Visit any website these days. See if you can find a “Contact Us” page on it. What does the typical page ask for? usually it requests you type in your name, email address and has room for a comment. Theoretically if you want to “Contact” a company you’ll fill in the form.
This is no way to do lead capture.
Think of your own website. How many “Contact Us” forms do you get every month. If you’re getting any, you are in the very small minority.
Here’s four ways to beef up the lead capture efforts on your website. Use these methods and you will soon be receiving better leads from your site.
1. Ethical bribe. The ethical bribe is a relatively new marketing tactic which simply suggests that you bribe someone to give you an email address. Because the term bribe is a bit derogatory the word ethical makes is more palatable. What makes a good bribe? Almost anything relevant. Try a coupon, a free gift, a discount, a two for one deal, a report, an analysis–think of something your target audience might want.
2. Create a squeeze page. Squeeze pages are a form of landing page which are designed to do one thing and only one thing–to encourage a visitor to the page to sign up with their email address. This type of landing page has no other information on it, no navigation, no choices. You arrive on the page, evaluate the offer and sign up–or leave.
3. Offer valuable information. Most businesses over the years discover that they know things. They have information which is specialized and useful. Every day your prospects are searching the web, possibly looking for this exact information. Don’t give it away for free. Use it as an ethical bribe in exchange for an email address. You’ll demonstrate to your prospects that you have expertise and you’ll attract them to you.
4. Offer a free evaluation. This is a pretty valuable offer. Simply offer to do an analysis at no charge. Often the analysis will help your prospect to think more about their needs and create for you an opportunity to build a relationship and offer a solution. An email signup form is a great mechanism to do make this offer.
Then what you have to do is count how many leads you are receiving from your “Contact Us” page, make changes using some of these lead capture methods and count the number of leads you receive after the changes. If you don’t notice any change in lead flow, then make different changes and measure again.
Get in the habit of going through this sequence each month and you’re lead flow will increase!
Before you start making fixes to your website, make sure you read Mitch Tarr’s Internet marketing blog and sign up for a copy of their Internet Marketing Blueprint.. Free reprint available from: Four Ways to Make Lead Capture Work on Your Website..
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There can be no debate that the Internet has changed the way people live, communicate and do business, and direct marketing is certainly no exception. In order to compete in this digital society, you will constantly need to build up your email database to ensure you are reaching the maximum amount of potential customers with each direct mailing piece you construct. In this article we will show you how you can do just that by simply tweaking your current style.
Research shows that the majority of direct mail companies have email addresses on a mere 5 percent of their customers, and while the reasons for this are many, perhaps the most glaring one is that they have never asked for these addresses or if they did, the request was squeezed into the remaining space on the page or buried somewhere else in the mailing. According to experts, this is a mistake, because the best way to increase the size of your email address database is to begin asking your current customers for their email address each time you make contact with them.
Asking for email addresses can be accomplished in a number of different ways, but the best approach is to take advantage of your current marketing strategies. This can include your direct mailers, your telemarketing branch, and even web page collection in which you give customers an incentive-free newsletter, discounts, etc,–for registering their email address when they visit your site. If this is the strategy you choose, be certain to include this on your landing page and in a place where it will be easily seen.
Email appending is another route you can take in your quest to collect email addresses, and while this is certainly a quicker strategy than merely asking for these addresses through your own channels, it will cost you a bit more money. Email appending allows you-for a price-to match the records of your existing database with a database filled with email addresses. The process usually takes only 1-2 months and can increase the size of your existing database by up to a quarter.
Email has become the most effective marketing tool there is for direct marketers, giving them an opportunity to reach thousands of potential customers at the click of a mouse. To build up your list of email addresses, follow the tips above and you’ll begin to see your database grow exponentially over the next several years.
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