line around this story. This emotional link connects customers to the brand and makes it easy for customers to relate to the brand.

Different brands can evoke different emotions and feelings. The key is for your customers to feel emotionally connected to your brand through a similarity in emotions. The emotion does not have to always be a happy emotion, it can be fear, anxiousness, or sadness. As long as you have successfully formed an emotional connection with your customers, they are more likely to remember your brand and stay as a loyal customer.

4. Foster Employee Loyalty and Pride

As an employee, would you prefer to work for a company that is well-known with a strong brand history? Or a company with a negative reputation?

Of course, you will choose the former.

By working for a company with strong branding and reputation, the employees will take pride in their work. It gives them a sense of purpose and fulfillment to work for the company, whereby they will find satisfaction in it and be motivated to work even harder.

With a common goal and direction, your employees can better understand their job and perform better. This plays a part in integrating them into the company, becoming part of a big company and fostering a sense of belonging.

No one likes to work in a company with a depressing culture. A happy employee in a positive work culture and environment is sure to perform better. With a strong motivation and drive for the work they are doing, work efficiency and productivity will surely improve. This in turn will bring in more revenue for the company, where highly engaged employees show 21% greater profitability.

Take Lush for instance. Lush has recognized the importance of employee engagement on its brand image. Their motto “happy people make happy soap” shows their acknowledgement of its employees as important assets. As a result, Lush ranks in the top 10 retail employers to work for.

Employees are the driving force behind the success of a company and if you want your employees to take pride in their work, strong branding is the way to go.

5. Competitive Edge Over Competitors

In any industry, there is always more than one person doing the same thing. The market is a competitive place, saturated with brands and companies offering a similar product or service. If you want your customers to be loyal to you, you need to differentiate yourself from your competitors and stand out to your potential customers.

What makes you different from your competitors? If you can’t answer this question yourself, your potential customers will not be able to tell the difference as well.

How can you differentiate yourself from your competitors then?

Giving yourself a name and a positive reputation is the fastest way to be a leader in the industry. Through branding, you can tell your customers what makes you so special or unique. The ability to differentiate yourself from your competitors will give you a competitive advantage over your competitors. With an effective branding strategy, you raise the barrier to entry and make it harder for new brands to compete against you.

So… …

Branding is a very effective marketing strategy which can transform your business from a common street name to one that is widely recognized. It is important to establish a strong brand and reputation as it ensures a loyal customer base, which will result in continuous profitability for the company.

Continuous efforts in branding open up more doors for opportunities in the future. With a brand that is credible and trusted by many, it is easier to expand into other industries and loyal customers will follow suit. Even with quality products and services, a company will not be able to excel if it has a poor branding strategy.

As mentioned earlier, there are many aspects to branding, some being the logo, quality of customer service, and forms of advertising.

With an effective branding strategy, people will come to trust your brand. Of course, you should do more to further improve your credibility, such as the use of social proof to further increase your conversion rate. Check out Ping Proof for a suite of notification widgets that leverage on social proof to add onto your website in a few easy steps. Request for a 14-day free trial with us today!

Conversion Optimization Tips & Tricks

10 Guaranteed Ways To Reduce Bounce Rate

Post author By Valerie Cher
Post date June 21, 2020
No Comments on 10 Guaranteed Ways To Reduce Bounce Rate

Reading Time: 9 minutes

10 Guaranteed Ways To Reduce Bounce Rate

Imagine walking into a store and making a u-turn to leave because you don’t see anything you like. That’s the equivalent of “bouncing” on a website, making up the bounce rate.

What Is Bounce Rate?

A visitor to your website is said to “bounce” when he/she leaves without further interacting with the website, such as navigating to another page.

To put it mathematically, the bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who visit your website and leave without taking action. They are a group of “one-page’’ visitors.

What Does This Mean?

A high bounce rate would mean a large number of visitors leaving your website without taking the desired action. If the success of your website requires users to visit multiple pages, then a high bounce rate is something that you would want to avoid. For many businesses, especially ecommerce, this relates to poorer conversion rates and loss of potential customers and sales. As such, reducing bounce rates on your website should be made a key focus.

Imagine spending thousands of dollars on advertising in an attempt to bring more traffic to your website. Yes, you may have managed to achieve higher traffic. However, if it is accompanied by high bounce rates on your website, then you are essentially wasting your marketing dollars and resources. And that is why reducing your high bounce rate is a big deal and should be made a priority.

What Is The Benchmark?

So, what makes a good and bad bounce rate?

Well, there is no strict answer because it depends on the nature of the website. If the website consists of only a single webpage, the bounce rate will naturally be high since the next natural thing for visitors to do after going through your website is to leave.

However, based on the averages across different types of platforms and industries, you will be able to have a rough idea of where you stand.

Here are the bounce rate averages across different types of websites:

Benchmark bounce rate by industry — *Source: CXL*

If your bounce rate is performing below the industry average, you should start making changes to your website to improve it. We have provided 10 tips on what you should do, so start taking action today!

10 Tips to Reduce Bounce Rates

1. Improve Page Loading Speed

Imagine how frustrated you get when trapped in a traffic jam.

Well, that’s exactly how you will feel when you encounter a slow loading page.

Not a very pleasant feeling or experience right?

Page speed affects bounce rates — *Source: Section*

A slow page loading speed drives users away easily as they are most likely to become impatient.

This means:

Number of pages viewed by visitors decreases
Bounce rate increases

With such a poor user experience, it is no surprise that your visitors have a tendency to leave your website without exploring further.

For starters, you can easily check your page loading speed using tools such as Pingdom and GTmetrix for free. There are many ways to improve your page loading speed, such as minimizing your code (JavaScript, HTML, etc.) and improving server response time.

As such, it is important to optimize your page loading speed to provide a better experience and thereby retain your visitors to reduce the bounce rate.

2. Personalize, Personalize, & Personalize

Over 63% of shoppers state that personalization on the landing page impacts purchasing decisions.

Source: 2018 Consumer Trends Report by KIBO

Customers nowadays like to be showered with attention and treated like a king. For instance, your website can look at addressing them by their names to impress them. This is a form of personalization. Of course, there are other ways that you can provide a personalized experience for your users such as greeting them based on their geographic location. With data, this is something that can be easily achieved.

By reaching out to your visitors in a personalized manner, they are more inclined to stay on and explore the other features of your website. It keeps them engaged and provides better user experience, making them feel special and unique. With the reduced bounce rates, it also helps in driving up conversions on your website.

3. Utilize Exit-Intent Popup

An exit-intent popup is a very effective way to reduce your bounce rate and increase your conversions. It is triggered when a user attempts to leave your website and a popup message will be displayed to encourage and convince your users to stay, such as the one shown below.

75% of users come back to the website after seeing an offer inside an exit intent popup.

Source: OSI Affiliate

By incentivizing your popup message with an offer or targeting your users according to their browsing history, you can create a targeted message to appeal to your users. This will not only convince them to stay but encourage them to make a purchase, therefore reducing your bounce rate while increasing your conversion rate.

4. Create A Compelling CTA

We all know that a Call-To-Action (CTA) button plays an important role in converting customers, bringing users one step deeper down the funnel. There are many considerations when creating a good CTA, such as location, color, size, and many more.

Personalizing your CTA is a great way to reduce your bounce rate. For instance, for a first-time visitor, a “Learn More Here” CTA will be a lot more appropriate than a “Buy Now” CTA. The type of CTA displayed accurately reflects their current state of interest and knowledge of your website, leading each individual user one step deeper into the funnel.

Personalized Call-To-Action Perform 202% Better Than Basic CTAs

Source: Hubspot

A compelling CTA is a powerful and important element on your website. They have the ability to turn your visitors into potential clients and should not be overlooked. As such, if you want to reduce your bounce rate, you have to create a compelling CTA that will entice them to click it, be it buying a product or just to learn more about your company.

5. Ensure External Links Open In New Windows

Just like this blog post, it is not uncommon for websites to contain external links. External links are web links that bring users to another website that may or may not be related to your business.

By programming these external links to open in a new window, it ensures that visitors will not leave your website. Should the external link replace the current URL, visitors may be distracted by the new website and not return to your website.

Moreover, doing so means that visitors do not have to constantly click the “back” button to return to the original page, making it more convenient for them.

88% of users are less likely to return to a site because of bad user experience.

Source: bluespace

If you do not want your visitors to leave, you should provide a better user experience and give them a reason to stay.

6. Use Social Proof To Increase Credibility

Social proof is a very powerful tool. When in a situation of uncertainty and self-doubt, people tend to look to others as a gauge for their own behavior.

Using a live counter (like the one shown below) to show the number of active visitors on your website in real-time is an effective way to prove the credibility of your website to your visitors, assuring them that there are other like-minded people on your website. This removes any fear or suspicion, giving them the confidence to continue exploring your website, hence helping to bring your bounce rate down.

Ping Proof Active Visitor Count — *Source: Ping Proof*

For example, if you run an ecommerce business, reviews and testimonials from previous buyers serve as a strong source of credibility for new customers who wish to purchase a product. This not only eradicates any doubt or suspicion but also gives users the confidence to purchase.

Users rely heavily on these social proof to make a decision.

Ping Proof Testimonial — *Source: Ping Proof*

Adding testimonials led to a 34% increase in purchases.

Source: WikiJob

93% of consumers say online reviews have an impact on their purchase decision.

Source: Podium

This goes to show the importance of social proof and its ability to influence your user’s perception of your website. So if social proof has such a power and ability, why not leverage it to improve the credibility of your website and reduce your bounce rate?

7. Make It Mobile-Friendly

70% of internet access is via mobile devices. It is not uncommon for people to own if not one, but multiple mobile devices these days. Since the majority of users are accessing the internet via mobile devices, a mobile-friendly interface is a must.

40% of mobile users will choose another search result if the one they land on isn’t mobile-friendly.

Source: Marketpath

Users should be able to easily make the desired action on their mobile devices without having to make any additional effort. The functionality and usability of the website should be the same on mobile devices as on desktop computers. This not only retains your users due to better user experience, it also helps to reduce bounce rates as the positive experience makes it more compelling for them to surf multiple pages of your website.

8. Quality Over Quantity

Focus on the quality of your web traffic rather than the quantity. Sure, numbers may represent results and high web traffic may seem like a good thing. After all, it means that more people know about your website.

However, that does not mean that your visitors will stick around long enough to carry out the desired action you want them to do. In other words, they may not be the value customers you are looking for.

A great way to drive quality traffic to your website would be to focus on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This means optimizing your website to include highly relevant keywords in the page title, meta description and heading, as well as attract organic traffic via a proper content strategy. This will help to filter out low quality traffic because organic visitors have high intent and have a specific topic in mind when they enter your website.

By focusing on targeting and capturing visitors who fit the description of your target audience, it will ensure that the “correct” visitors stay on your website long enough for them to take action, effectively reducing your bounce rate and increasing your chances of converting them into long-term value customers.

9. Ensure A Pleasant User Interface And Experience

Imagine entering a website that is cluttered with information and difficult to use.

How likely are you to leave the website immediately?

Most likely right?

38% of users will stop engaging with a website if the content is unattractive in its layout or imagery.

Source: Adobe

For starters, do not clutter your webpage with too much information. Keeping it clean and minimalistic prevents you from overwhelming your visitors with details. Good interfaces avoid unnecessary features and elements that may distract users.

Likewise, ensure that the webpage flows smoothly. This means a logical flow of information, guiding your visitors down the webpage where they can ultimately take action. By making it easy for visitors to explore your website, they are less likely to be distracted by other factors that can prompt their leave.

Your visitor should feel comfortable and be able to easily navigate throughout the website. This will give your visitors a better user experience and give you the opportunity to retain them and capture their attention with the content that you have to share, thereby reducing your bounce rate.

10. Optimize Your Website With A/B Testing

Even if you have a healthy bounce rate, there is always room for improvement.

Conducting A/B testing to compare multiple versions of your website is a great way to draw valuable comparisons and insights, allowing you to identify features and versions that work better. These changes can be as small as changing the font size of your text or the color of your CTA. However, these small changes can make a huge difference in retaining your visitors and thereby reduce your bounce rate.

Always be prepared to test, test, and test.

With That Being Said…

At the end of the day, your visitors will have to leave your website. However, you do not want your visitors to leave without taking the desired action. These visitors are the key to your business success and you should do your best to retain them on your website.

You may be spending thousands of dollars on advertising, trying to drive more traffic to your website. But with a high bounce rate, it all comes to naught. As such, reducing bounce rate should be a priority. Of course, if you follow the tips above, you are on to a great start.

With Ping Proof, we can easily help you make some of the changes mentioned above to achieve a lower bounce rate. Check out our suite of social proof notification widgets that can help you drive your conversion rates too. We will let the numbers do the talking, so request for a 14-day free trial with us today!

Conversion Optimization

Call-To-Action (CTA): The Smart Move To Grow Conversions

Post author By Kelly Tan
Post date June 21, 2020
No Comments on Call-To-Action (CTA): The Smart Move To Grow Conversions

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Call-To-Action (CTA): The Smart Move To Rapidly Grow Conversions

What Is Call-To-Action (CTA)?

Call-to-action (CTA) is a prompt that encourages visitors to perform a specific action on your website. Different CTAs have different objectives, but the ultimate purpose for CTAs is to really bring users down the marketing funnel to drive conversions and sales. Common CTA examples include ‘sign up now’, ‘try it now’, ‘click here to learn more’ and ‘redeem your coupon now’. It usually appears in the form of a button, but it can also appear in the form of an image or words. Essentially, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for CTAs, so as a website owner, you will have to determine the objectives and decide on the most appropriate one to use.

For example, a design company selling a design software might include a CTA that states ‘click here for a free trial’ to encourage free trial sign-ups. This would immediately bring to the users’ attention that they have an option of a free trial, which otherwise they might be unaware of and the company would miss the opportunity of getting the users to experience their software.

