#THEBIGLIFT

Welcome to a special edition of the The Big Lift podcast presented by Webtrends Optimize Product Director, Sandeep Shah and featuring our special guests, Steve Moran & Nigel Vaughan from Conversio, a leading B Corp-certified CRO agency dedicated to advancing digital performance through data-driven insights and custom strategies.We all know personalisation is a cornerstone of any strong CRO strategy but let's be honest, most brands are only scratching the surface. Sure, welcome messages and product carousels are a good start, but personalisation can (and should!) go so much further.Done right, it doesn't just improve conversions. It creates experiences that feel meaningful, relevant, and human. It's what turns one-time buyers into lifelong fans.That's exactly what Webtrends Optimize and Conversio explored together in their latest video podcast. It's a practical, insight-packed conversation about the real data you should be paying attention to, the experiences your customers actually care about, and how to move beyond the usual tactics into something genuinely powerful.If you're ready to rethink what personalisation really means - and how to do it better - this is definitely one for you.

This month we are joined by Lars Schleibach, Senior Solutions Engineer at Fullstory. Lars explores the work Fullstory do with their clients to understand the user journey, identify pain points, and improve conversion rates by ensuring a seamless shopping experience.  Fullstory's Behavioural Analytics insights are incredibly intuitive and can really dig into the experience of the user. This is an effective method alongside testing tools as it can help to identify which areas of your website you should be experimenting on. Avoiding user frustration is key for conversion, and Lars explores how businesses of all sizes can benefit from an improved profit margin as a result.00:30  What is Behavioural Data Analytics?04:26  How can you turn anonymous prospects into known visitors?09:54  Can you change the content on the fly for frustrated visitors?     15:57    Removing error message frustrations22:07   Tone of voice and error message descriptions 23:20  Intent to purchase “triggers”25:19   Applying discounts  / offers only when applicable29:37   Should marketers be responsible for margin as opposed to sales?35:08  Using the data from FullStory to optimise the customer experience

This month on #TheBigLift we are exploring the idea that successful experiments are dependent on research, and how you can still be spontaneous whilst being knowledgeable and well-informed. This month's guests Harriet Swan and Steph LePevost from Conversion delve into the important components of good research, including active listening, lateral thinking, asking the right questions and an understanding of human psychology. At Conversion, they utilise their own Lever Framework when working with clients so they can categorise and prioritise depending on what they have learnt about their client. This is an effective way to tailor questions to objectives and experiences, really getting the most out of your research.01:00    How do you define what to research?03:59    Does planning your research impede spontaneity?05:08    How do you prioritise the research?09:20    Choosing the right research method10:48    Can psychology play a role in how the research is carried out?14:25    Dealing with the HIPPO (Highest Paid Person Opinion)17:58    Greatest impact or ease, which comes first?21:18    Can you plan around emotions?25:25    Puling the research together27:22    Research methodologies

This month on #TheBigLift podcast we are joined by Shamir Duverseau, Co-Founder of Smart Panda Labs. Shamir has extensive experience with some huge brands which has taught him lot's of valuable lessons. He explores the importance of constantly learning and adapting from every opportunity, as you can't bank on things turning out the way they have before. Failing, learning and iterating are essential steps for any business, not just when it comes to AB Testing, but as part of a culture too. This is particularly important as the world of digital marketing continues to evolve and grow, especially when we talk about experimentation and testing.

This month I am joined by Mark Palfreeman, Senior Business Intelligence Manager at Flutter UKI. Mark, Co-Founder of Experimentation North, explores the importance of experimentation meet-ups to share ideas, best practice and knowledge with the CRO community. Whilst testing has become the norm for many businesses, there are still companies who can improve their experimentation culture, and changing the mindset of leadership teams is key to this. Mark's belief in this is the reason he co-founded the monthly event Experimentation North, an educational and social vehicle to continue growing the experimentation community.

