Hey, welcome to the first CRO & Profits newsletter of 2026.
New branding. Same mission: help you convert more and keep more of what you make.
This year, we're going deeper on buyer psychology and full-funnel strategy. Less surface-level tactics, more "here's why this actually works."
Starting with this:
Your Q5 customers aren't shopping. They're trying to become someone new.
Let me explain.
It's January. They've just come off the back of a chaotic Q4. The credit card is bruised. The house is full of stuff they impulse-bought in November. And somewhere between Christmas dinner and New Year's Eve, they made a decision:
This year will be different.
They're not shopping. They're reinventing themselves.
That supplement they're looking at? It's not just about vitamins. It's about finally feeling in control of their health.
That skincare product? It's not just about ingredients. It's about looking in the mirror and liking what they see.
That fitness gear, clothing, journal, organiser, meal kit, sleep aid, whatever you sell? It's not the product they want. It's the person they believe that product will help them become.
This is the psychology of Q5.
And if your funnel doesn't understand it, you're going to burn budget wondering why your ads are clicking but nobody's buying.
The Q5 Paradox: High Motivation, Low Trust
Here's the tension you're up against.
Your customers are more motivated than they've been all year. The desire for change is real. They're actively looking for solutions.
But they're also more sceptical than ever.
Consumer confidence is at its lowest point in over four years. Inflation, economic uncertainty, and a graveyard of failed purchases have made people cautious. They've been burned by products that promised transformation and delivered disappointment.
So they want to buy. But they don't trust easily.
This creates a problem for most ecom brands, because their funnels are built for people who are ready to buy. Not people who want to buy but need to believe first.
What Your Q5 Buyer Is Actually Thinking
Let's get specific. Here's the internal dialogue happening at each stage:
January: The Psychology of Reinvention
January is an identity month.
Your customer isn't thinking "I need a new product." They're thinking "I need to become a new person" - which the product helps them get to - important.
What They Say | What They Actually Mean |
|---|---|
"I want to lose weight" | I want to feel in control. I want to feel worthy. |
"I want more energy" | I want to show up as a better version of myself. |
"I want to get organised" | I want to stop feeling like my life is chaos. |
"I want better skin" | I want to feel confident when people look at me. |
The surface desire is practical. The real driver is emotional.
If your landing page leads with features and benefits, you're speaking to the surface. You're missing the deeper motivation, the identity shift they're chasing.
February: The Psychology of Connection
By February, the energy shifts.
The discipline-driven "new year, new me" mindset softens. Emotion takes over. Valentine's Day puts connection, confidence, and self-worth front and centre.
What They Say | What They Actually Mean |
|---|---|
"I want to look good for my partner" | I want to feel attractive and desired. |
"I want to treat myself" | I deserve this. I've earned it. |
"I need a gift for someone" | I want to show them I see them, I know them. |
February buyers are driven by feeling, not logic. They're asking: How will this make me feel? How will it make someone else feel about me?
If your messaging is still stuck in January's "transformation" framing, you'll miss the shift.
Why Traditional Funnels Break in Q5
Most ecom funnels are built like this:
Meta ad → Product page → Checkout.
It works when you're targeting people who already know they want your product. The "most aware" buyer who just needs a reason to click "buy."
But in Q5, that's the smallest segment of your traffic. The majority of people clicking your ads right now are:
Unaware — They don't even know they have a problem yet. They just know something feels off.
Problem aware — They know something's wrong, but they're not sure what the solution is.
Solution aware — They're researching options, comparing brands, reading reviews.
These people aren't ready to buy. They're ready to believe.
And if you skip the belief-building and dump them straight onto a product page, you'll lose them. They'll bounce. They'll compare you to Amazon. They'll forget you existed by tomorrow.
This is the awareness gap. And it's costing you money every single day in Q5.
Full-Funnel Thinking: Meet Them Where They Are
Here's the shift we've made at PM Digital, and it's changed how we approach CRO entirely.
We don't just optimise pages. We build journeys based on where the customer actually is psychologically.
That means different traffic gets different experiences. Different awareness stages get different messaging. And the funnel does the work of building belief before asking for the sale.
Here's how that plays out:
Cold Traffic (Unaware / Problem Aware)
These people don't know you. They don't trust you. They're not ready to see a product page. Your job isn't to sell. It's to educate and agitate.
The play:
Advertorials that create "aha" moments — "So that's why I've been struggling"
Listicles that position the problem clearly — "5 reasons your energy crashes by 2pm"
Story-led content that mirrors their experience — "I tried everything. Here's what finally worked."
Lead with the transformation, not the product. Let them come to the conclusion that they need what you sell.
Warm Traffic (Solution Aware / Product Aware)
They've seen you before. Maybe clicked an ad, browsed your site, added to cart and left. Now they're comparing you to other options. Your job is to build trust and crush objections.
The play:
Landing pages that position you as the best solution, not just a solution
Proof everywhere: reviews, UGC, before/afters, clinical results, "people like me" stories
Handle the top 3 objections before they even reach checkout: "Will this work for me?" "Is it worth the money?" "What if it doesn't work?"
This is where most brands under-invest. They assume if someone's seen the brand before, they're ready to buy. They're not. They're ready to be convinced.
Warm Traffic (Most Aware)
These people are ready. They know you, they trust you, they just need the final push. Your job is to remove friction and make saying "yes" feel easy.
The play:
Clean, focused landing pages, no distractions, sticky CTA, and get the offer infront of them asap.
Risk reversal front and centre: money-back guarantees, easy returns, "try it risk-free"
Real urgency (not fake countdown timers), limited bundles, seasonal offers, subscription incentives
Don't overcomplicate this. They've done the work to get here. Make the path to checkout effortless.
The Deeper Lesson: Your Funnel Is a Trust-Building Machine
Here's what I want you to take away from this.
CRO isn't about tweaking buttons or only testing headlines. It's about understanding what your customer needs to believe before they'll buy, and building a journey that gets them there.
In Q5, that means:
Recognise the identity shift. Your customer isn't buying a product. They're buying who they want to become. Speak to that.
Acknowledge the trust gap. Motivation is high, but so is scepticism. You have to earn the right to sell.
Match the funnel to the mindset. Different awareness stages need different experiences. Stop treating all traffic the same.
Build belief before asking for the sale. If they don't trust you, they won't buy, no matter how good the offer is.
This is what full-funnel CRO looks like. Not just optimising the bottom of the funnel. Building the entire journey with the customer at the centre.
The PM Digital Approach
We've rebuilt how we work with brands around this.
We don't just test pages. We optimise the funnel for profitability and LTV. We build the right experiences for the right intent of your audience. Results focused on revenue per visitor, not just conversion rate & average order value, because that tells us if the whole system is working.
And we put your customer at the centre of every decision. Because when you understand what they're thinking, what they're feeling, and what they need to believe, the conversions follow. You get a proper partner, selective of their client who strives for the growth of your company
Want Help Applying This to Your Brand?
If you're sitting on Q5 traffic and not seeing the conversions you expected, there's a good chance your funnel isn't matching your customer's mindset.
Book a free 30-minute CRO call with us. I'll walk through your site live, educate on some areas of our process and show you where the gaps are, and what to do about them.
👉 Reply to this email or click here to book your CRO strategy session. |
