Being a marketer is hard – I feel like it’s always been that way, but now the pressure to deliver results is even greater. Companies are cutting their marketing budgets and watching every penny before deciding where to spend it.
Fortunately, we now have access to many tools, including AI, that can make our work a little easier.
While some of these tools can handle routine, time-consuming tasks, others provide valuable insights that can help us make decisions. I think AI is a real lifesaver when it comes to conversion rate optimization.
In this post, I’ll explain why you should try it and cover the main use cases.
Table of contents
Why use AI for conversion rate optimization?
Understand customers better – and faster.
If you’ve ever had to sift through hundreds of CRM records to identify common customer behaviors, then you know how much time (and intelligence!) it takes to draw conclusions.
Fortunately, anyone working in CRO can now use AI to analyze customer data quickly and at scale. I would even say that this AI application is quickly becoming the new standard for data-driven teams.
A survey as part of HubSpots and The Next Waves 2024 “The report, “How AI Is Driving Personal Productivity and Business Growth,” found that 70% of marketers are already using AI to perform more data analysis, while 64% are specifically using it to better understand their customers’ profiles.
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Of course, I’m not suggesting that AI replaces all work analyzing customer data – you still need a CRO specialist. Still, by equipping them with AI-powered tools, they can focus their manual work on areas that truly require human expertise.
Respond faster to “anomalies.”
Humans are good at recognizing patterns – including those in data. However, if they have a huge database at their disposal, they cannot search through it as quickly as AI.
When it comes to subtle but potentially significant trends in customer behavior, they can take days, if not weeks, to identify. And if they do, they could already be causing massive problems, such as a drop in a channel’s conversion rates or a lower average order value (AOV).
AI tools can analyze your leads and sales data 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If it detects disruptive, recurring user behavior, it can immediately send you an alert. This way you can take action to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
This shows that humans and AI can work together synergistically – the efficiency of AI enables real-time insights while humans can work to introduce new business strategies.
Focus more on critical tasks.
Marketers are busy, with dozens of tasks to complete at once and a few meetings in between.
It’s no wonder that up to 73% of people surveyed by HubSpot admit to using AI for conversion rate optimization because it gives them more time to focus on creative work that requires human attention.
By “outsourcing” routine tasks to AI, marketers can gain a few extra hours in their workday and use them for more strategic tasks such as brand positioning or market research.
Optimizes your conversion points – even if you lack real data.
I believe that this AI CRO mechanism does not get the recognition it deserves.
You can have your assets like landing pages or emails analyzed using AI even before you launch a product or campaign.
A good example is one of VWO’s free tools, namely theirs AI-powered heatmap generator. While it won’t cross-reference your customer data, it will tell you if there are any usability issues that could prevent leads from converting.
Gavin YiFounder and CEO of Yijin Hardwaretold me that he used AI-driven heatmap analysis to check whether their existing mobile app design was driving conversions.
Yi told me he found that certain CTAs and buttons were placed too deep in the layout.
This resulted in lost opportunities because users didn’t scroll far enough to see them.
“By leveraging heatmap insights, I was able to successfully position critical elements higher in the mobile layout, resulting in an immediate increase in conversions on this platform,” he says.
Yi also adds that this AI CRO strategy has shown the company how to customize the user interface for those accessing their product across different devices.
How to apply AI to your CRO strategy
1. Collect data and segment your customers.
Before you start AI conversion rate optimization, you need to do the basics, i.e. collecting the data and dividing your customers into segments. The good news is that AI can help you with the latter.
It can analyze data from various sources like your website, app, social media, etc. and convert it into insights that help you categorize users into specific groups.
You can then, hopefully, begin personalizing your marketing efforts Improve your conversion rate.
This approach works well for InboxAlly. Their head of partnership, John Simmons, told me that they use AI to understand each customer’s unique needs and preferences. This allows them to deliver highly relevant experiences that speak directly to them, which has proven to be a game-changer in terms of CRO.
“When we implemented AI-powered personalization on our product pages, we saw a 12% increase in add-to-cart rates. The system was able to recognize each visitor’s preferences based on their behavior on the website and provide them with the optimal product images, content, promotions, etc. to persuade them to purchase.
We have since rolled this out across our entire site, resulting in over $2 million in annual incremental revenue,” says Simmons.
What is the secret to making AI work for CRO? Simmons suggests starting small and identifying a few quick use cases where AI can increase relevance.
“If you show success, you can expand into more advanced applications. The key is to connect the technology with clear business goals. Used strategically, AI can have a huge impact on your CRO and customer experience efforts,” he adds.
2. Analyze customer data to personalize their experience.
Today, customers expect personalization; this has been the norm for quite some time. However, AI takes personalization to a whole new level.
It can analyze browsing patterns and provide customized website content, product recommendations and offers in real time.
By providing content that is relevant to the target audience, brands can not only increase engagement but also improve conversion rates.
Imagine you run an e-commerce store that sells electronic items. One of the visitors looks for environmentally friendly products and buys a smart thermostat.
The next time they visit your website, you can add a banner with the latest solar-powered devices or provide recommendations for energy-efficient home appliances to increase their chances of converting.
3. Automate A/B testing in your customer acquisition funnel.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned throughout my marketing career, it’s that effective marketing is all about testing. If you want to increase your conversion rate, you need to learn about A/B testing. Luckily, you can now fully automate it with AI, which speeds up the process significantly.