'We aren't in Kansas anymore' says Chris Hood, Global Sales Manager at Webtrends Optimize, when it comes to the advancement of CRO. In this episode, Chris discusses the growth of Website Optimisation and the huge arsenal of features now available. However, you should not fall into the trap of trying to use all of these, and the key is to utilise the right features for your industry, which good research will provide valuable insights into. Using a CRO tool like Webtrends Optimize will mean you have access to an extensive tool kit, with the ability to AB Test and iterate at each stage, which Chris says is essential throughout your testing journey.

This month's podcast is Jon Crowder, Head of Digital Experience at Journey Further. Despite the growth of testing and experimentation, there are still organisations who doubt it's value. In this episode, Jon explores how CRO can not only stop harmful changes from going live on your site, but it also provides an important point of reflection for businesses who start to consider the changes they are making to their website and why. Jon explains that it more than just converting customers through your testing, but also retaining them.

On this month's podcast, we are joined by Eduardo Marconi, Co-Founder and Managing Director of AIM Conversion Experts.Eduardo explores whether it is possible for a brand and it's retailers to use CRO to work together for mutual benefit. He explains the ultimate goal is to understand the whole cycle of a shoppers behaviour, and then utilise testing to improve their experience and monitor the results to identify if they are working.

On this episode of #thebiglift we are joined by Stacey Cooper, Analytics Freelancer at Sharper Digital. Stacey discusses the power of gaining experience in business and the opportunities it can bring. Whilst qualifications are still important, there is also a lot to be learnt from great mentors and hands-on experience. Something that is particularly useful in an ever-evolving Digital Marketing industry.

This month we are joined by Bhav Patel, Product Analytics and Experimentation Director at Lean Convert. Bhav has been in the CRO space for more than 10 years, and is known in the industry for his popular CRAP (Conversion Rate, Analytics, Product) talks. On the podcast, Bhav discusses how measurement frameworks provide a common language that allows everyone to communicate in a way that is easily understood. Frameworks can be particularly useful for CRO specialists to define their processes and become more measurable and reputable.

This month we are joined by Jake Lambert, Head of Conversion Services at Fresh Egg. Jake describes the growth and maturity of CRO, which he says has come as a result of more businesses experiencing the value of it. Something which Fresh Egg are so passionate about, they offer a Performance Guarantee. This involves Fresh Egg co-investing in the clients CRO programme and running it at a reduced cost, setting performance targets based on forecast, and offering CRO training so the client can learn skills to bring optimisation in-house. They have proven success in this approach and are continuing to support businesses reach all of their goals.

On this month's podcast, we are joined by Kit Heighway, Director of Optimisation at Daydot. Kit has recently undertaken extensive research for his white paper on Subscriptions, and this episode focuses on acquisition when Cracking the Code to Digital Media Subscription Success. Kit explores the different type of subscriptions there are, why people subscribe in the first place and the value it can add for someone. Kit suggests that 'personalisation is always appropriate' as this shows you know what the user is looking for and are utilising this to provide a better user experience.

We are in an era of heightened awareness around social and environmental responsibility, says Bud Johnston, this month's guest on #thebiglift podcast. Bud is the Founder and Strategic Consultant of Boxless, an organisation dedicated to helping businesses make positive changes and achieve success around their social and environmental responsibilities. Bud explores why organisations are changing their habits, how the impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic has influenced this, and how the pillars of ESG and DEI can provide a clear framework for businesses to follow. By businesses demonstrating their social and environmental efforts, you are not only having a positive contribution to society, you are also continuing to attract the current workforce.

On this month's podcast, we are joined by Simon Gardiner, Head of Digital at the Goodwood Group. Simon takes us on an interesting journey around the migration of their website and the different tools and methods they are utilising to make this as seamless as possible. Website migration is a challenge for any business, but particularly when you have a multifaceted website like The Goodwood Group do. Simon describes how his team, even though quite small, have a combination of skills that help combat any complications that come with a big project like website migration and ensure they are successful in all projects they do.

This week we are joined by Richard Chapman, Head of Experimentation at 26 Agency. In this episode, we explore how to build and maintain a CRO culture for quicker growth to ensure you nurture your more engaged customers. But building this culture can be difficult, particularly if your organisation is new to CRO and experimentation. As someone who had worked in CRO for a long time, Richard outlines his best practice tips for a quick and smooth process when introducing it into your digital strategy.

