Imagine this: you’ve poured your heart and soul into crafting a beautiful, informative website.
But despite all your efforts, visitors aren’t converting into paying customers.
Don’t despair! A secret weapon hiding in plain sight is Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO).
By partnering with skilled CRO specialists, you can unlock your website’s hidden potential and transform casual visitors into loyal customers.
But where will you find these CRO experts?
This article discusses everything you need to know about CRO specialists, including who they are, what they do, and how to find the perfect one to boost your website’s conversion rates.
Who Is A CRO Specialist?
A conversion rate optimization specialist, also known as a CRO consultant, conversion optimization expert, or experimentation expert, is the chief strategist behind a brand’s conversion optimization plan.
They develop and oversee the project’s strategy from start to finish. From the research phase, hypothesis, running tests, analyzing the results, documenting learnings, etc.
Are you curious about what a CRO expert or specialist does? Here’s the scoop: they’re experts in leveraging optimization tools and excel in several essential areas.
They excel in:
1. Digital analytics
2. User behavior
3. Copywriting
4. User research
5. A/B and multivariate testing
6. Statistics or Web Analytics
What Does A CRO Specialist Do?
A successful CRO specialist is in charge of a brand’s conversion optimization program from start to finish.
Now, let’s unpack a conversion rate optimization program and see what exactly a conversion rate optimization expert oversees:
1. Research:
A CRO expert will conduct quantitative and qualitative user research to understand user pain points, uncover conversion blockers, and more.
At the same time, they should be able to identify conversion killers using user behavior tracking tools such as heatmaps, session recordings, Google Analytics 4, JTBD customer interviews, etc.
2. Prioritize:
After conducting thorough research, the CRO specialist is likely to have uncovered many conversion issues on a website.
Now, it’s time to sift through them to uncover actionable insights and to see which conversion issues can most impact the bottom line. At this point, they’ll also create a conversion roadmap and prioritize conversion problems depending on how drastic and effective they are.
3. A/B Testing:
At this stage, the conversion specialist tests his hypothesis by running an A/B test, a control against a variation, to see which performs better.
4. Analyze Results:
Now, the experiment has run for some time to achieve statistical significance. The specialist reviews every control and variation data to see how the test is performed.
5. Share Learnings:
Finally, the conversion rate optimization specialist shares his observations from the test with his internal team, clients, and stakeholders and, if need be, iterates on the test.
In short, this is the journey that a CRO expert embarks on:
Become a Conversion Champion: 6 Key Traits of Top CRO Experts
Many courses promise to turn you into a CRO expert with fancy A/B testing tricks. But let’s be honest, anyone can learn the mechanics. What separates the good from the great are these hidden gems: skills you can develop with the proper training and some real-world experience.
Here’s the thing: one can learn those secret skills—you won’t need to be born as a CRO expert.
Anwar and Isabella, two of our conversion rate experts (we call them CRO specialists around here), shared their insights into what it takes to be a top CRO pro.
1. Always put yourself in the shoes of the customer
At its core, conversion optimization is about understanding user behavior and ensuring that there are no conversion bottlenecks that make it difficult for users to take the desired action on a website.
So, to uncover conversion hurdles and understand user behavior, you need to put yourself in customers’ shoes and do your research from that perspective.
According to Isabela, CRO specialists should anticipate what users will do on a website and should be good at asking the right questions:
“Being good at conversion optimization requires one to consider the customer’s perspective. You have to think about how they will react if they see certain elements on a website. Will this or that element help them take the next forward? It’s also about asking the right questions.”
She also adds that you need to have a keen eye for detail:
In all instances, you also have to act as a Quality Assurance Specialist in a way. This means that you have to ensure that each element on a website works well before you roll out any test.”
Anwar echoes the same sentiments:
“Being able to empathize with the customer is a quality of a CRO. This is mostly seen in JTBD interviews, being able to understand their fears and anxiety, read meaning into what they’re saying and bodily cues too.”
2. Possess a research mindset
It’s not enough to run A/B tests or prioritize ideas. A great CRO specialist isn’t satisfied with top-of-mind answers (from viewing analytics) but is interested in going below the surface to find the primary motivators of user purchase behavior.
According to Anwar,
“one of the main qualities of a good CRO is having a research mindset.” This means diving deep beyond the surface to get at the issues on a website and put forward solutions.”
3. Should understand copywriting
One perception about being a CRO specialist is that it’s a technical field. That’s because of the buzz around analytics, setting up tests, and analyzing results, but that’s not always true.
A great deal of what makes users convert is the messaging on a website or landing page.
Over 20 years of eye-tracking research reveals that most internet users simply skim and skip the content online when looking for relevant information.
That’s why one of the superpowers of a good CRO specialist is their ability to analyze landing page messages. They’re mind-readers, figuring out what grabs attention and just gets skipped. This way, they can ditch the fluff and focus on messaging that converts website visitors into customers.
