How to Increase Landing Page Optimization Budgets

Landing page optimization testing can fly under your bosses’ radar. Even though tests have a direct impact on revenue, your bosses are focused elsewhere. They don’t realize you increased ROI.

So make them realize.

A handful of good tests can smack ’em in the face and say “hey, I deserve a bigger budget!” You just have to show them why you deserve it.

Here are five tactics to do it:

#1. Market to your boss – talk benefits

Pretend you have a new audience. You are no longer marketing to customers. You are marketing to your boss. How would you sell your boss on optimization testing?

You need to focus on the benefits he cares about.

Is your boss an executive? — Then describe how testing increases revenue, cuts costs, and lifts ROI. You need to prove that you can turn a pile of money into a bigger pile of money.

Is your boss a director or manager? — Then understand the mid-level metrics he cares about. Is his job to cut cost-per-lead? Or increase repeat sales? Find the most important metrics and focus on them in your proposal.

#2. Avoid technical stuff

Landing page optimization testing is fun and exciting, but only people like us care about it. Hard to believe, I know.

You have to assume your boss does not care. He doesn’t care about eye path. He doesn’t care about form fields. He doesn’t care about conversion rates. He cares about his responsibilities, not yours.

If your boss wants the details, he’ll ask for them. Until then, focus on how optimization testing will make his life easier, and stay away from the details on software and testing.

#3. Know the answers

You, on the other hand, need to be intimately familiar with the details. You need to be prepared to answer questions about:

• The testing process
• Optimization principles
• Resources you need
• Why you need them
• What you will accomplish

Your bosses won’t ask for every detail, but you need to be prepared in case they do. Also, doing your homework can help clarify your goals and uncover the exact benefits of testing. Write the benefits on a big sign. If any naysayers come to your desk, hold the sign in their faces. Closer.

Areas to consider:

Knowledge – do you need more expertise to push your tests to the next level? What will it cost to hire someone like the optimization masters at ConversionVoodoo to do it for you? And what will the return be? (By the way: ConversionVoodoo guarantees results)

Tools – do you need better testing software?

Resources – How much more do you need in your budget? How many additional work hours will you allocate to optimization testing and analysis? Where will this come from?

#4. Find supporters

Chances are that you’re not the only person who cares about optimization testing in your organization. You have a few supporters in the company, and you should recruit them to pitch your proposal.

Look for supporters in other departments. IT is a great place to start. In your proposal, have the IT people describe how analyzing test results will teach them about customers and improve their results. This will help you show additional benefits from another perspective. Put those benefits on the sign.

#5. Make rough projections

As soon as you say what you need, your bosses will dust off the mental abacus. Save them the trouble.

Gather your test results from the last three to six months. Translate them into the metrics your bosses care about. Ask yourself:

• What are other opportunities for increasing these metrics on yourwebsite?
• Looking at past performance, how would similar results affect the bosses’ metrics?
• How will a larger budget help achieve these results?

Give your boss a range for potential results, and be conservative. Overhyping your potential can backfire. Big time.

Warning: Manage expectations

You must not overhype your expected results or timeline. Results from landing page optimization will be strong, but exactly how strong and when they’ll arrive is difficult to predict.

Avoid making guarantees. Instead, talk in hypotheticals. Tell your bosses what a 3%, 5%, and 10% increase in conversions on a certain page will translate into. Make sure you speak in terms of their most important metrics.