cro

What this skill does

# CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization)

## When to Use This Skill

Activate this skill when the user's request involves any of the following:

- Auditing a landing page for conversion performance
- Designing or improving a landing page layout, copy, or user flow
- Setting up, analyzing, or interpreting A/B tests or multivariate tests
- Optimizing web forms (lead gen, signup, contact, application)
- Designing or auditing pricing pages and pricing presentation
- Reducing cart abandonment or improving checkout completion rates
- Improving any website conversion metric (lead form submissions, signups, purchases, trial starts)
- Calculating sample sizes, test duration, or statistical significance for experiments
- Prioritizing which conversion improvements to tackle first
- Diagnosing why a page or funnel has a low conversion rate
- Asking about trust signals, social proof, urgency elements, or CTA optimization

## Brand Context (Auto-Applied)

Before producing any marketing output from this module:

1. **Check session context** — The active brand summary was output at session start. Use the brand name, industry, voice settings, channels, goals, compliance, and competitors shown there.
2. **If you need the full profile**, read: `~/.claude-marketing/brands/{slug}/profile.json`
3. **Apply brand voice** — Formality, energy, humor, authority levels must shape all content tone and word choices
4. **Check compliance** — Auto-apply rules for brand's target_markets and industry using `skills/context-engine/compliance-rules.md`
5. **Reference industry benchmarks** — Consult `skills/context-engine/industry-profiles.md` for the brand's industry
6. **Use platform specs** — Reference `skills/context-engine/platform-specs.md` for character limits and format requirements
7. **Check campaign history** — Run `python campaign-tracker.py --brand {slug} --action list-campaigns` before planning new work
8. **If no brand exists**, say: "No brand profile found. Use /digital-marketing-pro:brand-setup to create one, or I can proceed with general best practices."
9. **Check brand guidelines** — If `~/.claude-marketing/brands/{slug}/guidelines/_manifest.json` exists, load and enforce: `restrictions.md` for banned words, restricted claims, and mandatory disclaimers; `channel-styles.md` for channel-specific tone overrides (may differ from base voice); `messaging.md` for approved key messages, taglines, and positioning language; `voice-and-tone.md` for detailed voice rules beyond the 4 numeric scores. If producing content for a specific channel, channel style rules take precedence over base voice settings.

Do not ask the user for information that already exists in their brand profile.

## Required Context

Before executing, gather the following from the user (ask if not provided):

- **Page URL or description**: The specific page or flow being optimized
- **Current conversion rate**: Baseline metric to improve against (if known)
- **Monthly traffic volume**: Needed for test duration and statistical significance calculations
- **Conversion goal**: What counts as a conversion (form submit, purchase, signup, download)
- **Business model**: B2B, B2C, D2C, SaaS, ecommerce, lead gen
- **Traffic sources**: Where visitors come from (paid, organic, email, direct) since source affects intent level
- **Device split**: Percentage of mobile vs desktop traffic
- **Existing test history**: What has been tested before and results
- **Tech stack**: CMS, testing tools (Optimizely, VWO, Google Optimize successor, custom), analytics platform
- **Constraints**: Legal disclaimers required, brand guidelines, compliance restrictions

## Capabilities

### Landing Page Audits
- **5-second test**: Does the page communicate its value proposition within 5 seconds of loading?
- **Above-the-fold analysis**: Headline clarity, subheadline support, hero image relevance, primary CTA visibility
- **Trust signal inventory**: Logos, testimonials, reviews, certifications, security badges, guarantees
- **CTA assessment**: Clarity, contrast, placement, copy specificity, number of competing CTAs
- **Form evaluation**: Field count, field labels, required vs optional, error handling, multi-step vs single-step
- **Page speed impact**: Load time correlation to bounce rate, Core Web Vitals as conversion factors
- **Mobile experience**: Touch targets, scroll depth, thumb-zone CTA placement, mobile-specific friction points
- **Content hierarchy**: Information architecture, visual hierarchy, F-pattern or Z-pattern scanning support
- **Objection handling**: Whether the page addresses common objections before the conversion point

### A/B Testing Framework
- **ICE prioritization**: Score potential tests by Impact (1-10), Confidence (1-10), and Ease (1-10) to determine test order
- **Hypothesis format**: Structured as "If we [change], then [metric] will [improve/decrease] because [rationale]"
- **Sample size calculation**: Based on baseline conversion rate, minimum detectable effect, statistical power (80%), and significance level (95%)
- **Test duration estimation**: Accounting for traffic volume, conversion rate, and full business cycles (minimum 1-2 weeks to capture weekly patterns)
- **Result interpretation**: Statistical significance, practical significance, segment analysis, and revenue impact projection
- **Sequential testing**: When to use fixed-horizon vs sequential/Bayesian methods for faster decisions

### Form Optimization
- **Field reduction**: Remove or defer non-essential fields. Each additional field reduces conversion by approximately 4-7%
- **Progressive profiling**: Collect information across multiple interactions rather than all at once
- **Inline validation**: Real-time feedback as users complete fields reduces form abandonment
- **Smart defaults**: Pre-fill known data, use sensible defaults, and provide auto-complete
- **Multi-step forms**: Break long forms into logical steps with progress indicators
- **Field type optimization**: Dropdowns vs radio buttons vs text inputs based on option count and context
- **Error messaging**: Specific, helpful error messages positioned near the relevant field

### Pricing Psychology
- **Anchoring**: Present a higher-priced option first to make target option seem reasonable
- **Decoy effect**: Introduce a strategically inferior option to push users toward the target plan
- **Charm pricing**: $99 vs $100 -- when it works (B2C, impulse purchases) and when it backfires (premium B2B)
- **Price framing**: Annual vs monthly display, per-user vs flat rate, daily equivalency ("less than a cup of coffee")
- **Plan naming**: Naming conventions that guide self-selection (Starter/Growth/Enterprise vs Basic/Pro/Premium)
- **Feature differentiation**: Which features to gate at each tier to create natural upgrade pressure
- **Social proof on pricing**: Showing "Most Popular" badges, customer counts per tier, or logos

### Checkout Optimization
- **Cart abandonment reduction**: Exit-intent offers, cart recovery emails, progress indicators, persistent cart
- **Guest checkout**: Always offer guest checkout; forced account creation causes 24% abandonment
- **Payment method coverage**: Credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Buy Now Pay Later, regional methods
- **Shipping transparency**: Show costs early, offer free shipping thresholds, provide delivery estimates
- **Order summary persistence**: Keep order details visible throughout checkout
- **Security reinforcement**: SSL badges, payment logos, money-back guarantees at the point of payment
- **One-page vs multi-step checkout**: Decision framework based on product complexity and information requirements
- **Post-purchase optimization**: Confirmation page upsells, order confirmation email, account creation after purchase

## Process

### Standard Landing Page Audit (Most Common Use Case)

1. **5-second scan** -- Review the page as a first-time visitor. Can you identify what the company does, who it is for, and what action to take within 5 se