7 Tips to Generating Leads

You�d love to close a deal.  But sometimes you�d be plenty happy just to generate a lead, right?  You�d like your visitor to fill in a contact form, download a white paper or a demo program, register, opt in to your newsletter or your email list, forward something of yours to a friend.  You�d like this because you�re hoping while your visitor might not be ready for you today, she may well be interested in you tomorrow.  And you�d like the opportunity to initiate and sustain further contact.

It doesn�t matter if the sole purpose of your site is to generate a lead, or if lead-generation is just one piece of your marketing strategy pie.   Generating a lead is always about communicating the value of doing business with you. 

We�ve talked before about marketing strategies that can help you generate new leads.  Now I�d like to take a broader view and look at how the design, architecture and content of your Web site can motivate lead generation.  Can you convince your visitors of your value to them so they give something of value to you?  Here are some ideas that will help.

The message must be meat.  The most important thing to focus on is identifying what really matters to your visitors.  What motivates them to seek you out?  What problems are you solving for them?  What friction points are you reducing for them?  Identify the benefits that you and your products or services confer.  Find your visitor�s buttons, then push �em by serving up a message of nice juicy meat!

No jargon.  Unless you�re marketing to a select audience that absolutely requires you to communicate your credibility through insider-speak � jargon � stay away from the stuff.  Jargon tends to convince folks you aren�t really interested in talking to them, so they�re far less likely to give you the chance to talk to them in the future.   If you have to include specific terminology, make it available, but give it a lower profile � those who want to know if you can really talk the talk will look to find it.  If you�re not sure how folks talk or think about your products or services, do some online consumer group research.

Less We-we-ing.  It�s not about you!  Consider that a shout.  Brilliant though you and your business may be, focus on your visitors.  Let them know you understand their needs and what matters to them.  Put them center stage.  Want a thumbnail picture of how customer-focused the language on your site is?  Try our We-We Monitor!  (It�s free.)

Keep things need-to-know.  As need-to-know as possible.  You might want to get information that includes everything from name to shoe size, and you can certainly ask for it.  But the more information you ask for, the less likely folks are to give it to you.  Conversion rates are generally proportional to the amount of information you request, and this is especially true for lead generating conversions.  Lead generation is about an exchange of value � your visitor gets something of value from you in exchange for their information.  And what they have to provide should not be one iota more than they perceive to be necessary!  If you want more information, you�ve got to provide more value appropriate to the request.  You want my shoe size for your newsletter?  Offer me a free pair of socks after I�ve received your newsletter. 

Help them see it.  No two ways about it, if your visitors can�t make visual heads or tails of your content quickly, they aren�t going to stick around, and you won�t generate a lead.  Layout matters.  Evaluate the scannability of your text and use the principles of eye-tracking to encourage your visitors to engage with your site.

Qualify.  We�ve talked a lot about the importance of helping your visitors qualify their needs so they can find what they are looking for and get to it quickly.  It�s a process that needs to begin on the home page.  But not all your visitors know exactly what they want.  Some may not even be in a buying mood.  That doesn�t mean they won�t buy from you.   An exceptional qualification scheme is critical to getting a customer � it�s just as critical to generating a lead.  Let them know who you are, what you do and what you have to offer, and you are more likely to persuade them to become a lead.

Test, measure and optimize.  A big part of improving your lead generation lies in evaluating what you�ve done so you can figure out how to do it better.  The web analytics you want to consider for lead generation include:

• Measure your responses � how many folks downloaded your white paper or subscribed to your newsletter or opted in to your email list?
• Measure time spent on the site � how long are visitors sticking around?
• Measure reject rates, especially on your contact pages � where are folks bailing out on your site?  Are you losing visitors just when you think you have them?
• Measure your leads-to-close ratio � is there a connect between perception and satisfaction?

This is what it really comes down to:  speak to the dog, in the language of the dog, about what matters to the heart of the dog.  Make this the centerpiece of your Web site�s conversion philosophy and watch those leads roll in!