7 Best Lead Capture Techniques to Implement on Your Landing Page to Surge Lead Generation
In just a few years, websites turned from a “nice to have” feature to one that offers you a competitive advantage to a basic feature that you need to have; otherwise, you are out of the loop. At the same time, having a website is no longer a guarantee for success because all your competitors have sites too, and you have to learn how to stand out from all the noise.
Statistics paint a challenging picture for website owners: up to 96 percent of website visitors aren’t willing to buy. In fact, research shows that only around 3 percent of them are buying. Out of the rest, 56 percent aren’t ready to shop yet, and 40 percent are just at the beginning of their purchasing journey.
So, how can you turn these numbers around? By boosting your lead generation efforts and paying attention to every step of your audience’s purchasing journey, from the moment they click on a call-to-action. Unfortunately, lead capture isn’t as easy as having one big “Buy Now” button on your landing page and then sitting back for the clients to come rushing in.
In 2020, lead generation is more sophisticated than that, so here are seven tactics that can help you optimize your website.
Offer Quality Content to Visitors Who Need Help
Unless you’re a big company that no longer needs awareness, most of your website visitors will be top-of-the-funnel leads. Top-of-the-funnel marketing is the first stage of your customer’s journey, where they’re not typing in company or product names yet, and they’re not ready to make a purchase.
Instead, they’re looking to find solutions to a specific problem. At this stage, you don’t want to flood your visitors with aggressive commercial content because it’s quite possible for it to miss the mark. After all, they don’t have the base knowledge yet. What you should do is try to add value and help these visitors with high quality, informative, insightful content.
While you may not be selling a product directly, you are engaging the audience and positioning yourself as an authority and nurturing these leads for when they’re ready to make a purchase later on.
At this stage, you shouldn’t be asking your visitors for too much. Because at this phase, they generally tend to fear and avoid commitment. Ask for minimum details – a name and email address would be enough. Then, using channels such as email newsletters or social media, offer them valuable piece of contents such as:
- eBooks
- How-to guides
- Analyst and research reports
- Whitepapers
- Editorial content
- Explanatory videos
- Infographics
Even if you’re offering this content for free, don’t neglect quality. Your information should be insightful and valuable enough so that these first leads don’t regret giving you their emails.
Create Comparisons and Personalized Product Demos
Once a website visitor has given you their email address, and you have them in your database, they’re no longer top-of-the-funnel. They have moved on to the second stage, middle of the funnel. At this stage, they already have some general knowledge of the industry, they know what kind of product/service could solve their problem, but they’re still not sure which seller is the best.
Middle-of-the-funnel leads don’t feel comfortable discussing prices or aren’t committed yet. However, they’re more open towards sharing extra information with you, which is why you should optimize your landing page accordingly. For these visitors, you can create more detailed forms requesting data such as company name, location, number of employees, job title, and industry.
Then, based on their data, you can send them relevant content that can push them towards the next part of their purchasing journey. There are many ideas to work with here: comparisons, product demos, rundowns of industry-specific challenges, reports, and so on.
For example, one way that SEO agencies capture leads at this stage is by asking them to send their website URL and their email address and then send them a sample site audit report of their on-page optimization and off-page SEO performance. This way, visitors can get a taste of what the SEO company can do. Similarly, an insurance company can offer a calculator to suggest ways to save on insurance.
Produce Bottom-of-the-Funnel Content
At this final stage of the purchasing journey, visitors are aware of their pain points, know what product/service would help them, how much they’re willing to pay, and have even shortlisted a few sellers. What they need is that final push to sway them in your direction, the final proof that you’re their best option, and they should choose you over one of your competitors.
Here are a few ways you can do that:
- Send them relevant case studies
- Give them access to testimonials and product reviews
- Offer free, no-obligation 30-day trials where you allow them to explore all product features at their own pace
- Send them a personalized solution methodology where you detail your approach to problem-solving and how your collaboration will look like going forward
Another interesting tactic to capture leads approaching the end of their purchasing journey is to offer them an unbeatable deal instead of a free trial, such as paying only $1 for a full month of service. While that may sound counter-intuitive and make you feel like you’re wasting money, you’re actually gaining money and customers in the long run. You’re also separating serious leads from the ones that would download a free trial and never end up using it.
A similar lead capturing approach you can see at Ahrefs, where they allow you to try their digital marketing tool for seven days at 7 USD.
Use Multi-Step Forms
Under the right conditions, multi-step forms can help you generate more leads and boost conversions.
What are they, exactly? Multi-step forms are online forms that you can add to your website, and as the name suggests, they are broken into multiple pieces. For example, the first step requires them to input their name and email, the second their company and job title, the third their location, and so on. One big form with 20 fields to fill may look intimidating, and users who see all the fields at once may get tempted to leave the site. But, if the form is broken down into bite-sized chunks, they’re more likely to have a positive user experience.
