A buyer’s journey is usually not straightforward, and it’s difficult to track which of the marketing channels impacted the conversion. Learn all you need about attribution models and why they are essential marketing tools.

What is an Attribution Model?

Attribution models are a framework and set of rules that determine how to assign a result to a variable. The attribution is usually done by assigning a numeric value to each variable and computing a resulting score to find which variable had the major impact on the result.

Marketers use attribution models to understand how different channels and touchpoints contribute to each sale.

What is Marketing Attribution Modeling?

Let’s start by giving the marketing attribution modeling definition. Marketing attribution modeling is a method that helps marketers attribute conversions to the right marketing channels. Without an attribution model, marketers would be in the dark, trying to understand which touchpoints lead conversions and which don’t.

What is the purpose of attribution modeling?

Marketers can use a marketing attribution model to understand which parts of their marketing campaign drive the most sales-to-funnel leads and increase the chances for conversions. Marketers assign value to touchpoints at specific steps of the buyer’s journey, from searching for the product online to purchasing.

Types of Attribution Models in Marketing

So, let’s delve deeper into attribution models. There are several marketing attribution models, but we can categorize them into two types: single and multi-source.

We’ll explain more about the different types in the next section.

Single-touch models 

First-Touch Attribution Model,

Also called the first-interaction, or first-click attribution model, this model gives all the credit for the conversion to the first interaction the customer has with your business on the customer journey, where they make a purchase.

When should you use this model? When you want to know what catches a new lead’s attention at the top of the funnel.

This attribution model identifies what makes your customers tick. For example, how your search or display ads campaigns are performing. Businesses with short sales cycles or that want to create brand awareness may benefit from this model.

Pros and Cons of First Touch Attribution

Last-Touch Attribution Model,

The last touch attribution, also known as the qualified lead model, credits the sale to the customer’s last interaction with your business before purchasing. This model is called “last click attribution” or “last interaction attribution.” Because it is simple to quantify, most platforms, including Google Analytics, use it.

When should you use Last Touch Attribution? When you want to know which marketing campaign, techniques, or channels drive your customers to action. This model can be effective for organizations with short sales cycles with few steps before conversion.

Pros and Cons of Last Touch Attribution

Lead creation model

This attribution model gives the credit of the sales to the moment when a prospect becomes a lead. This turning point is where a prospect takes an action that leads to a purchase, such as completing a form.

When should you use Lead Creation attribution?: When you want to understand what is the activity that is turning your prospect into a potential customer.

Pros and Cons of Lead Creation Attribution

Last non-direct click model

This attribution model differentiates between direct and non-direct touchpoints, giving the credit for the sale to the last non-direct interaction. What is non-direct traffic? For example, the one driven to your website from another site. This includes email campaigns, Twitter posts, or influencer marketing.

When should you use Last non-direct touch attribution? When you want to understand which of your indirect traffic is influencing sales.

Pros and Cons of Last Non-Direct Click Attribution

Last  <most important> touch model 

This model is different from others because it is customizable. Last <most important channel> touch attribution model gives the credit for the sale to the last touchpoint of any specific channel. This means you choose which channel to measure for all the sales.

When should you use Last <most important channel> model? When you prioritize a channel over the others and want to measure it.

Pros and Cons of Last <most important> touch model

Multi-Touch Attribution Models

Even-weight or Linear

This model divides the credit for the sale equally among all the touchpoints in a customer’s journey. For example, if there are four touchpoints in the consumer journey, each of these points gets 20% of the credit for the sale.

Let’s say a customer finds your organization on social media and signs on the mailing list. Later, the customer goes to your website and makes a purchase. Since there are three steps on this sale, each one has a conversion credit of 33%, and the number of touchpoints splits the value of the purchase.

When should you use linear attribution? When you want a more balanced insight into your client’s marketing strategy.

Pros and Cons of Even-weight or Linear Model

Time-decay 

This model assigns credit for the sale to each of the touchpoints and, in this way, is similar to the linear attribution. The difference is that assigns more relevance to the most recent touchpoints and the earlier interactions are assigned less weight.

When should you use Time-decay attribution model? When you want to consider when the interactions occurred and have the credit spread more evenly.

Pros and Cons of Time-decay attribution model

U-Shaped Attribution  

Also called the Position Attribution model, it credits conversions by giving more importance to the first and last touch point in the customer’s journey, distributing the rest evenly among other touchpoints.

For example, a customer arrives at your site through a search ad. They later view your Instagram bio and sign up to receive email marketing. Later, the customer clicks on a newsletter CTA. The initial response to the search ad and then click on the newsletter CTA each receive 40% of the credit for the conversion. The Instagram and the sign-up receive 10%.

When should you use U-Shaped attribution? When your goals include brand awareness and conversions. It gives a more accurate picture than other models.

Pros and Cons of U-Shaped attribution

W-Shaped Attribution

This model splits the credit between the first touch, last touch, and qualified lead milestone. These points receive a third of the credit for the sale, while the rest of the credit is spread among the other touchpoints.

When should you use a W-Shaped attribution model? This model works well for B2B organizations that have a clear funnel. You will learn how the channels connect with each other and how touchpoints help buyers at each stage of the funnel.

Pros and Cons of W-Shaped Attribution

Z-Shaped Attribution

This attribution model gives credit to all touchpoints in the buyer’s journey. It works similarly to a position-based model by deciding how much credit should you assign to each touchpoint depending on its position in the sales cycle.

The model chooses the four most important touchpoints in the buyer’s journey and assigns each one 22.5% of the credit, and the remaining 10% is split equally amongst the remaining touchpoints.

When should you use a Z-shaped attribution model?  This model works well for companies with long sales cycles where customers must be guided along the way.

Pros and Cons of Z-shaped attribution model

Machine learning

Also called data-driven attribution models, uses the organization’s historical data to create the rules by which they assign credit to each of the marketing touchpoints. According to this model, each touchpoint’s value is determined based on its performance through several campaigns.

Cross-Channel Attribution Model

This model is based on multi-touch attribution. The model gives credit to the channels the customer interacts too but leaves out the touchpoints within these channels. For example, it might include a display ad but not a specific social media post. This model works best for organizations with multiple marketing channels where there is no clear overproducing channel.

View-Through Attribution Model

This model works primarily with ads and credits conversions to ad impressions, even if the conversion doesn’t follow immediately. Marketers use VTA to show that a specific impression leads to an eventual conversion. View-through attribution is also known as impression tracking. This model helps marketers acknowledge the impact of advertising on a conversion.

Custom Single or Multi-Touch Model

Maybe none of the above fits your organization. Here, consider using a custom attribution model. This model will fit your rules, and you can combine the benefits of different models and create one that works with your organization.

Examples of attribution models

Let’s understand how it works with examples. Customers X and Y come to your website looking for a product you sell, but they have different journeys:

Customer X

Converts straight away in one step. They come to your website knowing what they want, click on it, and buy it. Easy.

Customer Y

They may have a different buyer’s journey. Let’s say they found out about an ad about your product, looked for reviews on social media, went to your company’s website, looked at testimonials, and then bought the product.

Customer Y’s journey involved several touchpoints, while Customer X’s journey involved very few, if any. 

If you want to understand which touchpoints create conversions, you have a few options here.

You can assign relevance to the last touchpoint before the sale. But when you do that, you miss all the others that influenced the customer to purchase. Or you can assign relevance to the first interaction or distribute the relevance among all the touch points.

What are the touchpoints, the purpose and why attribution modeling is important? 

When you assign credit to your marketing channels and touchpoints, you can increase your chances of conversions. Other benefits of using attribution models:

• You can identify where you need to improve the buyer’s journey
• Detect the ROI for each channel or touchpoint
• Understand the most effective ways to invest your budget 
• Adjust your marketing campaign to improve conversions.

What is the most common attribution model?

The last Touch attribution model is the most common. It is used as a default for Google Analytics reports. The first touch attribution follows closely in popularity because of its simplicity.

Machine learning and cross-channel attribution models are increasingly popular because of their accuracy.

Attribution Modeling Tools

There are numerous tools available to help with marketing attribution modeling. Here are three examples:

1. CallRail

It is a marketing analytics platform with several features that helps you analyze call data, including attribution modeling. Attribution modeling can help you understand how every marketing touchpoint impacts a phone conversation with a prospect. It may help you check the sources that lead to the greatest number of calls.