On this month's podcast, we are joined by Steven Shyne, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of CXperts. CXperts are a digital consultancy that work with a number of different organisations to help them empathise and connect with their users. On this episode, he explores how to plan beyond the quick wins to develop sustainable ongoing test concepts. Steven argues that whilst quick wins are useful, they have a limited life span, so you need multiple inputs to keep your customers interested and engaged, This requires regular communication with them to determine what they do and don't want to see. Implementing this ensures you are getting the most out of your digital assets.

On this month's podcast, we are joined by Gavin Willis, Founder and CEO of specialist SEO and Search marketing agency, Search7. Named as such due to their expertise in Search Marketing, and 7 as they give 7% of their profits to charity. They have an admirable approach to their way of working, encompassing their belief that 'we can all play a part in making people's lives better', as well as continuing to give their employees the tools to thrive and providing results for their clients. Gavin explores how you can balance a successful business whilst still giving to communities and charities, and inspiring other businesses to do the same.

On this month's #thebiglift we are joined by Gerry McNicol, Founder and CEO at Distil. Ai, who are experts at using data to improve commerce performance. Gerry explores how you can avoid 'analysis paralysis' so that your data is actually telling you useful things, and to avoid being overwhelmed with too much information. He also delves into the importance of nailing down your definitions in relation to your data, so everyone is clear and concise on what you want to achieve. This is key when there is such a vast amount of data to choose from, and to ensure you get the best results

On this month's podcast we are joined by CEO of AWA Digital, Johann Van Tonder. Johann is passionate about determining what people want to get done and how he can help them. He delves into his belief that an important part of the experimentation and growth mindset is not only learning from your own mistakes, but also the mistakes other people have made. He argues there is no excuse to make ill-informed decisions and sometimes there are more important things at hand than just increasing ROI. In fact, Johann divulges that he often advises teams to try and prove themselves wrong once they think they have 'won', to avoid confirmation bias.

Sussex Cricket Foundation is an important charity in the sporting community due to the work they do to bring joy and fulfillment to children who are often marginalised. We are incredibly proud that we are able to support them in a lot of the fantastic work they do.On this month's #thebiglift podcast, we are joined by Gary Wallis-Tayler, Aroop Tanna and Tom Belcher from Sussex Cricket Foundation. They discuss the amazing opportunities they bring to children in the local area and how dedicated each and every one of their team is to making a difference in the community. They also delve into the different ways they do this and the variety of initiatives they put on to provide the most amount of support.

On this month's #thebiglift podcast, we are joined by Jason Smith, Vice President (UK and Europe) at MoEngage. He discusses at which different points of your brand journey you should prioritise customer retention over customer acquisition, and how this helps to get value from your marketing investments. He draws on the idea of choosing to focus on loyal customers and rewarding them and the benefits this can bring. With this, Jason delves into how we can educate marketers to think of the whole business when making financial decisions so all area's are aligned.

This month on #thebiglift podcast we have Edmund Beggs from Conversion.com! At Conversion.com, they have developed The Levers Framework which is a comprehensive map of the user experience features that influence conversion. Essentially, the framework helps you to understand and catalog different features of a user experience. There are different stages to this theory, and Edmund delves into why conversion.com began to develop it, and importantly, how it can help to drive huge value for your experimentation programs. This tool can be used by companies at all levels and in all industries, so the possibilities to be successful are endless!

This month's #thebiglift podcast guest is Oliver Walker, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Hookflash Analytics, who are a dedicated digital analytics consultancy. Oliver's educational background in consumer psychology means he has an in-depth understanding of how to get into the minds of customers to deliver the products they want. He explores the importance of building strong relationships with your customers so they keep returning, which is also rewarded by search engines. But, the key to all of this is the quality of your data. You can then utilise different area's of a digital marketing strategy, such as SEO and experimentation, to create a strong and effective brand which also ensures the most impactful experience for your customer.

