The CRO Industry Suffers from a Specialist Overload and a Strategy Drought

The CRO industry is teeming with specialists—experts in A/B testing, UX design, analytics, and technical optimization. While these roles are critical, there’s an imbalance that’s slowly strangling innovation: we’ve cultivated a sea of technicians but left behind the need for broader strategic thinking.

If you’ve ever tried to hire a CRO strategist, you’ve probably faced a unique and frustrating challenge. There’s no shortage of CRO specialists—those who focus on running AB tests, optimizing landing pages, and increasing conversion rates through tried-and-true tactics. These folks are everywhere, and they serve a critical role.

But a true CRO strategist?

That’s a completely different ballgame, and filling that role feels like searching for a needle in a haystack. After a few years in this space and having a chat with few experts, this problem is spread across different industries and companies of all sizes. And it’s not just a talent shortage—it’s a misunderstanding of what a CRO strategist really brings to the table.

CRO Specialists vs. CRO Strategists: The Critical Difference

The first mistake companies often make is assuming that a CRO specialist and a CRO strategist are the same. Specialists focus on execution. They’re tactical, diving deep into analytics, testing, and optimizing individual elements. Don’t get me wrong, specialists are important. Without them, many businesses would never move beyond guesswork and gut instincts when trying to improve conversion rates.

But a CRO strategist? That’s a different breed entirely. A strategist takes a bird’s-eye view, integrating CRO with overall business goals, long-term strategy, and customer behavior insights. They craft a testing roadmap that aligns with the company’s growth trajectory, balancing short-term wins with long-term sustainable growth. They aren’t just fixing things—they’re thinking five steps ahead, ensuring that every test is part of a larger plan.

So, why are strategists so elusive?

1. The Multifaceted Skill Set

A CRO strategist needs to wear multiple hats. They need to be part data scientist, part psychologist, part business analyst, and part marketer.

It’s a rare combination. Most people in the CRO field lean heavily into one or two areas but mastering all of these disciplines? That’s tough. CRO strategists need to understand not just the “what” behind the data but the “why”—why users behave the way they do, why certain tests work and others don’t, and how to translate that into actionable insights.

Most CRO specialists might be able to pull the right levers, but it takes a strategist to architect the entire machine.

2. The Need for Business Acumen

Strategists aren’t just obsessed with CTRs or form optimizations—they are business-minded. They’re fluent in financials, understanding how conversion optimization feeds into revenue growth, profit margins, and CLV. CRO is no longer just about improving a website’s performance; it’s about driving the business forward.

To do this well, a CRO strategist has to have a deep understanding of the business model they’re working with. They need to be able to sit in boardrooms, speak to the C-suite, and explain how an AB test today can translate into millions of dollars in future revenue. This level of thinking demands years of experience and a depth of knowledge that not every CRO specialist possesses. And honestly, some companies underestimate the need for this kind of business acumen in CRO.

3. The Experience Dilemma

You can’t become a CRO strategist overnight. It takes years of testing, analyzing, and refining your approach. A good CRO strategist will have spent countless hours not just running tests but evaluating their long-term impact on the business. They’ve seen tests fail and learned from them. They’ve adjusted strategies to meet shifting market trends, evolving customer behaviors, and changing business priorities. This is where many companies hit a roadblock—CRO strategists with a decade or more of experience are hard to find because there just aren’t that many who have stuck around long enough to develop the expertise.

Specialists might jump from agency to agency, running similar tests across various clients. Strategists? They often embed themselves in companies, becoming part of the team that shapes the business’s future. They’re not just hired hands; they’re partners in growth. That kind of loyalty and experience is rare, which makes finding someone for that strategic role even more difficult.

4. The Field Is Still Evolving

CRO is relatively new compared to other marketing and business disciplines. While optimization has always been a part of business, the formalized field of conversion rate optimization has only been around for a couple of decades. As a result, the pool of highly experienced CRO strategists is small, and companies are often left scrambling to find someone with both the skills and the experience necessary to lead a high-impact CRO program.

Many companies, especially smaller ones or those just getting into CRO, may not even fully understand what they need in a strategist. They might think hiring a specialist is enough until they realize that they’re missing the bigger-picture thinking. The problem isn’t always the talent pool; it’s also about knowing who to hire and when.

5. Companies Underestimate the Complexity of CRO

Too many businesses still think of CRO as a series of simple tweaks and tests. They don’t realize the complexity involved in crafting a full-funnel optimization strategy that touches everything from acquisition to retention. A CRO strategist doesn’t just look at a landing page and say, “Let’s run a test on the headline.” They’re thinking about how that page fits into the customer journey, how different customer segments will interact with it, and what it will mean for the business’s bottom line.

Hiring someone who can think that holistically, while also getting into the granular details when needed, is a challenge in itself. It requires a deep understanding of both the macro and micro levels of optimization.

So, Where Does This Leave Us?

The truth is, hiring a CRO strategist will always be hard. The skill set is rare, the experience takes years to build, and the field itself is still maturing. But for companies that get it right, the payoff is enormous. A skilled strategist can be the difference between incremental improvements and exponential growth.

For those companies struggling to fill these positions, the key is to first understand what you’re really looking for. It’s not enough to hire someone who can run tests—you need someone who can craft the overarching vision. CRO is not a tactic—it’s a long-term growth strategy. And the strategists who can bring that vision to life are worth their weight in gold.