There’s a reason why seasoned veterans in the world of B2B lead generation are always esteemed in a way newbies will never achieve despite being impregnated with all the necessary textbook knowledge.
That reason is wisdom – which can only be gained through experience. Lots of it.
Heed these pieces of advice from Chris Fell, Managing Director and Founder of a leading Australian inbound marketing agency. These are the things that would surely put a unpleasant end to your online lead generation campaigns:
Bad timing
People hate feeling pressured into anything – especially buying, so don’t push the sale too soon. Also make sure that your offers, CTAs, and content are targeted to answer your buyer’s needs at different stages of the sales funnel, otherwise you can be sure that you’ve lost them. Instead, match your content and offer to the right stage of the buyer’s journey.
Landing page link overload
To marketers, landing pages’ sole purpose is to convert visitors into leads. If you have enough links on a landing page to distract or confuse a visitor, it may cause them to stray from the page and abandon the offer completely. Avoid this by creating a streamlined conversion process by removing surrounding navigation. Yes, that means your menu header too!
Unclear CTAs (calls to action)
People have a short attention span. Coupled with the inherent laziness that comes with internet browsing, you risk your visitors thinking, “well I guess there’s nothing left to do here” and they drop off your site. Make sure each web page has a CTA, and definitely each blog post.
Too many hoops to jump through
Avoid tediously long forms. The longer the form is, the more it will cause your visitors to question if your offer’s really worth it.
Language is all about you
Instead of having language which is centredaround your company’s products or services (“choose us, we’re better than the next guy because of features blah, blah, and blah!”), address your buyers’ problems or challenges. Put yourself in their shoes and genuinely try to help them solve their problem instead of self-promoting.
Ignoring analytics
If you don’t know your funnel maths or how long it takes people to move from stage to stage, then how can you determine what’s working and what isn’t? Have a good, hard look at your analytics so you better understand how to nurture your leads.
No recycling tactic
When someone leaks from your funnel and they’re not ready to buy just yet, have a tactic to stay in touch with them until they are ready to. One of the most effective tactics to recycle leas that have leaked is blogging.