2. Attribution

This enterprise multi-touch attribution tool can give you clear visibility into your marketing touchpoints and how they impact your customer’s journey. This tool automation feature lets you collect and analyze data by integrating with ad software, CRM platform, and other marketing tools.

3. Wicked Reports

It is a multi-channel attribution software for marketers. This useful tool helps you calculate the ROI for every channel, ad, and campaign. Wicked reports help adjust the attribution models according to your campaign goals and provide in-depth and accurate data.

How to find attribution model reports in Google Analytics 4. 

GA4 is a new set of Google Analytics reports and data. Google Analytics 4 displays the following features:

• It collects website and app data to understand the customer journey
• Uses event-based data
• Includes privacy controls and predictive capabilities
• It integrates directly with media platforms.

One of the tools available for Google Analytics is the Multi-Channel Funnels Model Comparison Tool. This tool helps you compare how different attribution models affect your marketing channels.

You can use the Model Comparison tool to create your custom attribution model. This means you can customize models to adjust specifically to what you want to evaluate in the conversion path.  You can learn in-depth how the Model Comparison Tool works in the Google documentation.

Let’s give an example of how model comparison in GA4 works:

• On the left-hand menu, click Advertising.
• In the display menu, go to Attribution, then choose Model Comparison.

Google will consider all conversion events in the last 28 days, but you can select the date range and conversion event you want to measure.

Google lets you filter by campaign, geographic location, or device. You can also select which dimension you can report.

How to use attribution models in marketing

Collect attribution model based analytics and customer data

There are several analytics and data sources you can check in order to gain more. For example, Google Analytics multi-Channel Funnel gives you different reports according to what you want to know:

• Assisted conversions
• Top conversion paths
• Time lag report
• Path length report
• Model comparison tool
• ROI analysis
• Model explorer

How do you know which analytics and touchpoints you need? That’s why, when starting attribution models, you first need to map your customer journey.

Use the Data

Next,  you should map the customer data sources and customer data platform (CDP), especially if you have first-party data. Some data sources may include:

• Data from real-time customer interactions
• Product data
• Mobile data
• Point of sale data
• Customer support data
• Behavioral, web browsing, and behavioral data

Map your customer journey

Understanding the path your customer takes, from searching for your product to purchase, and what influences it, is critical to measure attributions. Some questions you can ask are:

• How long is the customer journey from prospect to customer? How many stages are they?
• Map all channels you use to reach customers.
• Check in what channels you spend the most of your marketing budget.
• How long do your prospects stay at each stage in the customer journey?

In particular, you should pay attention to the following points in your customer journey:

• How they become aware of your brand
• What makes them return to buy
• What makes them decide to purchase

Use an Attribution Tool

There are several attribution tools available in the market, and as the market evolves, more are added every year. How do you choose the right tool for your business? 

• Supports multiple attribution models: Choosing a tool that supports multiple attribution models gives you the flexibility to change your approach if needed.
• Integrates multiple data sources: if you work with single-touch attribution, choose a tool that can integrate many customer data sources.
• Supports multi-touch attribution: If, on the other hand, a multi-touch attribution model is better for assessing the effectiveness of marketing points, you need a tool that supports multi-touch attribution.

When you find the right tool, connect your data sources and start viewing and analyzing the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

Limitation of attribution models in marketing

For all the benefits of marketing attribution models, they have some challenges and limitations:

• They don’t credit immeasurable factors, for example, offline marketing.
• Marketing attribution models don’t credit organic behavior for ad campaigns.
• Models divide credit among different touchpoints, but most don’t give the true ROI.
• It can be difficult for marketers to ensure the right touchpoints get the right amount of credit.
• It may be challenging to find every touchpoint in the customer journey, so it is important to have a strategy beforehand.

How do you choose the right attribution model for your business? 

A wide variety of attribution model types enables you to adjust your strategy to your goals. With so many different models, it is challenging to understand which one is the best for you. Here are several things to consider while choosing your model:

• How long is your sales cycle and funnel: Some attribution models work better with short cycles, while others work better with long cycles.
• What is your customer’s journey map and touchpoints: How many stages and touchpoints do you have in the customer’s journey? Also, which channels are you using to target each touchpoint?
• Your is your brand’s goals: The goal of your brand’s campaign will define the channels you use and the attribution models you use.

Example

Let’s say a handbag company wants to know more about how its customers reacted to a recent social media campaign. Their sales cycle is short, and there are not a lot of customer touchpoints, social media posts, a website, or a landing page. The company’s goal is to drive sales, and they do it by promoting on social media. This brand may benefit from a single source attribution model, first or last touch.

A brand with a multichannel strategy may benefit from multi-touch models.

Take time to evaluate the attribution model.

Once you choose an attribution model to use, test it.  For instance, you may want to test if your customers come to your brand through organic search. Also, when using an attribution model, remember to account for offline touchpoints as well as online touchpoints.

For instance, you can measure foot traffic, point of sale surveys, or track calls.

Regardless of the model you choose, test it for accuracy and how it aligns with your campaign goals—common mistakes to avoid with marketing attribution.

When starting with attribution models, it is easy to commit mistakes. Here are four of the most common. 

• Overreliance on the last-click attribution: It is easy to go to the last-click attribution model. However, if you follow this simplistic view, you may miss essential touchpoints.
•  Not using all available data:  Try to collect data from as many sources as you can. That way, you can get insights about marketing strategy, which channels are performing better, and which touchpoints are most successful.
• Staying with basic attribution models: As your company grows, you must adjust your models and add more channels.
• Not aligning the model with your brand goals: confirm your business goals before picking an attribution model. Once you pick one model, test it to check if it aligns with your goals.

Attribution modeling with Codefuel

CodeFuel helps publishers with attribution with CodeFuel Center. The platform allows publishers to gain actionable insights, improve their strategy and increase revenue.

What’s in CodeFuel Center?

• The Data and Analytics Dashboard – Presents real-time insights for traffic optimization.
• Pre-defined performance reports
• Customizable analytics – You can customize reports with new filters and metrics.
• Dedicated section My Reports – Publishers helps you access previous data and manage saved reports.

CodeFuel publishers maximize their revenue and have a clear understanding of their attribution. Learn more about how CodeFuel helps by contacting us. 

FAQs

How to get started with marketing attribution?

Start by understanding what you want to measure. Map the customer journey and the touchpoints. How many stages are there, and what are channels that you use at every stage?

What is the attribution model in marketing?

The attribution model in marketing is a method that helps marketers understand how every touchpoint and channel affects the conversion. When you assign credit to your marketing channels and touchpoints, you can understand which areas of the buyer’s journey you can improve, the ROI for each touchpoint or channel, and adjust your strategy and marketing budget accordingly.

What is multi-source marketing attribution?

In these models, each channel gets credit for the conversion. How much? This will depend on the type of multi-touch attribution model. Some give the most credit to the first and second to last contribution; others spread the credit evenly.

What is single-source marketing attribution?

These models give all the credit for the conversion to a single touchpoint. Usually, they assign it to the first or last touchpoint. First touch attribution assigns all the credit for the conversion to the first interaction of the lead with the brand. Last touch attribution, however, assigns all the credit for the conversion to the last touchpoint before the purchase.

What are the best marketing attribution models?

There is no “best” attribution model but “best for your campaign and goals.” Some attribution models, however, are more accurate than others.

Data-driven, called Cros-Channel Linnear, assigns credit based on how each touchpoint impacts the probability of conversions. The advantage of this model is that it can calculate the exact contribution of a touchpoint for every conversion.  Google Analytics’ new tool, GA4, enables you to see how the performance changes according to the attribution model you use.

What is an attribution model in google analytics?

Google Analytics has its own way of determining how to credit touchpoints for sales. Because there are different attribution models, Google has a Multi-Channel Funnels Model Comparison Tool that helps you compare different attribution models and their impact on evaluating your marketing channels. The conversion value will vary according o the attribution model you use.

If you run an eCommerce platform, you may already know that, on average, only a small percentage of visitors on your site, app, or digital property clear the conversion funnel and complete a purchase.

While there are many ways to boost your conversion rates and improve sales, retargeting is one of the most efficient. It provides opportunities to reach previous visitors and convince them to return and convert.

Discover what retargeting can do for your eCommerce business, and find out about today’s most successful platforms to make retargeting visitors boost your conversion rates and grow your business.

What is a Retargeting Platform?

