How to Hire a CRO Expert for Conversion Optimization

What to Look for When Hiring a Conversion Rate Expert

Data-driven marketing continues to increase in importance, and companies recognize this. They want actual data when they make decisions, and marketers offer unique ways to measure anything the client desires.

Personalized marketing becomes easier when a person has this information, which helps to explain why conversion rate optimization now serves as a high-value, crucial element of digital marketing.

How should a company go about hiring a conversion rate expert? What traits should the company look for in an expert of this type? Consider the following conversion optimization tips as you go to make this decision.

Multi-disciplinary

Conversion rate optimization experts must commit to ongoing learning if they wish to achieve success consistently for clients. They need to bring data, copywriting, digital analytics, and testing together, which means they must focus on a multi-disciplinary approach. CRO Specialists must possess knowledge of these areas along with basic coding skills to meet the needs of their clients.

The Process

Effective conversion rate experts focus on the process of conversion optimization consulting. They recognize that conversion rate optimization in digital marketing involves the application of tactics and the review of comparable case studies so they’re not reinventing the wheel.

In fact, many experts compare it to the lean startup process that focuses on building, measuring, and learning. With conversion rate optimization, the expert needs to carry out research, prioritize the tasks, test campaigns, learn from the test results, and repeat the process.

Completing all five steps helps to generate results and grow the client’s business.

Curiosity

The digital marketing field continuously changes, and consumer wants, and needs do the same. Conversion optimization experts must be curious, as this leads them to want to know more about what moves consumers. To get this information, the ecom conversion optimization consultant must conduct research, read everything possible related to the field, and ask questions. They must delve into consumer behavior to learn how to get individuals to convert.

Critical Thinking

When looking at a website, the conversion optimization specialist needs to explain exactly what works, what doesn’t, and why. They use data to learn how individuals explore the site, how they navigate the different areas, any problems with this navigation, and where the site needs changes.

When a site remains user-friendly and open to search engine crawlers, conversions increase.

Focus

Conversion rate optimization in digital marketing requires the expert to know what to focus on. Many business owners find they struggle to improve a website because they track every change and analyze every piece of data coming in. The expert determines where to turn the focus and make the most of their time.

Consumer Behavior

Conversion rate experts must understand consumer behavior and what people want when spending money. For this reason, people who major in psychology and similar disciplines find they benefit greatly from doing so when working in this field.

They better recognize the desires and motivations of consumers when making a purchase. Furthermore, they engage with consumers and understand not only what they say but what they leave out.

This allows them to create a message that reaches the target audience and spurs them to action.

Communication

To boost conversions, the expert must create interesting material. Nevertheless, the material needs to focus on the right audience. This individual must customize the style, format, tone, and diction to the target audience, which means they must be flexible with their writing. Conversion rate optimization consulting requires the ability to adjust the tone and voice of communication on all content produced by the brand including product pages, category pages, blog posts and even company website sales channels like Meta and Google Ads at all levels of the sales funnel.

People Skills

Marketing professionals need to test their methods to determine which are most effective and which need changing or elimination.

To create a successful test, the professional must possess research, people, and analysis skills. They want to learn more about what makes consumers tick, communicate with the target audience, and extrapolate important information from their words and actions.

As a result, the expert becomes the most critical tool in the overall marketing equation. Companies must recognize this when choosing a conversion rate expert to partner with.

Detail Oriented

Details matter for conversion rate optimization in digital marketing. The process involves countless minor details, and overlooking even one leads to less-than-ideal results. This includes knowing any possible cognitive biases in those visiting the site, carefully choosing words used in polls and qualitative surveys, and more.

Look for a conversion rate optimizer that tests, configures, and analyzes regularly. They don’t rush the process or skip steps to get results in less time. Minor details could fall through the cracks if they don’t focus on the details, and this could hurt the company’s marketing efforts in the long run.

Patience

A company working to improve its conversion rate must have patience. Conversion rate optimization in digital marketing takes time, and the company must prepare for months of failure.

