Conversion rate optimization with AI: A complete guide for 2024
Discover how AI can revolutionize conversion rate optimization by saving time, improving efficiency, and finding opportunities you can’t identify manually.
Updated August 8, 2024.
AI is revolutionizing conversion rate optimization (CRO), making boosting conversion rates and maximizing ROI easier. However, as more businesses adopt AI-powered CRO methods, the bar for success keeps rising. To stay competitive, you need to understand how to leverage AI effectively in your optimization efforts. In this guide, we'll explore how AI is transforming CRO, the top AI tools for CRO, and how to leverage AI in your CRO campaigns.
Key takeaways
- Analyzing large amounts of data and coming up with new creative ideas are the main challenges in CRO.
- AI can help you overcome these challenges, improve your results, and reduce your costs significantly.
- It's important to select the right tool for the specific challenges you want to solve.
- If used correctly, AI can dramatically increase the scale of your A/B testing.
How businesses have done CRO
Until recently, most businesses approached CRO through a combination of product development, analytics, and A/B testing. They would build a product, use tools like Mixpanel or Google Analytics to measure results, and then test new versions against existing ones to improve performance. This process focused on two main aspects: how to present different features to users and how to apply the results of what you've measured to determine which version performed better.
» Talk to an expert to start leveling up your CRO strategy.
Common CRO challenges and how AI can solve them
While these CRO practices have been effective to a point, they come with significant challenges.
Determining which version performs best
With the right analytics tool, you can track and measure almost everything. The real difficulty lies in interpreting this data to determine which version of a page performs better.
This problem manifests in two ways: sometimes, there's too much information, making it hard to isolate the winning factor among multiple variables. Other times, there's not enough information, which makes it difficult to get conclusive results. For example, maybe your traffic is too low, or very few users interact with your product.
How AI solves this
AI can analyze huge amounts of information to recognize patterns that we might otherwise miss. It can identify which version leads to better outcomes, such as increased sales, and make data-driven decisions on your behalf.
If you have limited data, multi-armed bandit algorithms can help determine the optimal version of a page. This is crucial for reducing marketing costs, as traditional A/B testing requires significant traffic, which often comes at a price.
» Track A/B test results on content features using Entail's CRO software.
Testing and optimizing complex user journeys
Another challenge is testing and optimizing complex user journeys. These journeys involve multiple steps, and changes at any point can affect the overall outcome. It's difficult to understand the impact of each and every change on the final result.
Not to mention, content-rich websites with lots of organic traffic often have hundreds or thousands of pages, each targeting different topics and funnel stages. These pages can easily contain 20 to 50 internal links that lead users through various content pieces or product pages. As a result, each user follows a unique journey through the site. How do you optimize so many different user journeys that involve multiple touchpoints?
How AI solves this
AI can analyze complex user journeys to determine which call to action (CTA) is most likely to lead to goal completion. It can then position this CTA optimally. When dealing with multiple user journeys, AI can process large amounts of data to present the best option for each individual user, effectively solving problems that would be challenging to manage manually.
» Automatically create CTAs relevant to the context and intent of each page with Entail's CRO software.
Constantly creating new versions to improve
Another challenge is the creative aspect of developing new versions to test. While there are tools to help you out, coming up with fresh ideas for improvements is time-consuming and labor-intensive and often requires input from designers, product managers, developers, and other creative professionals.
How AI solves this
AI can generate multiple variations of content elements for you to test. Say you want to add a CTA to a page. Instead of manually creating every version, you can use AI to produce and test as many different copy variations as you need to determine which performs best.
4 best CRO tools with AI baked in
Finding the right AI CRO tools that align with your business goals is crucial. The following AI tools simplify how marketers approach CRO by making the process more efficient and effective.
1
Entail AI CRO software
Convert sales from your content pages
Pricing
Custom with free trial available
Integrations
Unlimited
Ease of use
Very good
A/B testing
Yes
Brief overview
Entail’s CRO software helps you optimize user journeys toward goal completion based on each page's intent and the potential contribution of each CTA. This optimization occurs automatically across all your content pages, effectively maximizing revenue from content by leveraging AI automation.