Retargeting is a marketing strategy aimed at previous visitors to a website, application, or other digital property, such as an eCommerce business. Retargeting gives these businesses a chance to reach potential customers and secure a conversion after an initial visit didn’t result in a sale.

A company looking to conduct a retargeting ad campaign needs a dedicated retargeting advertising platform. first They contain features and functionality designed to retain information about previous visitors and display targeted ads, typically based on the products and services these visitors browsed during their initial visit.

A retargeting ad campaign is generally Pay-Per-Click (PPC), making it one of the many aspects of PPC advertising.

Most retargeting platforms use browser cookies to acquire visitor information, such as product pages visited, interests, and other elements of the visitor’s online activity.

Why eCommerce Businesses Need Retargeting Platforms

According to a 2022 WebSell study, the average conversion rate for global eCommerce platforms is 4-5%. This shows that 95% to 96% of an average eCommerce site’s visitors do not complete a purchase before ending their session.

Understanding why visitors leave before completing a conversion and improving your site to encourage additional conversions is an essential aspect of Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO). Retargeting is one of the many CRO tools available to boost conversion rates and improve your return on investment (ROI).

Retargeting platforms are essential for eCommerce marketers because they come with numerous tools, options, and features necessary to start a retargeting ad campaign. These platforms can also help you launch multiple types of retargeting ad campaigns.

While retargeting ads can take on various forms (video ads, static ads, dynamic ads, shopping result ads, email offers, etc.), they are typically inexpensive, cost-efficient, and highly personalized.

Top 5 Best Retargeting Platforms You Can Run Ads On

Although eCommerce business owners and marketers can choose from many retargeting platforms, these five solutions rank among the highest-performing and best suited for developing an effective retargeting plan.

1. MailChimp

MailChimp is a retargeting platform specializing in email marketing. The platform’s dashboard is intuitive, easy to use, and packed with numerous features to help marketers and eCommerce site owners create efficient retargeting campaigns.

As an email marketing and retargeting platform, MailChimp is ideally suited for eCommerce platforms that have integrated email into their marketing strategy. The platform is designed to collect customer data and email addresses, making it most efficient for retargeting customers with a registered account.

Once MailChimp has collected data on a registered member, the platform detects whether they have started the conversion process but abandoned it before completing a purchase. If it does, MailChimp will notify the member by emailing them at the address they used to sign up.

For example, if a potential customer has abandoned a shopping cart, MailChimp will email them and display a reminder of the cart’s contents, inviting them to resume shopping.

2. Criteo

Criteo is a dedicated multipurpose PPC platform that serves over 18,000 worldwide clients. This platform allows marketers and eCommerce business owners to launch advertising and retargeting campaigns, centering all relevant functions in one place.

Criteo’s advertising and retargeting functions can fully utilize your customer data and are supported by advanced technologies such as machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI).

Like many other retargeting and remarketing platforms, Criteo’s retargeting and remarketing campaigns function by embedding customized code on your site. However, unlike standard retargeting platforms, Criteo uses an AI-powered engine to monitor customer engagement and activities, using the data to recommend relevant products through dynamic ads.

3. Perfect Audience

Perfect Audience is a fully dedicated retargeting platform with multiple integrations and a focus on multi-channel marketing. This platform allows marketers and eCommerce managers to manage all their retargeting ad campaigns from a single dashboard, including web, mobile, and Facebook campaigns.

Perfect Audience’s dashboard also lets you launch cross-device, dynamic retargeting campaigns, ensuring you reach users regardless of their devices to visit your eCommerce digital property.

Perfect Audience is committed to providing its clients maximum peace of mind with an array of convenient features, such as an easy-to-use platform, no setup fees, no minimum ad spend, and an extensive knowledge base for newcomers. The analytics suite is fully detailed, updates automatically every two hours, and can email you reports and notifications at predefined times.

4. Meteora

Many eCommerce retargeting platforms are primarily aimed at online businesses operating on a large scale, sometimes offering features or functions that aren’t adapted for local marketing. Meteora is a Texas-based retargeting platform that aims to provide marketers and eCommerce business managers with a local retargeting solution. This approach makes it possible to reach visitors based on the real-life stores and physical locations they previously entered.

Meteora employs a technology known as geofencing, which targets potential customers within a pre-defined geographic area. Geographically-centered retargeting campaigns, sometimes called geofencing ads or geo-retargeting, are efficient solutions to help you boost sales and foot traffic to physical locations.

The platform primarily leverages mobile data to power retargeting campaigns, such as cell phone GPS or Wi-Fi-based location data.

5. AdRoll

AdRoll is one of the most popular remarketing and social media retargeting platforms. It is also one of the oldest and longest-established, with over 15 years of industry experience serving over 15,000 clients.

AdRoll is primarily intended for marketers and digital property owners looking for a comprehensive all-in-one solution. It features a single dashboard for all aspects of their marketing and retargeting plans. For instance, AdRoll’s dashboard lets you start new ad campaigns and remarketing campaigns, configure targeting parameters, and customize ad creatives from a single point.

The platform supports a wide range of retargeting options for custom audiences, such as contextual targeting (displays ads and showcases your brand next to relevant content), demographic targeting (displays ads to audiences based on demographic data, such as age, gender, or revenue), and behavioral targeting (displays ads to audiences based on the products they previously viewed).

Retargeting Ads You Can Use to Boost Revenue

Regardless of the platform you use for your retargeting efforts, it is critical to know about the different types of retargeting ads and how they can help you reacquire site visitors to ensure they complete a conversion. Here are six of the most efficient retargeting campaigns marketers can use to boost eCommerce conversion rates.

• Site retargeting: This type of campaign is the most common form of retargeting. While it primarily targets users that have already returned to your website, it uses data collected on the user’s previous visit to display relevant ads and encourage them to complete a purchase.
• Email retargeting: Email retargeting ads leverage emails to re-engage leads, allowing you to reach potential customers directly from their inboxes. This method is most suitable for eCommerce sites that already include email in their marketing or have access to user email addresses, such as user accounts.
• Engagement retargeting: Although it is a less-used retargeting ad campaign type, engagement retargeting allows you to target potential customers based on the social media content they interacted with (e.g., posts they liked on Facebook).
• Search retargeting: Search retargeting employs a user’s browsing history and search engine data to determine their intent to purchase and the most relevant products to display.

• Creative asset retargeting: Creative asset retargeting, also called click creative retargeting, is a unique retargeting ad campaign type that primarily targets users that clicked or interacted with your ads in the past 60 days.
• Cross-channel retargeting: Cross-channel retargeting leverages data from all of the devices used by your audience, including desktop, mobile, and connected TV (CTV). Cross-channel ads let marketers and eCommerce site owners keep their brand at the forefront, maximizing engagement rates.

Maximize Your Conversion Rates and Boost Sales with CodeFuel

Whether you are looking to optimize your existing customer base, prospect new businesses, or enhance the effectiveness of your advertising and retargeting strategies, CodeFuel’s team can help. Our digital marketing experts can review your eCommerce platform’s current performance and help you create and optimize the best marketing, dynamic remarketing, and retargeting strategies for your needs. Contact us today to get started.

FAQs

What is an example of retargeting?

A typical example of a retargeting scenario on an eCommerce platform involves a customer visiting the site, browsing specific products, and adding them to the virtual shopping cart. However, for one reason or another, the customer does not complete the purchase and exits the site before payment. This situation is a typical example of an abandoned cart scenario.

Retargeting lets you notify the user, remind them of the cart’s contents, and encourage them to complete their shopping. The retargeting method used depends on the campaign and strategy. For example, email retargeting sends an email to the customer after a set timeframe. In contrast, site targeting opens a notification to show the cart’s contents when the user returns to the eCommerce site.

What platforms can you retarget on?

There are numerous platforms marketers can use to retarget customers. Most fall into two categories: all-in-one marketing platforms and dedicated retargeting platforms.

• All-in-one marketing platforms are large, fully-featured digital software solutions that include retargeting options but are primarily used to manage all aspects of the site’s marketing activity.
• Dedicated retargeting platforms are smaller but more focused software containing fewer functions than an all-in-one platform. They typically only include the necessary tools and functionality to launch and manage a retargeting ad campaign.

Which is the best retargeting campaign for eCommerce conversions?

There is no single best campaign type to improve your eCommerce digital property’s conversion rates. The best campaign for your strategy depends on your business objectives, how your users engage with your site or brand, and where you display your ads.

Does Google do retargeting?

