Back to Glossary

Conversion Defined

In the context of marketing, conversion refers to the act of turning a prospect or visitor into a paying customer, subscriber, or lead. It's the ultimate goal of most marketing campaigns and the measure of success for marketing efforts. The more conversions that a campaign generates, the more successful that campaign is considered to be.

A conversion occurs when a user takes a desired action, such as filling out a form, making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or requesting a demo. This action is typically defined by the marketer and aligned with the business goals.


How to Use it in a Sentence

Conversions are an essential KPI for marketing and product teams.

Common FAQs

Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who complete the desired action. For example, if a website receives 100 visitors and 10 of them make a purchase, the conversion rate is 10%. The higher the conversion rate, the more effective the marketing campaign or strategy is considered to be.

The formula for calculating conversion rate is:

Total Conversions/ Total Visitors or Impressions x 100 = Conversion Rate %

For instance, if an eCommerce website has 100 visitors and 12 of those visitors completed a purchase, the conversion rate would be 12%.

If a push notification is sent to 200 subscribers and 36 of those subscribers click on the notification CTA, the conversion rate for that notification would be 18%.

Conversion can be influenced by various factors such as the design and usability of a website or message, the quality of the content, the relevance of the copy, the targeting and segmentation of the audience, and the incentives offered to users. Marketers use a variety of tactics and techniques, such as A/B testing to increase conversion rates and drive business growth.

You can measure the effectiveness of your marketing campaign by tracking conversion rates, cost per acquisition, return on investment, and other metrics that align with your business goals. You can also conduct A/B testing or user surveys to gather insights on what is and isn't working in your campaign.

Targeting and segmentation can help improve conversions by tailoring your messaging and offers to specific audience segments, increasing relevance and engagement. By understanding your target audience and their needs, you can create more personalized and effective marketing campaigns.

Optimizing conversions involves making changes to your website, messaging campaigns, or other customer touchpoints to improve the likelihood that users will take the desired action.

Some steps you can take to optimize conversions include:

  1. Understand your target audience: The more you know about your target audience, the better you can tailor your messaging, offers, and user experience to meet their needs and preferences.
  2. Create clear and compelling calls-to-action: Make it clear to visitors what action you want them to take and why they should take it. Use strong and concise messaging that conveys the value proposition of your product or service in your CTA copy.
  3. Optimize your website user experience: Make it easy for visitors or users to navigate your website or app and find what they are looking for. The more you can do to reduce clutter and distractions, the more seamless and intuitive your user experience will be. If you have a website, make sure it's mobile-friendly.
  4. Use social proof and trust signals: Demonstrate to prospects that other people who have taken the desired action and are satisfied with the results. This can include customer reviews, app store ratings, testimonials, case studies, or social media shares.
  5. Provide incentives: Offer lead magnets such as discounts, promotions, or other incentives to encourage visitors to take the desired action. This can help to reduce friction and increase motivation.
  6. Conduct A/B testing: Test different variations of your website or campaigns to see which ones perform better. This can include testing different headlines, imagery, messaging, calls-to-action, and more. Learn about push notification elements to test in this related article on optimizing messaging engagement with advanced A/B testing.
  7. Continuously analyze and improve: Monitor your conversion metrics and make data-driven decisions to optimize your campaigns over time. This can involve using analytics tools, conducting user surveys, or seeking customer feedback.

By following these steps and continuously iterating and improving your campaigns, you can optimize conversions and drive more business results.

For more tips and tricks to optimize your messaging campaigns and boost engagement across different customer touchpoints, check out these relevant articles:

Omnichannel Optimization

Email Optimization

App Store Optimization

Push Notification Optimization

Don't see what you're looking for? Visit our blog and use the search bar to find even more relevant articles or check out our case studies to learn what techniques other companies have used to maximize conversions and drive growth.