Why Is CTA Important?

CTAs can greatly help to boost conversions and sales. Having CTAs on your website displays ‘proactiveness’, whereby instead of having the customers to search for the available options themselves, you make the first move by anticipating their actions and providing them with the options instead.

Without a proper CTA, visitors who may be keen to find out more about your products or services may be lost and unsure about how to proceed to the next step, and you most certainly do not want to let your users spend extra time trying to navigate their way around. This makes it a very poor user experience and will lead to drop-offs. Hence, CTAs are important in helping to guide users to take the next steps.

Tips For An Effective CTA

1) Position

There have been debates about where to place the CTA: above or below the fold. In fact, both have their benefits.

Above the fold – Placing the CTA above the fold is useful as many people only read the headlines and skip the content, hence they might not notice the CTA if it’s placed below the fold. Some might also have read about your products or services elsewhere and entered your website just to find out the next steps they can take, hence putting the CTA above the fold would capture their attention immediately and make navigation easier for them.

Below the fold – Many users, especially first-time visitors, may need to read more content to find out more about your products or services before they are convinced and willing to click on the CTA. Furthermore, if users have read more content on your webpage, it indicates a higher interest in your products or services, and hence a higher chance of them clicking on the CTA.

Open Mile’s conversion rate increased by 232% when they reduced clutter around their CTA.

Source: Delhi School of Internet Marketing

It is also important not to place the CTA in a position surrounded by many other images or texts as it would be messy and would make the CTA less obvious. As it is crucial for the CTA to stand out and be recognized immediately, leaving negative space around it would definitely help to improve its visibility.

2) Frequency

Multiple Call to Actions Increased Conversions by 20%

Source: Invesp

Ideally, every page should have at least one CTA. Placing a CTA on every page of your website allows users to know what actions they can take after reading the content on each page.

There is no harm in putting multiple CTAs per page, but be careful not to include excessively as this might overwhelm the readers and confuse them. You should avoid the situation in which they have to spend quite some time deciding between the multiple CTAs or even being confused and unsure about the differences between them. Poor user experience is definitely not something that you would want for them.

3) Design

The CTA should be attention-grabbing and stand out from the rest of the content. It has to be immediately recognizable with one clear look, without the user having to spend time searching for it or even worse, being unable to find it.

Color – The color of the CTA button should have a good contrast from the other colors used on the website. Avoid using a color that is already used by the other words on your website as it may blend in and make it less obvious that it is a CTA. Brighter colors should preferably be used instead of dull ones to make the CTA stand out.

Size – The size of the text in the CTA should be bigger than the size of the other text on the page so as to draw the user’s attention to it, and to highlight its importance.

Font – The font used should be easy to read, and not too complicated. The user needs to be able to make sense of the words at first glance.

CTA button on Hootsuite — *Source: Example of a CTA from Hootsuite*

4) Copy

The CTA and its copy come hand-in-hand. Not only does the CTA need to be visually outstanding, but the copy also needs to be convincing and compelling enough such that the user will find the need to click on it. No matter how attractive your CTA is, if the users are not convinced, they ultimately will not click on it.

The copy should preferably state the benefits users get by taking that action, its importance as well as highlight the need and urgency to take the action. It should make the users feel that they are missing out on something possibly beneficial to them if they do not click on it. Hence, a well-designed CTA button should always be accompanied by a compelling copy for maximum effectiveness.

Choosing and using the right words for your CTA is really important. There are several points that you should take note of:

Be Clear – The CTA needs to state clearly what the action is about, and exactly what to expect after clicking on it. The action must be exactly the same as described, and should not be a bait to lead the user to a different link to perform another action. This would result in you losing your customer’s trust and it may also deter them from further exploring your website.

Get straight to the point – Don’t beat around the bush and get straight to the point. The text on the CTA button should be concise, simply stating the main purpose of it. Any elaborations should be placed in the text leading to the CTA button, and not on the button itself.

Use simple yet powerful words – Use words that are easy to comprehend yet powerful in getting the user to click on the CTA. Examples of effective words frequently used are: Learn, Free, Get, Start, Now, and Try. Also, creating a sense of urgency among users can be highly effective due to the fear of missing out (FOMO) mentality among people. You can do this by using words such as ‘Limited Time Only’, ‘Only For This Week’ and ‘Offer Ends Soon’ to tell users that they would need to act fast if they want to claim the offer.

CTA button on Slack — *Source: Example of CTA from Slack*

5) A/B Testing

Different people may react to a particular CTA differently, and the same CTA button can also have different effects when placed on different websites. There is no single ‘perfect CTA’ button for all to use. Hence, it is crucial for you to conduct A/B testing to determine the preferences of your audience. You can do this by changing the color, positioning, and text of the CTA. Even making the slightest changes that you thought didn’t matter may result in a drastic change in click-through rates (CTR). Never assume that a CTA is the best CTA, as you will never know until you test more options.

For example, Humana, an insurance healthcare provider, achieved a 433% increase in CTR by altering its CTA such as changing its color, text, and text length.

CTA button on Humana — *Source: Crazy Egg*

This example shows exactly how crucial and effective A/B testing is in creating wonders for your click-through rates. You will never know how making changes to your CTA can impact your business until you try it out.

Looking To Increase Your Conversions?

Paying attention to your CTA is indeed essential if you want to boost sales and conversions. However, improving your CTA is just one of many other aspects that you can work on to boost your conversions. Another key aspect that you should focus on is Social Proof.

Social Proof has a huge impact on a consumer’s decision-making process. When done right, it can be a very effective method to increase conversions and drive up sales. However, for it to be effective, choosing the right tools is important as well. That’s why at Ping Proof, we provide you with just the platform to get it done.

With Ping Proof, you can create and customize notifications to your website visitors in a matter of minutes.

Emoji Feedback

An interactive way for users to give feedback about your site

Ping Proof - Live Counter

Informational Feedback

Fully customizable informational message for your users

Ping Proof - Social Share

Countdown Collector

Create urgency/FOMO with a countdown timer and an input for lead generation.

Coupon

The best way to let your users know that you are running a sale.

Many competitors out there have already implemented Social Proof on their websites. You simply can’t afford to miss this step. Want to convert your website visitors to customers? Start your journey now with Ping Proof! Request for a 14-day free trial with us today!

Conversion Optimization Lead Generation

How To Generate Leads Using Lead Magnets

Post author By Valerie Cher
Post date June 16, 2020
No Comments on How To Generate Leads Using Lead Magnets

Reading Time: 6 minutes

How To Generate Leads Using Lead Magnets

What Are Lead Magnets?

A lead magnet is a benefit or incentive that you offer to your target audience in exchange for their contact information – usually their email address. They then become your leads, someone who you can reach out to and potentially convert them into your long term value customers.

Lead magnets can be really effective in reaching out to your target audience and they help narrow down your scope, ensuring that you are focusing on leads that are most relevant. Those who have signed up for these lead magnets are those who already have an interest in what you are offering, preventing you from going on a wild goose chase to find the right customers.

