Inbound marketing

Lead Generation: Lead generating forms

This is the final blog in our mini-series covering the four-key mechanics for inbound lead generation to help gather quality leads.

In our previous blogs we’ve talked about creating compelling offers,  engaging calls-to-action and landing pages.

Forms that convert to quality leads

Your lead capture form is what your web visitor will find when they have clicked on your offer and ended up on your landing page (take a look at our previous lead generation blogs to understand the set up of your landing page and offers).

This is the key part of a successful lead generation campaign as the form converts your prospect to a lead.

A form enables a web visitor to sign up to offers such as to receive a regular e-newsletter or download an eBook.

What to include on your form

As there is no set rule in what detail you should include on your form, it’s always useful to test it out.

Building your email database is crucial for a successful inbound marketing campaign. The less fields to complete on a form the more likely it is that someone will complete it with information such as name and email address. This is useful for ongoing email marketing campaigns you run.

However, the more fields you have to complete may mean you get a better-quality lead, but it may also put people off.

It should also be clear and not take time to complete.

Even its appearance can impact whether someone completes a form or not. So cutting down space so that a form looks more compact can really help improve engagement.

So, test it out, and find out what works for you.

Calls-to-action

When it comes to the call-to-action button you are asking people to click on to send you their details, have a think about what you are asking them to do. Be specific.

So, if they are handing their details over for an eBook, then say something like ‘Download your free eBook’.

It’s useful if the button stands out on the web page with a contrasting bold colour.

Find out more about Call-to-actions.

Be compliant

You want to build a database of quality leads. Therefore your communication must be transparent to gain your prospects trust. So add a link to your privacy policy. Also testimonials from customers help to reassure people.

Ultimately you need to ensure that you are GDPR compliant which is a stringent privacy and security law for any company that processes personal data.

The four mechanics for inbound marketing lead generation

The four key mechanics for inbound lead generation include:

1.   Offers: including books, whitepapers, free consultations, coupons and product demonstrations.

2.   Calls-to-action (CTA): bold text, an image or a button that links directly to a landing page so website visitors can download your offer.

3.   Landing page: A specific page with information about a particular offer, and a form to download that offer.

4.   Form: To collect contact information from a website visitor in exchange for the offer.

Digital marketing agency for lead generation

We can help formulate your inbound marketing strategies using a range of marketing services to target prospects and customers including refreshed web design, search engine optimisation (SEO services), content marketing such as blog posts, social media marketing, email marketing, and Pay Per Click (PPC). 

Digital marketing Croydon, London.

Inbound marketing

Lead Generation: Landing pages

This is the third blog in our mini-series which looks at the four-key mechanics for inbound lead generation to help gather quality leads.

Previously we’ve talked about creating compelling offers and engaging calls-to-action. Here we will take a closer look at landing pages that convert to leads.

What are landing pages?

A landing page is a specific web page for targeted marketing campaigns in which website visitors are directed to. As content on this page is relevant to the offer that has interested the website visitor in the first place it’s an effective way of capturing leads.

Landing page set up

A good landing page will include a clear headline and brief description of the offer (see our blog on creating compelling offers for more on this topic). You should have a relevant image and perhaps a bullet point summary.

What’s vital though is the inclusion of a form for your website visitor to complete. This will capture the information to convert your web visitors into leads.

We find that removing the main navigation bar on a landing page will help with conversions because there are fewer links for the visitor to click on to move away from your page.

Your content on the landing page should be consistent to the details of the call-to-action that people clicked on in the first place. Ideally your headlines should be the same.

These marketing campaigns are also about building brand trust so that’s where the consistency of messaging helps and people become familiar with your offers. It means they know what they see on an offer shared on social media, via an email marketing campaign or paid search ad, they know what to expect.

Be clear that your web visitor knows what will happen when they enter their details. So, if it’s to download an eBook with 30 inbound marketing tips, say that on your landing page.

Web design

Whilst it’s important to have the right messaging, it’s also key to include space on the page.

We often talk about being image led and concise messaging for web design, so follow these guidelines for your landing page too. Ensure that it has the same look and feel to the rest of your website to again build that brand trust.

Be social

Your landing page should also make it easy for web visitors to share your offers. So whatever social channels you are on, add the ability for potential customers to share the details to help extend reach.

The four mechanics for inbound marketing lead generation

The four key mechanics for inbound lead generation include:

  1. Offers: including books, whitepapers, free consultations, coupons and product demonstrations.
  2. Call-to-action (CTA): bold text, an image or a button that links directly to a landing page so website visitors can download your offer.
  3. Landing page: A specific page with information about a particular offer, and a form to download that offer.
  4. Form: To collect contact information from a website visitor in exchange for the offer.

Digital marketing agency for lead generation

Our next blog in our lead generation mini-series will be focussed on the details you need for a great form that converts leads. These will help you form part of your inbound marketing strategy and digital marketing plan to help grow your business.

As an inbound marketing agency we can help formulate your inbound strategies using a range of marketing services including refreshed web design, search engine optimisation (SEO services), content marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, and Pay Per Click (PPC). 

