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Alexis Courselle
Buckle up for a delightful discussion with the master of conversions, Alexis Courselle.
Buckle up for a delightful discussion with the master of conversions, Alexis Courselle.
My career started with a management diploma, and I transitioned through roles in design, SEO, and production management at marketing agencies. But the game-changer was when I joined a UX team in 2010 – that's when I caught the conversion optimization bug.
In 2013, our agency was acquired by Dentsu Aegis Media, opening a new chapter in my journey. This was my opportunity to develop and implement Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) products across multiple countries.
Fast forward to now, I made the decision to take my commitment to the next level and established my global CRO agency, www.karlmission.com. At Karl Mission, we are dedicated to working with individuals who share a genuine passion for what we do because CRO doesn't feel like a job to me – it's a passion rooted in real connections and teamwork.
My personal experiences and values come into the picture here. My passion for helping businesses came from growing up in an entrepreneurial family where I saw business plans turn into real success stories.
As a conversion specialist, I realized the power at my fingertips to transform businesses. I could truly make a big impact on my client's success, and that motivated me deeply. I felt a responsibility to use my expertise for positive change.
I often tell newcomers that we have superpowers in this field. It's not about being a better or worse person; it's about amplifying who you are. A good CRO specialist can choose who to support, and for me, it's always been about backing the right causes.
Whether it's non-profits, local businesses, or genuine corporations, our mission is about making a positive difference. It's not just about profits; it's about making businesses better and improving the communities they serve.
Some mistakes I encounter that can impact conversion rates are:
Rushing changes without diving into the data first. Many companies are in a hurry to see results, so they quickly make changes to their websites. But the thing is, if you don't understand your data, you can't really make things better. It's like that saying, "You can't improve what you don't measure."
Thinking UX Designers who don't talk to users are true User Experience specialists. Some designers are amazing artists but design based on their own likes, not what users need. Real UX design is about interacting with users to create interfaces that match their expectations.
For good conversion rates, you need user behavior data in order to create designs that really resonate with your audience. Inexperienced designers might miss the mark, but experienced ones will help your conversion rates shine.
Data analytics, especially Google Analytics, is a real MVP for us. When we team up with clients, Google Analytics is often our first go-to tool.
We kick things off by getting to know our client's audience inside out. We take their ideal customer and see how they match up with the data we pull from Google Analytics. This helps us fine-tune our strategies, making sure they're a perfect fit for what the audience wants, how they behave, and what they need. It's all about tailoring our approach to match our client's goals.
Now with the change to GA4, many businesses are spending lots of time trying to figure out how to adapt and create new tracking plans. Adapting to GA4 is a must-do - it's all about having the right data to boost conversions.
CRO is all about playing it smart with data. At KARL Mission, we prioritize user attention span. Forget those long and fancy web pages because data shows us that users don’t scroll. That means if 80% of your visitors don't see what's below the fold, your beautiful website is only impressing 20% of them.
Our game plan is simple: we deliver what users want. It’s all about user experience. For a conversion boost, my top tip is to spend time with your users whenever you can. Get to know them and understand what they want.
Email collection varies from site to site, depending on your branding, audience, and where you're at. But all that matters is to give users real value. At KARL Mission, we start with a simple question: "What's in it for the user?". What we focus on when collecting email is:
● USPs: Tell users what they receive in return for their email.
● Easy sign-up: Make it easy with the fewest clicks.
● Pop-ups: Depends on your site and when they pop up, like when they're about to leave or just finished an action.
● Be clear: Tell users how you'll use those emails. They like knowing their info is in good hands.
● Give options: Let users pick the type and frequency of emails they get for less unsubscribes.
That's how we roll – real, easy, and all about giving users what they want.
Customer surveys are like gold in CRO and a big deal for us. Engagement rates in surveys might not always be high (minimum 1%), but if you're close to your community, you can get some great response rates.
The trick is to ask the right questions to the right audience. Start early, even with just a few questions. As your business grows, your surveys should too. It's an ongoing project to improve how you gather user feedback.
We use surveys to learn what users want and need. It's all about making decisions backed by real user insights.
At KARL Mission, we even A/B test them. That's how we keep refining the survey process, making sure we get the good stuff. A/B testing helps us figure out which questions hit the right mark with users and makes the survey experience better for more engagement and responses.
Pop-ups can be cool, but they can also be a risk to the user experience. The trick is to be as genuine as possible with them. A/B testing is your best friend. It helps figure out when and how to use pop-ups without annoying/disrupting your visitors. Again, use data to keep things on the level.
During my time working in the market research and customer panel team at Kantar, my focus was acquiring and retaining customers, and optimizing response rates.
What I learned was to let your users decide how often they want emails. Spamming your email base with unwanted emails will make your customers lose attention and maybe even their subscriptions. Letting users pick how often they get emails is nice and is better quality engagement. Here we say, it's always pricier to get new customers than to keep the ones you have!
One of the toughest projects I worked on was back in my days at Iprospect. We were improving a website that sold alarm systems. Despite our A/B testing efforts, the product page had a stubbornly high bounce rate. Users were leaving without making a move.
To get to the bottom of this, we decided to run a user survey. We learnt that everyone was leaving because they couldn't find any pricing information. It turned out that the company had a strict no-prices-on-the-website policy.
Now, our real challenge was convincing the company board to change their minds about this pricing confidentiality. We had to show them that revealing some ballpark estimates based on the number of rooms could build trust and boost conversions.
After a persuasive pitch that combined A/B testing results with user survey data, we got the green light from the board. We added those ballpark estimates to the website, and the bounce rate on the product page dropped by 50%. That project reminded us of the power of data-driven decisions and challenging the status quo to get awesome results.
I've had experience working with various types of online stores, and it's important to mention that each one is unique. You can watch my CRO workshop for e-commerce on our YouTube channel, where I assess online stores and provide recommendations.
As a general rule, prioritize your customers by putting their needs first. I recommend running A/B testing which can be really helpful to figure out what works best for your specific store and market. Again, data is key. Analyzing data can give valuable insights into customer behavior and help you fine-tune your online strategies.
We offer a free CRO consultation at www.karlmission.com if anyone wants to dive deeper into specific strategies and opportunities for their business. Feel free to reach out and I’m happy to chat.
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