Read our interview with our new Conversion Services Director, Chelsey Gibbons. We asked Chelsey about her career, vision for the role, and what colleagues and clients can expect.
Emma CoulingThank you and I am super excited to have joined Fresh Egg! Well, I started my career in digital marketing for construction firms, working mainly with B2B clients, from security access systems (revolving doors) to professional dance floors. From there I moved to Saga, where I ended up staying for nine years. I initially joined the Insurance Web Optimisation team as an Insight Analyst and, over time, moved around various business units, which gave me a real breadth of experience across the organisation.
By the time I left, I was managing the team responsible for Saga Insurance's entire digital estate, covering web optimisation, SEO, CMS and analytics. That mix of data, optimisation and leading a multi-disciplinary team led me naturally to this role at Fresh Egg.
"After nine years at Saga, I knew I didn't want to recommit to just one industry. Fresh Egg gives me the chance to explore and apply what I've learned across a wide range of websites, sectors and technology stacks. I'm also excited to work with so many different people and to see how different in-house teams are structured and how they like to work. Every client brings something new, and that's exactly the kind of challenge I was looking for. But more importantly, the people, the culture and the first impressions of the agency made me feel confident that this was the right move for me after so long at Saga. It just felt right."
Alongside the variety of working across different clients, I'm excited to work with the experienced specialists here at Fresh Egg, and judging by all the awards the agency has won, they're some of the best! I'm really looking forward to learning from them, stretching myself and getting a deeper understanding of their disciplines, especially UX & UI and user research, which I see as crucial partners to experimentation.
Having been on the client side for so long, I can relate to our clients' internal processes, the opportunities they're chasing and the challenges they face day to day, including the need to sell the story of experimentation internally. Getting buy-in from stakeholders is often as important as the tests themselves, and I've learned how to frame results in a way that resonates across a business.
I'm also passionate about the long-term strategy behind experimentation. It isn't just about quick wins; done well, it builds a culture of continuous improvement that benefits customers and the business alike. Better user experiences lead to happier customers, and happier customers lead to better business outcomes. Alongside that, I bring an understanding of how all the different levers of marketing work together, and the key role experimentation and website performance play in an organisation's overall success.
A solid analytics foundation is non-negotiable. My background is mainly in Adobe Analytics, but the platform matters far less than the quality of what sits underneath it. If your underlying data is sound and your tracking is up to scratch, you're set up for success. From there, combining quantitative and qualitative insight is key. The numbers tell you what is happening, and the qualitative side (session replays, heatmapping, user testing etc) helps you understand why, so together they give you a rounded view of the full picture the data is presenting.
But the biggest thing for me is having a plan. A solid backlog of tests, underpinned by robust data, that ladders up to the strategic direction of the organisation is what turns a handful of experiments into a successful experimentation programme. It keeps everyone focused on the problems that matter most, and it makes sure every test is contributing to where the business wants to go.
I started out in analytics when I first joined web optimisation, and that gave me a particular lens in exploring the data to work out which opportunities are really worth chasing. I also see experimentation as an enabler for other marketing disciplines, not something that sits in isolation. A well-optimised website (or app) can support the success of performance marketing, improve NPS scores, reduce pressure on customer services and much more. When experimentation is working well, the whole business feels the benefit.
This one's a bit left field and not very digital, but it's speaking to call centre agents (you can probably tell I worked for an insurance business!). Some of the most valuable insights and tests I've run came from conversations with customer support and call centre teams. They're on the front line, helping users, especially when things go wrong. It's a great reminder that real human beings are using your website and trying to convert, even in the age of AI. Hearing from the people who felt they had to reach out to a person because the tech didn't meet their needs is invaluable.
It's also why I always answer those "How did you find your visit today?" pop-ups, and why, when I genuinely can't do something on a website, I'll screenshot the issue and email it to customer service!
My tablet! Because if you took away my phone or my laptop, I could still do everything I need to on my tablet. It's the ultimate all-rounder.
Since I started driving to Fresh Egg, I've got really into podcasts! As an F1 fan, P1 with Matt & Tommy is a must, and I love We Need To Talk for its celebrity interviews.
Haribo Fried Eggs. Because I have never liked eggs!
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