{"id":1351,"date":"2014-01-09T23:36:10","date_gmt":"2014-01-09T23:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.qualaroo.com\/?p=1351"},"modified":"2024-12-17T06:31:54","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T06:31:54","slug":"5-reasons-your-lead-gen-efforts-may-be-missing-the-mark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web-staging.qualaroo.com\/blog\/5-reasons-your-lead-gen-efforts-may-be-missing-the-mark\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Reasons Your Lead Gen Efforts May Be Missing the Mark"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve talked a lot about the benefits of Conversion Rate Optimization. As a business practice, CRO does a remarkable job of improving Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for an array of website metrics across all types of businesses. But today, we want to talk about one kind of conversion in particular\u2014leads<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"missing-the-mark-2\"<\/p>\n

Conversion Rate Optimization<\/a> is essential for B2B businesses who need to develop and nurture leads as part of their sales process. By implementing a systematized approach to optimization, every lead-generating channel performs better and becomes more cost effective over time.<\/p>\n

On the surface, the conversion you\u2019re looking to optimize is pretty straightforward\u2014visitors filling out your lead form and clicking that submit button to send their details on to your team.<\/p>\n

But what if visitors are leaving before they fill out your lead gen form?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a handful of mistakes you should avoid when building your conversion rate optimization plan in order to lower your bounce and exit rates and generate more website leads for your business.<\/p>\n

1. You\u2019re optimizing for leads, not potential customers.<\/h3>\n

In other words, you\u2019re worried more about surface level conversions that how a visitor who completes a lead form correlates to becoming a customer. First, focus on the complete conversion, from visit, to lead, to trial, and finally purchase.<\/p>\n

In order to do this you\u2019ll want to be able to track your entire funnel from the source of the incoming click (such as ad copy, public relations, a webinar, etc.), the landing page and conversion path they came through, and ultimately the conversion to a customer. You can do this with analytics packages like KISSMetrics<\/a>, Mixpanel<\/a> and others.<\/p>\n

When you optimize for potential customers, you focus your optimization efforts on what really matters. You make your sales team more efficient, improve the quality of your best performing leads, and reduce wasted money on campaigns that have good surface level metrics, but rarely convert to paying customers.<\/p>\n

2. Your call to action is too vague.<\/h3>\n

What do you really want users to do once they hit your page? While \u201cSubmit\u201d might be the technical thing visitors are doing with the form, it\u2019s likely there\u2019s something else they\u2019re trying to accomplish. So that little word, \u201csubmit\u201d might be hurting your conversions.<\/p>\n

Quicksprout<\/a> found that buttons labeled \u201cSubmit\u201d saw a nearly 3% decrease in conversion. Use more descriptive buttons that align with what the visitor is actually trying to accomplish, and reduce fear about committing to something unknown. CrazyEgg has more great tips on writing effective calls to action<\/a>.<\/p>\n

3. You\u2019re asking for too much.<\/h3>\n

When collecting visitor information, Unbounce<\/a> recommends using between 3 and 5 fields on your forms. If your lead gen form has substantially more, start by eliminating fields that ask for \u201cNice-to-Know\u201d (as opposed to \u201cNeed-to-Know\u201d) information.<\/p>\n

You want to balance out the amount of information collected between your goals of getting more qualified leads over just more leads in general. Depending on your business model and offering, you may find that fewer fields increase page-level conversion but bog down the sales pipeline with unqualified leads.<\/p>\n

As with everything here, you\u2019ll want to develop a systematic plan to test your hypotheses.<\/p>\n

4. You haven\u2019t earned their trust.<\/h3>\n

Trust seals can go a long way toward making visitors feel comfortable with handing over their information. But, as KISSMetrics<\/a> points out, just be sure your trust seals actually mean something. When OrientalFurniture.com added the BuySafe guarantee\u2014which protects against identity theft and guarantees delivery up to $500\u2014visitors were 7.6% more likely to buy.<\/p>\n

These types of endorsements come in more than one flavor. Even if you don\u2019t have certifications that apply to your business, you can use third party validation to build trust. Logos of well known customers, reputable media outlets, and reviews can all build social proof to improve conversion.<\/p>\n

5. You\u2019re blindly following \u201cbest practices.\u201d<\/h3>\n

This last one might seem a little contradictory considering we\u2019ve giving you what might be considered a list of best practices to follow, but the most important thing to remember in your CRO efforts is to test, test, and test again.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t take anything for granted. Every business and audience is different. And what works for one person might actually hurt you. Sometimes, adding third party endorsements can actually hurt conversions. Similarly, trying to pack every conversion tactic onto a single landing page to in order to conform to the \u201cabove the fold\u201d or \u201cthree click\u201d rule, you might just be doing more harm than good.<\/p>\n

The key to successful lead gen is to have a solid CRO strategy. Rather than changing random elements based on current best practices, it\u2019s critical you gather data about your site, form hypotheses based on that data, and then build a plan that attempts to prove or disprove those hypotheses.<\/p>\n

Make CRO Work for You<\/h3>\n

With a CRO strategy in place, you\u2019ll be able to test assumptions one by one to evaluate what\u2019s working well and what could be working better.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like an overview of the conversion rate optimization basics, read our free CRO Guide<\/a>. You\u2019ll learn which metrics to keep an eye on, how to design a CRO plan that\u2019s right for your business, and which tools you need to get the job done.<\/p>\n

And if you already have a CRO plan in place but want to uncover new insights to improve performance, try Qualaroo free for two weeks<\/a>. From uncovering pinch points in your conversion funnel to identifying hidden objections, Qualaroo is one of the hardest working tools in your CRO toolbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tThese 5 mistakes might be hurting your lead gen efforts. Fix your conversion rate optimization strategy and improve your lead quality and volume.\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-1351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-conversion-rate-optimization"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web-staging.qualaroo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web-staging.qualaroo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web-staging.qualaroo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web-staging.qualaroo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web-staging.qualaroo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1351"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/web-staging.qualaroo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20534,"href":"https:\/\/web-staging.qualaroo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1351\/revisions\/20534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web-staging.qualaroo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web-staging.qualaroo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web-staging.qualaroo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}