The Psychology of Funnel Conversion
I spend a lot of time on the websites of companies. As an investor, it’s one of the great ways for me to learn about a product/company/service and to understand how good a company is at selling. Websites represent one of the most important elements for a startup that is currently selling their services, and being incredibly mindful of everything they do with the website is key.
That’s why when I read Darius Contractor’s post on “Increasing funnel conversions with Psych,” I was super excited! Darius does a great job of walking through how psychology plays a role in product marketing. He even creates a framework that people can use. While you should definitely take the time to read his post, I’ll be highlighting some of the key elements that make up his “Psych Framework.” Again, all the credit here goes to Darius, i’m just hoping to shine some extra light on it!
What you have to believe
To buy into everything Darius talks about in his post, you have to agree with a fundamental thesis that he outlines. First this thesis states that every element on a website either increases or decreases a persons emotional energy — or interest level. Second, you have to believe that inspiring a user, especially a millennial user, is just as important as reducing friction to access the product/service. Lastly, while he doesn’t articulate this in the beginning, I would argue that Darius believes that understanding HOW and WHY a user gets to your site is important because this informs their current state of mind.
If you buy into this, then you might find the Psych Framework helpful.
The Psych Framework Test
The first step, is to understand how your site compares to other websites. My advice is to follow the framework test for a couple of your favorite websites before you attempt it for your own company’s site.
Here’s the test:
- Determine your starting Psych — How a visitor gets to your site is important in understanding what their state of mind is. If it’s through Google, then there was likely intent and so they will have a more positive psychological state of mind, if they clicked an ad, it will likely be less positive when compared to the Google search example. The scale here is 0 to 100.
- Follow the User’s attention from top-left to bottom-right — Quickly scan the page, what stands out? The diagonal from top-left to bottom-right is extremely important. Use this space with intention.
- Decide which elements increase your interest (+psych) and which decrease your interest (-psych) — Write these down, and try to estimate the numerical representation from 0–100 on how they affect you.
- Sum it up — If it’s positive, the user likely made it through to the next step. If it’s negative, then the user likely abandoned the website.
How to Leverage the Framework
Now that you’ve tested a few sites, let’s take a look at your website. Here’s how to use the framework. Andrew Chen does a great job of positioning the first step as deciding what the psychological state of the user is when they enter your funnel. Here’s how he looks at it:
Next, you need to think about how the user interacts with your homepage.
Lastly, you need to evaluate how the user interacts with the product — especially if you offer a trial or freemium product.
Note: Darius goes on to talk about other elements — such as the payment process — but I found that the these three components were the most important.
And that’s it! This simple framework will help you be more purposeful with your website. Nailing the positive psychological factors will increase interest and increase conversion at the top of your funnel!