3 Ways to Make Sure It Fails

Let’s start with the basics:

1. Do you have a mobile-specific Conversion Rate Optimization (mCRO) approach?
2. Does your CRO strategy address how desktop and mobile experiences can have different KPIs?
3. Does your mobile QA process recognize the technology used by real visitors to your site?

If you answered NO to any of these questions, your mCRO program is off the rails.

Considering Mobile as an Afterthought

Let’s consider a few stats to put things in perspective.

• Online shoppers spent almost $8 billion during 2018’s Cyber Monday. In just one day!
• Mobile accounted for more than half of the holiday shopping traffic (54.3%).
• Almost 40% of those sales came from mobile, totaling $2.8 billion in sales
• Source: Techcrunch

WOW! And those numbers grew 20% – 30% year over year. Now how does this compare to your site? Jump into your data and ask:

1. What percent of your traffic comes from mobile devices?
2. How are those sessions performing compared to your desktop sessions?
3. How much more could you be making if you focused more on mobile CRO and increased conversions by 5, 10 or even 20%?

Considering That Mobile and Desktop Visitors Have The Same Goals

If your CRO program is always testing the same hypothesis across all devices, you are behind the times. While you want an amazing user experience for both screens, people often use mobile devices with a different intent than desktop.

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Example:

If people are searching “mens boots austin texas,” on their phone, it’s more likely the goal is to find a store location, hours or contact info than to find and buy the perfect boot in their size.

Assuming these visitors should be included in a test to increase “Adds to Cart” for All Traffic, shows that you’re missing the very real opportunity to help them accomplish the task they want to accomplish and instead you’re forcing them into a path they aren’t even interested in.

Consider the intent of this segment and optimize toward the users’ goals, not yours. Helping customers succeed directly helps your business succeed.

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This is especially true in B2B and media consumption business models.

B2B users are more likely to access a website via desktop during business hours with specific intent. They may be looking for detailed information on service offerings, capabilities, or considering complex product specs.

However that same users may pick up their phone during their commute to quickly ask a sales question or casually watch training videos. They aren’t as likely to want to go through a complex site with multiple steps and considerations while they’re on the move.

Likewise, If your media site has a high mobile traffic volume, it’s important to understand the types of content that work well for those visitors.

Do they prefer 10,000 word diatribes on complex topics or are they just looking for quick highlights. This information can be measured and tested!

Your article titles and teaser images might be absolute Click Through Rate (CTR) rock stars, but if what you’re delivering to a mobile audience doesn’t fit within their expectations, you’re wasting their precious time (and your money).

Considering Running QA Based on The Phone in Your Pocket

Whether I’m speaking to a relatively small e-commerce company or an incredibly large one, I’m always floored to hear that their mobile QA testing takes place on whatever phones the team has on hand. Spot-checking your test variations like this is a sure-fire way to miss important issues that real potential buyers will find and cause them to leave.

Instead, dig into your data to determine the devices, operating systems and browsers used by the majority of your traffic (real users!), which is often different than what you have in your pocket. Make sure this list of configured mobile devices goes into your team’s Quality Assurance (QA) process for any Production releases and especially for anything you’re A/B testing.

Your CRO program must include a round of QA on these specific device, OS, and browser combinations. As your CRO program grows, you should regularly adapt your testing based on new trends in your user audience. Although especially important for mobile, the same should be done for desktop users – find out what browser and screen resolutions they are using and make sure you are optimizing to them.

Does it sound like your mobile CRO program is already off the rails? The Mobile1st optimization experts have seen their share of mistakes and are ready to help you get back on track.

Mobile1st is a leader in marketing technology and site optimization solutions. More than prioritizing and executing industry leading CRO practices, we do what makes the money; optimizing our Client’s digital commerce product toward consistent financial growth and ROI. All achieved through excellence in Lean UX, Analytics, Research, Experimentation and Development.
Contact Mobile1st Experts Now!