If the messaging serves no purpose, thanks to the insight gained from user research, they can create messaging that resonates with their audience.
4. Should be a polymath
The best conversion specialists are multi-disciplinary. This means they should understand other essential areas of a marketing strategy.
One of the recent buzzes in the digital marketing landscape is the concept of a T-shaped marketer. A T-shaped marketer is good at solving complex marketing challenges and has broad knowledge in many fields (including search engine marketing) and deep expertise in one, but a CRO specialist should be a key-shaped marketer.
Courtesy: Digital marketer
As a key-shaped marketer, the conversion optimization specialist has broad knowledge cutting across different fields in conversion rate optimization and deep expertise in some, not just one, unlike the T-shaped marketer.
The diagram below shows you what it means for a CRO specialist to be Key-shaped.
Deep knowledge/solid understanding in an area like user research, while some knowledge in web analytics, UX design, etc.
According to Anwar,
“I don’t believe one background makes a better CRO, but as a CRO, you’ll have to touch base with many different backgrounds. This way, the CRO specialist can interact and push out ideas with other team members that make up the CRO team.”
5. Able to translate data into insights
A good chunk of CRO’s work is to go through a lot of data. This data can be gotten through analytic tools like Google Analytics and also by going through heatmaps and session recordings.
What makes a CRO great isn’t just the ability to view data but to understand it, interpret it, and gather insights from it.
According to Isabela;
CRO specialists have access to a lot of tools that provide quantitative data. What separates the specialist from the not-so-good ones is how much they’re able to drill down into the data to understand behavior i.e., their analytical skills.
This drilling down is where quality insights are obtained that a hypothesis can be based on to test.
See, for instance, In conducting analytics user research, a CRO specialist could search for insight into shopping behavior analysis over a period of time and observe the user flow (from all sessions down to sessions with transactions.) to see where there’s a drop-off, look at the traffic mobile and desktop devices are getting and decide where to run their A/B test.”
Anwar echoes the same sentiment;
“CROs see numbers all day. What differentiates the best specialist from the pack is how they view this data.
Another remarkable area where you can differentiate a good CRO specialist from the rest is their knowledge of Industry benchmarks relating to the project they’re working on.
They can use this information and the data obtained from data analytics to understand how it influences their hypothesis-to-A/B test decisions.
6. Communication skills
The job of a CRO specialist requires a lot of talking and reporting.
A good conversion optimization specialist should be able to communicate and defend their actions effectively.
This includes:
- Conveying the reasons for their actions to their internal team
- Communicating design ideas with the designer
- Explain to the developer how they want a variation to behave.
Also, the conversion specialist isn’t scared of conversing with the clients and walking them through reports.
Many test ideas have been stopped because a CRO specialist wasn’t confident enough to explain their logic.
According to Anwar,
“One quality that differentiates a good CRO from the rest is the ability to handle different stakeholders like internal communications, project management, customers, client, client’s internal stakeholders, etc.”
Where To Find Amazing CRO Talent.
If you’re on the hunt for top-notch CRO talent and want to spot a specialist with the potential to become an expert, there are a few telltale signs.
Hunting Grounds for Top CRO Talent:
- Scour Social Media: LinkedIn is a goldmine, but don’t stop there! Look for CRO discussions on Twitter, join relevant Slack channels, and engage in online communities focused on conversion optimization.
- Think Beyond Traditional CRO Backgrounds: Great CRO minds can come from unexpected places. Look for candidates with experience in analytics, product management, user experience (UX), or growth marketing. These individuals might have the transferable skills and the right mindset to excel in CRO.
- Focus on the “CRO Mindset”: Don’t just prioritize years of CRO experience. Look for individuals who demonstrate the ability to think strategically about conversions. During interviews, assess their problem-solving skills and passion for understanding user behavior.
According to Anwar,
“If I’m hiring for a CRO position, I’ll look for previous experience, mindset (the ability to think like a CRO), and I’ll conduct an expert review test to see how they spot issues on a website.”
Isabela echoes the same sentiment;
“In hiring for a CRO position, I’ll look for someone who understands data, how users behave on a page and can spot mistakes on a page.”
Places where you can find great talent are LinkedIn, Twitter, Slack channels, etc.
Also, note that previous experience is great to have, but in some cases, great CROs don’t have a background in CRO yet. They might work in analytics, product, UX, or growth marketing.
Reach out to individuals in these roles, interview them, and look out for mindset (the ability to think as a CRO).
How to Hire For A CRO Specialist Role
Finding the perfect CRO specialist isn’t just about spotting fancy resumes. It requires a strategic approach, just like the field itself.
