The Fallacy of Linear Sales Progression Online

I read an article recently about creating forward sales momentum with web site visitors. I love the concept.

The idea is to create site copy that leads users down a prescribed path toward a purchase. I was nodding my head in affirmation until the author stated that the path to a purchase is linear.

This is where the marketer who lives in the trenches of real life tells the marketing academic that he’s just wrong.

Momentum is great, and we should all strive to create forward momentum through our site navigation and copy.  The idea that users will follow a linear path to a purchase is just wishful thinking – nothing more.

This is an unfortunate reality that folks are only now starting to recognize.  In real life (think of yourself as an example), you enter a site. Maybe you find something that interests you.  You think it might be worth purchasing….

Then a random onslaught of questions and issues raid your mind. What if I don’t like it?  What is the return policy?  Who are these people?  How long have I been in business?  Who else has used this product successfully?  What do they have to say about it? Is it really better than this other thing? Do they offer live customer support? Is it going to break the first time I use it?

You know what I’m talking about. We’ve all experienced it. You think you may want to buy something, but you need to resolve some things first. Unfortunately for us marketers, while we CAN predict many of these issues, the order in which our users address them is not completely predictable and NOT linear.

Anyone who has spent any time with a web analytics tool watching the progression of users through a site knows this to be true. For that matter, anyone who has ever bought anything online knows it to be true. So what do we do?  How do we create forward momentum?

Here are a few thoughts.

1. There are two stages at which the user progression is generally linear: the first click or two on the way into the site and the last few clicks to consummate a purchase. Make sure these pathways are obvious, simple, streamlined, and don’t compromise trust.
2. Recognize that there is no “average” or “typical” customer.  When we attempt to speak to everyone at once, we persuade no one.
3. Develop profiles of the types of customers you serve.  The best work that I have ever seen in this regard is done by a brilliant company called Future Now. In their experience, there are typically 4-6 personas that a company must effectively address in order to maximize conversion rates online. What kinds of issues would each persona need to resolve in order to make a purchase?
4. Take this list of issues, and be sure that resolutions are well within reach on your site – and not just in your global navigation, but through text links in your copy.
5. Purchase a web analytics tool (I like Click Tracks) and watch how users progress through your site.  Which pages have the highest abandon rates? Why? Make educated guesses and refine these pages. Then watch some more. It’s fascinating.

A book could easily be written on this subject – and in fact it has.  For the best thinking available on this subject, get a copy of Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? by Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg.