Research-First CRO: How Data Leads to Better Marketing Decisions with Haley Carpenter

#281 CRO | Matt is joined by Haley Carpenter, founder of Chirpy, a conversion rate optimization agency. Haley has nearly a decade of CRO experience across agency, SaaS, and eCommerce, and she’s known for helping brands use research and testing to make smarter marketing decisions.

Matt and Haley cover:
Why CRO isn’t just A/B testing, and how research should guide every optimization effort
How to approach CRO when you don’t have massive website traffic, including scrappy testing methods and tools
The role of messaging, value props, and social proof in driving higher conversions (and where B2B often lags behind DTC)

By the end, you’ll have a clearer picture of how to approach CRO as a system, not just a set of tests.

Timestamps
(00:00) – Intro
(02:09) – Who is Haley Carpenter
(03:09) – What CRO really means
(06:09) – Research vs. testing explained
(10:09) – Where to start CRO on a website
(13:09) – Testing with limited traffic
(17:09) – Using data for smarter decisions
(20:09) – Building a culture of testing
(24:09) – How to report CRO results
(29:09) – Scrappy tools: Clarity & Hotjar
(34:54) – What B2B can learn from DTC
(38:54) – Why messaging matters more than features
(42:54) – The power of social proof
(48:54) – Common blockers to CRO success
(50:54) – A surprising test result (+7% sales)
(52:54) – Vanity metrics vs. real business outcomes
(56:54) – Closing thoughts

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