Which F.R.I.E.N.D.S character are you as a CRO specialist?
Being a CRO specialist by profession, I have often wondered how CRO can be connected with something we love. There came the inspiration from F.R.I.E.N.D.S, followed by a question — Which of the F.R.I.E.N.D.S character are you as a website optimization specialist? (Mmm..?)
This blog will bring back memories and make you relive the famous sitcom and also make you a better CRO specialist while at it.
1. Clueless Rachel
As optimizers, the major lot of us tend to be like Rachel. So clueless in where and how to start optimizing. Experimenting with CRO tools can often leave you as baffled as Rachel was with her life at the start. Optimization strategies haven’t changed much since website optimization came into existence, but experimenting changes and testing them with users takes in a lot of effort.
Maybe you just heard about CRO only recently, started optimizing your site and feel the same way as Rachel did. Maybe you’re not sure as to why website visitors aren’t converting — traffic not converting to leads, or visitors not browsing through the conversion path you have in mind for them. You have no clue about what you should or shouldn’t do to change this and achieve the intended goal.
To accomplish these goals and in order to transcend from being clueless to a CRO specialist, staying Rachel throughout your optimization life cycle is not a wise choice to be.
2. Quirky Phoebe
In optimization, we might sometimes assume that copying our competitors would work. Well, it’s more of a sign of the lack of confidence! What works for your competition might not work for you and should pause for a moment before adapting to their strategies.
Let’s look at an example,
Assume you have an electronics eCommerce store. You are trying hard to optimize the categories in your filter list. You do market research and find that color filter options are working best for a top fashion brand’s eCommerce store. Would you decide to implement the same going by the assumption that it would give you the same result or look for more evidence?
If you are as quirky as Phoebe, you might end up mimicking your competitor — copying forms, polls or even their CTAs. Mimicking is good but only when it comes with an understanding of what you are copying is relevant to your audience. If you do not have a hypothesis of why the same may or may not work for you, it is best to test and optimize instead of trying to be quirky and copying the competitors.
3. Joey As Go With The Flow
Remember the episode where Monica and Rachel cook Thanksgiving dinner. Rachel, in all her amateurish innocence, puts meat into the pie dessert! While the rest find it unappetizing, Joey goes about savoring the dish leaving everyone else to wonder “How on Earth could he eat that?!”
If you are a “Go with the flow” type of optimizer like Joey, it is an amateur’s way of optimizing. In CRO, without a process to follow, you would never know what exactly is preventing your customers from reaching the goal.
Implementing multiple changes at once would not just make your website look clumsy but also hamper deriving a proper conclusion from your tests. In order to find out where exactly the problem on your website, you need to follow a structured approach to test and optimize.
If you aspire to be a successful CRO specialist, Optimization needs to be done with care, just like how a chef from a Michelin Star restaurant would prepare a gourmet meal!
4. Old-School Ross
Lol! As sweet, charming and caring as Ross is, he is typically an old school kind of person. His methods — be it, love, friendship or work are primitive. Fittingly, the writers of the sitcom ensured his occupation signified it (something which Joey points out in this meme).
If you are a Ross kind of optimizer, you might still be using old-school methods like viewing heatmap reports from static screenshots. It will not help track visitor behavior on dynamic elements. You will be clueless as Rachel about the engagement on drop-downs, sliding banners and other interactive elements like carousels present in your web page. If you want to get accurate live reports for your tests, switch to new-age techniques that give you real-time results.
5. Chandler’s Commitment Phobia
Lots of websites have lots of different goals that they are trying to get their people to accomplish. Let’s say your goal is to get more people to give their email address and subscribe to your website. How do you accomplish this? I hear your inner Chandler say, “ Yay! Let’s improve that call-to-action”.
Generally, in website optimization, we tend to think “CTAs are God!”. It shows you want to improve your conversion, and that is good! But, did you know that your optimization efforts should be influenced by time, money and resources that you invest rather than only focussing on the well-being of business and ROI?
If you were surprised by this, then you are afraid to commit just like Chandler. The amount of time, money and resources that you invest will drive your conversion rate. Sadly, this is the only secret to winning over your audience, ROI and in turn to become a CRO specialist.
6. Monica’s OCD!
There you go! Monica and her OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) not only made the show funnier but also brought in the element of seriousness that bound the FRIENDS together as a single family.
While optimizing your website, you too need to be the one with an OCD if you want to be a successful CRO specialist.
So, what are the OCD traits you need to be a CRO specialist?
An eye for detail
Remember when Monica finds out when Rachel moved a piece of furniture in her living room? You need to know your website like the back of your hand if you want to optimize it right. CRO requires a perfect understanding of your site in order to know what to test and experiment.
Obsession for quality
Every party, dinner or a simple meetup which Monica plans needed to be perfect! That is exactly how you should treat your CRO practices. Never leave anything with plain guesses. Observe the Statistical Significance on your tests and leave nothing to guess.
Everything has a process
Our Monica had a plan for everything she planned — Phoebe’s wedding being the best example. When you have a plan, even when everything goes wrong, you still have the option to make it work. Your CRO practice needs a roadmap similar to that.
Use tools!
Be it Monica’s cookie jar, pickle crock pot or the infamous yellow frame on her door — everything had a purpose and served well! Website Optimization can be done in many ways but the right way to do it is to use the right set of tools.
I enjoyed writing this blog as much as I enjoyed watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Similarly, I hope you will enjoy optimizing your site. Give a try and let me know how you feel being a Monica 😀
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