Simon Eaton, Managing Director at Fifty, is this month's #theBigLift podcast guest. Fifty's advanced technology makes sense of complex audience datasets and groups them into tribes as a way to provide detailed audience insights. Simon describes their technology as setting them apart from other agencies; getting meaningful results from understanding audiences is ‘the value that we're trying to bring to the market.' He also explores their commitment to more sustainable solutions to benefit the environment and what effect this has on winning clients.

This month on #thebiglift podcast we are joined by Sarah Cridland, Lead Optimisation Strategist for REO and Webtrends Optimize Product Director, Sandeep Shah. They discuss how getting to know each individual customer and why they are shopping on your site is paramount for effective personalisation. Moreover, it's ‘tapping into the experience the user wants to have', and identifying what is driving them to buy the product. They discuss the importance of putting yourself into the shoes of your website users to identify what they are actually in need of, and then addressing those problems fundamentally.

This month's podcast guest is Dinah Alam, Head of UX and CRO at Rocketmill. Dinah has a wealth of experience delivering growth to online channels and is passionate about the customer experience. In this episode, she delves into the importance of being bold and making deeper changes into your UX Design, but this can only be done with innovation and creativity to really impact user behaviour. She describes 'the critical overlap where you learn from experimentation to progress the UX and you need to use innovative ideas to progress your experimentation'. Dinah also delves into the psychological thought-process of reviews, and how investing in good user experience makes you more reputable and is an important long-term investment.

This month's podcast guest is Justin Hobbs, Vice President of Partnership and Demand at Webtrends Optimize. He discusses his role and why he is passionate about partnerships, and how they help businesses to grow. He says, 'They lend themselves brilliantly to the partner model, there is so much value added to take to a client.' As well as expanding your offerings, partnerships can also take you into different markets, territories and geographical regions, introduce you to new clients, provide marketing opportunities, and more! So the benefits for both sides are endless. But, as Justin points out, this is particularly key at a time when so many businesses and agencies are looking for a new experimentation partner to replace Google Optimize.

This week's podcast guest is Shiva Manjunath, Experimentation Manager at Solo Brands. Shiva is passionate about CRO, and is one of the most enthusiastic CRO experts we've had. He says part of his love for it is down to the mystery of experimentation; when you test with live people, you never quite know what the result will be. Shiva also describes the appeal of CRO to most people in the industry, saying 'I think all of us are generally just curious people who all want to continue to learn. I just find it incredibly fascinating.' The idea of testing to learn and not just testing to win is also explored, focusing on the importance of the process to ultimately get the most effective results

Eden Bidani, Head of Strategy and Copy at CAPE Agency, is this week's #thebiglift podcast guest. Eden talks about her background in sociology and anthropology, and how this first piqued her interest in building a connection through marketing and sales. She says, ‘I think what a lot of people in the industry will emphasise is that marketers need to understand psychology; how we respond to different triggers and how you can position products to appeal to people more.' Therefore, you need to understand how consumers feel and what they need, to then market to them effectively. Eden also discusses how ChatGPT can be a useful tool for marketing teams or content writers, particularly to generate some idea's or use it to brainstorm, but you still must know how use it to get the most out of it.

This week's podcast guest is Matt Turner, CEO at The Creative Group. Over the last 16 years, Matt has developed an organisation of 6 companies, all based around different aspects of marketing which compliment each other.Matt discusses his view that motivation is a team thing, and each member has a different part to play, so they all need to be treated differently and with their own motivations in mind. He says, ‘Some people are motivated by money, some by freedom, some by recognition… and it's really important to remember everyone needs to know their own end goal and what that direction looks like. But also, everyone needs to be rowing at the same speed, even if that means some people row slower.'

Matt Smith has been CEO of Webtrends Optimize for 4 and a half years now, and a lot of this time has been dictated by Covid and an economic crisis. But, he argues that the future of CRO is bright, as more and more businesses move online. The key is driving users to your site and getting them to convert. He says, ‘‘A lot of people don't realise that just having a website from Shopify or somewhere similar isn't the best for actually converting. You need to look at data, understand user data and then optimise that experience.''

