Conversions

1. What are conversions?

The official definition of a conversion is:

• An action that’s counted when someone interacts with your ad (for example, clicks a text ad or views a video ad) and then takes an action that you’ve defined as valuable to your business

Examples of valuable activity include website purchases, phone calls, app downloads or newsletter sign-ups. The set-up process is different depending on the type of conversion that you’re tracking, so the first step in setting up conversion tracking is to choose a conversion source, or where your conversions come from.

2. What can I track with conversion tracking?

Different ad types will influence the conversions you want your potential customers to complete. For example, website conversions are different from phone call conversions. Here’s how they differ:

• Websites: This is for anyone who wants to track when a customer completes an action on their website. This could be, for example, making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, clicking on a button or any other valuable action a customer can take on your website. Find out exactly how to set up conversion tracking for your website.
• App: This action is for companies who want to track when a customer installs their app or completes an in-app action, such as a purchase. Find out more about setting up mobile app conversion tracking.
• Phones: If you want to track calls from ads, calls to a phone number on your website or phone number clicks on a mobile website, phone conversions are what you need. Find out more about tracking phone conversions.
• Offline Conversion Tracking: This is useful for anyone whose ad doesn’t lead directly to an online sale, but instead starts a customer down a path that ultimately leads to a sale in the offline world, such as at your office or over the phone. By importing offline conversions, you can measure what happens in the offline world after your ad results in a click or call to your business. Find out everything you need to know about offline conversion tracking.

What affects conversions?

On average, the conversion rate in online marketing is between 1% and 5% and depends on factors such as the level of brand awareness, item prices and the size of the offer. Some other factors that influence the conversion rate are:

Visitors/target group

If the visitors do not belong to the target group of a website, they are more likely to leave the page and therefore not act, i.e. convert, which will have a negative impact on the overall conversion rate. Conversely, if more visitors belong to the target group, the conversion rate will grow.

Website offer

The quality of the website’s offer is also important for a successful conversion. If the website is not appealing or of poor quality, the conversion rate will remain low. This also includes whether the visitor’s expectations of the content are met: Are all the important statements present? Is the message in the copy and images what the target group expected? 

For example, the content on a reputable financial consultancy website must provide certain statements about savings, services, location, and prices. It shouldn’t be just a plain-text offer overloaded with keywords, solely because those fit the target group and the conversion goals.

Here are some examples of what a quality offer must contain:

• Price
• Availability
• Delivery times
• Product quality
• Payment methods

User experience

Another important factor is the user experience (UX), which is the usability of the website for the user. This includes:

✔ loading times

✔ placement of texts and images

✔ structuring

✔ use of buttons

✔ website functionalities etc., to name just a few.

Additional factors here are user-friendliness, user guidance, and communication of the website’s offer. If the visitors of the website belong to the target group and the offer is of high quality, the conversion rate will be mainly influenced by the user experience. Conversion rate optimization can, therefore, mean adjustments to the layout, simplification, and creation of quality content.

What comes after a conversion?

Even after a successful conversion to a paying client, you shouldn’t drop contact with the user. A successful conversion can be the start of a long-term loyal customer relationship, which is then built through onboarding and great customer support.

Even after a conversion, such as a successful purchase, the customer needs to keep getting wooed. Therefore, it makes sense to use the data collected for newsletters, offers, or discounts that are specifically personalized to their interests for post-conversion marketing.