Conversion Funnel Optimization: How a Good UX Plays a Role

Conversions rarely occur on a whim; usually, there is a layered process behind eCommerce purchases. Known as the conversion funnel — or the sales funnel — this model shows the conduit between the least aware prospects to those who are most aware of your company’s products and services. Those with the most knowledge of your offerings are usually the most interested and motivated to convert.  

Brands have to be both wary and strategic in the ways they set up conversions, and that is where the concept of the conversion funnel comes in handy. While no one can truly “set up” conversions, you can set the scene and command all the workings that bring visitors closer to converting thanks to conversion funnel optimization. 

As UX-perts, we like to blare the horns on the importance of UX, so it should come as no surprise that a good user experience plays an important role in conversion rate optimization. Let’s take a look at how you can optimize your conversion rate by way of working in a good UX to the different stages of conversion funnel optimization. Here are some of the topics we will discuss: 

 

What is a conversion funnel?

Before we jump into how to optimize your conversion funnel, we need to briefly review what a conversion funnel is.

The conversion funnel denotes a process in which brands work to turn potential customers into converting customers.

It is comprised of several stages, with each one indicating your customers’ level of brand awareness, interest, and willingness to buy — along with the gradual steps and undertakings you can take to lead users further down. Here’s a quick breakdown of the different stages and what they mean: 

  1. Attention/Awareness: At this stage, your users become aware they have a problem and first discover your brand. This might be through word of mouth, a google search, a blog post, a display ad, an email – you name it!
  2. Interest: Now, your users are more interested in what you have to say. Share how can your brand help them solve their problem?.
  3. Desire: This is where you need to turn on the charm and sell your visitors the benefits of your products and services. You want to drive home how your company is different (and better) than your competitors, pushing your users further down the funnel.
  4. Action: Your users have all the information they need and are ready to pull the trigger, whether they’re checking out to buy a shirt in their cart, applying for a loan, signing a contract, or taking whatever action your company defines as a conversion.

The different stages of a conversion funnel

Source: HubSpot

 

What is Conversion Funnel Optimization in Marketing?

While the stages in each conversion funnel may differ from brand to brand, each shares the ultimate goal of “pushing” site users down to the very last step, which, evidently, represents conversions.

Through this structure, brands can group their potential customers into easy-to-understand categories, thereby dictating several efforts they can maneuver to encourage prospects further down the funnel.

There are various marketing tactics to drive customers down the conversion funnel; they can be deployed through more than one stage. Let’s dig deeper.

 

What is Good UX in Conversion Funnel Optimization?

Now that you know what a conversion funnel is, the next thing to cover is how to apply good UX practices that relate to each stage in the conversion funnel. The following spells out the ways brands can enhance their UX per each stage of the conversion funnel to optimize it and garner greater conversions.

 

Stage 1: Awareness

Sitting atop the conversion funnel as the entry point, the awareness stage is the stage with the least… awareness of your brand or offering(s). It’s also the stage with mounting awareness, as potential clients become cognizant of your business and click onto your website, the act which carries with it the possibility to spawn possible interest. 

But that requires capturing new customers. You should approach your awareness stage with the mentality of casting a wide net. You want to attract as many people as you can, so you have a higher chance of moving people further down the funnel. 

We’re not saying adopt a “spray and pray” method, you still need to be strategic and methodical so you can securely create a heightened awareness of what your brand does – and attract the right kind of customers. Getting tons of traffic on your site or clicks on your ads can be exciting at first, but if these are unqualified visits, they won’t do you much good.

Here are a few ways to educating potential customers on your brand and make it easier for new users to find you:

Take e.l.f Cosmetics, for example. To educate potential customers, e.l.f. Cosmetics allows anyone to take their skincare quiz which not only provides awareness to what types of skincare products they offer but also how their products can help alleviate a consumer’s pain points. Whether a potential customer wants to treat acne, dry skin, or improve fine lines, e.l.f. has products that cater to their every need.

