6 ways to boost conversion rate...2020/03/06 · phrase or design your calls-to-action can have on...

6 WAYS TO BOOST CONVERSION RATE AND GET MORE LEADS FAST

Time-sensitive briefing

In these crazy days, many organizations are struggling to meet their marketing

and sales objectives for leads, sales, and revenue.

With much of the economy slowing to a crawl, it’s even more important to

maximize conversion rate and lead capture among the reduced number of

interested potential customers.

In addition to creating more content (like webinars and virtual events) and

repurposing existing content, it’s very useful at this time to lean in to conversion

rate optimization and overall digital lead generation best practices.

Our team at Convince & Convert does a lot of this type of analysis and counsel,

so we put together this guide featuring 6 things you should consider to help

your lead generation numbers right away.

If you have any questions or need any help, please do let us know. The mission

of our organization - now more than ever - is to make sure you get through this

and succeed. If we all work together, we figure we’ll succeed as well.

Here’s to your success. Stay well!

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WE MADE THIS FOR YOU

Jay Baer, founder

ConvinceAndConvert.com/Contact [email protected]

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THE LEAD GENERATION QUESTION

It’s likely true that you have – at least temporarily – fewer potential customers. It’s certainly true for our company.

But that just means you need to double down on your efforts to make it EASY for interested prospects to get information, and to communicate with you. That means removing friction from lead generation efforts.

Here are 6 ways to do so.


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1. PROVIDE NEW, INDIRECT LEAD OPTIONS

Typically, we try to protect the sales team’s capacity with obstacles in the lead gen process, by capturing more detailed data in forms, making sure prospects are highly qualified, etc.

But the lead river is drying up. Now, you need to give prospects the option to indicate their interest earlier in the funnel, and with less-detailed buying behaviors. You need to embrace gathering top-funnel leads based on information, rather than relying solely on mid-funnel leads based on demonstrated interest.

This means using chunky content as a mechanism for capturing prospect information. Launch new ebooks, webinars, and virtual events. Build a new email training course. Give prospects real VALUE with quality content in exchange for their information. Some of them will end up being customers eventually.


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2. EXPLAIN BENEFITS BETTER

Prospects do not want to sign up for something right now, hope that it’s good, and then be besieged by lame follow-up emails from marketing and sales teams.

More than ever, you must merchandise the benefits on all of your lead capture mechanisms. If you have an email update sign-up, explain EXACTLY what the subscriber will receive and when. Why do they want to get an email from you? (show them a sample issue too).

Same thing with webinars, virtual events, ebooks, videos, and more. Spend far more time than usual on titles, descriptions, benefits, and takeaways.

Your prospect's nerves are raw. They have limited time and even less patience. Go out of your way to explain the why behind why you deserve some of their attention.


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3. RELENTLESSLY TEST CALLS-TO-ACTION

On a related matter, it’s remarkable how much impact even just a small change in how you phrase or design your calls-to-action can have on overall lead gen and conversion rate.

Color. Placement. Font. Word choice. All of these (and many more) can be the difference between adequate and excellent lead flow.

When we’re flying high, the leads seem to appear automagically. Now, we have to work a lot harder. This is the time to commit to rigorous and routine testing and optimization to determine not just what CAN work for your organization in terms of calls-to-action, but instead, what is mathematically proven to work BEST.


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4. AUDIT AND IMPROVE WEBSITE UI/UX

When people want to buy badly enough, they’ll tolerate mediocre user experiences on a website. They’ll train themselves to successfully go spelunking through 41 different navigation options to find just what they need.

These are not those times.

For now, customers need what they need, and they need it in a hurry and with a minimum of hassle and friction.

This is the perfect opportunity to thoroughly examine the ease-of-use of all your digital properties and consider overhauling your way-finding, user interfaces, and overall user experience. We just launched a new navigation and a new homepage ourselves.


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5. ADD SOCIAL PROOF AND TRUST

It’s true that for years the trend has been that we trust real people more, and we trust companies and organizations less. That gap is almost certainly going to grow in the next 6-12 months.

More than ever, it is imperative that your prospective customers see evidence that other real people just like them also buy from, support, and love your company. This means reworking your landing pages, website, and forms to include more social proof, and related trust-building assets like reviews, video testimonials, and new customer counts.

For a while, at least, people are less likely to believe you’re the right answer unless human beings verify that’s the case. Make that psychological satisfaction easier to attain.


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6. USE INFLUENCERS FOR TRUST/TRAFFIC

How can you get more people into the top of the funnel?

For the same reasons mentioned previously about trust in people vs. trust in organizations, THIS is the time to embrace influencer marketing if you have not yet, especially for B2B.

In the first two weeks in March, clicks on links in Instagram posts that include #ad went up 76% compared to the prior month. Consumers of all stripes are turning to influencers for their guidance and counsel during this uncertain period. This can benefit you.

Identify relevant influencers in your category and work with them to co-create content your prospects will love. Use those programs to create new traffic and leads. We can help here, as we design and manage many B2B influencer programs for our clients.


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HANG IN THERE

We know things are crazy right now, and yet you may still be accountable for the marketing performance metrics you committed to at the beginning of the year.

It’s not impossible. It’s not hopeless. We all just need to think differently and turn over some investigatory and tactical rocks we’ve ignored for a long time. If you have questions, or if we can help in any way, let us know.

6 ways to boost conversion rate...2020/03/06 · phrase or design your calls-to-action can have on...

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