Digital marketing Croydon, London.

Inbound marketing

Lead Generation: Creating compelling offers

Generating leads – both high in quantity and quality – is a key objective for a marketing campaign. There can be a lot of components for any lead generation campaign.

Here are four key mechanics for inbound lead generation:

  1. Offers: such as books, whitepapers, free consultations, coupons and product demonstrations.
  2. Call-to-action (CTA): bold text, an image or a button that links directly to a landing page so website visitors can download your offer.
  3. Landing page: A specific page with information about a particular offer, and a form to download that offer.
  4. Form: To collect contact information from a website visitor in exchange for the offer.

Creating your offer

In this blog we will cover the first stage of your lead generation campaign – creating the all important offer.

With your offer you want to create an air of exclusivity so that you can generate demand. An offer may be an ebook, video, research, whitepaper, free demonstrations, memberships, discounts, blog posts.

You need engaging offers because if you are asking a website visitor to part with their contact details, then it needs to be deemed of high enough value for them to do so.

Tactics that place a time limit can help encourage take up such as:

  • Limited time offers
  • Limited quantity offers
  • Or a combination of the above

Engaging offers

Encouraging a website visitor to sign up could take the form of saying how many people have already signed up to your newsletter or event.

To test how successful your offer is you could conduct an AVB test on the title of your ebook for instance. Send out email marketing to your database and see which is the most susccessul.

Different stages of the customer journey

Remember that even the phrase ‘contact us’ on your website is an offer. However, there are various stages of the sales journey and ‘contact us’ is for those way down the line. Prospects who already know you and may already be customers.

Many customers will conduct research first before purchase. So a constant feed of educational blogs, social posts and email marketing will get your brand messaging out there. Therefore these prospoects are more likely to be interested in downloading an ebook.

And, for those already aware of your products and services, then booking a demo would be more targeted for them.

So, making sure you cover each stage of the customer journey on your website with relevant offers will help you capture leads at the time suited for them.

The offers that generate leads

Here’s the type of offers, in order of performance, that generate leads. It’s important to test different types of offers with your audience to determine what works for you.

  • Ebooks or Guides
  • Templates or Presentations
  • Research & Reports • Whitepapers
  • Kits / Multiple offers
  • Live Webinars
  • On-demand Videos
  •  Blog including offers in sidebar
  • Blog posts with a CTA 

Inbound marketing Croydon

As a full service digital marketing agency in Croydon, we’re well placed to offer inbound marketing for accountants and local businesses. We also offer advice to help increase online presence with search engine optimisation (SEO) and targeted lead generation campaigns.

Inbound marketing writing content on laptop

Why more businesses are turning to inbound marketing

Inbound marketing is a marketing strategy that more and more businesses are turning to for qualified leads. Here we look at why and how inbound marketing can help your business become a lead generation magnet.  

Inbound marketing is targeted 

Using inbound marketing as part of a business growth strategy ensures a much more targeted campaign which hits prospects and qualified leads at the right time. Whether that’s through your email inbox, social media feed or search engines. As such inbound marketing is about engaging and growing brand awareness and trust with qualified leads – a person who could become a customer.  

Inbound marketing is less intrusive than the traditional marketing approach or outbound marketing which is based more around activities such as cold calling, telemarketing or perhaps taking an exhibition stand at a trade show. As technology gets superior, so to do the methods of how we can shield ourselves from receiving unwanted calls or emails.  

Inspire and engage your target audience  

Inbound marketing is all about creating inspirational content that will attract customers to your business. It’s about creating solutions to problems that your target audience is facing and providing relevant information that will be of interest. This gives you the opportunity to engage further.  

That’s why we’re seeing a shift to inbound marketing tactics as businesses see the benefits of this more sensitive and tailored approach.  

People sign up to newsletters and follow businesses on social media therefore they are already saying that they want to hear more. This is why it’s vital to keep content relevant so that you can continue to engage. 

Why spend an exhaustive amount of time speaking to people who are uninterested in your products or services, when you could spend time building on awareness of your brand through blog content, social media and targeted email marketing campaigns

Ongoing engagement with your audience in a way that they want to hear from you shows you are interested in them. This constant drip feed of relevant content helps position you as a thought leader and makes for a personalised experience. It shows that you understand their business needs and in turns helps you to generate more qualified leads.  

Lead nurturing and lead conversion  

Creating regular, quality content for your target audience is part of lead nurturing which is essential as a sales journey is very rarely a one-stop shop. These potential clients and your existing customers will all be aware of your competition, researched your services and looked at online reviews long before they start speaking to you. Therefore, your continuous content marketing with targeted, tailored messaging will place you as an authority in your field placing you in front of your ideal clients and so helping towards lead conversion.  

Inbound marketing agency Croydon  

Talk to us about becoming a lead generation magnet and using an inbound marketing strategy to gain qualified leads. As an inbound marketing agency in Surrey, we work with a wide range of local companies including professional services firms including accountancy firms providing inbound marketing for accountants. 

Book a free consultation to chat with our digital marketing team and we can create a tailored plan in line with your business development needs.