Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is tricky to master. There are a million things to address and be sure of, after all. Thankfully, there are a few experts that have, over the years, earned a reputation of being the best in the industry. So instead of running around in circles in frustration and making the same mistakes, why don’t you follow them on social media and learn everything you can from them.
Note: These are some of our top favs, in no particular order – and the list is far from exhaustive!
Peep Laja
Peep, CEO and founder of CXL, is one of the most influential CRO experts in the world. Other than calling out ‘your BS’ (his Twitter bio reads thus), he also runs the CXL institute where conversion optimizers and data-driven marketers get coached by some of the best in the industry.
Words of Wisdom:
I think about The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs quite a bit.
Push notifs, popups, emails, text message marketing, live chat, chat bots etc – all are are subject to it.
One way to try to get around is to always be on the lookout what the masses are not using yet.
— Pe:p Laja (@peeplaja) 27 octobre 2019
Must-Read Articles by Peep:
- 12 A/B Testing Mistakes I see all the time
- Website Information Architecture: How to Optimize for UX
- 10 Principles of Effective Pricing Pages
Follow Peep on Twitter and LinkedIn
Joanna Wiebe
The original conversion copywriter and the creator of Copyhackers, Joanna is in a league of her own. She’s written conversion-driving copy for over 70,000 people at companies big and small. Lucky for you, she conducts 20-min Tuesday tutorials (no registration required) where you can learn how to write copy that converts.
Words of Wisdom:
“…we should set lofty goals for our copy. That’s what separates a good copywriter from one you never wanna let go of. After all, the image may capture attention – but it’s the copy that closes people.”
Source: I tried writing Facebook ads. Even I didn’t expect what I found.
Must-Read Articles by Joanna:
- The Ultimate Guide to No-pain Copywriting (or, Every Copywriting Formula Ever)
- “Proof of Heaven”, Propaganda and Feeding Your Audience Exactly the Meal They Asked For
- 5 Split Tests That Will Change The Way You Think About Reciprocity And Persuasion
Follow Joanna on Twitter and LinkedIn
Talia Wolf
Talia runs GetUplift. She’s a trailblazer in the conversion optimization arena. Even the industry bigwigs vouch for her know-how. Her mantra for conversion success is using emotional persuasion to create experiences that customers can never say no to.
Words of Wisdom:
“My take on conversion optimization is it’s not about changing elements on a page, it’s about solving people’s problems. If I can understand who the customer is behind the screen, it is easier for me to create high converting experiences.”
Source: Why Your Customer Is The Key To Skyrocketing Conversion Rates
Must-Read Articles by Talia:
- Two Emotional Triggers That Boost Conversions (Including Formulas)
- CRO & UX: How to Design for Both Experience and Revenue
- How to Leverage the Power of Emotion in Facebook Ads
Follow Talia on Twitter and LinkedIn
Tim Ash
Tim’s the founder of SiteTuners and one of the pioneers in the field of CRO since the mid-1990s. Years of experience has made him one of the most sought after marketing keynote speakers. He has also authored two bestsellers on landing page optimization.
Words of Wisdom:
“Once you understand brain evolution, many of our decisions will become trivial to predict. To a scary degree, we are walking automatons with mechanistic knee-jerk responses, and not the rational geniuses with free will that we like to imagine.”
Source: Foreword of Unleashing The Primal Brain: The Essential Field Guide For Modern Marketers
Must-Read Articles by Tim:
- Emotional Motivators in Landing Page Optimization
- How to Increase Conversion On Big Ticket Items
- How to improve conversions by building trust online [Webinar]
Follow Tim on Twitter and LinkedIn
Jeremy Smith
Jeremy is the founder and CEO of Jeremysaid, where he also blogs about the online behavior of internet users. It’s his knowledge of neuromarketing and its practical applications that have helped his clients to develop strategies that result in positive commercial success.
Words of Wisdom:
“Think SEO Before You Think CRO. You can only get conversions if you have traffic. And you can only get traffic through search engine optimization. Conversion rate optimization is a big issue that gets you into all kinds of other big issues. One such issue is SEO. You need to wrap your mind around the concept, do it right, and bring in some traffic.”
Source: Conversion Rate Optimization: 10 Things You Must Know
Must-read articles by Jeremy:
- Everything You Need To Know About Risk Theory And Conversion Optimization
- Conversion Triangle: A Process For Identifying User Intent
- 10 Questions To Ask Customers To Gather Insight For Conversion Optimization
Follow Jeremy on Twitter and LinkedIn
Chris Goward
Conversion optimization expert Chris Goward is the CEO and founder of WiderFunnel, and has a best-selling book, You Should Test That!, to his name. He’s known to have designed the PIE prioritization framework, The LIFT model, and The Infinity Optimization Process to help optimizers prioritize pages to test.