Elf Cosmetics skincare finder, an example of conversion funnel optimization at the awareness phase

Source: e.l.f. Cosmetics website

You have to keep your target audience in mind and create your campaigns accordingly. But once you’ve brought new people onto your site, the UX must be optimized, or at least suitable to pique interest within visitors (lead them to step 2), or — even better — make them convert on the spot.

 

UX Best Practices at The Awareness Phase

There is a slew of general ways to improve upon the user experience. But often in the awareness stage, users usually arrive at your site via a landing page. 

The UX has to be top tier on this page. Keep the copy and imagery relevant to the conversion goal, while making it clear what your brand does. The latter is more important since you’re introducing new prospects to your company. The copy and other contents on landing pages should be to the point, so steer clear of wasting users’ time. In short, don’t overload it.

Most importantly, construct the landing page so that it is relevant to the message that led visitors to click on it in the first place. 

 

Stage 2: Interest

Next, we reach the stage of interest. Now that prospective customers know your company exists, they have to frequent your website; simply knowing about your offering(s) does not ensure they’ll return to your site or engage with your content.

Content is key in this step, as it can foster relationships and maintain interest within your prospects. There’s a twofold approach for conversion funnel optimization: the first is the nature of the content and the second concerns the UX, or the feelings and attitudes users develop over their experience. 

The first element deals with the core of the content — the content type, its subject matter, how it can help with your prospects’ problems, its visual identity, etc. You would need to establish a blog with relevant posts to your industry or niche. Take Slack for example, since the pandemic Slack has upped its content production, providing guides, interviews, etc to teach business leaders and employees alike how to adapt to the “new normal” with Slack. 

Blog Post from Slack, an example of conversion funnel optimization at the interest phase

Source: Slack

Other useful content for stimulating user interest are:

You would have to make sure these align with the needs/interests of your vertical as well as making your content stand out and offer something different. Videos and other content, for example, should not focus on the product alone, but offer something of value — whether that’s inspirational content, news related to your niche or something else. 

 

UX Best Practices for The Interest Phase

As for the attitudes toward the content, i.e. the UX, consider the amount of content on your page; is it slowing down your site? If so, reduce it so that you never have issues with loading speeds. 

Make sure everything can be easily seen and accessed. This will encourage further browsing. For example, if you have an in-page element that requires scrolling, the width of it, at the very least, needs to be wide enough so all the content can be easily read. 

You should limit scrollable in-page content to one type of scrolling function (either by length or width, never both.) This is generally length, as this is easier to look through. Use carousels, in-page recommendations, and links to other pages to incite browsing.

In fact, when it comes to the UX in general, be sure to keep it continually optimized so that all content elements are easy to understand and seamless. The best way to gauge customer understanding and frustration is of course to measure interactions with each element.

 

Stage 3: Desire

Once you’ve developed some level of interest, you need to propel prospects towards the lower half of the conversion funnel, which starts with desire. Representing a heightened interest, desire attracts users to your actual offering aside from your content alone. 

At this stage, you should make your product or service, as the stage suggests, desirable. It’s also where you have to distinguish your offering from that of your competitors, specifically, by positioning your company as the better option. 

This can be done by:

For example, Superdry entices their customers through a series of emails providing special discounts, promotions, etc. to showcase the value of their products.

A personalized SuperDry promotional email, an example of reaching out to a customer in the desire stage

Source: Superdry

The users with the highest level of interest will sign up for a newsletter or other form of email communication. This is vital, as it enables you to see exactly who your most interested prospects are and market to them directly. 

 

UX Best Practices at The Desire Phase

For the Desire stage, your best bet is to arrange a drip campaign, or an automated email campaign, which can be set off by different triggers and sent at strategic periods. For example, when someone signs up or makes a purchase, you can then sent prewritten emails during key periods, such as sales, new blog posts, company news, etc.

Also, although they’re prewritten content, assure that emails are personalized with the prospects’ names or their company names. Emails that appear auto-generated, or lack a human touch, yield a poor UX.