Google Ads offers retargeting features through its Google Remarketing function. It allows you to add website visitors and app users to remarketing lists, then create ad campaigns using these lists as your target audience.

Does retargeting work?

A properly adjusted retargeting ad campaign launched from a powerful platform is one of the most effective solutions to boost conversion rates and increase your campaign’s ROI.

According to data compiled by Siteefy, retargeting ads experience ten times higher click-through rates than standard ads and boost online sales by approximately 20%, resulting in an efficiency rate exceeding 1,000%.

How do I create a retargeting ad campaign?

The retargeting ad campaign creation process varies depending on the platform you choose. For instance, creating a retargeting campaign on Facebook requires you to create a list of contacts, feed them through Facebook Audience Manager, and segment your ads for a tailored audience. In this case, your target audience is the users you want to retarget.

Once you have launched your retargeting ad campaign, managing it should be no different than any other campaign.

Rich media became a staple of digital advertising in the mid-2010s. As of today, it is now one of the most efficient formats, with significantly higher click-through rates than traditional alternatives, such as standard banner ads. The best way to understand what makes rich media ads so efficient is by understanding what makes this format different from other ad formats.

Definition of a Rich Media Ad

A rich media ad is a type of digital advertisement combining interactive features and multimedia elements. Rich media ads are dynamic and typically contain advanced features like audio, video, or animated images. They may also feature more traditional aspects like static images and text.

Modern technologies, such as HTML5, allow rich media ads to include multiple layers of content in one ad. For example, a current-day rich media ad may feature streaming audio or video.

Formats of Rich Media Ads

Most rich media ads today are served in one of three formats: in-page, in-stream, and out-of-page.

• In-page rich media ads appear on standard web pages. They can display ad creatives between the site content or on the page’s side margins. In-page rich media ads typically do not persist on the screen when scrolling up or down.
• In-stream rich media ads are typically video ads that play while the user watches video content. In-stream rich media ads are divided into three subcategories, depending on when they begin playing: pre-roll (before the video content starts), mid-roll (interrupts in the middle of the content), and post-roll (plays after the video content ends).
• Out-of-page rich media ads are not bound to the web page, instead displaying the creatives to users through external methods (e.g., pop-ups, pop-unders). Although out-of-page rich media ads are the most noticeable type, they also disturb the user’s experience the most and should be used sparingly.

Common Types of Rich Media Ads

Rich media ads are available in various types, each suited for different digital properties: standard websites, interactive media, video content, mobile applications, and more. Here are some of the most common types.

• Banner ads: Rich media banner ads are a more advanced version of the traditional, static banner ad. They are simple to implement and ideal for displaying animated ad creatives on standard web pages.
• Expanding ads: Expanding ads, also called expandable ads, display a partial message in a smaller window and invite users to click or interact on the ad to learn more or see the rest of the message. Although compatible with both desktop and mobile devices, implementing an expanding ad requires careful optimization when served on mobile due to the limited screen space.
• Interstitials: An interstitial ad is essentially a full-screen pop-up, using the entire available screen space to display an ad creative. Although rarely seen on desktop devices, interstitials are frequently utilized in mobile applications such as games.
• Multi-Directional Expanding (MDE) ads: A multi-directional expanding ad is a variant of the standard expanding ad that can expand in more than one direction. How an MDE ad expands depends on its placement on the page; for example, an MDE ad may expand to the left if implemented on the right side of the page. If the same ad is implemented on the right side instead, it will “know” to expand to the left.
• Lightbox ads: This ad format was introduced by the Google Display Network (GDN) in 2013. It is a more advanced version of the expanding ad, displaying a banner the user can either hover their mouse (desktop only), click, or tap to expand. When expanded, the ad creative pushes the main content into the background, which appears dimmed and grayed out, helping the ad stand out more.

Related content: 10 Best Mobile Ad Sizes

• Pushdown ads: Pushdown ads can be viewed as an alternative to expanding ads. Unlike a standard expanding creative, a pushdown ad doesn’t overlay the site content but simply pushes it further down the page. For this reason, pushdown ads are typically placed at the top of the page.
• Slider ads: A slider ad displays an image or video ad creative on the corner of the screen. However, unlike typical banner ads, the slider ad is designed to persist on the corner, following the user as they scroll up and down.
• Video ads: While most rich media ads can display video creatives, video ads as a dedicated ad type are typically played in an in-stream format over video content. A common example of this type of ad includes creatives playing over a YouTube video.
• VPAID: Video Played-Ad Interface Definition (VPAID) ads are similar to standard video ads and play in-stream. However, instead of being played on dedicated video-sharing platforms, VPAID ads play on integrated video players embedded on other websites, typically over regular video-based content.

Table of rich media ad formats and compatible types

5 Critical Differences Between Rich Media and Standard Display Ad Formats

Rich media ads are among the most popular types of ads in today’s digital advertising landscape. They offer publishers, digital property owners, and advertisers numerous benefits and possibilities over standard display ads. Here are the top five differences between rich media ads and standard display ads.

1. More Room for Creativity

Per the IAB’s recommendations, standard display ads rarely exceed a total file size of 250 kilobytes. While the lightweight nature of such ads helps keep page load times low, the file size introduces many severe limitations on what standard display ads can do.

In contrast, rich media ads have a much higher file size limit. According to Google, the maximum file size of a rich media ad creative is 2.2 megabytes, corresponding to almost nine times more than a 250 kb display ad.

The higher file size limit compared to display ads gives advertisers and ad creative developers more room to create unique and engaging experiences. The higher limit also allows multiple files and elements to function, making it possible to create more complex ad creatives.

2. Interactivity and Engagement

Rich media ads allow advertisers and publishers to serve ads with a critical element that no other format offers: interactivity.

A typical example of a rich media ad using interactivity is the mobile interstitial, especially on mobile games and other highly interactive mobile apps. Many interactive interstitials offer viewers the possibility to play small snippets or examples of the game or app featured in the advertisement. This factor is crucial for boosting engagement, as it lets users get a “try it before you buy it” experience.

An interactive ad can turn an otherwise low-intent viewer into a high-intent one, significantly increasing the chances of a click-through or a conversion.

3. More Space for Branding

Traditional display ads are well-known for their limitations: not only is the actual ad size limited to relatively small form factors, but they also feature restrictions regarding file formats. For instance, a standard display ad was either static text in .html format or a static image, typically in .gif or .jpg format.

In contrast, rich media ads can function with virtually any multimedia file format, but most ad networks support large maximum display sizes. For example, Google supports rich media creatives up to 4096 x 4096 pixels.

The large display field and compatibility with virtually any multimedia format allow advertisers to create unique and complex branding experiences. A rich media ad can take advantage of dropdown menus, interactive elements such as buttons and clickables, expansion and retraction, audio features, or even host entire miniature games to retain the viewer’s attention and showcase product branding.

4. Higher Ad Visibility and Better Click-Through Rates

Many studies have shown that video content retains viewer attention more efficiently than text or static image-based content. Human brains process video content more quickly, resulting in higher information retention rates.

While these facts can explain the rise of video-sharing and streaming platforms, they also demonstrate why rich media ads taking advantage of audio and video elements have become the norm.

Viewers are more likely to see and engage with rich media ads and benefit from what the industry calls higher recall values: viewers remember rich media ads for longer periods. In turn, viewers interact more with these ads, resulting in significantly higher click-through rates (CTR). An Adform study has determined that rich media formats deliver 267% more CTR than standard banner ads.

5. Provides More Data and Insights

Building rich media ad creatives also gives advertisers and creative developers access to numerous additional data tracking and analysis avenues.

For example, rich media ads featuring video content can track the number of views, the percentage of viewers that saw the ad to the end, and the number of users that closed the ad manually, complete with an average time stamp.

The additional data can provide invaluable insights regarding the performance of your ad campaigns. It also provides more information than display ads can track regarding audience behavior, making it a more valuable tool for ad optimization.

Comparison Table

What Makes Rich Media Ads Better than Other Ad Formats?

Rich media ads have the potential to offer a more complex, more engaging advertising experience to viewers. A well-developed rich media ad can take full advantage of dynamic multimedia content and interactivity to attract the viewer’s attention, boost engagement, and improve conversion rates.

The primary reason to use rich media ads over other formats is the possibility to perform far more functions than a standard display ad, which typically only redirects to the advertiser’s site. With the right developers, nearly any type of dynamic experience is possible in a rich media ad.