Here’s a breakdown of Khalid Saleh’s hiring process at Invesp, a CRO agency, to help you land your ideal candidate:
Know Your Needs:
Start by defining the role: Are you hiring for a senior or junior role? A senior specialist brings experience with A/B testing and might require less training, but adapting to your company culture might take time.
Junior CRO Specialist (Think Training Ground):
If you’re hiring for a Junior CRO expert, consider the following:
- How well do they articulate themselves? Can they clearly explain their ideas and findings? Assertive communication is crucial for collaborating with clients and colleagues.
- What background do they have? Look for relevant educational background or transferable skills from analytics, marketing, or psychology.
- What’s in their portfolio? Do they have a portfolio showcasing past projects or data-driven solutions?
Qualities All CRO Specialists Should Share:
- Attention to detail: CRO hinges on meticulous customer behavior analysis, data, and website elements. Make sure the CRO specialist you hire has a keen eye.
- Analytical prowess: For senior hires, delve deeper. How do they approach A/B testing? How do they interpret data to generate winning strategies?
- Selling power: CRO specialists need to champion their ideas. Can they effectively communicate their recommendations and convince both internal teams and clients?
Bonus Tip: Test Runs for Juniors:
Assign a small project to assess their thought process and work ethic. Look for how they tackle the analysis and execute the test.
Beyond the Resume: Additional Questions to Hire Your Ideal CRO Specialist
- How would you begin to optimize my website?
- What roles do quantitative and qualitative data play during your optimization process?
- Do you follow a specific conversion framework?
- How do you come up with test ideas?
- What’s your prioritization process like?
- How do you determine when to stop your tests?
- What are your biggest pet peeves regarding web design and UX?
- What have been some of the most surprising outcomes of tests you’ve run?
Become a Conversion Machine: Your Next Steps to Hiring a CRO Expert!
As more companies embrace the discipline of CRO, the demand for good CRO specialists keeps increasing.
Good conversion specialists have unique traits that make them stand out—we highlighted some. This can help you hire or qualify specialists who are already working in-house for you.
Are there any other qualities that we overlooked? Feel free to leave a comment.
Now, let’s talk about achieving those conversion goals. Building an in-house CRO team requires significant resources and expertise. But fear not! You can partner with a CRO agency to hit the ground running.
Here at Invesp, our team of CRO experts brings a wealth of experience and a data-driven approach to help businesses of all sizes unlock their full conversion potential.
Ready to take your conversion rates to the next level? Contact InvespCRO today!
CRO Specialist FAQs
1. What is the role of a Conversion Rate Optimization Specialist?
A CRO Specialist is responsible for optimizing website or digital platform conversion rates. They employ various strategies and techniques to enhance user experience, improve website performance, and ultimately increase the percentage of visitors who take a desired action, such as purchasing or filling out a form.
2. What are the essential qualities of a Conversion Optimization Expert?
CRO Experts usually deeply understand Search Engine Strategies and utilize Optimization Techniques to drive business growth. They rely on a Data-Driven Approach, interpreting data to inform decisions and refine strategies for maximum effectiveness.
3. How does a CRO Specialist contribute to business growth?
CRO Specialists play a crucial role in driving business growth by systematically improving the conversion process. By implementing a well-crafted CRO Strategy, they identify areas for enhancement, test hypotheses, and make data-backed adjustments to boost conversion rates, ultimately leading to increased revenue and customer acquisition.
4. What is the significance of a Data-Driven Approach in CRO?
A Data-driven approach involves using analytics and user behavior data to make informed decisions. CRO Specialists rely on this approach to identify patterns, trends, and opportunities for optimization. By interpreting data, they can uncover insights that guide strategic decisions and contribute to the success of conversion rate optimization efforts.
5. Can you provide examples of Optimization Techniques used by CRO Specialists?
Optimization Techniques employed by CRO Specialists include A/B testing, multivariate testing, user journey analysis, data analysis, and usability testing.
These methods allow specialists to experiment with different elements on a website, evaluate their impact on user behavior, and refine the site to enhance overall conversion rates. Basic coding skills also come in handy here.
6. How does a CRO Specialist contribute to a company’s marketing strategy?
A CRO Specialist ensures that every website or digital platform aspect aligns with the business goals. By conducting user research and user feedback, they gain valuable insights into the target audience and their preferences.
Once they understand these preferences, they continuously refine the user experience and optimize conversion paths, enhancing the efficiency of marketing efforts. This ultimately results in better returns on investment and increased customer engagement.
7. What is the role of a CRO Specialist in interpreting data for optimization purposes?
Interpreting qualitative and quantitative data is crucial to a CRO Specialist’s role.
Successful CRO professionals can analyze user behavior, conversion funnels, and other relevant metrics to gain insights into user preferences and pain points. This interpretation guides data-driven decision-making, helping them optimize conversion rates.
