How do you know that you are maximising the number of leads gained from your webpages? Are you letting traffic bounce off your pages without converting?
Simple errors in design and absent features can be hindering your digital lead generation efforts, and you might not even know you are doing it!
Here are our top 4 lead generation mistakes we regularly see that you need to avoid.
- Lead Generation Page Design Errors
A lead generation page is a webpage which has the sole purpose of capturing information from web visitors. This then converts them into valuable leads for your business. An example of this would be a landing page, a download page, (such as an eBook or cheat sheet) or webinar signup. As this is often the first step in the sale process it is essential that this stage is optimised to make sure you maximise the number of conversions, at the lowest possible cost.
You should have a dedicated landing page for every campaign you run, this means one for Facebook Ads, Google and Bing Ads. The most common mistake we see is where a business links to the website home page – this will have a negative effect on conversions. This is because a homepage has too many distractions and may be harder for the visitor to find what they are looking for. Whereas a landing page should take them directly to what they are looking for and should show the visitor only the conversion process.
- Missing Call-To-Action (CTA)
If you have ever worked in sales then you maybe be familiar with the term ABC, Always Be Closing, or Ask for the Business. Well a CTA, or Call-to-Action, is the digital equivalent and is arguably one of the most important features of your lead generation campaigns. Without one, you won’t be able to turn your web visitors into leads so it’s going to be tough converting those visitors into leads and sales. Likewise, having a CTA that is difficult to find can also be troublesome. Always make sure you use a vibrant colour that stands out and, of course, use great copy.
The CTA should be short, actionable and describe what is going to happen next, for example ‘Download my eBook’ the most successful call to actions start with verbs like, Get, Download, Join, or Try, while studies have shown that using words like ‘submit’ or ‘click here’ will generate substantially fewer conversions.
- Tedious or hidden lead capture forms
Like a hidden CTA, a hidden lead capture form will hinder your conversions. Always place a lead capture form above the fold. This means placing it on the top half of the page so it can’t be missed. Furthermore, up to 86% of visitors will leave a web page if the sign-up request is too long, so only ask for the information you need. For example, if you have someone’s postcode, you don’t really need to ask them to input the town, county and street name. Best practice is to keep it to a minimum of 3 – 5 fields, you can always ask for more information once you’ve formed a relationship.
- Bad or Irrelevant Offer
When running lead generation campaigns, you will get great results if you are offering something that your target audience will want. So, for example, if they are interested in building an Instagram following, offer them an eBook or guide on ‘How to grow your Instagram following in 5 Easy steps’ or something similar. If you are constantly looking to attract new leads, then it’s a great idea to have more than one offer available for your different target markets. Try and vary the content you give away and have a diversified collection of offers up your sleeve.
In a nutshell…
When running lead gen campaigns, it is vital that you optimise your landing pages, have valuable, relevant content aimed at your target market. If you would like more information on how to generate more leads for your business why not download our cheat sheet here, or request a free proposal.
