All businesses want more leads they can turn into clients and into bottom line profits - right? Your website can do this for you by turning visitors to your site into bona fide prospects. Wait - how? Simply by adding or optimizing some simple actions on your existing website - no overhaul needed!
And… we are going to take these actions starting with the simplest steps and ending with the steps that take a bit more work, time and effort. What exactly is lead generation? It is getting your potential prospects interested enough in your products to either a) give you an email address to learn more (nurturing emails) or b) purchase your product online or in your store or c) just contact you.
As smart as humans are - we still need to be told where to go, what to do and how to do it. Our website is no different. We need to tell our visitors what their next step should be.
Most of the steps below talk about a Call to Action (CTA) So what - exactly - is a Call to Action? It is a request for the reader or listener to take another step - to actually do something that leads this person - in the case of marketing - to become a prospect then client. Click Here, Buy Now, Subscribe are all examples of a typical CTA.
Have a Clear Call to Action (CTA)
The simplest CTA is usually the Contact Us form. An unscientific guestimate says that 99.9% of websites have a contact form of some sort or another. To make this into a true “lead gen” action, simply have a button on each page of your website that says “Contact Us” and then link to your contact form. That’s it… you’ve got a lead generating action.
Just a note about your Contact Form - make it simple. If it’s not simple and you use this form as a means to qualify your prospect, you may be limiting your business growth. Just ask for name, phone, email and a message. Make them required if you must. I’ve seen several companies ask “Do you have XXX amount to budgeted for whatever I’m selling?” if you have this type of question on your form - here’s why you may not want to include it:
- If they do not, or haven’t thought about the amount budgeted, they are ONLY making a decision based on cost.
- They are not considering the value of the benefits they will receive by working with you.
- They are not receiving a personal consultation with you or a member of your team that can ask the real qualifying questions.
How many times have you purchased a product or service that you thought would be too expensive but ended up seeing the additional value in the additional cost? Let the prospect (and you) make a decision based on value not dollars. You know the questions to ask to weed out tire kickers.
(FYI - This is an okay question to ask on a contact form - how did you hear about us? I’ll let you do that! This question will give you a bit of a head start on qualifying. Warm referral lead, click from a google ad? Big difference.)
(Bonus hint - test your contact form occasionally to make sure it’s working and doing what you need it to do - especially make sure you are receiving them!)
Having a prospect contact you immediately is ideal but how many times does that happen? More often than not, you have to lead them and drive them to an action with content and specific next steps to take.
Let’s look at what makes a good call to action - therefore an amazing lead generation website. Start with the basics.
Writing a Great Call to Action
A great call to action has 3 components.
- It must be non threatening and no obligation. (Your visitor is not giving up their first born, a pint of blood and/or their right hand when they sign up.)
- A sense of urgency. This offer will explode and be gone forever in the next 30 seconds if you don’t (insert action) NOW! Offering an expiration date of consequence of waiting will spur a decision to take action. No one wants to be left behind… do they?
- An action (it IS a call to action after all!) What do you want the visitor to do? Download a checklist? Schedule an appointment? Fly to the moon? Contact you?
Content Drives Lead Generation
It all starts with content. Volumes are written about content and how to use content in your marketing. Our purpose here is to connect the dots between content and a call to action that intrigues your ideal client to do something. Compelling content - through a blog, your About page, through your services or even through Frequently Asked Questions - will move your site visitors through your website. At each step of the process, you want to have an action that leads to the next step in the customer’s journey and ultimately lead them to purchase.
What does this mean?
(Sidetrack warning!) A customer journey is the way to describe what and where your prospect goes when they visit your website. (It can also be the path in your brick and mortar store. Start noticing where grocery stores lead you - they are masters at the customer journey.) The content will lead your potential client to a particular area or action. The path may depend upon just where the prospect enters your website. In a good lead gen website, next steps will be clear. Clear steps include:
- A call to action (CTA) with an instruction on what to do next.
- Menu navigation that is easy to use and has just a few choices.
- Navigation to different areas of the website in different ways - through the menu, through content boxes, through links in the actual page content.
Watch this blog for more on the customer journey and how you can assure your customers have a great experience!
Give Your Prospect Great Information
Yes, this goes back to content. In this case it is in the form of a lead magnet or freebie that you offer visitors to your website. We’ve all seen them - The 5 most compelling ways - the 3 mistakes you are making - 10% off of whatever. These are prime examples of the most commonly used lead magnets. A lead magnet is just what the name implies - an offer or information designed to draw your prospect to that information/offer and in return, they leave their email address to receive value. In doing so, they give you permission to email you and contact you in various ways.
The last number I saw was that for every $1 spent in email marketing, the return was - on average - $41. That is a tremendous return and a great reason to add a lead generation/ email optin campaign to your marketing strategy.
Today’s business owner has so many choices when it comes to attracting, nurturing and leading your prospects to purchase. We’ve only seen the tip of the lead generation iceberg, but unlike the Titanic, not knowing about lead generation won’t sink your business ship. But it may not go anywhere either!
Want a high level overview of your lead generation strategy? Book your Online Visibility Accelerator session today! (See - that’s a call to action! 😉
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