Too many window shoppers and tire kickers? Smart software companies convert more by thinking like buyers.
Do you have Conversion Rate Envy?
If you’re like most software companies, you’re probably averaging a 2-4% conversion rate on your landing pages. For every 100 people who window shop you, only a few come inside and look around. Some try your free trial but don’t buy the full product.
Are your competitors doing any better? What about other industries? Here are some typical landing page conversion rates by industry:
Media and entertainment – 11.3%
Finance and insurance – 5.8%
Education – 5.7%
Fitness and nutrition – 4.5%
Doesn’t that get your Conversion Rate Envy going? How would you like to get your conversion rate up that high?
If you want to boost conversion rates, you need to stop thinking like software companies and start thinking like software buyers. Here are three ways to turn buyer-think to your advantage:
1. Put visitors in the mood to buy
Sites with high conversion rates have the look and feel of places where you buy things, because that puts visitors in the mood to become purchasers.
OK, so you don’t want to turn your site into a flea market – fair enough. Think about it this way, then: Make your site look like a science museum that shows how you solve problems, but make your Buy page look like the gift store inside the museum, where visitors can purchase those solutions.
2. Build authority with valuable content
Assuming they in fact need the product or service you provide, the biggest reason prospects don’t buy is that they don’t trust you yet.
People who trust you will buy your software. This is where building your authority comes in, and it takes time.
Don’t fill your site with copy that describes how great your product is. People don’t care about your product or about being cool. They care about their business problems and they want to trust somebody to fix them. You can become that somebody through valuable content like free video, advice and research, or with ratings and testimonials from other people who trust them.
3. Get your product to talk to them
Your software is no longer just software. It’s part of the conversation, and some customers will talk to you through your product, if you let them:
- “You’re nearing 2000 contacts. Let us know if you need to upgrade soon.”
- “You’ve run the demo version five times. How do you like the product so far?”
- “Got 30 minutes for a feedback session with us? We’ll upgrade you to the full version for free.”
Be sure to make this feel to the customer like conversationware, not nagware.
Boosting your average conversion rate may not be easy, but it is simple: Think like a software buyer.