As you may have gathered, content is as weighty a component at this stage as in others. You need to eliminate any traces of a poor UX, such as an image that appears clickable, but doesn’t actually take users to a landing page, enlarging the image instead, a common UX problem. Nothing spoils a customer journey like obstacles in the digital experience — another reason to measure user behavior.

 

Stage 4: Action

Last, but certainly not least, we’ve reached the final stage: action. This is the most targeted stage of the conversion funnel for obvious reasons. After pumping out UX-optimized content and building a relationship with potential customers, only a small portion of them will make it to this stage. 

Most will hang in the balance of desire and action, toggling between the two until they make the decision to either buy or bounce. This is where your UX can make or break you.

 

UX Best Practices at The Action Phase

First, you need to ensure that the navigation of your product pages are neatly organized so that products are easy to find. Don’t succumb to the UX sin of overstuffing your navigation. Finding your product/service should be a seamless experience.

As for the product pages, each must have selection tools that make it easier for customers to filter out products by way of their particular needs. (Think of common product organization types like size, color, price, etc.)

Additionally, all aspects of this experience must promote purchases, from the ability to zoom in, to quick load times of the actual product pages (when clicked on from a multi-product page), to the product image quality.

Any element can be off-putting at this stage, including non-design bits like pricing, so make sure your UX is superb and built around actual customer intelligence.


UX Insights Throughout the Conversion Funnel Optimization Process

Measuring the success of your marketing efforts does not end while you embark on optimizing the conversion funnel. In fact, you should not approach the conversion funnel as a standalone marketing tactic to reel in more conversions. 

This is because not all user experience exists in such a linear way. As such, it may ring true for some users but not all. Particularly, the customer decision journey can be seen as a contrast to the funnel. This can be observed by viewing user paths and segmenting your users to narrow behavior-based categories. 

By tackling a specific segment, you can customize the UX to that segment, to assure an optimized journey that reduces exists and bounces. For example, pure player brands understand that their content will not be consumed by a general audience. Only specific segments will visit their sites and social channels. As such, they create content that aligns with the interests of their segmented users.

Social Platforms, a New Lease on Life for Luxury Brands

It can’t be said often enough: digital channels play a crucial role in a brand’s development. And yet, one existential question plagues the luxury industry: how do we create online experiences that are as exceptional as the in-store feeling? Perhaps the secret lies in social networks. We take an in-depth look with Violaine Gressier, Head of Luxury Department for Facebook France.

Violaine Gressier headshotViolaine began her career in marketing at Club Méditerranée, the high-end holiday resort. In 2004, she joined director Luc Besson’s film production company EuropaCorp, where she developed its digital activities and strategic partnerships. She then went her own way as an entrepreneur, first joining digital concierge service John Paul, acquired by AccorHotels in 2016, followed by Etoile Rouge, a creative agency specializing in luxury, fashion, and beauty, since acquired by agency BETC Luxe. In 2016, she joined Facebook to develop the Luxury Hub, managing luxury companies worldwide from her Paris office. Violaine lives in Paris and has an MBA from the city’s ESSEC Business School.

 

What major new trends have you spotted in the online luxury market?

As in many other sectors, the lockdown at the beginning of 2020 saw online sales jump, simply because you couldn’t buy offline as stores were closed. What is interesting is that this phenomenon has continued despite stores reopening. We see a 16% increase in eCommerce sales for businesses in the luxury sector, so it’s a trend that is ongoing.

This sudden online shift has forced brands to develop their IT and digital infrastructure much more quickly and think about taking an omnichannel approach overall, rather than just focusing on eCommerce. That is undoubtedly the major challenge for luxury brands: having a real understanding of who their customers are and empowering them to buy where they want and when they want.

 

Can you see any obstacles to this digital development?

Yes, of course. Many luxury brands don’t have their own websites, or at least not in every country yet; this is particularly true for beauty companies. These brands rely heavily on retailers. However, the rise of eCommerce has certainly got these brands thinking. They’re all stepping up their strategy now! 