Lead magnets can take many forms, such as a checklist, a guide, a webinar, a free trial, and many more. Anything valuable that you can offer to your potential leads in exchange for their contact information can be considered a lead magnet.

Characteristics Of A Good Lead Magnet

1. Solves A Problem

The most important thing about a lead magnet is that it must solve a specific problem that your audience is currently facing or help them to achieve a specific goal. It should also provide actionable steps for them to solve this problem or to improve on the situation.

So, do your homework first and find out what problems your target audience is facing or the goals they are working towards. This will help you to come up with a lead magnet that gathers their interest and truly benefits them.

2. Be Clear And Specific

You are busy, but your potential leads are equally busy.

Avoid beating around the bush and get straight to the point. A good lead magnet should give your audience a clear understanding of the message you are trying to bring across.

3. Be Different

You need to be able to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Your audience will not be interested in a lead magnet that can easily be found in many other blogs or websites. By offering a lead magnet that is unique and different from your competitors, there will naturally be greater interest from your target audience.

4. Be empathetic

In order to connect with your potential customers and show them that you understand what they are going through, you have to empathize with them. This means crafting your lead magnet such that it addresses the problems and issues faced by the readers and reassures them with a solution. This will not only make your readers feel better, but connect with them on a deeper level.

5. Make It Easy to Comprehend

Busy professionals don’t have all day to digest your lead magnet, so it is crucial that you make it easy for them to read. Avoid walls of text and jargon that are difficult to comprehend, and keep the content easily digestible for your busy audience.

6. Demonstrate Your Unique Value Proposition

Your UVP is the value that you are able to offer. It is the essence of your business. It tells your potential customers what you are offering, the benefits of your offer, how your offer serves to solve their problems and what makes you stand out from your competitors.

A lead magnet is a great medium to demonstrate your expertise to potential customers and it is important that you leverage on this tool to show the value that you can bring to your potential customers.

Types Of Lead Magnet You Can Use

1. Ebook

An ebook is like any other book, except that it is an electronic version which can be accessed on any electronic devices, such as your mobile phone or your laptop. With everyone carrying at least one electronic device these days, ebooks are an effective lead magnet on educating your readers anywhere and anytime.

2. A Report

A report is a document that contains a collection of statistics and data about a particular topic. You may conduct research to collect the data yourself, or you may compile a series of data from credible sources.

For instance, the State of Marketing Report is a good example containing statistics of changing market trends.

In order for readers to attain this comprehensive report, they have to provide their contact information. — *In order for visitors to attain this comprehensive report, they have to provide their contact information.*

Reports as lead magnets have the ability to provide insights and advice to your readers, giving you the opportunity to solidify your brand expertise and build your brand’s credibility.

3. Checklist

A checklist is used to keep track of a series of actionable tasks to help users achieve a certain goal. It is a great lead magnet as it is easily digestible and does not contain lengthy chunks of information. Furthermore, it is easy to create and is also a simple activity for your users.

Want to let your readers know how you can help them? A checklist is a great way to show them what they are missing. You can summarize some of your blog posts or guides and follow it up with a checklist.

Here is an example of a checklist we have created:

This is a blog post about ways to optimize your landing page.

It is then followed up with a checklist as a lead magnet to obtain your reader’s email address.

4. Webinar

Webinars are live videos or workshops conducted to imparts skills and knowledge about a particular niche to your audience. This is a great way to establish brand authority in your field.

Since webinars are only broadcasted at a certain time with limited seatings, they are popular lead magnets because of their ability to instill the fear of missing out in your audience.

73% of B2B marketers and sales leaders say a webinar is the best way to generate high-quality leads.

Source: GoToWebinar

It is also a highly conversational engagement as you get to mingle with your audience, keeping them highly engaged. If done well, it can engage your audience for hours, something that the usual content may not be able to achieve.

5. Template

Everyone loves a good template. A template is an outline in which others can just fill in the blanks, something that is simple and easy to use.

It can be a template for crafting formal emails, or even a template on creating a landing page, something that they can easily use to create their own content.

6. Toolkit

A toolkit is a compilation of tools that serves a purpose, or to achieve a particular goal. By using a toolkit as a lead magnet, you are providing your readers with a variety of tools that they might not know exists and once you attain their contact information, you can follow up with a more in-depth offer. This is an effective lead magnet to show your resourcefulness.

Example of a toolkit to create your brand assets:

Source: Ping Proof

7. Free Trial

Consumers today are intelligent and will do their due diligence before making a purchase. Many times, they are also skeptical and takes a lot of convincing to assure them that your product is more suitable for them. What better way to convince them other than a free trial? Let your product’s value speak for itself. This can be a really effective lead magnet in converting your free trial users to paid customers.

An example would be YouTube offering a one month free trial for its premium account.

With that being said…

There are many forms of lead magnets and the above are just some of our favorites. A good lead magnet provides value for the target audience and seeks to convert leads into paid customers. It is not difficult to create a compelling lead magnet, but you do want to ensure that it is a hassle-free step for your audience to insert their contact details. You don’t want to turn potential leads off with a lengthy form that takes minutes to fill in.

With Ping Proof, you will be able to generate and collect leads easily in a flash.

Email Collector

Easily collect emails and generate leads from your users.

Request Collector

Collecting leads has never been easier with the request collector.

Countdown Collector

Create urgency/FOMO with a countdown timer and an input for lead generation.

Want to try out the lead generation widgets shown above? Request for a 14-day free trial with us today!

Conversion Optimization Sales

10 Ways To Reduce Cart Abandonment Rate

Post author By Valerie Cher
Post date June 9, 2020
No Comments on 10 Ways To Reduce Cart Abandonment Rate

Reading Time: 10 minutes

10 Ways To Reduce Cart Abandonment Rate

Imagine yourself in a brick and mortar store……

After piling your shopping trolley with a series of items, how likely are you to throw your trolley aside? Leaving the store without buying anything.

Rare. Right?

But that is not the case when you are shopping on an ecommerce site. You can easily abandon your cart without having to put every single item back on the shelf. After all, it’s a virtual store.

But for owners like you and me, that means a high cart abandonment rate.

What Is Cart Abandonment Rate?

The number of people who have added items into their cart, yet they leave your ecommerce site without checking out. That is your cart abandonment rate.

Formula for cart abandonment rate

According to Baymard Institute, the average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate is calculated to be 69.57%. This is based on 41 different studies containing statistics on ecommerce shopping cart abandonment.

7 out of 10 people will walk away without purchasing anything

This means that out of 10 people, close to 7 will walk away without purchasing anything!

Imagine all the sales that you could have gained from this.

Such a waste, isn’t it? I mean, the fact that they have added these items into their cart meant that they were one step away to the finish line.

But what made them decide to leave?

There are many factors that result in this behavior, some being a long checkout procedure or simply a change of heart.

Reasons for cart abandonment during checkout — *Source: Baymard Institute*

The top 3 reasons for cart abandonment would be the high extra fees, the need for a member account, and a tedious checkout process.

