Guide to Online Lead Generation

If your company has a website, are you taking advantage of online lead generation? For those of you that aren’t, it’s one of the easiest ways to grow your client list. And if you don’t think the effort is worth the results, then you’re probably doing it wrong. The key is simply optimizing the design of your website to encourage visitors to leave some information. Since they’ve found their way to your site, odds are they’re already interested in what your business offers. So don’t leave them hanging!

So HOW do you get these potential customers to leave their coveted info? It’s actually easier than you think. Motivation and reassurance go a long way when convincing a person to provide their email address. What does that mean? Provide them with an enticing offer and make it clear you won’t be spamming their inboxes.

Doing all of this is great, but one of the most important aspects is placement. If your prospective clients can’t quickly find where to leave their info, they most likely won’t. But this also includes a fine balance of how much you request throughout the process. 

A large part of what goes into creating a successful online lead generation campaign is simply understanding the psychology of your customer. Don’t worry, it’s not as difficult as it sounds. Our in-depth guide has everything you need to get started and we’re always available for a consultation if you need some hands-on assistance. 

Best Online Lead Generation Methods for Your Website 

You may be already thinking about how to personally apply a revamped lead generation strategy to your website. Great! There are a handful of ways to quickly improve conversion (in this case a completed email capture form) that we find work. Here are some creative ways to consider and always be thinking about the mindset of your audience when making any decisions. 

Form – We’re talking about the most basic way to capture leads, just a field to enter an email address and a submit button. 

Pop-up – This is a bit more in your face, as they often appear and take up a portion of your screen, and sometimes the entire screen (especially on mobile). 

Discount – If you’re able to offer one, a coupon code is a great way to entice an email capture or sale. And it’s even more effective if you mention that it’s only for a limited time. 

In-Depth Content – Think along the lines of a case study or detailed guide, something that you can email to them in .PDF format. 

Contest – Plain and simple – people love to win stuff. With offering a contest, they’re much more likely to leave some information with a chance to get a “prize” back. 

Service – Provide a service and require an email address to have the results sent over once the service is completed. 

Quiz – Not only will you get an email from the prospective client, but you’ll learn some information about the customer and their needs. 

Free Trial – People love free stuff and will get started at no cost; you just need to prove to them why they can’t live without your product/service before the trial expires. 

This is by no means a definitive list; you may find other methods that work best for your specific industry. 

Call to Action 

Throughout the day, people are constantly bombarded with advertising in some form or another, so your call to action needs to STAND OUT.  The text aspect needs to be concise while remaining effective. What does that mean? Let’s use an eCommerce example and think about a button enticing a customer to visit their site and order.

I would use SHOP NOW as the call to action. The word “shop” comes off as more of a customer-focused experience whereas something like “buy” has more of a pushy feel to it. This goes back to my statement about customer psychology and providing what they want. 

Text is only part of it, your CTA needs to be visually appealing. You’re vying for customers’ attention over a lot of competitors, so it needs to captivate. I’m not saying you’ve got to show the next Mona Lisa or anything, just know that any imagery needs to POP! 

Motivation to Provide Information 

Along with crafting an effective CTA, you’ll want to determine what you’re offering the prospect for providing their information. Whatever it may be, just remember that it’s always about the customer. They did just expose themselves to potential marketing from you after all. 

Going the discount route gives them clear value, they’re going to save money on your services/products now. Providing an in-depth piece of content shows that you’re a reliable source for information and people remember that. As I’ve been belaboring throughout this article, put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Think about what can really benefit the customer and then give ’em something to talk about!

Placement of CTAs to Collect Leads On Your Website 

Where you place the CTAs on your website is important to their effectiveness. Along with the location, how much information is being requested is something to be mindful of. It may not always be the same amount depending on the CTA position. 

For example, it’s smart to think of it as a “reverse funnel” starting with as little information as possible, expanding the further into the website the visitor makes it. Obviously, they’re interested if they’ve been on-site for more than a couple of pages, so we would take the following approach. 

Single Item – Very visible somewhere near top of every page, you’re only asking for one piece of information here (email address) so it’s easy for them to do. 

Additional Info – This would be located further down the homepage, here is where you start to ask more questions to further define what the customer wants. If they’ve made it this far down, time to get a little more personal.

Full Contact – Maybe a pop-up triggered after X amount of time, but certainly on the contact page. This is where you go for the whole shebang, all the information necessary to close a deal. When a prospect is seeking out contact information, that could be a red-hot lead. 

Put some thought into the placement of CTAs on your website to maximize their potential for online lead generation. 

Follow Through – Make Good on Offer 

There is no real reward for your lead if you don’t make good on your offer. So just like a great basketball player, you must follow through. This is the opportunity to prove the value of your company and turn a potential into a life-timer. 

For situations where you’re providing a detailed resource, consider setting up email automation so they receive it almost the moment they sign up. This concept could also work for issuing a discount code. It’s all up to how you want to represent your company. 

All of this may feel overwhelming if you’re focused on the day-to-day operation of your business. Contact Celador Media to start generating more leads online, we’re talking Glengarry level.