Increase Conversion Rates by Adding Context to Help Customers

Tips to Help Your Customers Out

Last time we covered why you should capture contact info early—to re-capture partially interested customers:

When it comes to form completion, confusion is public enemy number 1

If you get to a confusing part of a form, you’re more likely to abandon it than look up the answers.

One often overlooked strategy for increasing form conversion rates is providing context for fields that may be confusing or unfamiliar to the user.

Use help judiciously if you’re in doubt!

This field context form is good because it gives both a goal reference AND an example! The shadow prompts in the other boxes are great too.

Field-prompted abandonment is particularly worrisome for forms related to complex decisions, like insurance sign-ups, financial services, or technical products.¹

By tracking dropout points and re-engaging with targeted information, you can help guide users through these tricky areas and significantly increase completion rates.

Why Context Matters

Forms often contain fields that, while straightforward to the company, may be ambiguous or intimidating for the user.

For instance, if someone is filling out a form for a security system and encounters a field asking for "desired cloud storage (GB)" they might not know what a typical or recommended amount is.

This uncertainty can create friction, leading to form abandonment.

Adding brief, clear explanations or examples next to such fields can drastically reduce confusion.

A better example would be a field asking “How many days of storage do you want to keep per camera?” and have the assumptions undergirding that calculation listed at the bottom of the form. That’s how humans think!

There are a couple of common ways to give this help!

1. Use Inline Help Text: Providing inline help text or tooltips next to confusing fields can guide users through the process. For example, a field labeled "Coverage Amount" could include a small information icon that, when hovered over, displays text like,

   "For most renters, a coverage amount of $20,000 to $30,000 is common, depending on your income and property value."

   1. Bonus points if you planned your form well and already captured income—then you can provide actually personalized recommendations WITHIN THE SAME FORM²

2. Contextual Recommendations: Offering personalized recommendations based on general data can further guide users. For example, "Based on your location and average renter income, most customers choose to opt for extra hail coverage" This type of contextual guidance helps push your customer through the form without feeling like they’re making the wrong decisions.

3. Dynamic Form Adjustments: Using conditional logic to show or hide fields based on user responses can streamline the process and prevent information overload. If a user selects "Apartment" as their residence type, additional fields related to that choice could appear, along with specific guidance on what information is needed.

   1. Bonus points if you do this well instead of just doing a multi-page form. Don’t forget to save that data somewhere so they don’t lose it on reload!

Same Session Reengagement with Targeted Information

Tracking where users drop off in the form process can provide valuable insights into which fields are causing confusion or hesitation.

With this data, you can create targeted reengagement campaigns that bring them back in.

But even better: Create logic that re-engages a near-churning user within the same touchpoint—keep that initial motivation rolling.

Here’s how this can work:

• Chatbot Interventions: Implementing chatbots that can provide real-time assistance when a user hesitates or spends too much time on a particular field can reduce confusion and encourage form completion. A chatbot could pop up and offer,

  "It looks like you’re having trouble picking your permanent residence. Would you like to ask a few questions to see if we can help you define what your living situation answer would be?”

• Progressive Profiling: Instead of overwhelming users with a long form upfront, progressive profiling allows you to ask for additional information over time or across multiple interactions. For example, start with the basics like name and email, and in a follow-up interaction, ask for more detailed information like coverage preferences with added context to guide their choices

  • This can be useful for someone who has already made an account and you’re confident would come back. For example, Netflix used to start with a huge questionnaire as soon as you signed up. Turns out you can just use their revealed watching preferences over time to profile them (even better than stated)

The Benefits of Contextual Charity

You might feel like these assistance points are unneeded or obvious—but that’s because it’s you job to understand the product!

Providing context not only reduces drop-off rates but also improves user satisfaction.

When users feel guided and supported through a process, they are more likely to trust your brand and complete the desired action.

Even if you personally think it’s not worth a lot, consider the brownie points you win by helping customer support.³

By revisioning your processes from the customer’s shoes, you gain empathy to design a better process.

It’s not just about capturing information—it's about providing value at every step of the user journey.

1. Developers, you’re on the short list of worst form creators. Define your fields!

2. This does require more advanced architecture on the form backend, but this is a marketing tech newsletter, what do you expect from me?

3. When forms are clear and intuitive, fewer users need to reach out for help.