This is Matt Lacey's talk from the first ever PRWD Reveal Online. In this talk, Head of Optimisation Matt shares tips to help you get buy-in for a conversion optimisation programme from your senior stakeholders. Areas covered include tackling objections and myth busting, using data to make your case and using the fear of loss in competitive markets to your advantage. If you're struggling to convince senior stakeholders (or even other arms of the business) about the validity of conversion optimisation, this presentation for you. PRWD Reveal is a one day conference that shows you how to implement a robust growth strategy which can deliver major uplifts in sales revenue and profitability, as well as changing the way you develop your brand, innovate your offering and redesign your website.

1. @matt_lacey12 #PRWDReveal
HOW TO SELL IN
CONVERSION RATE OPTIMISATION
Matt Lacey
Head of
Optimisation

2. @matt_lacey12 #PRWDReveal
GETTING
STARTED
Assumption: Conversion
Optimisation is crucial for
innovation, continuous improvement
and business growth
Focus: Selling Conversion
Optimisation, not broader sales
techniques.

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53% of survey participants
intend to increase their budget
for optimisation in 2016
OPTIMIZELY

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HOW WE MAKE
DECISIONS

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DECISION MAKING IS RELATIVE
x
x
B
A
x
Decoy

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“WE DON’T HAVE AN INTERNAL VALUE
METER THAT TELLS US HOW MUCH THINGS
ARE WORTH.
RATHER WE FOCUS ON RELATIVE
ADVANTAGE OF ONE THING OVER ANOTHER,
AND ESTIMATE VALUE ACCORDINGLY.”
DAN ARIELY

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LOSS AVERSION
“PEOPLE HAVE A
NATURAL TENDENCY
TO STRONGLY PREFER
AVOIDING LOSSES TO
ACQUIRING GAINS.”

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1
.
It explains why senior decision
makers may be acutely aware
of some risks associated with
Conversion Optimisation
HOW LOSS
AVERSION
EFFECTS
BEHAVIOUR 2
.
It explains why managers may
be rooted in methods that are
currently working even if
performance could be better
3
.
It makes it hard to rationally
evaluate the value of
Conversion Optimisation

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These could be risks to their business,
but also to their personal business
challenges.
“What is the risk of not pursuing
or investing further in
conversion optimisation ?”

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WHAT DOES
THIS MEAN
FOR US?
We need to be intentional and clear
about how we present Conversion
Optimisation for consideration
within the business.
We need to think about how our
proposal will be received and what
other factors play a part in the
decision-making process.

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1. KNOW YOUR
AUDIENCE
Identifying who you need to convince
and what they already understand

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“We’ll make the big changes
and you can just do the
optimisation.”
“Conversion Optimisation &
Continuous Improvement are
part of our DNA.”

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CONVERSION
OPTIMISATION IS NOT
JUST TESTING ...
... BUT IT IS AN
ESSENTIAL ELEMENT.

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As marketers, we know how important
it is to know your audience and prepare
messaging accordingly. The same rule
applies here.
Who do you need to convince and who
is the final decision maker?
How do they make decisions? If you
work closely with the person in
question, what do you know about their
personality that might effect how you
present your business case.
KNOW YOUR
AUDIENCE

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2. KNOW
THE FACTS
Tackling Risk and Myth Busting

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BE CLEAR
ABOUT THE
POTENTIAL
BENEFITS
Become a high performing growth lever
in your business
Deliver fantastic ROI
Significantly impact bottom line
Provide insurance against ideas that
turn out to have a negative impact
Improve the performance of your
acquisition efforts
Promote a test and learn culture within
your business
Outgrow your competition
Make you a hero within your business

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“THERE CAN BE NO
GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT
WITHOUT RISK.”
Neil Armstrong

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1
.
The risk of faulty testsLEARN TO
ANSWER
COMMON
OBJECTIONS
2
.
The risk of poor performance
due to sub-optimal A/B test
variations
3
.
The risk of not testing!
Mitigation: Thorough QA Process
Mitigation: Control traffic. Carefully
monitor performance and react. Start
small and demonstrate value.
Mitigation: Highlight the alternative of
making decisions based on gut feel
and intuition. Lose ground to
competitors.

