If you work in CRO or any related discipline, you've probably felt that instant satisfaction when you see that the last A/B test you ran has delivered results (significant results!). Achievement unlocked. On to the next project… Or maybe not.
The true potential of CRO lies precisely in not stopping, in not settling for a good result and an isolated learning. The essence of CRO is to keep optimising your website to the maximum, to extract more learnings that complement the previous ones. In other words: continuous iteration.
In this article you'll find the keys to understanding why there's life beyond an A/B test with good results, to understanding that CRO is a living method that you should always keep running. Thanks to this shift in mindset you'll achieve the ultimate goal of CRO: never stop optimising your results.
Whether due to a lack of resources or a lack of strategic vision, many digital businesses bet everything on a handful of tests and treat their results as definitive. This is an overly static and unrealistic approach to optimisation. Because optimisation is an always-alive process.
In fact, the results of a single A/B test don't have to mean anything concrete. For a start, only 1 in 7 tests yields positive and conclusive results. Does that mean optimisation only has a 14% chance of being useful? Absolutely not.
The isolated results of a test are not sustainable over time. They're only the tip of the iceberg. A small conclusion that should be part of a comprehensive strategy seeking more complex, deeper, longer-lasting conclusions.
To understand the potential CRO holds for your digital business, it's important to understand that it's a living process that should always be active. CRO is not a destination — it's a way of understanding "the journey."
In fact, there is a specific method for turning CRO into something useful. A method that has little or nothing to do with isolated tests based on intuition that draw fairly unreliable conclusions.
CRO never ends. If you were looking for a one-off solution with a deadline, you'd better look elsewhere. That said: if you want reliable results and a lasting impact on your business, in that case we recommend you take a look at this process.
Research — The foundation of any self-respecting CRO is solid analysis. Data never lies and should be the compass for every decision you make about your business. In fact, if your CRO doesn't start with data, it's better not to start at all.
Hypothesis — Don't test for the sake of testing. Intuition is not a good guide and it's very important to define a clear hypothesis that responds to everything you've identified through data. Remember: one thing at a time. Don't try to mix too many variables into a single hypothesis.
Test — Now it's time: you get to test your hypothesis. But not just any type of test will do. You need to make sure the environment in which your test takes place is optimal. That means: enough traffic, enough time, and conditions representative of your day-to-day business.
Analysis — The results don't end with the winning variant. In fact, the analysis should take many variables into account and, very likely, many metrics. Beyond the result itself, you should also consider the real impact on the business.
Iteration — The most important thing of all: repeat, repeat and repeat. That's exactly what CRO is about. Taking the learnings and continuing to iterate improvements to keep pushing your results to the maximum. This doesn't end with a single test.
It may seem exhausting, endless. But the value of CRO lies precisely in that. It's a method, a way of understanding optimisation that needs to permeate the way your business works and guide every decision you make. Whenever that may be.
The results of a correct CRO strategy speak for themselves. More conversions, better decisions, a clearer strategy… Trust us, all the benefits of CRO are worth it.
Thanks to a continuous CRO approach, you'll always have a clear picture of your business's evolution. We all know that things change: new competitors, products that transform the business, pandemics… All businesses flow and evolve. And your decisions should do the same.
This circular vision will always keep you clear on what's happening. If you insist on sticking to a result or learning you got months ago, it's likely that you won't have a 100% accurate picture of your business situation. And that can have disastrous consequences.
There's always more room to optimise. Although many businesses think they've nailed it, there's always the option to improve and achieve even more results. That's the vision shared by pioneering companies that are always introducing new features, updates and small improvements that often go unnoticed.
CRO is precisely about that. About continuing to explore possible improvements, new frictions and opportunities that emerge as time passes. That's why it's so important to have a circular vision that constantly reevaluates the situation.
Businesses evolve. What works today can become completely obsolete tomorrow. And what was a learning a few weeks ago may stop making sense in a matter of months (or days). That's why you should always revalidate your conclusions over time.
Questioning your own conclusions is always positive for your business. What if you need to test your checkout process again? What if a certain piece of information no longer matters to your users? Any self-respecting business can challenge itself.
The step-by-step of good CRO is clear. But to turn it into a useful tool in your day-to-day you need to incorporate a few mindset shifts. Small paradigm changes like these will allow you to improve your CRO strategy and get even more out of all your business initiatives.
Define a solid backlog of hypotheses and tests — Don't start launching tests randomly. Always make sure you have a good list of hypotheses (with their corresponding tests) and a calendar that lets you validate them in an orderly fashion, with the resources and time needed to produce solid results.
Prioritise by potential impact and ease — Think about the business. A test might be more "visual" or "simple", but it may not be the one with the greatest potential to improve your business results. Always maintain that strategic vision that gets you a better ROI.
Measure your business KPIs, not just the test's surface metrics — It's clear: an A/B test needs a success metric. But you also need to review the "direct" impact of those tests on your business results. Broaden your view and you'll see beyond a single metric.
Involve other teams and create a cross-functional CRO culture — You'd be surprised to know how many teams can benefit from a joint and organised CRO strategy. Marketing, Finance, Operations… If all teams are part of this culture, the results will be even better.
Your A/B tests should be the starting point, not the destination of your CRO strategy. No matter how attractive the results are and how much validating a hypothesis might feel like the end of the process, don't lose sight of circularity. That approach that lets you truly optimise your results.
CRO is a living process. That means regardless of whether you've already been practising it for a while, you're just getting started, or you haven't yet laid the first stone, you still have time to implement a good strategy and maximise its impact on your business.
What do you think? Are you ready to implement a circular CRO vision with Boost's help? Reach out and let's make it happen.
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