What is a conversion? Is an email conversion different from conversions in other channels?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Everyone had a fairly similar definition of a conversion (which we\u2019ve highlighted in their responses below). However, as they expanded on that, things got blurry quickly. Interestingly, everyone agrees that there are a couple of different kinds of conversions\u2014but they don\u2019t agree on what those two kinds are or what to call them. The possibilities include:<\/p>\n
micro-conversions<\/strong> and macro-conversions<\/strong> Our experts make great points about why each of these distinctions is important.<\/p>\n A conversion can be many things\u2014it\u2019s simply \u201cthe completion of a desired action.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> That said, there are two general types of conversions: micro-conversions (opens, CTR) and macro-conversions (end-goal conversions like sales and signups). In general, I think many marketers are optimizing for the wrong type of conversions (micro-conversions) because it\u2019s easier and you can see bigger uplifts.<\/p>\n So for example, if you send a bunch of people an email promising them free beer and pizza, you\u2019ll probably get a sky high open rate and quite a lot of clicks<\/a>. But then when they hit your landing page and find out you only sell socks, be prepared for a massive bounce rate\u2014and lots of burned trust resulting in an eroded brand reputation. That\u2019s why landing page optimization is such a large part of email marketing\u2014if you maintain message match and keep the conversion scent through the funnel, the results are generally better at every stage.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t get me wrong, measure micro-conversions. They can provide tons of insights. But play the long game and optimize for the macro-conversions. In other words, keep your eye on the sales, not the clicks.<\/p>\n A conversion is simply an action taking place on your landing page\u2014or any other area of your website\u2014that triggers an outcome you want to track.<\/em><\/strong> You define what the conversion is you are looking to measure, such as a new subscriber or a purchase.<\/p>\n For me, conversions don\u2019t take place within the email, but on the website. However, website conversion rate is only one part of the story and you need to make sure that all parts of your email marketing funnel are rocking:<\/p>\n A\/B testing, refining, and tweaking should be always be happening to ensure you have the best user experience and offering you can possibly give. Keep in mind that testing is never ending as there is always something you can improve to ensure you give the customer the experience they are looking for and you stay ahead of the competition.<\/p>\n Marketers often wrestle with determining the value of conversions if they\u2019re not tied to sales, which can lead to the thinking that if a campaign isn\u2019t making money directly and immediately, it\u2019s a failure. The thing about conversions, for any channel, is that they don\u2019t always have to happen immediately, and they don\u2019t always have to follow a straight line.<\/p>\n Basically, an email conversion can be defined as when a subscriber takes the path you point them toward in your message.<\/em><\/strong> For example, if your email promotes an event, a click through to the registration page is progress, but a completed registration is a conversion. If you\u2019re sending a monthly newsletter with links to your blog content, the conversion can be measured by how many of the featured posts are read, or how long your subscribers spend on the blog post-click.<\/p>\n Some emails lend themselves to direct conversions (I promote a product, you buy it). But there\u2019s also value in \u201cindirect\u201d conversions, where your email inspires some other interaction with your site or product.<\/p>\n For example, say I send an email promoting a report download. My subscriber opens the email\u2014and then does nothing. But my email reminds them that there\u2019s other content on my blog that they want to check out. Later on, they visit and read some posts, see a promotion for a weekly email they\u2019re interested in, and decide to sign up for it. Is this conversion the one that the original email intended? No, but the email was still the catalyst that started the subscriber down the path to signing up for a new email list, so it\u2019s an indirect conversion.<\/p>\n Very simply, an email conversion is when a desired action takes place as a result of a customer receiving an email from your brand.<\/em><\/strong> Many marketers, though, consider an email conversion taking place when email is attributed as the source after a customer makes a purchase or some other action such as registering for a webinar or signing up for a contest. That view is fairly myopic, though. Email is so much more than the final conversion event. It has a critical hand in the revenue-driving process by moving your customers down the funnel toward the website through a series of micro-conversions.<\/p>\n What\u2019s a micro-conversion, you ask? They are all the smaller, desired actions that your customers go through to reach the end goal you had in mind for the campaign. Everything from delivered, opened, clicked, etc. should be considered as conversion events or micro-conversions that all have a hand in a campaign\u2019s email marketing success<\/a>.<\/p>\n In fact, if we really consider where the sale\/registration\/contest entry takes place, which is on a website, then email\u2019s ultimate conversion event is really a click that passes a customer on to the website. I believe email\u2019s ultimate goal is to sell a click because email isn\u2019t actually the place where the final conversion event takes place (that is, unless you are one of those exceptionally innovative brands that has figured out a good experience to sell right from email without driving customers to your website).<\/p>\n The next time you see an email campaign that has incredible click-throughs, but low conversions, don\u2019t blame email. Unless it over-promised something that the website couldn\u2019t deliver, the email did its job.<\/p>\n Broadly speaking, conversion means any desired, measurable action taken by prospects and\/or customers, irrespective of channel.<\/em><\/strong> That was the definition of conversion in pre-internet direct marketing. It\u2019s the broad definition of conversion in email, as well.<\/p>\n A conversion doesn\u2019t always involve money changing hands. A conversion can be filling out a form or downloading a report. This is especially true with high-consideration, high-ticket, long-sales-cycle purchases, such as the business-to-business prospecting that marketing-services providers typically engage in. However, for some organizations, conversion always means a sale. Those are called conversions to sale.<\/p>\n Whether or not conversions involve immediate sales, it is important to measure the value of those conversions on a rolling monthly and quarterly basis. Measure the number of sales that result from the period\u2019s conversions and divide the number of sales by the number of conversions to get the conversion-to-sale percentage.<\/p>\n But remember, any of these desired actions cannot be considered conversions unless they\u2019re a result of some action taken by the organization. You want to be able to accurately gauge your marketing efforts without artificially inflating them with serendipitous leads and sales.<\/p>\n
\nemail conversions<\/strong> and website conversions<\/strong>
\ndirect conversions<\/strong> and indirect conversions<\/strong>
\nconversions<\/strong> and conversions to sale<\/strong><\/p>\nAlex Birkett, Growth Marketer at ConversionXL<\/a>, says:<\/h2>\n
Steve Linney, Founder of eMRKTNG, says:<\/h2>\n
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Erin King, Sr. Email Marketing Manager at Litmus<\/a>, says:<\/h2>\n
April Mullen, Sr. Marketing Strategist at Selligent<\/a>, says:<\/h2>\n
John Caldwell, President of Red Pill Email<\/a>, says:<\/h2>\n
The Risk of Conversion Inflation<\/h2>\n
![\"email-metrics-matrix\"](\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/email-metrics-matrix.png\")
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