- Offer free, informative content that creates value and educates your target audience
Your website should be used to host valuable educational materials for your prospects. Your website visitors should be able to instantly access interesting content that highlights how your company meets their most pertinent needs. This is best accomplished through content marketing. Rather than selling to your prospects, create value by providing relatable information which, in turn, will enhance lead conversion rates. Examples of content types you could feature on your website include case studies, white papers, e-books, presentations, on-demand videos, and live webinars.
- A variety of lead generation sources exist that can drive traffic to your website
Content marketing pieces can then be pushed out via channels such as social media platforms, email nurturing programs, pay-per-click advertising campaigns, and sponsored digital trade publications to generate high-quality leads. Additionally, you can optimize content marketing materials by including applicable keywords within marketing pieces as well as in the uploading tags to help boost organic search result traffic. Be sure to consistently disperse your company’s content by creating an editorial calendar in advance to provide a continuous flow of new information to your target audience.
- Develop optimally designed, simplistic landing pages that feature gated marketing content
When a prospect clicks a call-to-action (CTA), he or she should end up on a dedicated landing page. This page should contain an offer to download a piece of marketing content (i.e. case studies, white papers). These individual landing pages should be optimized for relevant keywords for SEO purposes to improve organic traffic for a highly targeted, relevant audience.
When designing landing pages that host gated marketing materials, it is important to keep the most vital information “above the fold” which means that it appears at the top of the page and the viewer does not need to scroll down to see it. View some great examples of websites optimizing above-the-fold efforts here.
The information appearing on landing pages should be minimal to avoid unnecessary distractions. This page should include a headline, sub-headline, brief description of the free content, a graphic, and a short lead capture form. Bullet points should be used to highlight the main features or benefits of the complimentary content piece being offered to incentivize the individual to fill out the form with his or her basic contact information. Additionally, product pages and other high-traffic areas on your website should include CTAs to connect users with meaningful pieces of content that will likely result in a high-quality lead.
- Create compelling call-to-actions that prompt prospects to engage with your company
Effective call-to-action buttons can be utilized on your company’s website, social media, and digital advertising efforts. On your website, CTAs work well when they appear toward the top of a given page, especially on a banner. Additionally, CTAs can be placed at the end of blog posts or in webpage sidebars to increase visitor engagement. These call-to-actions should inspire your prospect to act now by including text that is exciting, minimal in length, and signals a benefit to the viewer. Examples of effective CTA phrases that improve conversion rates include “Yes, I Want X”, “Start Your Journey Toward X”, and “Get Your Free X.”
- Encourage lead capture form completion by practicing brevity, ease-of-use, and trust-building
Do you know how many fillable fields your company’s web forms contain? If your lead capture forms are more than five fields in length, it is recommended that you remove some of the fields since fewer form fields typically lead to a higher lead conversion rate.
More than 80% of individuals have abandoned a digital form after beginning to fill it out. Avoid form abandonment by increasing the likelihood that an individual will press “Submit” at the end of your form. One source recommends the following to ensure high form completion rates: make the form engaging, easy to fill out, ensure peace of mind, visitor is able to fill out the form, and provide motivation to submit.
Once a user completes a web form, confirm the form was received by redirecting the individual to a web page thanking the prospect for completing the form. This web page should include “You may also be interested in…” links to other relevant pieces of information the prospect may wish to review such as case studies and white paper recommendations. These additional content pieces should also be accompanied with “Share Now” links so the user may easily share on social media which could lead to word-of-mouth lead generation.
Generating qualified website leads is vital to driving new sales for your manufacturing business. Implementing a combination of content marketing, digital campaigns, landing pages, CTAs, and simplistic lead capture forms will help you succeed in driving interested parties to your company’s website.