 

Have luxury brands changed the way they use platforms like Instagram and Facebook?

Yes, for sure! Until recently, luxury brands used Facebook and Instagram mainly for branding purposes, performance being much less of a priority, unlike other industries such as retail or mass distribution. Even though using proper Instagram hashtags and targeting the right audience can be helpful, trends keep changing. But this has changed recently. Brands now understand the opportunity that our platforms offer for driving traffic to their websites. Ted Baker managed to increase its conversion among 18 to 24-year-olds by 22%, with a well-orchestrated campaign on Instagram. That goes beyond mere branding.

As well as traffic, luxury brands also see the business potential our platforms can offer.

Facebook Inc. has recently introduced some new products, including the highly anticipated Instagram Checkout, launched in March 2019 and currently only available in the United States. Checkout makes it possible to purchase a branded product directly from Instagram, in just a few clicks, without leaving the app. It was an overnight success! Many brands are now using Checkout in the United States, and there is huge anticipation in Europe. Clearly, people are already talking about the potential of eCommerce on Facebook and Instagram.

Another new feature available in France is Facebook Shops, a digital showcase for brands rolled out in May 2020 to compensate for store closures and for some brands’ lack of visibility. Each brand is able to display its own catalog and manage its own merchandising. The feature is being used more and more by luxury businesses.  

 

Doesn’t this completely disrupt the traditional ecosystem?

I wouldn’t say it disrupts the ecosystem, but rather that these developments are in line with changing consumer behavior. Mobile shopping is now becoming easier and easier; consumers want to make purchases simply and smoothly. Offering the option of buying without leaving the platform, as is the case with Instagram Checkout, responds to this need. And as our users want this to go even further, it’s only natural that brands ask us for it too.

So, it’s actually a logical response to our platforms and mobile shopping becoming widely accepted. What we do is a natural progression: we follow trends and move with them.

 

What will be the next challenges for luxury brands?

The main challenge, for now, is being able to provide an enriched experience through an omnichannel approach. A brand must be able to offer its products at different points of sale and through different channels.

We should no longer be categorizing consumers as online or offline buyers; their experience should be consistent, no matter which channels they use, especially for luxury brands that by definition are based on unique, extraordinary experiences!

 

What are the benefits of platforms such as Facebook or Instagram for luxury brands?

The fact that consumers can discover new products and our potential to create streamlined experiences, there’s no doubt about it! By giving users the option of purchasing directly on Instagram or viewing a product catalog on Shops, companies have bypassed frustration points such as loading times being too long on their brand’s website.

By using our platforms, brands are also helping Discovery Commerce to grow, which is the closest thing we can get to a physical shopping experience. When you’re navigating Instagram, you don’t know exactly where you’re going. It’s precisely the same when you’re walking down the street and browsing all the boutiques! Users can wander around and end up with a product without having to leave the platform as they explore.

This can also build customer-brand proximity, through messaging – creating a direct, personal connection. When we developed Shops, we thought it would be a good idea to link up with WhatsApp and Messenger, so users could ask questions about the product directly and enjoy personalized support. 

 

Are social networks becoming a personalization tool for brands?

Yes, exactly! During the pandemic, messaging platforms skyrocketed, with voice messages up by 50%; imagine the potential! Especially for the luxury sector, it’s enormous. I am a great believer in messaging, particularly in creating restricted or private groups to communicate. In fact, that’s already started; the Victoria Beckham brand has been using Messenger to interact with fashionistas. By setting up a bot on Messenger, the brand communicated individually and simultaneously with thousands of fans. This campaign was a huge success; we saw an average read rate of 86% with push messages, four times more than emails achieve!

 

Where do you stand when it comes to marketplaces?

We can offer our customers a massive amount of clout through our community, with over three billion people connecting to our platforms every month. This community provides a huge amount of traffic for brands. This is clearly where our difference and advantage lies. 

