In my experience of marketing management the one thing I have consistently been targeted with over the years is that final figure of conversion. Whether that is how many leads have ultimately turned into sales or a particular call to action that results in opportunities, that bottom line of ‘How many people did what we needed them to do?’ is vital. So if this is the case, why is the average conversion rate so low? – global conversion rate 2.10% (fireclick.com 2011).

Being able to demonstrate what you as a marketer have spent the company money on has directly returned results, is an absolute must.
Understanding this and truly helping organisations and more specifically marketers achieve this tends to be forgotten by many agencies. Instead focusing on softer objectives and delivering on a brief, steering clear of what at the end of the day is the most important thing, through fear of real accountability.
For example, SEO agencies which focus on driving ‘traffic’ and can demonstrate an uplift in numbers visiting the site are clearly fulfilling their brief but does simple traffic mean conversion and help the marketer achieve their objectives?

You may see some uplift but that’s more luck than judgement and reflects why average conversion rates are so very low. The target must be about driving ‘customers’ not ‘traffic’, engaging those people you know are going to convert based on intelligence and market insight and driving those with necessary ‘intent’ to ‘do what we need them to do’.

Accountability is the name of the game and agencies will have to face this as the marketers they work for are asked to justify spend vs results.

Tags: conversion, optimisation, seo