Instead of creating and monitoring split tests manually, you can use tools like Optimizely or VWO to perform multivariate testing. You can then analyze countless variations to select the one that generates the most conversions.
AI is actually incredibly good at analyzing data in real time. It can literally detect minute differences in user interaction patterns and make instant adjustments – something a human could never do.
It can help you optimize your landing pages, CTAs, and user flows.
4. Use predictive analytics tools.
These AI tools for conversion rate optimization can help you predict user behavior – or even market trends. This gives you more time to think about how you can optimize your strategy.
Think about it, predict what types of products will be a “hit” in the coming holiday season and stock up in advance. Or you most likely know that a customer will soon need to upgrade to a higher plan and send them a discount offer.
Mary ZhangHead of Marketing and Finance Dgtl Infratold me that her company had developed a complete AI-powered customer success prediction model to optimize its customer acquisition funnel.
The algorithm analyzes three types of data, namely historical records, user interaction patterns and industry trends, to predict which leads are most likely to become successful long-term customers.
“This model goes beyond traditional lead scoring as we focus on predicting potential customer lifetime value and targeting our services,” says Zhang. “The results were remarkable: Our sales team efficiency increased by 35%, customer retention rates improved by 28%, and average deal size increased by 40%.”
5. Visualize your customers’ journey.
Customer journeys can be complicated. And it’s hard to identify a bottleneck without visualizing every single step a user needs to take. So why not use AI to analyze each channel’s data to identify places where users drop off or become less engaged? That’s what Securiti.ai did.
Adil Advanitheir Associate Product Owner, told me that they decided to explore the data to optimize their customer journey. They knew that every click and scroll told a story, so they started analyzing behavior patterns on their website.
“We realized that our potential customers were getting stuck in the same spots, so we redesigned our website navigation to make it more intuitive. By simplifying the journey from the homepage to the contact form, we saw an 18% decrease in our bounce rate and a 23% increase in our leads,” says Advani.
The team didn’t stop there; They constantly tested different layouts and messaging on their main landing pages, which increased their conversions by another 15%. “It’s about making the experience for our visitors as seamless as possible and the numbers really speak for themselves,” adds Advani.
6. Consider implementing dynamic pricing and limited-time offers.
I have already mentioned this method briefly when talking about predictive models, but it is a topic that requires a separate point.
I worked at a few startups in the mid-2010s and remember that their pricing was almost “set in stone.” One of the companies had a “custom” pricing option with a CTA to contact, indicating the company’s openness to adjusting the offer or discussing discounts.
Still, it doesn’t compare to the level of proactivity that AI enables in price negotiation.
Depending on your business, you can either create rules for all customers or specific segments for when the AI should send a discount or display a time-limited promotion. Recently, my favorite example of this AI conversion rate optimization strategy comes from (albeit from a buyer’s perspective). Etsy.
I made sewing my hobby and started buying printable patterns through the platform. As you might expect, many sellers use upselling techniques like “Buy 2, get 1 free.” But the platform also offers them smart conversion optimization methods.
After adding a few samples to the cart and then continuing my day without completing the deal, I automatically received a time-sensitive discount code from the seller.
This type of AI can act on your behalf, with agreed minimum prices or maximum discount rules, and respond to even the most subtle user activity – like clicking an image or watching a video.
I love how it helps sellers offer the perfect deal at the right moment without the need for direct human supervision.
7. AI-powered email campaigns.
Email is still one of the most effective communication channels. And I believe that creating an attention-grabbing email is both an art and a science.
If you’re having trouble with this, I highly recommend using AI to not only personalize your content and optimize your send times, but also to segment your users more accurately.
AI tools can help you decide on the best subject line, format, and content to maximize both your open and click-through rates. Journaling accessories Use AI-driven customer segmentation.
Their manager, Karen Chen, says: “By analyzing user behavior and demographic data, we can identify those who are more likely to convert. For example, we implemented AI to segment our email marketing campaigns based on user engagement.”
What was the result?
After personalizing content for these segments, they saw a 25% increase in click-through rates and a 15% increase in conversions within three months.
This targeted approach allowed the brand to deliver relevant content, which significantly increased user engagement and ultimately increased sales.
8. Use a co-pilot with lots of AI skills.
After reading the previous sections, you might think that you need to subscribe to a whole lot of different AI software.
The good news is that you don’t have to do that – instead, I suggest you try out a co-pilot that serves as your all-in-one AI CRO tool.
For example, HubSpot’s Breeze is a platform that offers everything you need to increase the productivity of your customer-facing teams and drive growth. You can use it to automate repetitive tasks, gain real-time insights into buyer intent, and perform better conversion rate predictions, among other things.
These are just some of the possible use cases. Take a look at the different ways HubSpot users use Breeze in their CRO strategy.
AI gives your CRO specialists everything they need to increase sales.
There are so many areas where AI can support your customer-facing teams – from performing extensive data analysis in a fraction of the time it would take human work to predicting demand and optimizing your email campaigns and landing pages .
It’s the resourceful assistant that I think most of us need, especially if we want to stand out from our competitors.
Once you decide which tasks should be done manually and which can be automated, there’s no turning back – you’ll be amazed at how much CRO creativity you unleash.