I would also like to add that we are a great source of data-based customer knowledge! Data that is continuously being enriched, which means we can target the right people to build very precise customer journeys. 

 

How will your platforms continue to evolve to support brands?

We are continually suggesting changes based on the uses we are seeing. The idea is that we support brands so they can evolve and meet user expectations. That’s our ultimate aim. Checkout, for example, is a very attractive way of promoting limited editions (drops) on Instagram by placing a countdown, and it’s working well! Another feature now available is that an influencer can sell that brand’s product directly on Instagram. So, we are developing a lot of new formats, and we’ll carry on with this, always bearing in mind the user’s point of view.

 

What should luxury brands pay attention to in the future?

Technological advances, including AI, are certainly something they need to keep their eye on. Brands will be able to create immersive experiences. Combining human and artificial intelligence will make wonderful things! I’m convinced that the success of a great experience lies in balancing the human touch with an optimized experience through technology.

We also need to watch out for Gen Z. This generation represents a vast consumer cluster: 45% of luxury goods buyers in 2025! Understanding their behavior is crucial: they were born with a smartphone in their hands, and brands must make sure they include them in their approaches. 

How To Satisfy Modern Online Shoppers’ Needs Without Losing Your Mind

Customers are demanding. Like that Queen song goes: “I want it all, and I want it now.”

Modern shoppers, especially Millennial and Gen Z, have set the stage for today’s shopping because they’re the largest demographics for most sales and are seeing gains in their income. While their needs originally were different than older consumers, their demands have become standard requests even for Boomers.

Chief among the current trends that the modern shopper wants are a social media presence, a smart web design, quality goods, quick shipping, sticking to your promises, and making the whole purchase process simpler.

These are a lot of needs to meet, but your eCommerce store can definitely do it when you take direct, deliberate steps. Let’s explore some of those steps you can start taking right now.

Social Media Activity

You’ve long heard your marketing team tell you to get on Twitter or other social media platforms. You might have heard about the surveys saying social media can generate sales and increases engagement. There are a lot of smart reasons to join social.

What we want to focus on right now is how to act on social in order to make a strong connection with your customers. At the heart of it, it all comes down to transparency. Customers want you to be open and honest, and to use social to do that.

Transparency matters more than ever. Millennials rank social as the top channel for you to be transparent and say that on social they want honesty from you more than they want it from politicians.

Here are the things they believe matter most:

Those are an amazing guide for your social activity and ads. Focus on customer service and responding to questions above all else. When things go wrong, follow the proven practice of admitting it and then fixing it. Ads can contain pricing as well as language on your manufacturing processes when applicable, which can also help engender trust with the customer.

Customers expect you to be more transparent, and some 58% believe it is a moral obligation for you to be honest.

Smart Web Design

Why does almost every article on modern web design focus on minimalism in some form? Because we’re all overloaded from the 20,000 different things vying for our attention. When you’re nothing but noise, people will head for the hills. Millennials are the worst at this with 41% struggling with information overload, while only 31% of Boomers say this.

So, how do you design in a way that promotes sales for your products while also not causing migraines? Start with the smartphone. Design for this real estate and you’ll naturally slim down and focus on what’s important. Mobile-first is a terrific way to ensure that you’re minimalist too.

Next, move to what we were just talking about: transparency around your brand.

For web design, transparency and honesty aren’t about showing the underwork but more about telling your story. Humans have been telling stories since time immemorial; it’s how we connect with each other.

Tell your story clearly and consistently on every page. For example, you’re not a clothing retailer; you help people find their style to feel good about themselves and express their individuality.

Once you have that theme, focus on the elements that relate to the customer and your interactions. The theme should be reflected in the photos you choose, the colors and font on your site, the extra information you provide, and the transparency you give around size charts, shipping costs, and more.

 

 

Skip out on the stock images and crowded ads or pop-ups. Clear away the clutter to get to a clean visual that’s visually appealing and shares your story while providing customers the details they need to make a decision.

