What conversion rate optimization trends are worth adopting? And which ones are misleading?

CRO is a practice with a lot of room to explore, hence, there are many tactics you can experiment with to optimize sales and product engagement.

That said, we’ll get right into the practices that are shaping the way we think about optimizing conversion rates.

13 conversion rate optimization (CRO) trends to follow

The following trends are not just CRO tactics that will get old next year.

Instead, we’ll go over 13 conversion rate optimization tips that will become timeless and fundamental for SaaS businesses:

#1 Use more user-generated content

User-generated content (UGC), as the name suggests, is content that’s been created by users and customers. This can include real customer experiences, testimonials, online reviews, success stories, social media comments, and more.

Since social proof is essential to establish credibility and allow trust-building, it has become a best practice to add UGC around your website in order to improve conversion rates.

How we use UGC on our website.

How to leverage this CRO trend?

1. Collect user-generated content by encouraging current users to share their experiences through reviews, testimonials, and social media posts.
2. Curate the best UGC that highlights the value and benefits of your product or service.
3. Integrate UGC strategically on high-conversion pages such as sign-up pages, product landing pages, and conversion CTA boxes to enhance credibility.
4. Regularly update the UGC to keep the content fresh and relevant, showcasing a wide range of user experiences.

#2 Implement a chatbot to offer support to website visitors

Chatbots can be a potential tool to improve conversion rates. Since they can answer potential customers’ questions immediately, they prevent users from leaving your website due to unresolved questions.

For instance, AI chatbots like HubSpot are there to answer any present question before you decide to convert.

For this, you need a chatbot that can provide valuable resources and support while allowing for escalation to human support when necessary. This way, users will feel supported at every time and address common sales objections.

How to leverage this CRO trend?

1. Implement a chatbot on your website with a clear focus on conversion optimization.
2. Design chat sequences that guide visitors through their journey, including information on pricing, features, and FAQs.
3. Utilize the chatbot to collect visitor information, such as email addresses, for further nurturing.
4. Analyze chatbot interactions to identify common queries and concerns, using these insights to optimize your website content and chatbot responses.

#3 Personalize customer experiences from the start

A personalized onboarding experience can significantly affect a user’s decision to upgrade.

For example, you can use a welcome survey to collect information from free trial signups and segment them based on their roles, goals, pain points, and jobs to be done (JTBD).

With such data, you can trigger a personalized onboarding flow designed for a specific target audience. This helps ensure users see the value of your product in the context of their specific needs and are more likely to convert into paid users.

How to leverage this CRO trend?

1. Collect data either by implementing a welcome survey or an interactive quiz at the beginning of the user journey to segment customers based on their needs and interests.
2. Collect historical user data such as product usage or feature engagement.
3. Personalize the user experience across your platform, including personalized product recommendations, customized content, and targeted upselling or cross-selling prompts based on in-app behavior.
4. Continuously analyze behavioral data to refine and enhance personalization strategies, ensuring they remain effective and engaging.

#4 Use AI to improve in-app messaging

AI doesn’t only help you generate content faster, but also better.

With the right tools, you can use AI’s capability to analyze vast amounts of data to deliver crisp in-app messages that convert more—allowing you to deliver targeted prompts that encourage users to take the next step.

For example, you can ask Userpilot’s AI to rewrite and improve your in-app CTAs so they bring more upgrades.

How to leverage this CRO trend?

1. Use a product management tool that has a native AI feature to craft in-app messages (like Userpilot).
2. Ask the AI to create multiple versions of a specific message (e.g. a CTA) and select a few options that look promising.
3. A/B test all the promising options to identify the most effective messaging strategies for different segments of your audience.
4. Continuously refine your messaging strategy based on testing results to keep improving user engagement and conversion rates.

#5 Integrate interactive guidance into onboarding flows

Interactive guidance is another way to increase your conversion rate. It helps users navigate and understand your product better—improving product adoption and trial-to-paid conversions.

Kommunicate has a great example (shown below), as it makes the onboarding process easy and interactive with a sequence of tooltips.

So instead of showing a generic product tour that users are likely to skip, you can implement an interactive walkthrough to guide users step-by-step with progressive onboarding and enhance the learning experience.

