The 10 CRO Commandments in the words of The Notorious B.I.G

If you have listened to music in the last 2 decades the chances are you have come across the works of the Notorious B.I.G. Chances are you haven't ever related it to Conversion Rate Optimisation, until now!

Amrdeep Athwal of Conversions Matter, a specialist in web analytics and CRO, has shared with us the 10 CRO Commandments. Like all great things, this concept came from a conversation with Tim Stewart of TRS Digital after a conference in a hotel bar at 2 am. These 10 Commandments are derived from The Notorious B.I.G, Biggie Smalls’ famous track the 10 Crack Commandments. By flipping Biggie’s suggestions, a list of useful tricks on how to be successful in CRO was created.

Rule 1: ‘Never let no-one know how much dough you hold’.
When inverted, the CRO lesson we can learn here is always striving to report an uplift in revenues as well as conversions. Do, however, take this with a pinch of salt as reports of uplifting for over three months consecutively should raise questions and inspire more tests as this could boil down to seasonality or ‘the new toy effect’, which is people interacting with something just because it’s new, not necessarily better.

Rule 2: ‘Never let ‘em know your next move’
Contrastingly, for CRO, you want everything to be visible. Everyone should know where the ideas are at, what the data is supporting them when any tests are scheduled etc. Without this visibility and communication, complications may occur such as the launch of new media campaigns in the middle of tests or pressure from above on why certain tests aren’t yet in motion.

Rule 3: ‘Never trust nobody’
Again, we must reverse this for CRO, since it’s not a one-man show. Instead, you need a team who you can trust and who trust you. It’s important in CRO to be a team player, not a dictator.

Rule 4: ‘Never get high on your own supply’
Instead, in CRO you should always be your own customer. Anything you’re optimising you should test yourself. Go through the process again and again. Something that annoys you on the 20^th try will annoy the customer on the first but you won’t know about it until you get there yourself!

Rule 5: ‘Never sell no crack where you rest at’
Flipped, this one can help us to appreciate the skills, experience and opinions of colleagues. By building relationships, it is possible to find people who will help to greatly benefit you from different departments.

Rule 6: ‘That Goddamn credit, dead it’
In CRO, giving credit where credit is due is important. If someone comes up with a good idea that you end up using, make sure you tell their boss. People want to be recognised, and if they are they’ll be more likely to contribute again and the more comfortable others will be with sharing their ideas, too.

Rule 7: ‘Keep your family and business completely separated’
Wrong! In CRO your family can be your greatest tool, providing free user testing. Trying out prototypes with family can help, they can act as a fresh set of eyes similar to your user base and can identify any early issues that you may have missed.

Rule 8: ‘Never keep no weight on you’
In CRO, working past the expected 9 til 5 is imperative to making it to the top. Attending conferences on weekends, learning new skills in your spare time and sometimes taking your work home with you will help you achieve greatness and be the best in the field.

Rule 9: ‘If you ain't getting bagged, stay the f*** from the police’
On the contrary, in CRO, fraternising with the enemy is great! Seek out other industry professionals who you can share your experiences and ideas with.

Rule 10: ‘A strong word called ‘consignment’’
In CRO, if you don’t have the demand, create it! If you cant optimise the last step in a checkout due to lack of traffic then work at getting more people in the funnel to create conversions and traffic. Even if it’s a struggle, don’t just accept failure – you can figure out a way!

In conclusion, by simply ignoring each one of Biggie’s commandments and instead doing the exact opposite, you can be a CRO master too!

Thanks to Amrdeep for this great explanation. Don't know about you but we won't listen to this song in the same way and definitely some great food for thought on how to approach CRO. 

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