Connor Brooke
When I reference conversion optimization, one might think positive copywriting, inviting landing page design and A/B testing for the highest conversion results. Yes, this is true, but there are other types of conversions to measure that can be optimized.
These “non-traditional” ways of optimization are classified as conversations or engagement, and each can lead to many opportunities. Let’s look at the differences now and what each offers:
Traditional Conversion Optimization
In the traditional sense, a conversion looks something, like:
- Subscribe to our email list/ provide information
- Download a software demo
- Consume a special report
With these, we would employ things like PPC ads, email marketing and landing pages to convert visitors into potential leads. The end goal is get visitors to become a lead, analyze their information and nurture them until they’re ready to buy our product or service.
Measuring these takes us into analytics packages and measuring bounce rates, email registrations and downloads. Then, we keep track of leads with scoring and lead nurturing campaigns and who buys vs. those that don’t.
This is what we’re used to, but there are other ways to look at conversions and, by extension, conversion optimization.
Non-Traditional Conversion Optimization Measurement
The measurement of success for engagement is more difficult to define. It isn’t someone filling out a registration form or downloading a White Paper, it’s getting people to join in the conversation and actually engage.
Some examples of non-traditional conversion might include:
- Commenting on a blog post
- Liking or commenting a Facebook post
- Retweeting or replying to a Twitter Post
- Adding a +1 or replying to a Google+ post
- Repinning an image on Pinterest
With these types of conversions, it’s not as easy to measure them in the traditional sense. How do we figure out the ROI of a tweet or blog comment? Not easy, but for non-traditional conversion optimization, it’s usually isn’t.
This is return on engagement (ROE) and it’s a measurement of engagement via different channels and how those conversations turn into leads for future nurturing. These types of conversions keep your product or service top of mind of the potential consumer. Things you want to analyze with this type of conversion are:
- How does it tie into goals and objectives?
- Where did the conversion come from?
- Did the engagement turn into a qualified lead?
Remember Engagement in Conversion Optimization
There are different opportunities beyond traditional conversions. When we go beyond the email list sign-ups and software downloads, we tap into conversations with those who could turn into leads.
When we utilize the same traditional conversion tactics in non-traditional engagement, we can expect to see many more qualified leads into the pipeline.
How do you measure engagement? Leave us a comment and let us know!
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This article was written for Business 2 Community by Connor Brooke.
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Fantastic points, Erik. The recent buzz even is that social sharing is the “new” SEO; that if you put enough effort for your social media marketing, your business will do good for ROI and will outlast any algorithm updates from Google. It may be too early to conclude for this, but it seems to be working for quite a number of small businesses. Plus, there’s the huge drive for local SEO which you can of course integrate with your Google+.