Related article: What is an Ad Unit

For example, video-based rich media ads are compatible with a complete analytics suite. Interactive ads can provide information to attract the viewer’s interest, such as an ad with individually clickable product descriptions. Some examples, such as mobile game ads, can even be playable and provide entertainment on their own.

Benefits and Advantages of Using Rich Media Ads and Formats for Advertisers

From the advertiser’s point of view, rich media ads present many benefits and advantages. If you are an advertiser considering rich media ads for your next campaign, here are the top benefits they offer over more traditional ad formats.

• Viewers pay more attention. Most rich media ad formats are designed to attract the viewer’s eyes and ensure they see and experience the ad creative. Expanding, video, and pushdown ads are among the most effective formats for capturing viewer attention.
• More interactions and better brand awareness. Well-designed rich media ads, especially those that employ interactive content, are more likely to receive viewer interactions. They are also more easily remembered and last longer in viewers’ minds, contributing to improved brand awareness.
• Improved click-through and conversion rates. The primary objective of an ad is to entice the viewer to buy or convert. Rich media ads are more effective at getting viewers to click through and visit the advertiser’s site, resulting in more conversions.

• Better analytics. Rich media ads can track far more analytics data points than standard display ads, providing advertisers with more information to adjust and optimize their campaigns.
• Better user experience if well-designed. A typical rich media ad offers many benefits to the advertiser: they are more memorable, more efficient, and provide more data and insights. The best-performing are well-designed and respect the user’s experience, ensuring it doesn’t disturb or stop them from viewing the site or app’s main content. Better user experience increases the likelihood that viewers will retain a positive opinion of the ad, boosting the ad campaign’s effectiveness.

Disadvantages of Rich Media Ads

While rich media ads have become the norm today, they have not entirely replaced other ad formats. Advertisers must be fully aware of the potential drawbacks of using rich media ads to maximize their effectiveness.

• Rich media ads are more complex. By their nature, rich media ads comprise far more parts and elements than static ads, all of which must work as intended to serve the ad creative. Developing a high-performance rich media ad requires extra quality assurance to ensure it functions correctly.
• Rich media ads take more time to make. Dynamic and interactive content requires longer development times and a broader range of specialized skills than traditional static display ads. Most such ads also require more testing and optimization to get right. For instance, video ads require personnel specialized in video editing, whereas interactive ads require more complex programming.
• Rich media ads cost more. The added complexity and development times translate into a significantly higher investment cost. While there are many advantages to using rich media ads, and the potential return on investment is significant, advertisers must manage their ad spending carefully.

Monetize Any App, Site, or Digital Property More Efficiently with CodeFuel

As an advertiser, managing ad campaigns and creating engaging ad creatives are top priorities. Rich media ads are ideal for enhancing the effectiveness of your campaigns and keeping user engagement rates as high as possible.

However, creating and optimizing rich media ads requires the right resources and talent. That’s where CodeFuel comes in. Our team of digital advertising experts can help you create, manage, and optimize rich media ad campaigns and make the most out of your digital property. Get started with CodeFuel today.

TikTok, the popular social media platform known for its short-form video content, has become a go-to destination for brands looking to reach younger audiences. With over a billion active users worldwide, TikTok provides advertisers with a unique opportunity to connect with a highly engaged and rapidly growing community. But with so many ad formats available, it can be challenging to determine which ones best fit your brand’s goals.

What is TikTok?

TikTok is a social media platform where users can create, share, and discover short-form videos. The app allows users to record and edit videos using a large selection of filters, effects, and music. TikTok has become especially popular among younger generations, with a user base that skews towards teens and young adults.

The app has been downloaded over two billion times worldwide and has become a cultural phenomenon, with TikTok challenges, memes, and trends spreading across the internet. In addition to user-generated content, TikTok offers various TikTok ads via it’s own TikTok Ads Manager. You will also have to learn more about the types of TikTok ad formats and their use.

Types of TikTok Ads and TikTok Ad Formats

This social media offers a selection of the best TikTok ads and ad formats, which are unique to the social media platform.

1. In-Feed Ads

In-feed ads on TikTok are a type of native ad that appears in users’ “For You” feed, which is the app’s main page that showcases a personalized selection of videos. These types of tiktok ads are skippable; users can interact with them just like any other TikTok video:

1. by liking,
2. sharing, and
3. commenting.

In-feed video ads are videos ranging from 5 to 60 seconds long paired with an ad display image. However, TikTok recommends keeping these ads on the short side of the scale to retain viewer attention more effectively. For this reason, most in-feed ads are between 9 and 15 seconds long. 

• Most in-feed ads have three aspect ratios:
  • 9:16 (portrait),
  • 16:9 (landscape), and
  • 1:1.

The video ads creatives on an in-feed video ad must not exceed 500 megabytes.

These in feed video ads can also include a call-to-action (CTA) button that takes users to a landing page, an ad description, app download page, or a hashtag challenge page. Advertisers can also target their in-feed ads based on audience demographics, interests, and behaviors.

In-feed ads are an excellent way for brands to increase brand awareness, drive app downloads and installs or website visits, and promote products or services. Since they appear in the main feed, in-feed ads have the potential to reach a wide and highly engaged audience.

2. Brand Takeover Ads

Brand Takeover ads on TikTok are ads designed to appear in full-screen mode when users open the app for the first time, ensuring high visibility with the app’s user base.

Brand Takeover ads display static image ads or video creatives for a short period (3 to 5 seconds), along with a clickable link redirecting users to a landing page or a hashtag challenge. Brand takeover ads can also include a call-to-action (CTA) button, such as “Shop Now” or “Learn More.”

TikTok enforces a 100% share of voice rule on Brand Takeover ads, meaning that only one brand can run a Brand Takeover ad per day. This rule was implemented to ensure maximum visibility and exclusivity. Brands can target their Brand Takeover ads based on audience demographics, interests, and behaviors.

Brand Takeover ads are an excellent way for advertisers and brands to grab users’ attention and increase brand awareness quickly. However, since they are highly intrusive, it is crucial to use them sparingly and ensure the brand takeover ad creative is as visually appealing and engaging as possible.

3. TopView Ads

Like Brand Takeover ads, TopView ads on TikTok appear when users first open the application. The primary difference between TopView ads and Brand Takeover ads is their placement within the app and length.

TopView ads appear at the top of the “For You” page and feature longer creatives:

• Up to 60 seconds long, with autoplay and sound enabled.

Available aspect ratios are 16:9, 9:16, or 1:1, with a maximum file size of 500 MB.

The longer format of TopView ads makes them the ideal choice for brands looking to tell a story, showcase a product or service in long form, or generally capture audiences with an engaging or creative experience.

Each TopView ad can be displayed to each user once per day, and users may skip them by swiping up or tapping the Skip button after three seconds have passed. Brands can also include a clickable link or a call-to-action (CTA) button that takes users to a landing page or a hashtag challenge.

How can you view TopView ads?

TopView ads offer higher visibility than standard in-feed ads, making them an excellent choice for increasing brand awareness or reaching a wide audience as quickly as possible. The longer video length also allows for more creative flexibility and the ability to tell a more engaging story.

However, since they are highly intrusive, advertisers must ensure their TopView ad creatives are of the highest quality possible and feature highly appealing visuals to avoid annoying users. These requirements also mean TopView ads are among the most expensive, with each ad campaign alone typically costing brands $50,000 to $150,000 a day.

4. Branded Effects

Branded Effects aren’t traditional ads but a range of branded custom filters, stickers, and augmented reality (AR) effects users can share and use in their own video content. They allow content creators and viewers to interact with brands in fun and novel ways, creating a unique opportunity for user engagement.

Three groups of Branded Effects are available: standard 2D, 2D Pro, and 3D.

• Standard 2D Branded Effects primarily use two-dimensional images or animations. They are the simplest and easiest to use of the three, making them an ideal choice for advertisers and content creators who are beginners at Branded Effects.
• 2D Pro Branded Effects have all the features of their regular 2D counterparts, plus additional beauty filters. They’re ideally suited for showcasing cosmetics, wearables, or gaming products with facial elements because they allow content creators to virtually wear the product, demonstrating how it looks or functions.
• 3D Branded Effects uses 3D models and animations instead of flat 2D elements. They are typically used to represent characters or wearables, such as hats, headphones, or glasses. 3D Branded Effects are compatible with special effects such as greenscreen or cloning. They can also be gamified to create a TikTok challenge or a more interactive experience.

