Once you have a healthy flow of traffic to your website, your next step is to generate leads to fill your sales pipeline. In the internet marketing process, a website visitor becomes a lead by exchanging contact information (usually an email address) for a premium content offer like an eBook, whitepaper or video. Here is a graphical depiction of the lead generation process.
As you can see, the landing page is the last (and arguably most important) step a visitor must take before becoming a lead. In this article, I will share some tips on creating landing pages to optimize your lead generation results. You will note that I used the word "optimize" rather than "maximize." The reality of internet marketing is that many of the visitors that download your content will never buy from your company. They could be students, employees without buying authority in their companies or even competitors. There's nothing wrong with that; if they share your content through social media, you will reap SEO benefits and perhaps one of their connection will become a customer. With that said, your goal is to generate leads that will potentially buy from your company. Here are some ways to optimize inbound lead generation.
A conversion path is the series of steps a prospective buyer takes to become a lead for your company. Here is a sample conversion path:
It's important that every step of the conversion path is consistent and logically connected to the preceding step. It's very important that your landing page be consistent with the call-to-action. If the images and copy on the landing page is inconsistent with the previous steps, your visitor will likely bounce off your landing page without completing the contact form. Make sure your landing page delivers on the promises made in your conversion path.
Every time a prospect interacts with a potential seller, they ask this question: "What's in it for me?" Make sure your landing page answers that question clearly and concisely. Include a headline on your landing page that tells your prospect what's in it for them and encourages them to read further. Use bullet points and simple sentences in the body of your landing page to detail the benefits of your offer and provide direction on how to get it. In short, your landing page needs to quickly give the visitor a reason to complete the form and hit the download button.
In designing your landing page, don't include any elements that distract from the goal of the prospect converting by completing the landing page form. Here are some best practices.
As a rule of thumb, don't include any elements on your landing page that don't contribute to convincing the prospect to give you their contact information to access your content offer.
Including social sharing buttons on your landing pages is a great way to expand your reach. After all, a social share from a third party is the best social proof around that your content is worth downloading. Most internet marketing software like HubSpot makes it easy to include social sharing buttons on your landing pages. It's also a good idea to include social sharing buttons on your thank-you page. A thank-you page is what your prospect sees after completing your form and includes access to the content. Include social sharing buttons on your thank-you pages, but make sure they point to your landing pages! If they point to your thank-you page, the recipient will be able to download your content without providing contact information.
It's absolutely imperative to measure the performance of your landing pages! Most internet marketing software provides customized analytics for landing pages; Google Analytics let's you measure conversion paths. Take advantage of the analytics and:
Landing pages are the last and most important elements of your inbound lead conversion paths. They are the last step a prospect must take before they become a lead that can be nurtured and developed in your sales process. By developing consistent conversion paths andconcise landing pages that tell the prospect what's in it for them, you will fill your pipeline with prospects to be moved down your sales funnel. Make your landing pages sharable and measure them to drive business results. Need help with your landing pages? Contact us.