🎉 Conversion Party #48: A session is a session is a session (right?)

Welcome to Conversion Party. This week, we’ve got…

• CRO Deep Dive: A session is a session is a session, right?

• heatmap update: Agency partner directory

• Goings on: So many things

• CRO Hack: Sprinkle a little BFCM on your best pop-ups

Let’s ride.

CRO DEEP DIVE
A session is a session is a session, right?

Ever feel like the data between your platforms “doesn’t match”?

Well… it doesn’t! In fact, every single platform has a different definition for “session.”

Your split testing platform says one thing. Shopify says another. You jump into GA4 (sorry) to validate and… a third variant enters the chat.

Most people think that a session = a site visit. That simply isn’t true. There is no universal definition of a session. Some of the facets that impact whether a platform “calls a session a session” are:

• Session Timeout (Idle Time): The period of inactivity after which a user session is considered ended; typically defined by a preset time limit like 30 minutes of inactivity.

• Cookie-Based Tracking: A method of tracking user activity on a website by storing small data files (cookies) on the user's device to monitor actions across sessions.

• Cross-Browser Tracking: The ability to track user behavior consistently across different web browsers, maintaining session continuity and avoiding fragmented data.

• Bot & Spam Filtering: Techniques used to filter out non-human traffic, such as bots and spam, from analytics data to ensure accurate reporting.

• Event vs. Page view Tracking: Page view tracking records when a page is loaded or refreshed, while event tracking monitors specific user interactions on a page, like clicks or form submissions.

• User Behavior Requirements: The criteria set to determine valid user actions that contribute to a session, such as clicks, scrolls, or specific interactions with the site.

• IP Address Handling: The process of collecting, anonymizing, or excluding user IP addresses to track session data while adhering to privacy regulations.

• Privacy Compliance: Ensuring that tracking practices follow data protection laws (e.g., GDPR, CCPA) to protect user privacy and give users control over their data.

• Handling SPAs (Single Page Apps): Tracking user sessions and interactions in single-page applications where traditional page loads do not occur, often requiring event-based tracking for dynamic content changes.

Why does this matter?

Understanding how different tools define sessions is crucial for DTC brands because it impacts the accuracy and consistency of their data (duh). Various tools (ecommerce platforms, on-site analytics software, split testing tools) have different definitions of ‘session’ based on myriad vectors (see above).

These discrepancies can lead to inconsistent reporting across platforms, affecting key metrics like conversion rates, user engagement, and A/B test results. As such, aligning these definitions ensures accurate insights, better decision-making, and a unified view of customer behavior across platforms.

Soooo here’s something useful:

Now, this is handy table is based on what was publicly available online. It’s important to note that none of these are right or wrong. Just… different. But understanding that difference is key. Because sessions are a key ingredient in many of the metrics brands use to gauge efficacy of their website, including:

1. Conversion Rate: The percentage of sessions that result in a purchase, calculated as the number of purchases divided by the total number of sessions.

2. Average Session Duration: The average amount of time users spend in a session on the site, which helps assess user engagement and site performance.

3. Bounce Rate: The percentage of sessions where users leave the site after viewing only one page, indicating engagement and content relevance.

4. Cart Abandonment Rate: The percentage of sessions where users add items to their cart but do not complete a purchase.

5. Session Frequency: The number of sessions per user over a specific period, indicating customer retention and repeat visits.

And, of course, revenue per session.

HEATMAP UPDATE
Introducing: Agency partner directory

Need a hand with CRO (and other stuff) this holiday season? Look no further.

The heatmap agency partner directory ™ is live.

Is an agency partner directory some novel creation? Certainly not. But the fact that we didn't have one offended our Head of Agency Partnerships to such a degree that he insisted we rectify the situation or he'd walk.

So... check it out? We're all grown up now. A real SaaS.

The directory's full of partners that're all real good at using revenue-based heatmaps to help brands like yours make more money, and we're adding more every day. Regardless of what you need or how much you wanna spend on it, we're positive there's an agency in there that can make it happen (if there isn't, Jacob will buy you a martini to soothe your sorrows).

GOINGS ON
Not nothin’…

Interested in collaborating? Hit me: allen at heatmap dot com

How We Buy #9

How We Buy #9 is TODAY @ 10:30 am PST. 

As always, we're partnering with our dear friends from Oddit for an off-the-cuff stroll down CRO lane.

We'll also be joined by special guest Sarah Levinger; for the uninitiated, she helps brands apply psychology to their advertising (and beyond) to help cut costs, boost sales, and captivate the masses with ease. In other words, she's exactly who you want in a pre-BFCM site teardown.

If you care about having a great website and making more money, don't miss it.

New Year Strategy Guide for Health & Wellness Brands

Our friends at adQuadrant just dropped a new guide to help health + wellness brands turn resolutions into revenue.

With contributions from Klaviyo, ShipBob, Recharge, Opensend, Nostra AI, REVIEWS.io, and Triple Whale, the New Year Strategy Guide for Health & Wellness Brands is a must-read.

In it you'll learn how to...

🏃‍♂️ Pump up your paid search and social media campaigns
🤸‍♀️ Flex your skills to identify and engage your target audience
🏋️‍♂️ Strengthen your customer journeys to improve retention
🏊‍♂️ Swim through peak traffic with optimized fulfillment and website performance
🚴‍♀️ Keep your recurring revenue spinning with subscription models
🤼 Pin down customer trust and conversions with stellar reviews

If those corny fitness puns didn't incite a smile and a download, I hope the vengeance you seek against whatever hurt you is both swift and satisfying.

Pre-Grow LA Happy Hour

Heading to Grow LA?

Join us for a night of thrilling conversations and DTC magic before the Grow LA conference! We’re kicking off the week Glow LA with a happy hour co-hosted by Agital, Social Snowball, Moment, Gorgias, ShipBob, Rivo, and Heatmap.

🗓️ Date: Tuesday, October 22nd

📍 Location: Hidden - Revealed once accepted

⏰ Time: 6:00 PM (PST)

CRO HACK: BFCM
Sprinkle a little BFCM on your best pop-ups

Most of y’all are doing too much for BFCM. Tiny tweaks can have the biggest impact. If you’ve got killer creative, don’t throw it out: augment. This sentiment goes for ads, yes, but it also applies to pop-ups.

Just look at this beauty from Portland Leather.

They took what already worked, infused a subtle hint of BFCM-related urgency, and I’m willing to bet it prints new customers.