The final piece of the puzzle is two types of recommendations: products and people. Follow Amazon’s example of showing products that are similar or ones that people who viewed product A also purchased. Second, bring in your social posts from followers and customer review to lend authenticity to the claims you make about the products.

You want to show people how these goods achieve that theme above, and then provide examples of real people who say that too.

Quality Products

It’s not surprising that people want quality products. No customers want to get ripped off, so every business focuses on some level of quality. Your business needs to define that quality level and then stick to it. Customers are more loyal when product quality stays consistent over time. You don’t have to be Apple, but you do need to meet the initial expectations that your customers expect.

One note here is that money is tight for many of your customers, though overall wages in the U.S. are starting to rise. So, you might be competing to get users from your competitors as people move away from their preferred brands.

Quality in the Millennial and Gen Z focus also means a product worth sharing. Make it something they enjoy using or wearing and would be willing to put on social media. Achieving that means you get great word-of-mouth marketing, a chance at influencer tactics, and plenty of quality reviews to add to your site.

Rapid Shipping

Shipping is a major pain point for many etailers, since your customers demand it to happen quickly and they don’t really care about logistics variables that may be beyond your control. As of 2019, Amazon Prime has roughly 100 million subscribers. They spent more than $1,500 on Amazon each year, and the shipping is a major point of interest for them.

A recent study also notes that twice as many customers took advantage of same-day shipping options in 2018 compared to 2017. And the kicker: 99% of U.S. consumers believe “fast delivery” is important.

That means you need to provide this yourself or work with an order fulfillment company that promises these delivery speeds, and you should make these promises clear. You could easily lose a sale by having slow shipping options or overly unaffordable prices.

Also, in the shipping column is the ability to track a purchase. People are willing to pay for faster shipping, so they want to know if you’re delivering on your end. About half of online shoppers in the U.S. have canceled an online order because the delivery was too slow.

A Simple Purchase Process

Along the same lines of the shipping being high-quality, customers want the purchase experience to be that way too. They don’t want huge forms or complex options, hidden costs, or even to be forced into creating an account when they’re not interested.

If someone wants to buy as a “guest,” you might lose their dollars if you don’t allow that option.

Simple shopping includes a clean and clear cart that is transparent around product costs, added fees for shipping or taxes, and shipping times. Keep this visible at all times to build more trust.

Unfortunately, most eCommerce customers in any demographic will consider or completely abandon a shopping cart at some point this year. What you can do to fight against this is to use retargeting advertising mechanisms. Cart abandonment is also the reason for one of the 17 must-send emails for your company.

Nearly 70% of carts are abandoned but sending that email can get people to come back, especially if you offer something like free shipping.

What’s important for that retargeting is it will only be successful if the purchase process they return to is simple and effective.

Corporate Promises

One of the biggest tactics for reaching Gen Z is to publish and perform corporate responsibility.

This demographic, as well as Millennials, wants a company to be authentic and share their altruistic beliefs. You need to genuinely believe in something and promote it. Do this, and you can grow your bottom line.

Corporate social responsibility, or CSR, puts a human face on any brand. It allows customers to see that you care about a cause and are actively putting money toward it. They then get the benefit of saying the products they use also do good in the world — you’re giving them bragging rights too. Lego provides a great example of this.

 

 

Another important aspect of this is the media environment that Gen Z is immersed within has a confusing mix of real and false stories of all kinds. We’re not just talking about traditional media, but also memes that accuse brands of false harm, bullying, planetary harm, and much more.

Bring in the transparency and honesty mentioned above to your work in the local community, and you can invite a new line of customers in regularly.

Onesixtyfourth has created an interesting five-step Brand Citizenship model that discusses CSR in a broader sense, noting that today’s customers want to buy from you if you improve their lives, community, and the world while taking responsibility for what you do.

Treat Them Like People, Not Buyers

The heart of every item above is treating the customer like a person. Follow the rules of a first date when you want a second one: be honest, interesting, and highlight areas where you both care about the same thing.

You don’t have to always be selling, but you do need to always be interacting.