These forms aren’t typically used for top-of-the-funnel leads, who only need to send basic information such as their names and emails. However, they can be an invaluable tool for middle and bottom-of-the-funnel leads, who need to send more detailed information.
One study showed that converting single-step forms into multi-step ones can increase conversions by 59.2 percent. Here’s why:
- They’re less intimidating and more user-friendly
- They reduce the risk of leaving certain fields empty
- Users who miss a field are prompted to fill it in immediately rather than at the end when they’re less likely to come back
- Users who have already filled in most of the fields and see their progress (i.e., step 3 out of 5) are less likely to abandon the form because they’ve already given most of their information. This is called the endowed progress effect.
In addition, multi-step forms help you determine a user’s level of commitment.
Not sure which type of form is right for you? Test! This way, you’ll know which form works best and where, and make informed decisions for your marketing strategy.
Make Use of Product Videos
If you haven’t used product videos to generate leads until now, here are some statistics that may change your mind:
- 87 percent of marketers use video content as a marketing tool
- Video is the type of content that social media users want to see most
- Companies who invest in video marketing get 66 percent more leads per year than those who don’t
- Adding an interesting video to your site’s landing page can increase the time users spend on your website by up to 88 percent
- 8 out of 10 online users have purchased software after watching at least one video from the developer
In addition to these marketing-related numbers, you should also know that videos are experiencing a huge surge in popularity right now. The average internet users spent nearly seven hours watching videos online every week, and Millennials, in particular, are more likely to watch videos online than on TV. Cisco estimates that 82 percent of all global web traffic will come from videos by 2022, so you can’t neglect this medium.
Although text content continues to be valuable, video landing pages can be more user-friendly and make complex products easier to understand. Which would you rather do: read 1000 words describing product features or watch a snappy 3-minute video about it?
Another awesome thing about video content is that it’s super versatile. Whether you work in a “boring” industry, such as finance or manufacturing, and you’re trying to make your content more engaging, or the complete opposite, you have an exciting product and words don’t do justice, videos can help you capture more leads.
Implement Live Chat
In the real world, a sales assistant greets you when you enter a store. And if you haven’t made up your mind yet, they ask what you need, show you several products, and answer your questions.
Fortunately, technology now allows you to replicate that experience and offer your online visitors something similar via live chat features. Depending on your needs and budget, it’s up to you if you want to have a real person or an AI-based chatbot at the end of the line but, no matter the case, live chat can help you generate leads:
- 60 percent of online consumers expect an instant response when contacting support [Hubspot]
- 41 percent of modern customers prefer live chat over phone and email when interacting with service providers [99Firms]
- 91 percent of users who had a live chat with a sales representative found the experience useful, and 31 percent of them purchased the product thanks to the live chat [Vtldesign]
However, if you do use live chat on a landing page, make sure you do it right. For best results, the chatbox should pop after a few seconds, when the user has had the time to look over the page. Otherwise, they’ll close it to finish reading. Also, replace the default greeting with a custom and interesting one to start the conversation.
Go for Personalization
Modern customers are overwhelmed by marketing messages where they learn to filter out the ones that aren’t relevant or don’t say anything new. This is where personalization comes in.
Personalizing your landing pages and marketing messages help you stand out and make your audience pay more attention. It shows that you’re willing to go the extra mile, that you took an effort, and that you don’t treat all your clients in the same generic way.
For example, a HubSpot study found that personalized call-to-actions perform 202 percent better than basic ones and have conversion rates up to 45 percent higher. Personalized CTAs give leads the feeling that the content or offer was created just for them, that their experience is valued, and that the service you’re offering is relevant. Even something as simple as including the lead’s name in your communication can go a long way and, the more you get to know your leads, the more you can appeal to their likes and interests and set the ground for valuable interactions.
Wrapping Up
There are a lot of fancy tools out there for the lead generation. Always use tools for the right automation and purpose. Oftentimes, high quality leads convert very quickly with the right sales pitch. So, be patient and work consistently on these tactics to capture quality leads and instill engagement.
Becoming a profitable, successful brand requires a lot of focus and time. Businesses need to get rid of the comfort zone to achieve the best results, especially when it comes to building a lead generation set-up for the website. When these lead capturing techniques will remain in demand, there will be more new ideas coming always. So, never settle down and keep brainstorming ways to capture qualified leads for your business.
About the Author
Shahid Shahmiri is a digital marketer at LeadGen App – LeadGen App helps businesses and marketers to capture more leads and data with effective online forms. Shahid is accountable for analyzing marketing and growth, customer success, and dealing with all promotional and media channels.
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Mentored by Mr. Soumya Roy, the Founder, CEO of PromozSEO Web Marketing Academy.
Being an entrepreneur and digital marketer, he loves to share his knowledge and experience in topics related to internet marketing, SEO, SEM, social media, content marketing, branding, entrepreneurship, and many more.
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