Key features:
- Auto-generated contextual CTAs
- Customizable widgets
- Create multiple targeted campaigns
- Sitewide user journey optimization
- Detailed impact tracking and reporting
- A/B testing capabilities
- SOC 2 compliant
Pros and cons
Drag-and-drop functionality
No coding experience necessary
Easy integration with diverse marketing tools
Scalability
Real-time reports and analytics
Results may take several weeks
2
OptiMonk
Make every visit unique with personalization
Pricing
From $39 with free version available
Integrations
100+
Ease of use
Slight learning curve
A/B testing
Yes
Brief overview
OptiMonk leverages AI to personalize on-site messages to increase engagement and conversions. By analyzing user behavior and leveraging machine learning, OptiMonk delivers targeted pop-ups and recommendations to enhance user experience and drive sales.
Key features
- Smart popups
- AI-assisted A/B testing
- Website personalization
- Customer segmentation
Pros and cons
Lots of customization options
Seamless integration
Difficult to set up
Limited free version
Costly for small businesses
3
Unbounce
Get more sales with AI conversion optimization
Pricing
From $99 with free trail available
Integrations
Unlimited
Ease of use
Good
A/B testing
Yes
Brief overview
Unbounce is a landing page builder that allows you to optimize landing page elements for maximum conversions using A/B testing. Their Smart Traffic feature leverages machine learning to automatically send visitors to the landing page variation they're most likely to convert on to further boost a campaign's effectiveness.
Key features:
- AI-powered landing pages
- A/B testing capabilities
- Customizable landing page templates
- AI copy generator
Pros and cons
Beginner-friendly
Drag-and-drop functionality
Primarily focuses on landing pages
Limited reporting options
Users have reported poor performance
4
Optimizely
Experiment with the most loved testing platform
Pricing
Available on request
Integrations
Unlimited
Ease of use
Learning curve
A/B testing
Yes
Brief overview
Optimizely is an AI-driven CRO platform that enables businesses to test, personalize, and optimize their digital experiences. Using advanced machine learning algorithms, it helps identify the most effective strategies to enhance user engagement and increase conversion rates.
Key features:
- Collaborative workspaces
- Low-code design tools with AI-assisted copywriting
- Stats Engine for fast, accurate insights
- Precise audience targeting
Pros and cons
No coding knowledge required
Scalable experimentation efforts
Difficulty running multiple tests at once
Users frequently report bugs
Higher price point
How to build a CRO campaign with Entail
Entail's CRO software uses AI to improve conversion rates across your entire website by leveraging your content pages. Let me explain how you can use it to build an effective CRO campaign.
Define your marketing goals
A website or campaign often has multiple marketing goals. So, begin by identifying the specific actions you want users to take on your site, such as starting a free trial, signing up for a service, booking a demo, downloading a guide, or subscribing to an email list. Then, assign the value of each goal because they have different conversion rates. For example, a user subscribing to an email list is typically less valuable than booking a demo.
» Need help setting up your CRO campaign? Chat with us.
Decide where to place your widgets
Entail's AI-powered CRO software can insert widgets with calls-to-action on your pages to optimize the user journey and drive conversions. You simply have to decide which pages can have widgets and allocate specific spaces for them. Then, to avoid surprises, you need to control two aspects: ensuring the widgets follow your brand guidelines and approving the messaging.
» Easily position custom widgets within your content pages with Entail's CRO software.
Choose the best types of widgets for your pages
The next step is to define the types of widgets you can use on each page. Then, review the specific widgets, including their copy and design. This review process ensures that any AI-generated content aligns with your brand guidelines and messaging. By approving the widgets beforehand, you prevent any surprises or misalignments that could occur if AI were to operate without oversight.
Launch your CRO campaign
Once you launch your campaign, your content pages will display your selected widgets with the messaging you've approved in their designated spaces. AI will then show the right widget to the right user, track its performance, learn from the data, and continuously optimize to achieve the best results.
» Entail's CRO software enables you to define and launch as many campaigns as you want.
Recommend additional content to re-engage non-converting visitors
Entail also allows you to add widgets pointing to recommended content that targets visitors who have reached the end of your homepage, product pages, or feature pages without converting. These widgets suggest additional content to nurture these leads, helping them better understand your value proposition or providing any additional information they may need.
This intelligent AI tool determines which conversion-optimized content to show each user at the right time to support their journey. It also presents appropriate CTAs within that content, effectively guiding users to the next logical step toward completing your marketing goals.
Elevate your conversion rates with AI
AI is revolutionizing conversion rate optimization. It excels at analyzing large datasets, generating new ideas, and making data-driven decisions, all while reducing manual effort. Traditional methods struggle with complex user journeys and data limitations, but AI overcomes these challenges and gives you a competitive edge.
» Book a free consultation to see our CRO software in action.