You Ask, They Answer: Conversion Conference 2012 Speakers’ Q&A Series 13

SeeWhy Chief Strategy Officer Charles Nicholls on the Hottest Conversion Trend, Biggest Optimization Mistake, SOPA/PIPA, and His Fave Vegan Restaurant in SF

Editor’s Note: With Conversion Conference 2012 San Francisco just around the corner, we thought it’s about time you learn a bit more from each of our speakers. So we put on our journalist/paparazzi hat and placed each speaker on the proverbial hot seat by asking four questions, including one which can be considered a burning issue for digital marketers and other professionals in the internet industry: the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA). From this day until the conference, we’ll be featuring a speaker and their answers to the questions so be sure to check out our blog regularly.

But wait, there’s more! You can join in and do some pre-conference engagement with our speakers by sending in your own questions through email, Twitter, or our Facebook Wall. We’ll make sure your questions get the attention they deserve and even feature them here.

It’s just four more days and then hello, San Francisco! And we know someone who’s excited to meet you: Charles Nicholls, the founder and chief strategy officer of SeeWhy. SeeWhy provides services that help ecommerce merchants regain visitors or customers who abandon their online shopping carts or forms. Here’s Charles’ take on the hottest conversion trend, the biggest optimization mistake, SOPA/PIPA, and his favorite vegan restaurant in SF:

1) What do you think is the hottest trend in optimization or conversion for 2012?

Hottest trend right now is Pinterest – which grew by over 400% in Q4 2011 to reach 11 million visitors per month. The fastest growing social network is attracting a lot of comment: and frankly its completely addictive. What’s interesting for conversion marketers is that Pinterest is inherently product focused unlike other social networks, so the quality of traffic referred is really good.

2) What would you say is the biggest mistake people (still) make when it comes to optimization?

The biggest mistake is assuming that conversion is about a single session. This isn’t how the majority of customers buy. Our research shows that abandonment, far from being a ‘bad’ thing is in fact often part of the purchase cycle. Conversion marketers should think about the entire purchase cycle spanning several visits and possibly several abandonments. This is of course why remarketing works so well because it supports the buyer across visits while they are still considering a potential purchase.

3) What’s your take on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA)?

Regulation of the internet is generally a bad thing. However, IP must also be protected. My worry is that some dinosaurs are lobbying for legislation to protect out-moded business models. That’s not good for anyone in the long run.

4) What’s your favorite place to hang out in San Francisco (that one place you just have to drop by/visit when you’re in the city)?

Greens vegetarian restaurant – fantastic views of the bridge at sunset from a wonderful restaurant.

Feeling hungry now….

Got a question for Charles that can’t wait till March? Post it on the comments section below, tweet it to us, or post it on our wall and we’ll make sure he gets it.

More About Charles

Charles Nicholls is Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of SeeWhy, blogger, ecommerce visionary, and author of ‘The Top Ten Converting Websites‘ and ‘In Search of Insight. Recognizing that traditional Web Analytic approaches are limited to historical analysis, Nicholls founded SeeWhy in 2003 to make ecommerce more relevant to individual visitors and customers through real time web analytics. Nicholls, a 20-year veteran of the software industry in the US and Europe, is internationally recognized as one of the preeminent thinkers in the Analytics space. In 2003 The Massachusetts Institute of Technology selected Nicholls as a global leader in Intrapreneurship following his highly innovative creation of Business Objects Analytics. In his role as an advisor to leading companies globally, Nicholls has worked with many of the world’s top companies on their web and customer analytics programs, including Amazon.com, Ebay, Lands End, MasterCard and a many smaller companies.

Before creating SeeWhy, Nicholls was an executive officer of real-time analytics company HNC Software (now Fair Isaac). Prior to HNC, Nicholls spent 6 years at Business Objects (now SAP), where he founded and led the Business Objects Analytics division. Nicholls also founded Ithena, an award winning Silicon Valley CRM analytics startup, which Nicholls merged with Business Objects in 2000.

See Charles Live!

Charles will be presenting a session on “The Science of Shopping Cart Abandonment” at Conversion Conference West 2012 in San Francisco, California. See the full agenda and read more about this session.

Want to save on your Conversion Conference Registration? Follow Charles on Twitter to say hello and request for a discount code!

P.S. Regular Pricing for Conversion Conference SF ends Friday, March 02, 2012. Don’t wait the last minute, register now to enjoy some savings while you still can (and before passes are gone!).