Cart abandonment is inevitable. There will always be people who decide to bounce at the last minute for whatever reasons and you do not really have control over it. However, don’t let this be an obstacle in obtaining more sales and a higher conversion rate. What you can do is to reduce your cart abandonment rate, and you can start by improving certain features on your ecommerce site.

If your customers are lacking the motivation to cross the finish line, don’t just wait for them. Give them a friendly push to cross the finish line.

Now that you know that there is still hope in saving your cart abandonment rate, let us talk you through this process.

Here are 10 simple ways to minimize cart abandonment.

1. Make Use Of Social Proof To Increase Credibility

Website A: ecommerce platform endorsed by a Hollywood celebrity

Website B: ecommerce platform without endorsement

Both websites A and B sell the exact same speaker in which you are considering to purchase. Which ecommerce platform would you purchase the product from? I think the answer is pretty straightforward. You would choose to purchase from website A.

Why is that so?

That is the power of social proof. When in a situation of uncertainty and self-doubt, people tend to look to others as a gauge for their own behavior. Similarly, reviews and testimonials from previous buyers serve as a strong source of credibility for new buyers who wish to purchase a product. This not only eradicates any doubt or suspicion, but also gives users the confidence to purchase, hence increasing your conversion rate.

Users rely heavily on these social proof to make a decision.

Positive testimonial from Amazon to reduce cart abandonment — *Source: Amazon*

Positive testimonial from Ping Proof to reduce cart abandonment — *Source: Ping Proof*

Adding testimonials led to a 34% increase in purchases.

Source: WikiJob

93% of consumers say online reviews have an impact on their purchase decision.

Source: Podium

This goes to show the importance of social proof and its ability to influence your user’s decision to purchase products from your ecommerce site. So if social proof has such a power and ability, why not leverage on it to improve the credibility of your products and reduce your cart abandonment rate?

2. Create A Seamless Navigation Between The Cart And Store

In a brick and mortar store, you would often get what you need before proceeding to the checkout. You don’t often see yourself making multiple trips between the cashier and the products.

However, this is unlikely on an ecommerce site.

On an ecommerce site, you can easily transition between the checkout page and the product page as and when you want. It is not a linear process. A difficult or rough transition may make users feel frustrated and this may cause them to leave your website, increasing your bounce rate and cart abandonment rate.

By eliminating this friction, you will create a good user experience for your users and keep your bounce rate low. This will not only increase your conversion rate, but have your users keep coming back due to the pleasant experience, building a loyal customer base.

3. Allow For Guest Checkout

28% of users abandon their cart during checkout due to the need to create an account.

Source: Baymard Institute

Why chase your users away when they are so close to making a purchase? Enforcing the need to create an account will not only reduce your cart abandonment rate, but increase your conversion rate.

By doing so, it will only make the checkout process slower and deter your users from making a smooth transaction. You may be worried about not being able to obtain more details about your customers, however, that should not be a major worry. You will still be able to obtain their basic information such as their names and email addresses upon payment, which you can use to create better shopping experiences for them in the future.

Basic information during checkout for seamless transaction to reduce cart abandonment

By allowing for guest checkout, you will be making the shopping experience for your users a smoother one and removing as much friction as possible. With a good user experience, they will be sure to come back for further purchases.

4. Make Your Checkout Process As Easy As 123

A long and complicated checkout process is part of the top 3 reasons for a high cart abandonment rate. No one likes a long tedious checkout. Everyone wants it to be fast and quick. In that case, grant it for your users.

Simplifying the checkout process and reducing the number of steps that users have to go through will make the transaction process a better one. This includes having minimal page transitions and information collection. In fact, you can do all this in one single page. All users have to do is to select a product, add it into their cart, and click “checkout”. As simple as that. In terms of designing your checkout page, it should follow those 3 steps.

One page checkout from Amazon for a simplified checkout process — *Source: Amazon*

Amazon is a great example of simplifying its checkout process. It has the delivery address, payment method, and billing address all on one page. All users have to do is to check the details and products, then click the “Place your order” CTA. Voila! That’s all they need to do to purchase the product. Simple and hassle-free.

5. Display A Progress Bar At The Checkout Page

Queuing at a brick and mortar store, you can see how near or far away you are from the cashier. The short queue may make you happy or the long queue may make you walk away. Similarly, users will appreciate an indication of their checkout progress on an ecommerce site.

By displaying a progress bar at the checkout page, users will know which stage of the checkout process they are at, eliminating any worry or anxious feelings. Just like how the checkout process should be as easy as 123, the progress bar should also accurately show the number of steps in the process. With that said, it should be as short as possible.

Simple 3 step checkout process — *Source: ASOS*

As seen above, the progress bar features 3 simple steps. Delivery, Payment and Review. This will make the checkout process clearer and more straightforward, allowing users to not only understand their actions better, but also reduce your cart abandonment rate.

6. Use Trust Signals To Evoke A Sense Of Security

Monetary transaction is a very sensitive issue. When you ask your users to pay for the products, you are asking them to trust you with their personal information such as their credit card number. You need to show them that you can be trusted with such information. What better way to do so than using security logos such as the ones shown below.

Security logos for sense of security — *Source: Digital Doughnut*

17% of consumers don’t trust ecommerce sites with their credit card information.

Source: Baymard Institute

Their concern is understandable, considering how online scams are so prevalent these days. It is your duty to appease this worry and doubt. Displaying these security logos may increase conversions as high as 42%. This is a great opportunity for you to increase your conversions.

The location and size of the logo are also vital to establishing trust. It should be placed in a visible location, especially at the checkout page where users are about to make their payment. It should also be large enough for users to notice but not too large to be disruptive to the overall user experience.

These security logos serve as trust signals to establish that your ecommerce site is trustworthy and secured. This will put your users’ minds at ease and build a good relationship with them, once again reducing your cart abandonment rate!

7. Include Thumbnail Images of Products

Imagine yourself in a supermarket. You have filled your shopping trolley with about 15 items. Now, you are not expected to remember all 15 items. But at any point in which you don’t remember what you have taken, you can easily glimpse into the trolley for a look.

However, the luxury of being able to see and feel the products itself in an actual store is not something that can be achieved in an ecommerce store. It is not uncommon for users to forget what they have added into their cart. How then, can you replicate this brick and mortar store experience onto your ecommerce site?

It’s simple. Display thumbnail images of their products in the cart and at the checkout page!

Thumbnail images of products included at the checkout page to reduce cart abandonment — *Source: Amazon*

The thumbnail images have the ability to remind users of the products they have added into their cart, thereby eliminating any doubt or confusion that may arise when they have forgotten the products. Moreover, this prevents users from abandoning their carts since they are reassured of what they are going to pay for. Images are processed 60,000 times faster than text. Users will be able to know what they are purchasing at one glance instead of having to read the description, bringing more convenience and assurance to them. This is a win-win situation for both you and your users, providing them with a satisfying shopping experience while reducing your cart abandonment rate.

