Outsourcing your CRO strategy and A/B Testing is a great way to make meaningful improvements more quickly
When to Pull in Experts to Get the Most out of Your Testing Program
A/B testing should be a central component of any conversion rate optimization (CRO) strategy. As this post on why Conversion Rate Optimization is a great investment explains, it’s the best way to get an accurate understanding of what works for your unique customers.
A/B testing also takes time, effort, and expertise. Just last week, we started working with a new client who had been doing testing on their own for over a year, but just weren’t seeing the results. Tests were coming back inconclusive or lacking impact on metrics that matter, like revenue. They needed a partner who would make sure that they were getting it right - so that they could grow their online revenue.
Since your business doesn’t specialize in conversion rate optimization or A/B testing, you’re probably not a master of the craft. That’s why you should consider outsourcing those tasks to a third party like Experiment Zone. (Want to learn more about how we work? Check out our Services page).
Outsourcing your CRO strategy and A/B Testing is a great way to make meaningful improvements more quickly. By working with an agency with experience and expertise, you can optimize your content and boost engagement across your site. Here are the six main benefits of outsourcing.
Faster Turnaround Time
When you outsource conversion rate optimization, the CRO agency will supply the necessary test managers, strategists, and developers. Their years of experience and profound knowledge of A/B testing will make them highly efficient.
They know how to approach test development to be lean, secure, and effective. This means you can expect tests to be designed, built, and launched more quickly after approval, ultimately leading to a faster testing velocity and learning cycle.
Shortcut the Learning Curve
To improve your conversion rate, you need to involve a number of methods and procedures that take time to design, implement, and perfect. If you attempt to build an in-house methodology, your team may take a few quarters (or years) to get to a level of knowledge to be competitive with today’s experts. Your early testing will likely include less impactful test ideas (and probably some mistakes in methodology), and you are not likely to see the improved user experience you were hoping for.
By working with an agency, you’ll get quality results from the start. An agency’s experts will also be better equipped to operate testing tools and software. Unless you’ve invested heavily in your in-house CRO team, your company probably lacks the knowledge to take full use of this technology.
By effectively utilizing the software, the agency will be able to run more intricate and impactful tests to find the information you are looking for.
Lower Costs over Time
Creating an in-house CRO team requires filling multiple new positions. A good CRO team includes: a Conversion Strategist, a Test Developer, a Designer, a User Experience Researcher, Data Analyst, and Project Manager.
You’ll need to find, interview, and hire experts in design, development, and experimentation, all of which will come at a significant cost in terms of money and time.
A CRO agency, meanwhile, will offer all this expertise in a single coordinated package, giving you access to quality CRO at a lower cost.
Gain a Strategic Edge
When it comes to increasing engagement, minor changes can have a considerable impact. But knowing which tests to run is the hard part. Outsourcing your CRO will result in better tests and increased engagement for your website.
There are a number of reasons why outside agencies provide a strategic advantage. They’ve done hundreds of thousands of tests across clients and industries and are able to apply that learning to your tests to make better predictions on what could work with your customers. They can also support more complex tests than what you would likely manage on your own - and they’ll know when it’s worth it to test complex designs vs. getting a proof of concept out there quickly. The experienced testers at an agency will have the skills to make complicated and inventive changes during experiments.
Finally, the agency will be able to come up with excellent ideas for the tests. The experts will know exactly what elements of your pages are most apt for improvement and which elements visitors are most likely to respond to. These tests will ultimately improve the user experience and turn visitors into paying customers.
Augmenting In-house Staff
There are times when you’ll need to perform a greater volume of tests. Perhaps you’ve recently launched a new trove of content, or maybe you’re giving your entire site an overhaul. When the need for tests suddenly spikes, you’ll have a hard time keeping up with a small in-house staff. Hiring more CRO experts might solve the short-term problem, but then you’ll be left with an unnecessarily large team once the test volume returns to normal.
Outsourcing provides you with the flexibility to meet a fluctuating demand for tests. The conversion strategy agency will have the resources to efficiently manage a sudden increase in the volume of experiments without requiring long-term investments.
Easier Troubleshooting
When running tests and optimizing your user experience, technical issues are bound to arise. A sudden bug in the system or a FOOC (flash of original content) could derail your CRO efforts even without any mistakes having been made. If you’re running your own tests, you’ll be left scrambling.
When you’ve outsourced your CRO to a reputable agency, all these problems will be solved for you. The agency’s technicians have seen it all, and they’ll have no trouble getting the tests back up and running. Not only does this easy troubleshooting make your entire operation more efficient, but it will also provide valuable peace of mind.
Drawbacks of Outsourcing (and How to Counter Them)
While outsourcing is a great option for many businesses, there are several drawbacks to consider. For one thing, some agencies might not have a full understanding of your industry. This could make it harder to optimize certain facets of your pages in accordance with industry norms.
The agency also won’t know the ins and outs of your business as well as you and your employees. This means they won’t have a perfect grasp on your specific goals and expectations.
Luckily, there’s plenty you can do to counter these drawbacks and make them less impactful. Here are some strategies to consider: Create a working partnership with the agency, allowing you to learn from their experience while bringing your own industry expertise to the table. Find an agency that has experience in your industry. Ensure the agency tailors its testing approach based on research with your audience and on-going input from your team of experts versus a one-size-fits-all approach. See the agency as a source of innovative ideas you can use in the future.
If you adopt the right mindset and employ these sensible strategies, you should be able to make the most of outsourcing your CRO.
Get Started With Outsourcing CRO
To maximize your website’s impact and increase user engagement, you should consider outsourcing your CRO as soon as possible. As our video on the benefits from a month with a Conversion Rate Optimization agency explains, you will experience tangible benefits within the first month of starting with an agency.
Don’t let your site’s user experience suffer from the suboptimal implementation of CRO best practices. Contact the Experiment Zone team to create a lasting relationship that will benefit your business and increase engagement. Take action today. Your site’s conversion rate depends on it.