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Speak the language of your company
where possible.
If your senior managers or company
culture dictates that you bring data,
make sure that you do.
It may be that a compelling narrative
backed up with case studies is more
likely to be persuasive for your
audience.
Prepare well and try to anticipate the
type of questions that you will have to
answer.
COMMUNICATION
& DECISION
MAKING STYLES

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3. Defining
Success
How to use numbers &
letting the data do the talking

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5% CONVERSION
RATE IMPROVEMENT

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[Optimizely survey]

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Use KPIs and metrics that the
business are familiar with and that
really matter to them.
Think about how the figures are
framed and to what they will be
compared.
How can they be made to feel
tangible?
• Revenue Figures
• Comparison: e.g. more valuable
than opening a new store every
month
• Competitors or benchmarking
BUILDING
YOUR CASE

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4. PRIORITISE
SPENDING
How to explain CRO’s impact on your
marketing spend, customer
understanding and innovation

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“WE TEND TO FOCUS ON COMPARING THINGS
THAT ARE EASILY COMPARABLE - AND
AVOID THINGS THAT CANNOT BE EASILY
COMPARED.”
DAN ARIELY

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What is CRO being compared against?
• Search Engine Marketing
• Paid Advertising
• Email
• Remarketing
• A Redesign
COMPARISON
How are competing activities
measured?
• ROI
• Conversion Metrics
• Engagement Metrics
How can you create favourable
comparisons?

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Based on a one month period for an ecommerce site, AOV of £60
SCENARIO
ACQ. Spend Sessions CR Revenue CR Lift
Rev
Change
ROI
£100,000 285,000 3% £514,000 - - 514%

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Based on a one month period for an ecommerce site, AOV of £60
What happens if we reduce acquisition costs and reinvest it in improving CR?
SCENARIO
ACQ. Spend Sessions CR Revenue CR Lift
Rev
Change
ROI
£100,000 285,000 3% £514,000 - - 514%
£90,000 257,000 3.45% £532,000 15% +£18,000 532%

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Based on a one month period for an ecommerce site, AOV of £60
What happens if we reduce acquisition costs further to deliver bigger uplifts?
SCENARIO
ACQ. Spend Sessions CR Revenue CR Lift Rev Change ROI
£100,000 285,000 3% £514,000 - - 514%
£90,000 257,000 3.45% £532,000 15% +£18,000 532%
£80,000 228,000 3.9% £600,000 30% +£87,000 600%

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5. CONVERSION
(IM)MATURITY
Taking Conversion Optimisation
to the next level

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PILLARS OF CONVERSION MATURITY

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MAKING PROGRESS

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EXECUTIVE
AWARENESS
OF CRO
2. Aspiring
Some limited executive awareness
3. Progressive
Awareness amongst key executive
stakeholders
4. Strategic
Broad executive awareness
5. Transformational
Universal executive awareness
1. Beginner
No executive awareness

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BUDGET
SETTING 2. Aspiring
Marketing Budgets are fixed
Quarterly
3. Progressive
Marketing Budgets have some limited
flexibility & can be periodically
reprioritised
4. Strategic
Marketing Budgets are flexible and
can be periodically reprioritised
5. Transformational
There are no fixed budgets and
spending is quickly prioritised
1. Beginner
Marketing Budgets are fixed
annually

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3. EXPECTED IMPACT
2. WHY CRO?
1. OPPORTUNITY
RECIPE FOR A GOOD PITCH:

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3. DEFINE SUCCESS
2. KNOW THE FACTS
1. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
5. CONVERSION (IM)MATURITY
4. PRIORITISE SPENDING

38. @matt_lacey12 #PRWDReveal
CONVERSION
OPTIMISATION
CAN...
Become a high performing growth lever
in your business
Deliver fantastic ROI
Significantly impact bottom line
Provide insurance against ideas that
turn out to have a negative impact
Improve the performance of your
acquisition efforts
Promote a test and learn culture within
your business
Outgrow your competition
Make you a hero within your business

39. PAUL ROUKE
Founder & Director of
Optimisation
@paulrouke
QUESTIONS
MATT LACEY
Head of Optimisation
@matt_lacey12 bit.ly/CROresources