8. Offer Multiple Payment Options

At the final checkout page, where users are ready to pay for their products, they realized that they are unable to do so due to the lack of available payment methods. Why give this opportunity for your users to abandon their cart when they are already intended on making a purchase? It’s such a waste! At this last critical stage, you should remove any obstacles between your customer and a satisfying shopping experience.

If you are only offering a single payment method, you are creating trouble for yourself.

6% abandon their carts due to lack of payment methods.

Source: Baymard Institute

56% of respondents say that a variety of payment methods will encourage them to purchase.

Source: Comscore

There are multiple ways to go about payments today, such as the basic credit cards (i.e. Mastercard, Visa etc) to the newer mobile payments (i.e. Apple Pay). By offering multiple payment methods, you will be eliminating the friction and any other potential payment issues that may cause your customers to abandon their carts and go to one of your competitors. Not only will this reduce your cart abandonment rate, it will also create a pleasant and seamless shopping experience for your customers.

9. Utilize Exit-Intent Technology

Users may leave your ecommerce site for various reasons, be it a distraction or last-minute hesitation. There is no harm in trying to woo your users back should they try to leave.

Exit-intent popups can be a very effective way of reducing your cart abandonment rate and increasing your conversions. It is triggered when a user attempts to leave your website and a popup message will be displayed to encourage and convince your users to stay, such as the one shown below.

Exit-intent pop up to convince users to stay — *Source: Skullcandy*

By incentivizing your popup message with an offer or targeting your users according to their browsing history, you can create a targeted message to appeal to your users. This will not only convince them to stay, but encourage them to make a purchase. It is very easy to create an exit-intent popup with multiple benefits, the main being the ability to retain your users and reduce your cart abandonment rate!

10. Follow Up With Cart Abandonment Emails

Even with an exit-intent popup, your users may still decide to leave your ecommerce site. But all hope is not lost. Users who have added items into their cart have an intention or are at least interested in those products. Since they have already indicated an interest, it would be a waste to not follow up on this.

28.3% of all ecommerce revenue comes from successful abandoned cart emails.

Abandoned cart emails achieve a 4.64% conversion rate.

Source: 99firms

Following up with a cart abandonment email can serve as a reminder for users that they have unfinished purchases. Sometimes, your users may forget but that is alright. The email will prompt them to head back to your website to complete the purchase. Of course, if this fails, there is always an alternative!

You can follow up with a second email that contains discounts or offers for your users. This serves as a strong incentive for users to complete the purchase and re-adopt their abandoned cart. Personalizing these emails based on the user’s items in the cart can better target them and create a more satisfying shopping experience. This will not only reduce your cart abandonment rate, but also increase your conversion and sales.

Well, that being said…

The cart abandonment rate takes up a whopping 69.57% and this is truly a nightmare for any ecommerce site. It is such a shame that you are losing so much potential sales just from cart abandonment and there is a need to recover lost sales from this. There are various reasons as to why users abandon their carts. Find out why and you will be able to come up with a solution.

Of course, if you take into account the above suggestions, you will be enroute to reducing your cart abandonment rate and increasing your conversions. Being able to recapture your users and their sales is not an easy feat, but don’t worry because Ping Proof is here to help!

Some of the suggestions given can be done in a matter of minutes. Check out Ping Proof for a suite of notification widgets that you can add onto your website in a few easy steps. Request for a 14-day free trial with us today!

Tags cart abandonment

Conversion Optimization

How To Create A Landing Page That Drives Conversions

Post author By Valerie Cher
Post date June 5, 2020
No Comments on How To Create A Landing Page That Drives Conversions

Reading Time: 9 minutes

How To Create A Landing Page That Drives Conversions

“There’s so much traffic to my website, yet the conversions are not proportionate to it.”

“Why are people leaving my website without buying anything?”

Well, this is a common problem that all websites face. The question is: how can we ensure that this does not become a recurring problem? The key to this is your landing page.

What is a landing page?

A landing page is an independent webpage that is designed for a campaign. It is the webpage where a visitor enters after clicking on a CTA in an email or from other sources. The landing page is different from your normal website. It is designed with a key intention in mind, that is, the CTA. It is a great platform for lead generation and builds the foundation for your customer base.

The landing page is your user’s first touchpoint, and the first impression counts. A lot. I’m sure you know how important it is to impress your customers, and so creating a lasting impression is key to winning the game. A rocket launches with the help of a launchpad. Similarly, conversions are further driven with a well-designed landing page.

Various elements make up a landing page, such as the headline, a CTA, images of a product, and many more. However, what makes a good landing page is the ability to implement these elements seamlessly together, not just creating a clear and neat presentation, but one that is optimized and converts.

There are many factors that contribute to the effectiveness of a landing page. What you can do is to ensure that you take the appropriate measures when it comes to each factor and optimize it.

Read on to discover how you can design and optimize your landing page for maximum conversions.

1. Creating a Compelling Headline

You only have 8 seconds to make an impression. The first 8 seconds is critical for you to create a lasting impression and prevent your visitors from leaving. Humans have a very short attention span, and that is why you need a bold, eye-catching and clear headline to draw them in.

A compelling headline will be able to grab the users’ attention and encourage them to find out more about the products or services you are offering. It should tell users the value of your product or service and how you can make their experience a better one.

Ensure that your headline is:

Short and sweet – easy to understand
Tells your reader what your product is
A subheading can be used to provide further explanation

With that, you’re on a great start to keeping your users’ attention, improving their experience on the site, and reducing bounce rates.

Tip: How about testing your headline using a Headline Analyzer tool to determine if it brings about a positive sentiment?

2. Let users feast with their eyes

Did you know that our brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text? This means that we have a natural inclination towards pictures than words.

What does this mean for you then?

You should take advantage of this behavior. Visual cues are an effective way in communicating with your users. They play an important role on your landing page. Compared to long sentences of words, users can easily comprehend pictures, saving them the time and trouble.

Images make your landing page more visually appealing, As the saying goes, a picture speaks a thousand words. The image used should be relevant to your website and the product you are trying to promote. If used appropriately, you will be able to communicate to your users in a more effective and efficient manner.

No one likes to read a chunk of text and doing so will only put them off. Visual cues can be used to keep your users interested, which also contributes to a lower bounce rate.

3. Use videos to tell a story

According to Wyzowl, 84% of people say that they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video. This means that out of 10 people, 8 will buy a product after watching a video about it. This is an indication on the strong impact that videos can have on your users. Why not leverage on it to increase your conversions and boost sales?

We understand there is a need to explain to your users what your product or Unique Selling Point (USP) is about, but explaining it with a wall of text may put your users off. While a picture paints a thousand words, a video is sure to tell a story. Videos have the ability to appeal to users and have been proven to drive up sales. 83% of video marketers said video has helped them generate leads while 80% claimed that videos have directly helped increase sales. If it is not appropriate to put a video on your main page, how about using a video notification widget? The benefits of videos are significant and you should start using them today!

Video for better customer engagement from Ping Proof — *Source: PingProof*

4. Give Immediate Support to Your Users

When you encounter a problem on a site, would you rather sieve through a lengthy Q&A section or get real-time assistance from a chatbot? The answer is pretty straightforward.