Words of Wisdom:
“Emotional drivers are where people make decisions. People make purchase decisions emotionally, and they defend decisions rationally. You have to provide both the emotion that drives them to act and the data and facts to help them support and rationalize it later.”
Source: AB Tasty’s Interview with Chris Goward
Must-Read Articles by Chris:
- Why your conversion rate doesn’t matter (aka conversion rates are relative)
- Build the most effective personalization strategy: A 4-step roadmap
- How to Prioritize Conversion Rate Optimization Using PIE
Follow Chris on Twitter and LinkedIn
Shanelle Mullin
Shanelle has been a marketer since she was just 15 years old. Straight up, she helped a three-person startup grow to a million-dollar company before she turned 18. For now, she does conversion rate optimization at Shopify. She also writes about CRO and explains the most complex marketing concepts in a way no one in the biz does.
Words of Wisdom:
“Conversion rate optimization is a positive feedback loop. How can the test you just ran or the change you just implemented inform your next test idea or piece of research? There’s no secret, there’s no magic, there’s no one behind the curtain. There’s just rigorous, disciplined process that scales and repeats. Conversion rate optimization isn’t sexy. It’s not quick. It’s not easy. But it is effective… every time.”
Source: The 3 Step Process to Increasing Your Website Conversion Rate
Must-Read Articles by Shanelle:
- How to find and plug leaks in your conversion funnel
- The Psychology of Persuasion: How to Sell Like an FBI Hostage Negotiator
- SaaS CRO: What You’re Not Testing (But Should)
Follow Shanelle on Twitter and LinkedIn
Craig Sullivan
Craig is a master of User Experience and has years of experience helping leading brands improve the UX of their multi-channel and multi-platform businesses and drive conversions. Want to pick his brain? Go through the articles he curates on topics including CRO, UI, and web design.
Words of Wisdom:
“I think if you’ve ever had your product ripped to shreds in usability testing, if you’ve sat in the call centre and listened to people whine about something wrong on your website, then you’re probably feeling bad about your product. But that’s good. You need to be immersed in all the pain and misery as well as the delight in order to be able to understand and appreciate their viewpoint.”
Source: 9 Optimisation Lessons From Craig Sullivan
Must-Read Articles by Craig:
- The Endless Suck of Best Practice and Optimisation Experts
- Why A/A Testing is a Waste of Time
- The 15 Minute Model for Optimising Device Experiences[Video]
Follow Craig on Twitter and LinkedIn
Brian Massey
Brian Massey is the Founder of Conversion Sciences and the author of Your Customer Creation Equation. Through his blog, he teaches marketers the importance of embracing data and science to get into customers’ heads. He also runs a podcast where together with his guests, they talk about everything conversion-centric.
Words of Wisdom:
“Optimization is not a program. It’s not a strategy. It’s not a get-rich scheme. It doesn’t work as quickly as PPC nor as slowly as SEO. Your mileage may vary.”
Source: 7 Poisonous Conversion Optimization Myths
Must-Read Articles by Brian:
- Behavioral Science & Analysis: How To Turn Psychology Into Sales
- 9 Lessons On Home Page Optimization From A Multiple Choice Test
- What Keeps Visitors from Converting on your Site?
Follow Brian on Twitter and LinkedIn
Angie Schottmuller
Angie owns and runs Interactive Artisan. Driven by data and persuasion psychology, Angie has been helping B2B and B2C businesses understand complex marketing concepts and use them to better their conversions for the past 17 years and counting. It comes as no surprise why she’s been recognized as one of the top 10 online marketing experts by both Forbes and Entrepreneur magazine.
Words of Wisdom:
“Mobile performance matters to websites like parking matters to retail stores.”
Source: Optimizing for Mobile Context
Must-Read Content by Angie:
- Design Psychology Tricks to Boost UX & Conversions
- SEO Conversion Strategies: CRO Meet SEO
- Detox Your Visitor Journey: Boost COnversions Starting at Home Page [Conf talk]
Follow Angie on Twitter and LinkedIn
Takeaway
Keep an eye on their social feeds and engage with them. Don’t forget to read their blogs, listen to their podcasts, and attend conferences where they speak. Their knowledge combined with your keen interest to grow will set you on the path to becoming a better optimizer.
Was your favorite CRO expert on this list? If not, who did you learn the ropes from? Let us know!