Branded Effects allow brands and advertisers to let users express themselves and engage with brands through playful and creative means. It allows viewers and content creators to create a unique, deeper connection with the brand and the audience.

Additionally, advertisers can integrate branded Effects into TikTok’s standard ad formats, such as in-feed ads or a hashtag challenge. Integrating Branded Effects into other ad formats helps boost their creative potential and creates a more cohesive and immersive brand experience.

5. Branded Hashtag Challenge

Branded Hashtag Challenges are another form of advertising unique to TikTok. They are designed to encourage audiences and content creators to become active participants in a brand’s marketing strategy.

The basic concept of a Branded Hashtag Challenge is simple: a brand or advertiser creates a hashtag and encourages users to create and share content using that hashtag. The content is typically related to the hashtag’s subject, such as dances, athletic feats, or other specific actions.

A well-known example is K18’s #K18HairFlip challenge, launched in December 2021, which encouraged users to perform a hair flip on video for a chance to win rewards.

Brands can also create their own content to kick off the hashtag challenge and inspire users to follow along. Branded hashtag challenges can be promoted through in-feed ads or other ad formats, increasing visibility and participation.

Branded Hashtag Challenges are a unique way for brands to advertise their products while encouraging content creation and increasing user engagement on the platform.

By creating a fun and creative challenge, brands can build a deeper connection with their audience and increase brand loyalty.

Like Branded Effects, brands can integrate a Branded Hashtag Challenge into other ad formats, such as in-feed ads. They are excellent ways to create an immersive branding experience that keeps audiences engaged and connected.

6. Spark Ads

Spark Ads are native ads on TikTok that let brands create ad campaigns around organic TikTok posts. Spark Ads can leverage the brand’s own TikTok account posts or, with their permission, those of other content creators.

The primary draw of Spark Ads is their use of user-generated content to deliver the ad messaging. As a type of native ad, Spark Ads tend to create ads that resemble organic posts and are designed not to look like advertisements at first glance. In essence, Spark Ads turn regular, organically created content into advertisements.

A significant benefit of using Spark Ads is the attribution of user engagement and interactions. The ad can link to a TikTok account instead of a landing page, and all views, comments, likes, follows, and shares gained from a Spark Ad are attributed to the account that posted it.

A Spark Ads campaign gives brands a unique way to reach audiences and tell an authentic story, significantly increasing click-through rates and user engagement. Launching a Spark Ads campaign is also considered a cost-effective investment. According to TikTok’s own statistics, Spark Ads have a 134% higher completion rate, a 69% higher conversion rate, and a 37% lower cost per action (CPA) than their own standard In-feed ads.

Who Should Use TikTok Ads and Advertise?

TikTok’s unique audience and ad formats make it an ideal platform for businesses and advertisers in specific categories or industries. Brands that are innovative, visually appealing, and looking to reach younger and highly engaged audiences should consider advertising via TikTok Ads.

The platform’s video-centric and unique ad formats, such as Branded Effects and Hashtag Challenges, make it a great place for brands to showcase their products and create engaging content. Additionally, with TikTok’s significant international reach, it’s a great platform for brands looking to expand their global reach.

Reaching Young and Engaged Audiences

TikTok’s user base skews towards younger generations, with over 70% of users aged 18 to 34. These demographics make it an ideal platform for brands looking to reach teens and young adults. Additionally, TikTok Ads users are highly engaged, with an average of 52 minutes daily on the app. 

TikTok Ads offers brands a unique opportunity to connect with a highly engaged and rapidly growing community. By creating engaging native content and utilizing the platform’s special tik tok ad formats, brands can reach a younger demographic and build brand awareness and loyalty.

Ideal for Video Advertising

TikTok’s video-centric ad format makes it an ideal platform for brands looking to advertise through video content. With the ability to record and edit videos, brands can create visually appealing and engaging content that resonates with their audience.

In addition, TikTok’s ad formats, such as in-feed ads and TopView ads, are designed to display video content as seamlessly and naturally as possible, making it an effective way for brands to reach their audience.

Additionally, TikTok Ads allow brands to showcase their products or services engagingly and creatively and can help drive brand awareness, engagement, and conversions.

International Reach

With over one billion active users worldwide, TikTok is an excellent platform for advertisers looking to reach global audiences. The app is available in over 150 markets and 75 languages, making it an excellent platform for brands looking to expand their global reach. Additionally, TikTok’s growth is not constrained to any particular country or region. All international markets have experienced steady user growth since 2018.

This international reach allows brands to tap into new and diverse audiences and to create localized content that resonates with users in different regions. By using TikTok’s targeting options, brands can ensure their ads reach the right audience in each market. The platform’s international reach and highly engaged user base make it ideal for brands looking to expand their global footprint and build brand awareness and loyalty with worldwide audiences.

Unique Ad Formats Boost Engagement

TikTok’s unique ad formats, such as Branded Effects, TopView ads, and Branded Hashtag Challenges, are designed to boost engagement and drive results. These ad formats allow brands to create more immersive and interactive experiences for their audience, increasing brand awareness and engagement.

TikTok’s unique ad formats are designed to help brands stand out on the platform and create more engaging experiences for their audience than on any other social media platform. By using these ad formats, brands can increase brand awareness and drive results in a fun and creative way.

Make the Most Out of your Digital Property with CodeFuel

Businesses must make the most of their online presence to grow in today’s digital world. From social media to e-commerce websites, companies have a variety of digital properties that they can leverage to reach their target audience and drive results.

At CodeFuel, we understand the importance of digital marketing and the value of creating engaging and personalized user experiences. Our suite of solutions, including search monetization, content recommendation, and programmatic advertising, is designed to help businesses make the most out of their digital properties and maximize their revenue potential.

Whether you want to increase engagement, drive conversions, or monetize your online presence via TikTok Ads or any other social network, CodeFuel can help. Our team of experts is dedicated to providing businesses with the tools and insights they need to succeed in the digital landscape. So why wait? Contact us today and discover how CodeFuel can help you make the most out of your digital property.

For digital publishers and marketers, the conversion rate is one of the most critical indicators of the health and performance of their website, application, or digital property. Using every method available to boost your website’s conversion rate and decreases your cost per acquisition, improving the website conversion rate effectiveness of your ads, meaning you get more marketing efficiency for the same spending and increase the conversion rate.

What is Conversion Rate Optimization?

When you use tools, techniques, and other methods designed to help you improve your digital property’s conversion rates, you are using what the industry calls Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO).

Conversion Rate Optimization is a critical process in any marketing campaign because it allows you to get more value out of your visitors and customers, resulting in decreased acquisition costs, more sales, increased average conversion rates, and faster business growth.

Although the two metrics are related, boosting your conversion rate is not strictly the same as boosting your click-through rates (CTR) and impressions.

While they are part of your conversion funnel, impressions only measure the number of people that viewed your ads, and click-throughs measure the number of viewers that clicked on the ad and were redirected to your digital property. In other words, click-throughs and impressions are at the beginning of your conversion funnel; other aspects of your digital property must entice potential customers to convert.

Conversion Rate Optimization methods aim to further improve conversion rates in all aspects of the conversion sales funnel, such as the visual identity of your digital property, features improving user experience, and customer behavioral analysis.

Before You Start: Define Your Business Goals

Before discovering the top Conversion Rate Optimization methods, it is critical first to understand why conversions matter and how to define your business’s specific goals and objectives. 

A conversion occurs when a visitor of your site, app, or digital property completes a specifically defined action. For example, an eCommerce website typically defines a conversion as a visitor completing a purchase and becoming a customer. 

One of the primary business objectives for this site is to increase sales, and one of the most efficient methods is through Conversion Rate Optimization: increasing the percentage of visitors that complete purchases. CRO would help improve the sales copy of the value proposition and the average conversion rate value of each visitor, helping it grow.

Defining what your business considers a conversion goal is critical because it helps you determine which performance metrics to see a boost in conversions and which parts of your conversion funnel need improvements.

Common examples of conversions include the following:

• Visitors purchasing a product for the first time (new customer acquisition)
• Completing a contact form
• Downloading an application
• Signing up for a newsletter
• Starting a free trial
• Starting or renewing a subscription
• Visiting specific landing pages or elements of a digital property

Top 10 Methods How to Increase Conversion Rate

Although the rate optimization process isn’t an exact science, requiring you to experiment and find what works best for your business, the most successful marketers have employed these top-performing methods for their CRO marketing campaigns.

1. Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Planners

While your conversion rate optimization strategy can begin with simple steps, mapping out a complete conversion rate optimization plan for critical landing pages of your digital property can be challenging without the proper tools and guidance.

A Conversion Rate Optimization planner, or CRO planner, is a dedicated tool to help you create a CRO plan and map out your website, app, or digital property’s optimization strategy. A CRO planner acts as a dashboard from which you can create optimization strategy elements, organize them over a timeline, and oversee the plan’s progress.

CRO planners are considered essential tools by marketers and developers in the industry. A commonly used example is HubSpot CRO Planner, which lets you visualize your conversion funnel, conduct audits to analyze your site, use various tools to analyze user behavior, and identify all possible optimization avenues. Most planners also come with their ancillary tools, such as A/B testing tools and page performance analyzers.

CRO planners also come with resources to facilitate research and analysis of benchmarks for your site’s sector, such as average conversion rates by device or platform, average conversion rates for competing sites, and other relevant data.

One of the best ways to maximize the effectiveness of your optimization plan is to adopt a CRO planner as early as possible. Besides serving as your central dashboard, choosing the right CRO planner will help you adapt your workflows and use its functions as efficiently as possible.

2. Visitor Behavioral Analysis

While knowing your business objectives is important, it is crucial not to rely on assumptions before testing or making changes to your digital property. Conversion Rate Optimization is almost entirely data-driven, meaning you must have a clear and unambiguous idea of your site, app, or digital property’s performance and fully understand how your visitors behave.

Although your conversion rate is among your most important metrics, there are many other crucial Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) you can track to understand your visitors better.

They include the following:

• Number of monthly visitors
• Ad campaign click-through rates and impressions
• Bounce rates
• Average number of pageviews per session
• Average time spent on each webpage
• Average time spent per session
• Traffic sources
• Social media referrals
• Device type and operating system

3. A/B Testing

One of the core elements of a Conversion Rate Optimization campaign is experimentation. Differences in web page layout, style, design, functionality, button placement, and other elements affecting the User Experience (UX) affect the likelihood of a visitor converting.

Consequently, one of the most powerful tools a publisher or marketer can use for their CRO and marketing campaign is a resource that makes testing and experimenting easier and more convenient, such as an A/B testing tool.

A/B testing, also known as split testing, lets you compare the performance of two different web page layouts and determine which is more likely to result in conversions.

Some of the most widely used A/B testing tools include Google Optimize, HubSpot A/B Testing Kit, VWO, Optimizely, AB Tasty, and Omniconvert.

How A/B Testing Works

Before using an A/B testing tool, you must have access to two different versions of your property’s web page or element, such as a landing page. One is the current version, sometimes called the control or the champion, and the other is the challenger, featuring the changes you want to test.

Typically, the exact extent of the changes between the control and the challenger are minimal; they may even test a single element, such as a specific button’s size or placement. Although the overall objective is to increase the conversion rate, each A/B test may have a different goal, such as testing the usability of a new menu layout or the success of a new color or design on a specific site element. It is also a suitable tool for testing the addition of new site elements, such as video players, or the removal of superfluous ones.

When an A/B test is ongoing, about half of your customers will see the challenger version of the web page being tested, while the other half will see the control version. The A/B testing tool will display each version’s performance at the end of the testing period. If the challenger offers a significant increase in conversions, the changes tested may be worth implementing permanently.

4. User Interaction Tracking

Optimization is about improving your digital property and increasing its usability to entice more customers and sales. However, you can only implement meaningful changes or improvements by first understanding how users and visitors interact with it in the first place. Then, you can provide the data to the sales team.

User interaction tracking is a general term for behavioral analysis tools that lets you see how users navigate your website. Essential functions include recording and replaying mouse movements and displaying the page elements and buttons most likely to receive clicks and interactions. The results Google Analytics data, for example, are displayed using user interaction heatmaps, which show the most common mouse positions and the most commonly clicked areas.

More advanced features included in these tools can also retrace the average user’s journey through your site or app and tell you whether they skip specific elements or if they stop to interact with them, such as deals, offers, polls, or video players.

Examples of commonly utilized user interaction tracking tools include Crazy Egg, Smartlook, UXCam, and FullStory.

How User Interaction Tracking Helps Boost Conversion Rates

A user interaction tracking tool is primarily a form of analytics. While they don’t provide direct solutions to improve your conversion rates, they provide invaluable data and insights to help you make the right decisions.

Heatmaps and user journey recordings help you visualize your visitors’ typical experience while using your website, identify potential pain points and inefficient design elements, and enhance the features that work and receive the most interactions.

You can also use them to find “dead elements,” which are parts of your website that users ignore or overlook. They can also help you find “false clickables,” which are parts of your website that appear to be clickable elements but aren’t.

The ideal time to use a user interaction tracking tool is typically at the beginning of your Conversion Rate Optimization strategy before implementing any changes. You can also combine the insights received with A/B testing to guide you toward the parts of your site, app, or digital property that may require the most changes or modifications.

5. Live Chat

Visitors and users often fail to convert because they can’t find the information they need. In the past, this situation often resulted in losing many potential customers. Despite potential customers having a high intent to buy, the inability to find what they need causes frustration and turns them away from your site.

Today’s technological advances have made it possible to assist users who experience difficulties finding the information they need to convert. One of the most versatile tools a marketer or publisher can use is the live chat system.

How Live Chat Works

A live chat tool or service is like an instant messaging window integrated into your website. It makes itself available to users by hanging on the screen’s bottom-left or bottom-right corner. When a user clicks on the live chat window, it opens with a message asking the user whether they can provide help or assistance.

Publishers and developers can implement one of two types of live chat systems: Chatbots and live chat with human operators.

• A chatbot is best suited for answering frequently-asked questions and guiding users to where they want to be, such as the correct product page. While chatbots are fully automated, function 24/7, and do not require human intervention to function correctly, the scope of their interactions with users is more limited. Recent advances have shown some chatbots may use artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing to provide more personalized responses and bridge the gap with human operators.
• A live chat system with human operators functions similarly to an instant messaging system. Users can ask questions to a human operator and receive direct help or assistance regarding a particular subject. This live chat system is best suited for basic technical support, legal websites, and other platforms and applications that require live, personalized responses.

How Live Chat Improves Your Conversion Rates

A live chat system provides direct, instant help to visitors and customers, making it a source of customer engagement. Studies have shown that although a small fraction of users (15%) will use the live chat system, an adequately configured live chat system is a source of satisfaction: 81% of interactions with the live chat system are rated as positive by visitors.

Users who have completed a conversation on a live chat system are 513% more likely to buy a product or convert.

Live chat helps customers find their way, eliminates potential sources of frustration, and increases the chances of being able to increase conversion rates. Live chat can also serve as an additional line of communication between the customer and the company, allowing customers to reach out and feel heard.

Live chat is also gaining popularity with younger customers: a 2018 eMarketer survey shows live chat is the preferred method of communication with a brand or website for customers aged 18 to 49 and the second-preferred for customers aged 50 and over, behind the phone.

6. Abandoned Cart Emails

Although primarily employed by eCommerce platforms, one of the staples of a CRO strategy for this website category is the abandoned cart email system.

Publishers and website developers use numerous technologies and solutions to drive traffic and lead visitors to complete the desired action, such as a purchase on a product page.

From search engine optimization (SEO) to a robust ad campaign, you may already use these technologies to bring traffic to your site. Your analytics solution may tell you that these users regularly pick out items and select products to add to their cart.

However, if your statistics show your conversion rates remain low despite your efforts, check the Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate statistics. A high value may indicate the need for remedial action, such as abandoned cart emails.

How Abandoned Cart Emails Work

One of the most common causes of a high cart abandonment rate is simply a lack of readiness on the customer’s part, such as when a customer is “just browsing” or simply not ready to buy yet.

According to a study by the Baymard Institute, 58.6% of online shoppers in the United States abandon their carts from lack of readiness, making it a more common cause of abandonment than high costs, inconvenient or lengthy checkout processes, or technical issues.

This phenomenon indicates that most abandoned carts correspond to users who aren’t necessarily lost customers and who may still be reacquired and enticed to complete a conversion. The primary objective of an abandoned cart email is simple: If the user has a registered account or has submitted their email address to your company, the system will send the customer an email with a reminder of the cart’s contents and an invitation to resume shopping.