Is customer experience still a priority in the current economic climate? This is the topic we cover today on #theBigLift podcast. We interview Tim Williams, Planning Director at London based agency Four Forty, which focuses on customer-focused behavioural change. Tim explains that an important part of his job is to help brands improve customer experience both in digital and in real world."The customers are messy and not linear" says Tim, "and we should not forget that we do not only operate in the online world, but dip in and out of it many times a day".

"Accepting being open to the outcome of the experiment is the essence of experimentation",  says Nils Koppelman, the founder of Berlin-based 3tech GmbH in our latest #theBigLift podcast.Nils, who made the journey from designing e-commerce websites for friends and family to setting up his own CRO agency, shares with us his thoughts on experimentation, the state of CRO in Germany and why the adoption of experimentation is somewhat slow in his home country in comparison with other markets.

When it comes to understanding the pain points of the customer journey, Contentsquare offers businesses easy to understand, and actionable, data at a very granular level.My guest on #theBigLift podcast today, James Fearne, Lead Customer Success Manager at Contentsquare, talks about how analytics and data can support conversion optimisation in setting up the priorities for a CRO program, and formulating strong hypotheses. Moreover, granular data can help CRO practitioners to understand the drivers behind the test results and sometimes get an even bigger uplift.

In this episode of #theBigLift podcasts we talk about #data with Penelope Bellegrade, founder of The Data Touch, a company that brings data coaching to the real business world. Penelope firmly believes that to be credible as a business leader you need to be fluent in understanding and talking data at all levels of marketing decisions. That's why having worked in various industries, and having solved data problems in diverse business environments, Penelope embarked down a road of building her own business and bringing her expertise in data to a wider audience through training and consultancy. 

Having taught UX at Arts University Bournemouth George Beverley  at Insightful UX offers a unique perspective on  UX, copy-writing, web-development and data analysis."The most important element of a great website is the ability to welcome and engage a user within the first few seconds. We have to respect the time of our visitors and give them what they want really quickly", says George.

“The transition to GA4 is like moving from driving a car to flying a helicopter", says Jill Quick, a hugely experienced analytics consultant who runs The Colouring in Department. #theBigLift podcast invites Jill today to have an in-depth conversation on how the move to GA4 can redefine the way businesses collect and use data. While the transition period may be demanding, those who get to grips with GA4 quickly will benefit from an opportunity to get new insights with actionable data. Using more sophisticated segment and audience building tools in GA4 will also help businesses to define strategies and measures that can give companies a new angle for growth.

"Every form is different and it all depends on the objective you are looking to achieve" says the latest guest on #theBigLift podcast, Alun Lucas, Managing Director of Zuko Analytics.  Who suffers the most from badly designed forms and what businesses can do to improve forms conversions were just some of the questions we discussed. Alun offers plenty of insight and helpful advice on forms in broad range of industries, both B2B and B2C. A highly recommended episode full of practical tips to anyone who is involved in UX, marketing, customer services and conversion rate optimisation.

"You cannot grow the brand without hitting short-term targets", says James Addlestone, Chief Strategy Officer at Journey Further, the guest of #theBigLift podcast today.

Recognition for individuals happens in many industries. In recent weeks we have celebrated the achievements of those in the film and TV Industry. However, there is little or no recognition for those individuals that work tirelessly inside of companies, large and small who make significant impact on the way that that those company websites deliver increased conversions.Join Joe Doveton, organiser of the Experimentation Elite Day and the Experimentation Elite Awards who explains why it's now time to highlight testing and to recognise those who quietly make an impact. In this full version of the podcast, Joe also talks about how he believes that testing is still to reach maturity across all industries and why it's still a long way off being a commoditised solution.

"Crafting a hypothesis and knowing what data points would confirm or deny it" lies at the core of optimisation says @AJ Davies, founder of @Experiment Zone, our guest on #theBigLift podcast today. AJ was part Google Optimize product launch team and has a real passion for data, optimisation and user experience. Her track record, coupled with a background in research and economics puts her in a unique position to talk about understanding data, coming up with hypotheses and setting up experiments that can give stakeholders the confidence to make informed decisions.