You will choose to seek help from a chatbot.

90% of businesses report faster complaint resolution with the use of chatbots for customer service.

Source: MIT Global Survey

Chats handled entirely by chatbots have an average satisfaction rate of 87.58%.

Source: Comm100 Live Chat Benchmark Report 2020

Include a pop-up chatbot to provide help for your users when they face troubles. It is not only an effective channel to understand the problems they are facing, but also provide assistance in real-time. This allows questions to be addressed immediately and prevents users from leaving your website due to uncertainty, once again reducing bounce rates.

A chatbot strengthens the trust between the user and your site, helping to convert your users into loyal customers. With free chatbot tools such as ManyChat and Chatfuel, you can easily create a chatbot without the need for coding experience!

5. Leverage on social proof

93% of consumers say online reviews impact their purchasing decisions.

Source: Podium 2017 State of Online Reviews

85% reported that celebrity endorsements enhanced their confidence in and preference for a product.

Source: Contemporary Ideas and Research in Marketing

Would you be more confident to buy a product that no one has purchased before or one that has been purchased by many other buyers?

It is not rocket science that social proof is also an important aspect for any website due to the high reliance on past reviews. Ask any major brands such as Amazon or Etsy. They too have long incorporated social proof into their platforms. Everyone prefers to work with a trustworthy website. Using social proof such as testimonial reviews or celebrity endorsements is a great way to build that trust and reassurance.

Social Proof - Positive Review from Amazon — *Source: Amazon*

We, as humans, like to look to others for advice when we are unsure of our own actions, which is why this is an opportunity for websites to feed the users with such advice. With softwares such as Ping Proof, you can easily incorporate social proof through the use of notification widgets like the one shown below. Product reviews and testimonials will influence your users in a positive way, driving up conversions on the spot.

6. Impactful Call-To-Action

The CTA is what will bring your users from one stage of the buying process to the next. It needs to be designed well and placed in a strategic location to encourage better click-through rates.

Another pro tip is to spice up your CTA. If you’re still using a simple “Click here”, then you may want to think a little more creatively on how to better entice your users to take the desired action. Remember to test the CTA to determine which one really works well for you.

Some tips for your CTA:

Make it obvious and convincing
Use contrasting colors to your website
Send a clear message about your benefits
Use action words to create a sense of urgency
Evoke curiosity
Personalize according to user’s needs and preferences

7. A/B testing

Have you ever considered redesigning your landing page but you’re not sure if it will be a good move? The thing is, you wouldn’t know until you test it out. That is why it is vital that you test different versions of your landing page to see which one works better for you.

Google Optimize is a great tool that provides A/B testing solutions for free. By doing A/B Testing, you can identify the features that work best for your users and determine which version is more effective in converting users. Over time, you will be able to learn more about your users and make the appropriate changes to your website.

Testing has no limits and there is no one time where you need to stop testing. Consistent testing of your landing page will ensure that it is always optimized to its full potential, ultimately capturing more users and increasing your conversion rates.

8. Ensure that your landing page is mobile-friendly

70% of internet access is via mobile devices, but less than 50% of landing pages are mobile-optimized. It is not uncommon for people to own if not one, but multiple mobile devices these days. If you want to improve on the experience for your users and reduce bounce rates, creating a mobile-friendly landing page for the masses will be a really critical step.

While the landing page is designed to be used on a desktop, the functionality and usability should be the same as on a mobile device. Users should be able to easily make the desired action on your mobile landing page without having to make any additional effort. This not only retains your users due to a better user experience but also reduces bounce rates, creating a win-win situation.

9. Personalize for a touch of closeness

Imagine entering a website and being greeted with information that is unique to you, such as a simple “Good morning in Texas. The weather is sunny together so don’t forget your shades!”. Pretty impressive right? This is what we see as a personalized experience for each unique individual. It makes the user feel special and helps build a closer relationship.

53% of online shoppers believe that retailers who personalize the shopping experience provide a valuable experience.

Source: Invesp

We all want to impress our customers and differentiate ourselves from our competitors. This can be done by providing users with a personalized user experience. With Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), it is possible to profile users and obtain basic information. And with such a feature, you will be way ahead of your competitors in providing your users with a unique user experience.

Treating your users as unique individuals is key to winning their hearts and converting them into long-term value customers. Personalizing your landing page to target each user differently will not only prevent them from leaving, but impress them within the first crucial 8 seconds.

10. Implement an exit intent pop-up

70 to 96 percent of the visitors abandoning your site will never return.

Source: BounceX

An exit intent pop-up is triggered when a user attempts to leave your website. This is your last opportunity to bring your user back and attempt to convert them because the majority of them will never return.

Everyone loves a great deal. Incentivizing the pop-up with a discount or offer may entice users to go through with the CTA.

This is an effective way to reduce your bounce rate while increasing your chances of converting your users into long-term value customers. This also appears less aggressive and intrusive compared to the pop-ups upon arrival into your website, which may come across as an aggressive attempt by users. Although it is crucial to draw users in, it is also important to not push them away.

Final Thoughts

It is not an end game once you set up your landing page. There are always continuous and further improvements to be made. Optimizing your landing page is part of the process. Through testing different versions of the landing page with different groups of users, you can determine which works best for you. What works for one may not work for others. Now, remember this is a continuous process. Not a once-off procedure.

Of course, if you take into account the above advice, you will be en route to creating a better landing page that not only minimizes the bounce rate, but also one that converts. Some of the suggestions given can be done in a matter of minutes, in the case of social proof. Check out Ping Proof for a suite of notification widgets that you can add to your website in a few easy steps. Request for a 14-days free trial with us today!

Get started with your free checklist for a stunning landing page.

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Conversion Optimization

Social Proof – The Essential to Boost Website Conversions

Post author By Kelly Tan
Post date June 5, 2020
1 Comment on Social Proof – The Essential to Boost Website Conversions

Reading Time: 8 minutes

Social Proof – The Essential to Boost Website Conversions

“I’ve tried so many marketing strategies but none seem to work!”

“It seems like our competitors are growing in sales, but ours seem to remain stagnant!”

“What affects the customer’s decision making process and what marketing strategies can I use to influence them to buy from us instead?”

I’m pretty sure these thoughts have crossed your mind before.

You have probably observed this before: Businesses that are already flourishing tend to see an even greater amount of sales each day with their increasing customer base, while on the other hand, businesses that are struggling with low sales tend to continue experiencing stagnant, or even declining sales for a long period of time. So why are the flourishing businesses able to multiply their customer base so rapidly, and how do they do it?

The key strategy is, in fact, Social Proof – the proven and effective psychological marketing method that will help boost your conversions and sales.

Now that you know about it, it is not too late to act on it. Once you implement it, you may just see spikes in your sales and conversions that you have been envisioning but never thought was possible.

What is Social Proof?