How to leverage this CRO trend?

1. Identify key features and functionalities that users need to understand to get the most out of your product.
2. Use a tool like Userpilot to develop interactive onboarding elements, such as guided tours and interactive tutorials—highlighting the key features from the first step.
3. Gather feedback from users about their onboarding experience to continuously improve and personalize the guidance offered.

#6 Collect first-party data to enable contextual upselling

First-party data is individual information that your company collects from a direct relationship with users, such as user attributes, demographics, customer behaviors, and more.

When it comes to CRO, this type of data is valuable to understand how users interact with your product and identify opportunities for contextual upselling—incrementing conversion rates in the process.

How to leverage this CRO trend?

1. Implement analytics tools that enable comprehensive event tracking and user segmentation (like Userpilot).
2. Analyze collected data to understand user behavior patterns and identify potential upsell opportunities.
3. Design contextual upsell offers based on the insights, ensuring they add real value to the user’s experience.
4. Set up automated triggers for these upsell offers, ensuring they are shown to the user at the right moment.

#7 Implement account-based marketing (ABM)

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) involves personalized marketing initiatives designed to engage very specific accounts based on their specific attributes and needs.

In SaaS, ABM can be particularly effective for conversion rate optimization as it improves account expansion, increases customer lifetime value, and cultivates product growth.

The success of your ABM strategy depends on your ability to gather and analyze detailed information about high-value customers and follow personalized marketing approaches to each account in order to build long-lasting relationships with them.

How to leverage this CRO trend?

1. Use a tool like Userpilot to gather detailed insights on user behavior and segment high-value users.
2. Develop personalized marketing campaigns tailored to the needs and interests of each target account. This can include free trials for premium features, contextual upgrade prompts, or hyper-targeted email campaigns.
3. Execute targeted campaigns using a mix of channels most likely to engage each account, such as personalized emails, targeted social media ads, and a custom landing page.
4. Monitor the performance of ABM campaigns and use feedback to refine your future conversion rate optimization strategy.

#8 Leverage customer data for retargeting marketing automation

When done correctly, retargeting marketing automation can significantly increase your average website conversion rate by targeting users with high purchase intent.

This is because retargeting uses customer data to create personalized marketing messages for users who have previously interacted with your product but did not convert.

In SaaS, this can mean converting new users who’d stay with you in the long term or even winning back those who left. For example, you can see how Facebook shows Threads posts on their news feed to encourage former Threads users to come back.

How to leverage this CRO trend?

1. Identify users who have shown interest but haven’t converted, using tools to track specific actions or inactions on your site or app.
2. Create personalized retargeting campaigns based on the user’s behavior, interests, and stage in the buying process. For example, triggering an upgrade prompt when they revisit the pricing page or when they try to use a premium feature.
3. Use retargeting ads across multiple channels—such as social media, mobile devices, and search engines—to re-engage these users.
4. Analyze the performance of retargeting campaigns to continuously refine and optimize messaging for better results.

#9 Conduct user research to collect insights

Conducting user research can potentially aid conversion rate optimization with the right method.

This involves collecting insights directly from your target audience through different channels such as surveys, interviews, and user testing. The goal is to understand their needs, preferences, pain points, and behaviors so you can adapt your product development, digital marketing strategies, and user experience to their needs—and increase chances of conversion.

Plus, with increasing privacy concerns and limitations on data collection, user research offers a direct and consent-based approach to gaining valuable insights.

How to leverage this CRO trend?

1. Design and conduct user research through surveys, interviews, and usability tests to gather insights on user behavior and preferences. For example, by triggering in-app surveys based on user interactions.
2. Analyze the collected data to identify common themes, pain points, and opportunities for improvement.
3. Implement changes based on user feedback to your product, website, and marketing strategies to better meet user needs.
4. Establish a continuous feedback loop where user data is regularly collected and acted upon, ensuring your strategies remain user-centered.

#10 Improve user experience to boost conversion rates

A smooth user experience and a healthy conversion rate are closely related.

This is because a seamless, intuitive, and enjoyable UX can significantly reduce friction in the user journey, making it easier for users to complete their desired actions like signing up, making a purchase, or upgrading their accounts.

