{"id":11776,"date":"2018-08-07T07:55:37","date_gmt":"2018-08-07T12:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/?p=11776"},"modified":"2018-08-07T07:55:37","modified_gmt":"2018-08-07T12:55:37","slug":"9-components-of-a-successful-cro-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/9-components-of-a-successful-cro-project\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Components of A Successful CRO Project"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 7<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CRO projects are complicated. They require a team, management, accuracy, creativity, and organization. There are many pieces to make a project succeed. In this article, I\u2019m going to break down the ins and outs of a CRO project, and how to help spark creative solutions to inspire greater persuasion (and conversions).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But before we start \u2013 what does the team look like? <\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A CRO team typically looks something like this:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conversion optimization specialist (2-3)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UX designer <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Front-end developer<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Customer research specialist (part-time)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Analytics specialist (part-time)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Data analyst (part-time)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Product manager\/Program manager<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Holy moly, that\u2019s a lot of people. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/shanebarker.com\/blog\/conversion-rate-optimization-tips-expert-roundup\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dennis van der Heijden:<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cCRO is a commitment. Running a test on your homepage isn\u2019t enough. Hiring a consultant for a week isn\u2019t enough. You need time, dedication, coordination, and (though this is often underlooked) enough site traffic\u2014to make conversion optimization work. The best way to think about a CRO strategy is, put simply, \u201clong term.\u201d Then get ready to invest the hours. The results will be well worth the effort.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, I have yet to see a non-agency team with this many individuals at the helm of CRO. That requires a big budget that most companies are unwilling to allocate for just CRO (although if they only knew what it could unlock\u2026).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-11779 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/olu-eletu-28020-unsplash.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"528\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I went ahead and asked <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/khalidh\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Khalid Saleh<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, CEO of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Invesp<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, based on his many years of experience in CRO, what he thought are the components of a successful CRO project. Now, Khalid doesn\u2019t run projects, but he\u2019s pretty aware of the ins and outs of the projects. Based on his knowledge and what he\u2019s seen, he mentioned a few things: <\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">setting expectations correctly<\/span><\/li>\n<li>using different methods to uncover meaningful insight<\/li>\n<li>the velocity of testing\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Khalid, it is always about the client. And it\u2019s true, whenever the client thinks the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/cro\/conversion-rate-by-industry\/\">conversion rates<\/a> are going to skyrocket after a couple of tests, you know the project is headed in the wrong direction. Also if a client doesn\u2019t realize their involvement, again, that will just impact response time and data collection success. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, Khalid points to something interesting, his last two points: using different methods to uncover data and velocity of testing both are a cry for increased creativity and out of the box thinking on a test. Why? Well, when you look at the same sources of data, and you aren\u2019t continuously seeking other sources that may relay a different story, you\u2019ll be stuck in a rut. Additionally, if test slowly you\u2019re limiting the scope of the project and ability to push the limits on several elements.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-11780 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/woman-41891_1280.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"798\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I asked one of our CRO success managers, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/kayahatice\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hatice,<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> about what she thought the components of a successful project were:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">defining a sound hypothesis<\/span><\/li>\n<li>cross-device testing each launch<\/li>\n<li>before launching the test, test experience of original and variation designs with a few people who aren\u2019t familiar with test designs<\/li>\n<li>limiting the number of the testing elements\/idea that helps to calculate impacts correctly\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hatice\u2019s advice is more tactical because she spends the day to day working on projects, so she considers the small things when considering success. It\u2019s interesting to see these very different perspectives from two people who work and handle projects very differently. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ayat?lang=en\">co-founding the Invesp<\/a>, I\u2019ve been managing CRO projects. My role has grown over the years, but for growth and learning purposes, I inject myself in some of the projects that we run. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What I\u2019ve noticed, are that <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cwell defined goals\u201d <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">as well as procedure and process following make or break a project. \u00a0Once the project veers off the rails, whatever the reason may be (client initiated or internal management issues), the project wanes, and the client becomes frustrated. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So ultimately, there are many considerations to managing a project. In this post, I\u2019ll dissect all the different points made by Khalid, Hatice, and myself in order to help you gauge what it takes to lead and manage a successful CRO project.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-11781 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/doran-erickson-508459-unsplash.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"375\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. Setting expectations correctly<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether you\u2019re an in-house CRO expert, or a consultant, you need to set expectations correctly when it comes to the work you are doing. And this is essentially a key point in any project and isn\u2019t unique to CRO. If expectations aren\u2019t set correctly, you are going to end up with angry management. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How do you set expectations correctly. When we take on a full engagement, our client is essentially expecting that their conversion rates will increase. We have to do a little education on what that means: If a test increases CR for a specific page, it doesn\u2019t translate into that increase for the overall site. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, some basic information on statistics and conversion rates in general is important to clarify how and what increases mean to the success of the project.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. Using different methods to uncover meaningful insight<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Managing a CRO project means the team needs to be able to conduct qualitative data, deduce meaningful data from it, conduct on analytics assessments, read heatmap data effectively, conduct usability tests, and more in order to get the full picture of what is happening on the website. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The reason why I mentioned at the beginning of the post that CRO is not a one man job because the data collection alone requires quite a few experts. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s rare to find someone who is good at analytics analysis as well as conducting sound qualitative data and knows <a href=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/useful-ui-ux-design-tips-for-mobile-website-design-optimization\/\">UX<\/a> and UX testing in and out. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shopify.com\/blog\/the-complete-guide-to-ab-testing\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Krista Seiden from Google <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">explains:<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMy step by step process for A\/B testing starts with analysis\u2014in my opinion, this is the core of any good testing program. In the analysis stage, the goal is to analyze your analytics data, survey or UX data, or any other sources of customer insight you might have in order to understand where your opportunities for optimization are.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The scrutinize phase of our conversion optimization SHIP method is 60-70% of the time a consultant spends on the project. Ultimately that research and discovery of the website, site visitors, and burning questions is what shapes the rest of the project. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. Velocity of testing<\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-11782 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/sawyer-bengtson-279792-unsplash.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"1020\" \/><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We use velocity loosely because it is really highly dependent on the project and website we are working on. I can\u2019t be conducting a lot of testing a site that has limited visitors and conversions. We use a different approach for those specific sites. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, if a site has the traffic and conversion volume, we take our testing up a notch. What is critical however is to never do what we call: reckless testing. Tests that have no evidence or data or reasoning. Anyone can do that. As a CRO managing a CRO project, well, that is simply unacceptable. Your tests have to be rooted in meaningful data and a meaningful thought process behind it. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. Defining a sound hypothesis<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s confusion when it comes to creating a hypothesis. Many may think of as the problem that has been uncovered, while others jump to creating solutions. But that\u2019s not what a hypothesis. We have found that most tests with a sound hypothesis tend to perform well. If we run tests that don\u2019t have a strong hypothesis behind them, statistically, they have a greater likelihood of failure. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/optinmonster.com\/ab-testing-best-practices\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Sharon Hurley Hall:<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhen you start your testing without a hypothesis, you\u2019re wasting time. A hypothesis is an idea about what you need to test and why, and what changes you\u2019ll see after you make any changes. With this structure in place, you\u2019ll know the scope of your test and when it succeeds or fails. Without it, your testing is just a guessing game.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The hypothesis should be a group effort. A single problem can have multiple hypotheses, and it\u2019s up to the team to consider the best hypothesis that will drive that greatest return. Putting the time and effort into defining the hypothesis is an important consideration for the success of a project. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5. Cross-device testing<\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-11783 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/03-many-devices-opt.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"388\" \/><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image Source: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smashingmagazine.com\/2014\/07\/testing-and-responsive-web-design\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">smashingmagazine<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s sometimes the little things that matter most. Having a precise process on how to go about things is critical in order for a project to succeed and to minimize error. The activities may seem mundane, but less errors equals greater success. That\u2019s why cross browser and device testing is a critical component to a test launch. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6. Pre-test prototype with an unfamiliar eye<\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11786 size-full aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/ray-hennessy-118037-unsplash-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"183\" \/><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You don\u2019t have to do this every time, but very often, prior to developing a concept, prototyping it can help you have a more razor-sharp focus on the validity of a design \u2013 especially if it is a time consuming change that takes a lot of development time. Don\u2019t just launch blindly, create a prototype and conduct usability testing to see the viability of the change prior to making it. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">7. Limit the number of changes<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes tests are bundled, meaning there are more than one change in a single test. That isn\u2019t always the best approach if you want to identify what change had the greatest impact! That\u2019s why we encourage the changes to be limited in order to pinpoint which change had the greatest impact. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">8. Define the goals<br \/>\n<\/span><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-11784 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/doors-1767563_1280.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"248\" \/><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Look at any marketing activity or project needs to have well defined goals. It\u2019s really not rocket-science or anything new. The emphasis on KPIs and OKRs is something real that impacts conversion rate optimization first and foremost. The project overall should have an objective, and each change should have an accompanying goal. This will help define the direction of the project and even the way the changes will be made. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">9. Process, process, process<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I may sound like a broken record, but following a process is really important. We have our processes defined in playbooks for each portion of a CRO project. That doesn\u2019t mean our process isn\u2019t evolving. Online marketing is evolving so your process should NEVER be set in stone. However, if something is tried and succeeds, we like to define it so we can try it again and again, eventually building upon it. But you need to have a structure for a project, otherwise, things can get messy and confusing rather quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The advice is simple, but important in order to have great success in whatever CRO project you are conducting. What do you think are the components of a successful CRO project?<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"blog_img\"><a href=\"https:\/\/offer.invespcro.com\/cro-toolbox\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11778\" src=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/images\/blog-images\/free_cro_toolbox.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1389\" height=\"405\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 7<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>CRO projects are complicated. They require a team, management, accuracy, creativity, and organization. There are many pieces to make a project succeed. In this article, I\u2019m going to break down the ins and outs of a CRO project, and how to help spark creative solutions to inspire greater persuasion (and conversions). But before we start [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[85,598,599,87,508,600],"class_list":["post-11776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cro","tag-beginner","tag-cro-strategy","tag-cross-device-testing","tag-general","tag-hypothesize","tag-velocity-of-testing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}