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3 Surefire Tactics To Improve Inbound Lead Generation

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Posted by John Beveridge on Oct 22, 2013 11:30:00 AM

Surefire_tactics_to_improve_inbound_lead_generation_blogHow many sales organizations do you know that think they have enough good leads? Not many, by my estimation. That's why so many businesses are turning to inbound marketing. Traditional lead generation methods are producing diminishing returns and they need leads. Leads are the fuel that drives revenue growth and return on investment. If you've decided to invest in inbound marketing, lead generation is the currency of success. Inbound lead generation is not just a measure of quantity; if the leads your generate never buy anything, what's the point? In the article below, I'll share 3 surefire tactics to help you generate more high-quality leads.

Before moving to the the tips, let's take a look at the mechanics of an inbound marketing lead generation conversion path. Let's say somebody does a Google search for social media for small business. They find a blog article you wrote and click through to your site. What are the steps they need to take to become a lead for you?

  1. Call-to-Action. A call-to-action is the first element of your conversion path. It asks your prospects to click-through to your landing page.
  2. Landing Page. The landing page is where the lead conversion takes place. Your prospect exchanges contact information on other data you ask for in exchange for a premium content offer like an eBook, webinar or whitepaper.
  3. Thank-You Page. The thank-you page is where you deliver the goods. Your newly gained lead now can access their eBook or view their webinar.

Here's a graphical depiction of the the lead generation conversion path courtesy of HubSpot.

Lead_Generation_process

Let's get to  the tips!

1. Develop content offers targeted to your ideal customer profiles

Buyers are conducting increasingly more pre-purchase research, according to Google's Zero Moment of Truth Study. Most potential buyers end up on your website as a consequence of their research. They conduct search engine queries to get answers to the questions they have and to learn more about the problems they're facing. Most growth-oriented companies know who their best customers are and have developed profiles of their ideal customers.

By producing content that gives your ideal customer the information that they're seeking, you'll improve both the quantity and quality of your lead generation efforts. A good way to learn what your prospects are looking for is to look to your current customers. Talk to your customers and account managers to find out common questions and problems they're facing. This will guide your content creation efforts to produce what people are looking for.

2. Be consistent throughout your conversion path

One of the fundamental principles of conversion path optimization is consistency. If you write a blog article about the problems your process management software solves, include a call-to-action about a premium content offer that goes deeper into those problems. Don't offer prospects an unrelated content offer!

Make sure your your call-to-action is consistent with your landing page. A good rule to follow is to use the language on your call-to-action in the headline of your landing page. Images and other elements should also be consistent from the call-to-action to the landing page. If your call-to-action talks about process management issues, don't talk about predictive analytics on your landing page! When there are inconsistencies in your conversion path, the end result will be prospects bouncing off of your site. Bye-bye, lead.

3. Use call-to-actions that encourage prospects to click-through

Inbound marketing agency Impact Branding & Design has produced some interesting research on calls-to-action that convert. Here are some of their findings:

  • The best placement for calls-to-action is below a blog post. Calls-to-action placed below blog posts had a 3.2% click-through rate and a 62.1% conversion ratio. By contrast, banner calls-to-action at the top of website pages had a 0.6% click-through rate and a 40.4% conversion ratio.
  • Images are effective in calls-to-actions. Image-based calls-to-action had an 8.4% click-through rate while calls-to-action with a rendering of the eBook offered had a 3.6% click-through rate. 
  • Non-brand colors (4.1% click-through rate) used in CTAs are more effective than brand colors (2.1% click-through rate). This is likely because the eye is drawn to the non-brand colors.

Experiment with your calls-to-action to find out what works best for you.

Summary

If you're doing inbound marketing, the first measure of success is quality lead generation. Use the tips above as a starting point to find out what works best for your business.  Your marketing analytics will tell you what's working and what isn't. Use a continual optimization process to maximize both the quality and quantity of your leads.

The Ultimate Guide To Optimizing Landing Pages

Topics: Inbound Marketing

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