One of the best practices to ensure users see the email and resume their shopping experience is to keep these emails short and snappy, with a short copy and an easy-to-find button or link to return to the cart.

Abandoned cart emails may also feature product recommendations from the same or similar categories as the items in the cart. These recommendations can be a form of up-selling or cross-selling, incentivizing shoppers to buy a different or a higher-quality product and increasing the likelihood of a conversion.

7. Optimize Page Loading Speeds

Sometimes, users must complete the desired action because they find the website or application slow or unresponsive. Although website performance may not seem directly related to sales or conversions, it has one of the most significant effects.

Slow load speeds can frustrate users and make them feel like they are wasting their time, whereas fast-loading websites are more pleasant to navigate and benefit from higher conversion rates.

A 2019 Portent study revealed that the first 5 seconds of load times are the most critical for conversion rates, and publishers can achieve the highest rates by keeping the load times under 4 seconds.

The differences are crucial; websites with a 1-second load time receive 5% more conversions than websites with a 2-second load time and 10% more than a 3-second load time. At the extreme end of the scale, websites achieving a 6-second load time or worse lose half the conversion rate of a 1-second load time.

Load Speed Optimization Techniques

Although many load and page speed optimization methods are technical, publishers and media owners can access various options that don’t require extensive technical or development knowledge. Here are some of the best and most cost-effective ways to optimize your load and page speed.

• Use free website audit tools like PageSpeed Insights to analyze your digital property’s performance. Such devices generally offer precise numbers and a color-coded scoring system to determine whether your current load speeds and site performance are acceptable.
• Consider re-evaluating your hosting options. Many factors can affect your site’s load speeds, such as their servers’ geographical location, the company’s network bandwidth, or the details of your current web hosting plan. For example, whether you are on a shared hosting plan, a VPS, or a dedicated server can significantly affect your load speeds and overall performance.
• A Content Delivery Network (CDN) might help you. CDNs use arrays of servers in various worldwide physical data centers to facilitate serving bandwidth-heavy content, such as images. For example, if your product page pictures are hosted on a CDN, users from a given geographic region will load images from the CDN server closest to their area. CDNs can be crucial for reducing load times and improving performance.
• Use image compression and optimization techniques. Converting your product and site images to lightweight, web-friendly formats can help reduce the load on each web page and increase load speeds. For example, .webp images have a 26% smaller file size than .png equivalents and up to 34% smaller than .jpg / .jpeg versions.

8. Mobile Versions of your Website

According to the latest known statistics, as of March 2023, 60.67% of all website traffic worldwide comes from users on mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. Regardless of whether your website or digital property is in the eCommerce category, it’s highly likely that a significant percentage of your users, if not the majority, will access it on a mobile device.

Ensuring your website has a mobile-friendly version is vital to provide visitors on smartphones and tablets with the best possible user experience. Non-mobile-optimized websites may load more slowly and have issues rendering correctly on smaller mobile device screens, which can severely reduce the quality of a mobile visitor’s browsing and navigating experience.

Besides the risk of harming load speeds and user experience on a mobile site, a lack of mobile optimization can cost you conversions and traffic. One study suggests it takes the average user no more than 50 milliseconds to decide whether to stay on a website or close the tab. A high bounce rate (visitors quitting the website after viewing one page) from mobile viewers is one of the most common signs your website may not be mobile-friendly.

A properly designed and mobile-optimized version of your website loads more quickly, is better adapted to smartphone and tablet screens, is easier to navigate with tap and touch controls, and provides an overall higher-quality and more seamless user experience. Better UX on mobile results in fewer visitors bouncing, naturally increasing traffic and conversion rates for new visitors.

9. Simple Checkout Process

If your website is in the eCommerce category or has a product store with a checkout system, you likely define conversions as users completing a purchase. While a lack of readiness is the leading cause of cart abandonment, two other common reasons for abandonment during checkout include account creation and complicated checkout processes.

Most visitors looking to purchase products online will only retain their shopping experience on a given site if the checkout process is simple, time-consuming, or otherwise inconvenient. If you find yourself in this situation, analyze your current situation and verify that you aren’t losing sales to a convoluted process.

Below is a list of quick tips and changes to consider implementing to your website to increase conversions, simplify the checkout process for website conversions, and boost your website conversion rates further.

• Don’t make account creation a requirement. Online shoppers frequently see the need to create an account as an additional, unnecessary barrier. Some don’t feel comfortable sharing personal data; others view it as time-consuming. Regardless, eliminating the need to open an account to buy a product may provide potential customers the convenience of completing a purchase.
• Keep the checkout process contained to a single page. Spreading the approach to multiple tabs or windows only lengthens the time it takes to complete a purchase, making potential customers feel like they are wasting time. The best way to do so is to ensure your checkout form only requires the customer to enter essential information, with as little extra as possible.
• Customers always like free shipping. Although it may only sometimes make sense for some products or geographic regions, offering free shipping can significantly motivate potential customers to complete a purchase. Free shipping decreases the risk from the customer’s point of view and helps them feel more confident in their shopping experience. An efficient compromise between customer convenience and revenue is to offer free shipping when the customer’s purchases reach a set minimum value (e.g., free shipping on orders of $50 or more.)
• Consider offering free returns. Like free shipping, free returns are guarantees for the customer that help decrease risk and entice them to complete the purchase more confidently. A free returns policy helps them ensure that, if anything goes wrong with the product or their shopping experience, you will handle it at no extra cost to them.

10. Customer Reviews and Testimonials

Building trust with your customers is critical to increasing the likelihood of a conversion. One of the most efficient ways of increasing customer trust is to display positive reviews and testimonials written by fellow customers on a product page.

The most effective positive reviews and customer testimonials are those that answer potential customers’ questions about the product they are interested in purchasing. This type of review or testimonial is referred to as high-trust (e.g., high-trust review).

High-trust reviews and testimonials are statistically proven to work. According to a Vendasta study, 92% of consumers read reviews and testimonials before making a purchasing decision, 44% say recent reviews (written within the last month) are the most relevant to them, and 62% say they’ve seen at least one fake review on a local business.

These statistics indicate that customers care about reviews and testimonials. They are not only more likely to convert if they see quality, trustworthy customer impressions, but they also pay attention to reviews and testimonials that seem fake or untrustworthy, which can potentially drive conversions down.

Optimize Your Digital Properties’ Revenue with CodeFuel

Regardless of your sector or industry, creating a robust Conversion Rate Optimization plan and taking the proper steps to boost your website, app, or digital property’s conversion rates is critical for your business’s success. CodeFuel’s team understands this better than anyone else and has the resources and expertise to help you draw more traffic and convert more visitors. Contact us today to learn more.

FAQs

How do you fix a low conversion rate?

Low conversion rates are typically caused by issues and pain points experienced by potential customers as they go through your conversion funnel. Generally, a poor user experience degrades the customer’s journey and harms your conversion rate.

What causes a high conversion rate?

Digital properties with high conversion rates typically have pleasant web design, good user experience, a short and easy checkout process, and optimizations to let potential customers find what they want as easily as possible. 

Remember that no single factor guarantees high conversion rates. Conducting tests and making changes incrementally is the safest way to boost your conversion rate.

What influences my conversion rate?

Six factors are commonly recognized as the most influential to your conversion rate:

1. Value proposition: What you offer your visitors and the benefit they gain from it is called a value proposition.
2. Relevance: How easily visitors can find what they want.
3. Clarity: How easy to understand your offer is.
4. Anxiety: How credible and trustworthy you appear.
5. Distraction: How much attention your visitors have toward your offer.
6. Urgency: How likely visitors are to convert as soon as they visit.

How can sales conversion rates be improved?

If you run an eCommerce platform and your primary objective is to boost sales, the best way to increase your conversion rate is to continuously improve your digital property with Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) techniques.

What does it mean to increase your conversion rate?

Increasing your conversion rate means increasing the number of visitors that complete a desired action, resulting in a conversion.

Which three actions can best improve my conversion rate?

Three techniques can help you improve your conversion rate at a relatively low cost, making them highly cost-efficient:

• Choose the most specific keywords you can
• Refine your audience traffic with negative keywords
• Include pricing in your ads to attract high-intent buyers

What is considered a good conversion rate?

Many factors can influence conversion rates, and some specific rates are considered good, increase the conversion rates. The most significant factor is the sector of your digital property. A good conversion rate in one sector may not be good in another. Research average conversion rates for your own site, blog, or app’s category to determine the best percentages.