For this, following best practices in UX design, such as clear navigation, fast loading times, and responsive design, are essential for creating a positive first impression and keeping users engaged (especially mobile users).

How to leverage this CRO trend?

1. Conduct a UX audit of your website or app to identify areas of improvement in navigation, speed, responsiveness, and accessibility.
2. Implement best UX practices to redesign and optimize user interfaces, ensuring they are intuitive and user-friendly (don’t forget mobile optimization).
3. Provide contextual help and support using tooltips, FAQs, and live chat services at critical points in the user journey.
4. Regularly update and test your UX designs based on user feedback and behavior analysis to continuously improve the user experience.

#11 Use funnel analysis to identify growth opportunities

Funnel analysis helps you optimize your conversion rates by pointing out exactly where users disengage.

This way, you can make improvements in user experience, whether by simplifying the sign-up process, enhancing product discovery, or streamlining the checkout flow—addressing the points of friction within the funnel. So if, for example, you find out that users are stuck at the free trial stage, you can optimize the free trial experience to increase conversions.

So as you collect data, you can work your way up by implementing solutions until the journey is as smooth as it can get.

How to leverage this CRO trend?

1. Implement tracking tools to capture detailed data at each stage of the conversion funnel. You can set this up with a tool like Userpilot.
2. Analyze funnel data to identify where the highest drop-off rates occur, where friction points are, and the characteristics of users who convert. For example, you can track a funnel including your product’s key features to look at their average completion time.
3. Develop targeted strategies to address identified issues and improve user experience. For example, testing different free trial lengths based on feature usage to identify the ideal trial for users to find value in your product—improving trial-to-paid conversion rates.
4. Test changes and measure their impact on conversion rates, continuously refining your approach based on funnel analysis data.

#12 Implement A/B testing to drive engagement

The most common and evergreen way to optimize conversion rates is by A/B testing the timing, messaging, and design of your content.

This means creating two different versions of your modals, tooltips, or banners, and then running multivariate tests to see which one converts better. So if you’re trying to optimize the conversion rate of your onboarding process, you can use A/B testing to see what prompt generates more conversions at the end of the primary onboarding.

With A/B testing tools that support in-app flows (like Userpilot), you’ll be able to analyze the engagement performance of those versions such as time spent on each version, completion rates, and feature usage—as well as test continuously and improve your conversion rates over time.

How to leverage this CRO trend?

1. Identify key elements or pages that could impact conversion rates and prioritize them for testing (e.g. an upgrade prompt).
2. Create two versions (A and B) with one varying element to test against each other. For example, one with a micro video showcasing premium features vs. one static image calling for an upgrade.
3. Use A/B testing tools to evenly distribute traffic between the two versions and collect performance data.
4. Analyze the results to determine which version performed better and implement the winning element. Repeat the process for continuous improvement.

#13 Collect and act on feedback to build customer loyalty

Direct feedback from users, such as NPS surveys, can highlight friction points that can’t be spotted through behavioral analysis—thus making it essential for CRO.

For example, if users indicate that a particular feature is quite complicated to use, you can then work on improving its usability and achieving the highest average conversion rate.

This way, users will feel heard and know that their opinions are valued—building lasting relationships and cultivating customer loyalty.

How to leverage this CRO trend?

1. Establish multiple channels for collecting customer feedback, such as surveys, review platforms, and social media. You can also ask for their feedback during demo calls and interviews.
2. Analyze the feedback to identify common trends, concerns, suggestions for improvement, and everything that affects their buying decisions.
3. Implement changes based on customer feedback, focusing on areas with the highest impact on satisfaction and conversion rates.
4. Communicate the changes to your customers, demonstrating your commitment to their satisfaction and continuously seeking feedback to guide future improvements.

Conclusion

Jumping into the right conversion rate optimization trends can affect the lifespan of your SaaS.

From leveraging user-generated content to integrating advanced AI in messaging, each trend offers a path to enhance conversion rates. However, the key is to keep applying the fundamentals so these trends become timeless strategies.

So if you need to improve your product’s conversion rates, why not book a Userpilot demo today to see how you can A/B test your in-app messaging?

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