Social proof is the idea that the behavior of consumers are influenced by other consumers. When many people perform a certain action, others are more likely to follow in their footsteps. People often trust the choices of others and tend to want to follow the choice of the majority. It is the mindset that ‘If many are doing it, it must be the right way’.

Long queue outside Apple Store — *Source: Johnny Evans*

This is social proof at its best. Just by looking at this massive queue in front of the Apple store, it makes you feel as if there’s something extraordinary about their products that you’re missing out on, and makes you curious about their products too right? That’s exactly how social proof works.

Why is Social Proof Important?

About 95% of shoppers read online reviews before making a purchase.

Source: Spiegel Research Center

93% of local consumers use reviews to determine whether a local business is good or bad.

Source: BrightLocal

This greatly highlights the importance of Social Proof in a consumer’s decision making process. If the majority of consumers rely on Social Proof before making their purchases, it is definitely something that you should leverage on for your business, and it might just be the missing key factor towards your business’ success.

Social Proof also increases credibility and reliability for your business. It is normal for customers to think twice before taking action on something that they have not tried before. Hence, sharing past positive experiences of other customers can reaffirm their decision in converting. Additionally, if they are deciding between 2 different brands, the one with more positive feedback from customers will definitely have the upper hand in winning the heart of the customer.

Let me share with you 8 types of Social Proof that you can leverage on for your business.

8 Social Proof Tips

1) Reviews

92% of consumers hesitate to make a purchase if there are no customer reviews.

Source: Fan & Fuel

Do you really want to risk losing 92% of the visitors on your website? I cannot emphasize enough on the importance of putting customer reviews on your website. Positive reviews show that the customers have tried and tested your product or services, and can verify its quality and goodness since they’ve had first-hand experience with it. Another benefit is that customer reviews help to prove that ‘what you see is what you get’, and that the product or service is similar to what is shown or described on the website. This also helps to build and gain your customer’s trust, and customer trust is a crucial part of any business as it helps to achieve brand loyalty. Big brands such as Amazon and Alibaba have long implemented the review system on their websites.

Positive Review on Amazon — *Source: Amazon*

2) Influencer & Celebrity Endorsement

Influencer Marketing Campaigns Earn $6.50 for Every Dollar.

Source: Digital Marketing Institute

8 out of 10 consumers have purchased something after seeing it as a recommendation by an influencer.

Source: Oberlo

Influencers and celebrities often have a large following and large fan base. They are people with authority as many look up to them and even ‘idolize’ them. Upon seeing a product or service endorsed by them, people would assume that it’s super cool and probably of a good standard since endorsing low quality products may ruin their image. Celebrities are even a notch higher as they are essentially walking advertisements so any product or service that they endorse is definitely going to get a huge amount of attention. Hence, their large following coupled with the trust people have in them makes Influencer and Celebrity endorsements an effective Social Proof method.

For businesses out there with a tighter budget, fret not. You can always start by experimenting with micro influencers, influencers with a smaller following which may be more appropriate for your budget.

3) Testimonials

Some may ask what’s the difference between reviews and testimonials. Well, the difference is that testimonials are longer, more detailed and more impactful. They are also managed by the company itself. Testimonials can appear as a written or video format.

The significance of testimonials is that if someone bothers to take the time out of their busy schedule to write or appear in a video to give his or her testimonial, it shows how great the product or service must be to make the consumer actually want to personally endorse and recommend it to others. Also through the testimonials, it would make others curious as to whether the product or service is really as good as claimed and would want to try it out for themselves too.

An example of a good testimonial would be one that talks in depth about the benefits of the product or service, how it has impacted the customer or how they have benefited from it, as well as the factor that differentiates it from others. Highlighting the customer’s plans to use the product or service long-term would create a positive impact on the viewers as well since it shows that the product or service is good enough to create customer loyalty towards your brand.

Furthermore, if you have established a close relationship with your customers, you can consider building an entire blog or customer stories section on your website, which will be greatly beneficial towards your brand.

An example of a testimonial by a customer on Codeacademy:

Positive Testimonial on Codecademy — *Source: Codecademy*

4) Client Logos

Displaying logos of the clients you have worked with on your website helps to increase the credibility of your products and services. This is especially useful when you have big clients that are well-known. When people see that big brands are using your products and services, they would likely want to follow and do the same too. This is due to the mentality that if big brands are using your products and services, there must be something really good about them.

An example of a good client logo display by Hootsuite:

Client Logos on Hootsuite — *Source: Hootsuite*

5) Referral Program

People have a higher tendency to trust reviews or referrals from people they know personally such as families and friends. Why not create a referral program to leverage on this? It is a smart move to get your existing customers to bring in more customers for you, isn’t it?

For a referral program to be more effective, implementing incentives would be a good way to encourage customers to refer the people around them. Of course, the referral process should also be simple and easy. Airbnb is an example of one of the companies that have come up with a successful referral program.

Referral Program from Airbnb — *Source: Airbnb*

6) Social Share Count

When people see that your article has been read by many others, they would more likely have a better opinion towards it and be inclined to read it as well. Since the article has been shared so many times, people would have the tendency to think that there must be something worthwhile about reading it. Thus, the share count would definitely be useful in creating a better impression of your content. Likewise for a Product Page, showcasing the number of social shares gives users the impression that it is a very well-liked product, giving them the faith to purchase.

Social Share on 16Personalities — *Source: 16Personalities*

7) User-Generated Content (UGC)

The best thing about User-Generated Content? It’s free, and super impactful. Examples of UGC are social media posts by your customers about your company, products or services. They can also be unsponsored posts by high profile people such as influencers or celebrities. The benefit of UGC is that it creates publicity for your brand, without you having to pay a single cent, and it shows the customers’ genuine love for your products or services.

Starbucks is one of the brands that leverage UGC, whereby they repost the UGC created by their customers and fans.

UGC from Starbucks Instagram — *Source: Starbucks Instagram*

8) Power In Numbers

There’s always power in numbers. People tend to believe a piece of information more when presented with statistics. A useful example would be Agoda, a hotel booking website. When recommending hotels, they show statistics such as the hotel ratings, number of customer reviews on that particular hotel, the number of people that booked the hotel in a day, and the percentage of guests that would recommend the hotel. This allows people to have a feel of how popular the product is among others before making their decision. Other statistics to include on your website are the size of your customer base and the number of countries in which your customers come from.

Power in Numbers on Agoda — *Source: Agoda*

Want To Increase Your Conversions?

Social Proof has a huge impact on a consumer’s decision making process. When done right, it can be a very effective method to increase conversions and drive up sales. However, for it to be effective, choosing the right tools is important as well. That’s why at Ping Proof, we provide you with just the platform to get it done.

With Ping Proof, you can create and customize notifications to your website visitors in a matter of minutes.

Here are some of our amazing features:

Live Counter

Shows your visitors how many people are on your site to create more trust

Ping Proof - Live Counter

Social Share

Lets others share your content and generate more traffic for you

Ping Proof - Social Share

Conversions Counter

Establish social proof by showing how many recent conversions you’ve got

Random Reviews

Display a random review/testimonial from your clients to create social proof