5 Ways to Increase Conversions With Content

From my years of helping e-commerce and product sites win conversions, I’ve repeatedly disproven marketers’ central belief that conversion optimization (CRO) is solely about analytics and testing.

Conversion optimization, instead, is about finding creative ways to persuade your website visitors to do exactly what you want them to – through content marketing.

This article will discuss content marketing strategies that help increase CRO. These involve pop-ups, email capture boxes, shoppable videos, blogs and webinars. At the center of all of these, however, lies your message. Here’s how to get it across at the right times.

1. Create Relevant Pop-ups

The chances of people snapping up an offer that’s relevant to their tastes are much higher than a standardized, “vanilla” offer. This rule of thumb is as valid for pop-ups as with any other marketing tactic.

Research from Sumo shows that while the average pop-up has a conversion rate of about 3%, personalized pop-ups convert at a rate of 40%. Clearly, pop-ups are successful if they’re relevant to the consumer.

For example, clothing retailer ModCloth does a great job of using pop-ups contextually. It waits until you select a category and are in the process of actually considering something to buy, and then it gives you a pop-up for a 15% off coupon.

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Offering a discount when people are looking at products likely encourages them to make a purchase. After all, discounts persuade consumers.

The same logic applies to B2B marketers, who likely don’t offer coupons but rather serve as a great resource relevant to the topic the user is reading about.

For example, check out how smoothly HubSpot pulls off offering another resource on a page dedicated to data flow diagrams.

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People reading HubSpot’s content on data flow diagrams will likely be interested in reading a guide on how to communicate using data.

Pop-ups help convert consumers, whether it’s to make a purchase or read more content.

2. Capture Email Subscribers

Email marketing is one of the most effective digital marketing strategies and has an astonishing ROI of up to 122% – 4x the ROI of any other marketing format.

Creating a robust and clean email database is a necessity for any good marketer. Offering website visitors access to a strong piece of content, such as original research, is a great way of trading solid value for their contact information.

For example, e-book site ManyBooks offers its audience of avid readers bestselling e-books for free if they subscribe to emails.

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Companies should offer freebies or promotions in exchange for customers subscribing to their email list.

Emails help businesses convert.

3. Create Shoppable Videos

Video content consistently engages customers and keeps them entertained. A new video trend is shoppable videos on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and other media, a crossover marketing tool that helps content lead to conversions.

Shoppable videos include links to the products that are featured in the video. This helps customers know exactly what the product is in the video, how much it costs, and how to purchase it.

For example, Vue.ai created a shoppable video that provides links to the couches and accessories featured in the videos.

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The video makes it easy for people watching to buy products they see in video.

Another example is food manufacturer Pepperidge Farm, which created successful shoppable videos that engaged customers and encouraged them to make a purchase. Pepperidge Farm’s engagement numbers, add-to-cart rate, and checkout rates grew 8X compared to industry averages, thanks to its shoppable video ads.

Shoppable videos combine videos’ high engagement rates and entertainment factor with the push for customers to make a purchase.

4. Write Blogs With Clear Calls-to-Action

Many marketers view blogging as the “lowest-hanging fruit,” a necessary first step to any content marketing strategy. A well-written blog has the power to convert a user.

The whole premise of most corporate blog posts is to showcase the product in an informative, practical way, often with real-world examples. Typically, this “show of strength” is accompanied with information that shows the brand as an authority in its space.

But what if we build on that and ask readers to act on that feeling of trust by giving you their money, time, or both? Why not add a CTA at the end of a blog post to get readers to take action on the very thing they just read about, without even leaving the page?

For example, SaaS provider ChannelAdvisor demonstrates what this looks like on its blog. The company offers retailers a holiday-centric e-book at the end of a blog post that discusses planning for the holidays.

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ChannelAdvisor takes advantage of the opportunity to encourage interested readers to view its e-book.

When setting up your own blog is so easy, why not add a CTA at the end of the post?

Writing blog posts with clear CTAs convert interested readers into customers.

5. Offer Webinars

Webinars are unique from most content marketing methods because they let marketers gather feedback on a real-time basis. Webinars combine the best of one-on-one interaction with the perks of being on a controlled medium to communicate prepared brand messages.

Companies can leverage webinars for conversions in two distinct ways:

1. Getting people to register for a webinar itself is half the battle won. When users register with their email address, they give you a wealth of information about themselves in that one simple act. You get their contact details, their company name, areas of interest, and the fact that they are actively seeking information about something you can help them with. With all that data, you can easily build a highly informed nurture campaign and get the user to convert.
2. A good webinar presenter is not just a good speaker. She or he also needs to be a good salesperson. I’ve personally participated in webinars where an enterprising presenter will actually convert potential customers while engaging with them during or after the slides are discussed. Successful webinars can immediately convert people.

For example, digital marketing and competitive intelligence tool suite SEMrush hosts successful marketing-focused webinars.

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Its marketing manager for India, Rohan Ayyar, who hosts a series called “Content Club India” for content marketers, told me the number of new leads the company gets from a focused series like this ranges from 30% to 50% per webinar.

Webinars with educational content, combined with the realism of video, establishes thought leadership because it shows customers that your company knows what it is talking about.

Creating and curating educational content will require research and effort from your marketing team, but it pays off: For B2B businesses, perceived leadership through educational content has a significant effect on purchasing decisions (up to 47% in some cases).

Webinars are a powerful tool in both educating and converting customers.

Create Content That Converts

It’s important to find ways to present your content to your website visitors in a way that addresses their needs and wants at the right moment.

Content marketers develop these instincts from repeated experimentation, both with the message and the medium. I’ve done that by running content-focused campaigns on various digital channels (social, search, etc.) that invariably tie back to your content hub: your website.

Successful content, through pop-ups, emails, videos, blogs, and webinars, can convert people into happy customers – the ultimate goal of any business.

About the Author

Dipti Parmar is an experienced business and marketing consultant. She helps startups, brands, and individuals build a stellar online reputation and establish thought leadership in their industry with innovative content and digital marketing campaigns.