What is Conversion?

In Marketing, conversions means either a completed activity, like a completed sign-up for your email newsletter or a purchase. Conversion means an action that’s counted when someone interacts with your ad or product listing, like clicking on an ad/ watching a video, and then taking an action that you’ve defined as valuable to your business, such as an online purchase, app download or app registration on mobile phone.

Conversions in digital marketing hold significant weight. A conversion occurs whenever a user completes one or more desired actions on an app, website, or digital platform. These actions include making purchases, subscribing to newsletters, downloading apps, or filling out forms. Thus, conversions contribute directly to business goals and meet them head-on.

Conversion rates are essential in measuring the effectiveness of marketing initiatives. For instance, running a mobile ad campaign aimed at getting users to download your app can serve as an indicator of its conversion rate. Higher conversions usually indicate that messaging, targeting, and user experience efforts have effectively hit all three marks.

 

Types of conversions

Conversions can generally be divided into two broad categories: macro and micro conversions.

Macro conversions: Your marketing campaigns should aim to achieve macro conversions as the main goal, whether that means online sales conversions such as completed purchases on an e-commerce platform, mobile app subscriptions, or in-app purchase conversions.

Micro conversions: Micro conversions are smaller steps on the path toward macro conversion. 

Examples may include:

1. Users add items to a cart.
2. Signing up for free trials.
3. Viewing multiple pages on your website.

While not the ultimate aim, micro-conversions remain essential indicators of user interest and engagement with your brand.

 

Understanding conversions 

Conversions allow marketers to hone their strategies and optimize the user journey. Analyzing where users drop out of your conversion funnel will enable you to identify obstacles and implement necessary adjustments. 

For example, if customers frequently abandon carts, it may indicate the need to streamline checkout procedures or offer extra incentives like free shipping as a remedy.

Tracking conversions also provides valuable data for measuring return on investment (ROI). If a marketing campaign drives high traffic but low conversions, then adjustments need to be made regarding targeting or the creative. Conversely, an impressive conversion rate suggests your campaign resonated well with audiences.

 

Optimizing for conversions

Focusing on creating an excellent user experience is one way to boost conversions and drive higher rates of conversion. Clear calls-to-action (CTAs), mobile-friendly design, fast loading times, and tailored content can all lead to increased conversion rates. You should conduct A/B testing to test different elements, as they can give insights into what drives users toward action.

Conversions are an invaluable barometer of marketing success. By understanding and optimizing for conversions, you can convert more of your audience members into active, engaged users who support business objectives.