Want more conversions? Focus on your messaging.

• Category: Conversion Rate Optimisation Strategy


• Date: November 10, 2020

I see so many SaaS companies and tech start-ups investing huge amounts of resource into conversion rate optimisation – which is fantastic – but they’re often surprised when they don’t see the results they were expecting.

Why? Because they focus on the wrong areas.

Generally most conversion rate optimisation (CRO) strategies focus on the mechanics of a site. The points of interaction between user and website.

For example; call-to-action, contact forms, purchase funnels and so on.

They may even focus on trust signals such as social proofs, accreditations, client logos et cetera.

But what’s missing from these lists, and the the most important part of your website?

The messaging.

Poor messaging is the reason the vast majority of websites don’t convert as well as they should. No amount of slick multi-variate testing or heatmap analysis is going to remedy that problem.

Start with thorough, evidence-based persona building. Identify not just the motivations of a potential buyer, but their fears and inhibitions. Clearly define any rational or emotive barrier to purchase and succinctly articulate why that doesn’t apply to your product or service.

Here’s a quick example I came across recently from Wirehive (cloud hosting and consulting). Their strapline (for want of a better word) is:

Helping forward-thinking businesses transform the way the world operates.

Sounds very grand, admirable in it’s ambition, but does it mean anything to a potential customer? I suppose so, as a mission statement, but it’s vague.

Click through to their homepage, though, and the messaging is much stronger.

‘Radically candid’ – nice USP. Speaks to a customer’s fear of smoke & mirrors and consultancy tech-jargon.

‘Cloud consulting services‘ – very clear in what they’re offering.

Wrap it up with a proper tagline…

“Solve your business challenges with straight-talking tech specialists“.

So these guys are technology specialists, but they speak my language and they can solve my problems. Where do I sign up?

Oh, right here, on that clear and emotive “Start your journey” call-to-action.

Do you see how that messaging is more compelling than “Helping forward-thinking businesses transform the way the world operates”? Grand mission statements are important but not at the expense of a conversion.

Once your messaging speaks directly to the needs of your potential customer, and satisfies their pre-purchase queries and concerns, only then should you focus on streamlining the mechanics of your conversion funnel.

This is even more crucial for a start-up, as you won’t have the brand recognition to fall back on.

If you’d like to chat messaging or CRO for your start-up, please get in touch.