Although results may become apparent in less time, this isn’t always the case. Every test provides valuable information, and companies who stick with the process find they achieve success if they stick with the process. Conversion rate optimization consultants understand the need for proper testing and measurement and will insist on staying the course and not initiating multiple tests on the same pages of content.

Think Outside the Box

Ask any business owner where to find a conversion rate expert, and they may tell you this person remains as elusive as Bigfoot. People insist they exist, but nobody has encountered one, or so they say.

Actually, many people who excel at conversion rate optimization in digital marketing don’t list this on their resume or promote their services. By focusing on the skills needed to succeed in this area, a company can find an individual with the right skill set to accomplish the goals the company had laid out.

As these experts remain elusive and don’t advertise their conversion rate optimization services, a company must know what to ask when interviewing individuals.

The following questions become of great help when carrying out this critical task. They go above and beyond the standard interview questions and uncover whether a person might succeed in this endeavor.

What are your strongest analytical skills?

Analytical skills play an important role in conversion rate optimization. The professional needs to look at more than conversion rates and analyze additional metrics of importance to the client.

The process begins when they visit the website to learn what works and what doesn’t. This visit needs to be in-depth and involve every aspect of the website. Many individuals focus on the testing process, but it serves as only a small percentage of the overall optimization process.

How do you develop a marketing strategy?

Asking this question gives the human resources team a better understanding of their thinking process. Conversion rate optimizers must come up with strategies that others may learn from and scale. What are the unique differentiators of your brand? What are your strongest value propositions in general? What are the pain points of your target audience and how can you connect with them.

What have you previously optimized outside of work?

A true conversion rate expert optimizes every area of their life. This includes their home, their hobbies, and their previous jobs. Speak with them about how they completed the optimization process, what they learned when doing so, and how it has improved their life in that area.
How do you analyze a page?

Conversion rate experts have different ways of looking at a page. Some individuals view the page and focus on the user experience, while others look at the psychology behind the page. Many experts require data to arrive at conclusions.

There is no right way to analyze a page, but asking the expert to do so allows the human resources team to get more information about how the expert works. They see what interests the expert and where they think the site needs changes.

Don’t expect to hire someone with years of experience. This field remains relatively new. The key when hiring a conversion rate expert lies in finding someone who understands the importance of the task and has established a process for optimizing a site for conversions.

In addition, this person needs to understand the best practices and have the fundamentals of improving conversion rates.

How do you handle testing?

Testing serves a critical role in conversion rate optimization in digital marketing. When speaking with a marketing specialist, ask if they prioritize certain tests. Learn what criteria they use when determining if they have conducted a test for the necessary time.

See if they will run a test because the company owner or a stakeholder would like to know the results, whether or not the results would affect the conversion rate.

Ask about the most successful test the professional has run on a site and the least successful. Furthermore, learn when they carry out testing. Some professionals focus solely on the A/B testing cycle, but companies want someone who continues to conduct testing once this stage has passed.

What strategies will the professional use to optimize the site?

Strategies used to optimize a site vary based on what the site needs. The professional should provide information on where they feel their efforts need to be placed and what changes they believe the site needs. The strategies should reflect this. Furthermore, learn about the tools they will use during the process.

Consider hiring a professional who focuses solely on conversion rate optimization. If this isn’t possible, choose a firm with an employee dedicated solely to this task.

Although any marketer can help with conversion rate optimization in digital marketing, when they must also handle other types of marketing, they likely won’t qualify as a conversion rate expert. As that’s what you need to turn visitors into clients, don’t settle for anything less.

Hiring a conversion rate optimization freelance?

Thankfully freelancers are out there but buyer beware. You can look on Upwork and other freelance sites but unfortunately, you will only find marketers with niche experience. Try and find someone that has more than just general marketing experience and understands brand voice, how to create a strong offer, market positioning as well as the key points of reading the analytics for your website and optimizing the customer experience. Make sure to check their reviews, get references and look at their past projects. Also, depending on the size of your organization and budget you might want to bring in a conversion rate optimizer inhouse or at least someone that has the majority of these skills.