Every single project we do starts with question "Why have you not made a purchase today?", says Ross Davies MD at Strafe Creative, the guest of this month's episode of #theBigLift podcast.Our conversation touched on some compelling topics from how you can overcome low traffic and the diverse user journeys conundrum when working with B2B clients, to why working with start ups is fun and how to convince people to invest into CRO when the budgets are tight.

#TheBigLift podcast starts the new year with an in depth interview with Andrew Furlong, Managing Director of REO Digital and one of the most experienced CRO practitioners out there. Andrew believes that conversion rate optimisation has massive potential in maximising acquisition spent and driving greater life time value from existing customers; but that as an industry it can sharpen the way it engages business stakeholders in demonstrating the quantifiable value of an experimentation programme.

Today #theBigLift podcasts welcomes @Chloe Thomas, international keynote speaker, author and the host of the eCommerce MasterPlan and Keep Optimising podcasts. Having had vast experience of both traditional and online marketing, Chloe is unambiguously passionate about marketing delivering sales. She advocates that successful marketing relies on quality traffic, understanding conversions in different marketing channels and getting your visitors to transition from viewers to repeat buyers.

Join us for a fascinating conversation with Ben Parr, the founder of Octane AI about doing business in a world without third party cookies, on #theBigLift podcast. Ben firmly believes that the demise of third party cookies will massively change the way eCommerce players do their business. With the focus having to change from acquisition to optimisation: "If you want to grow and prosper, strengthen the channels you own such as e-mail and SMS, and optimise your funnel". We could not agree with him more! 

Is Conversion Rate Optimisation essential to eCommerce? This is the question posed to Matt Abbott, Head of Growth, and Samantha Fraser, Digital Strategy Manager, at Swanky.In the latest edition of #TheBigLift podcast they aim to answer this, plus, discuss how important it still is to know your customer and where to find them, how delivering great customer experience drives growth, and how societal shifts as much as the pandemic have accelerated the drive towards online retail.

"The value of experimentation is that it fuels innovations." says Jonny Longden, the head of of CRO at @Journey Further, who has joined us at #theBigLift podcast today.Jonny shares his vision about what conversion rate optimisation can bring to businesses, and it's not just about the focus on ROI and successful tests. Jonny is confident that using the real customer data you get during experimentation will allow you to transform your business and ultimately make it more profitable in the long run.

Chris Kennedy, Services Director here at Webtrends Optimize has a passion for the truth. Since studying Mathematics for Decision Making at university, Chris has always used analytical analysis to determine what he believes is an accurate representation of the truth which stands up to close scrutiny. The well known saying there are “lies, damned lies, and statistics” is often quoted as many see different versions of the truth, but during this podcast we discuss how using web statistics and CRO results can facilitate a single version of the truth that can be recognised across the company.

A complex digital marketing landscape gave rise to the concept of "T-shaped marketer" and has changed collaboration between teams, client and agencies. This is the theme we discuss today on #theBigLift podcast with Kerry O'Brien (who now runs her own marketing consultancy, KOKO) and Nicki Moody (Project Management Director @Fresh Egg Digital Marketing Agency). Our guests met each other when they worked for the Thomas Cook Group a few years ago and then both took a turn in their careers to focus on digital marketing from the agency side. Tune in to listen to their intriguing discussion about real life challenges marketers face today.

"You should get more comfortable with failing in CRO" says today's guest of #theBigLift podcast, Veronica Bogdacenco, Digital Marketing Specialist @Fitch Group. Veronicia,  who is also a trainer in digital optimisation,  advocates a holistic view on conversion rate optimisation, which should not come to the detriment of the performance of the site, its SEO or long term customer retention.  We love how Veronica gently emphasised the importance of failing and that every effort in optimisation brings us close to understanding our customers. Tune in to listen the full episode on all major podcast platforms.

In the latest episode of #theBigLift podcast we discuss the hot topic of how Google's decision to remove third party cookies from Chrome will influence the advertising market and the public with @Simon Short, Digital and Media Director @Huawei and @Sandeep Shah, Product Director at Webtrends Optimize. Whilst the move is likely to benefit Google itself, advertisers will need to change the way they engage with their potential customers and it will result in reshaping of the advertising market.