In the last post, I shared some ideas for creating a compelling lead magnet. The job of your lead magnet is to get members of your target audience to “raise their hand,” – indicating they are looking for a solution like yours.
Your lead magnet is just one component of your lead capture system. In this post, we’ll discuss the other components you’ll need to turn visitors into leads.
What is a Lead Capture System?
Every business has a different set of marketing and sales processes. Some, like an e-commerce business, may have very short sales cycles with little to no personal interaction with the customer. Others have sales cycles that span months and include multiple marketing funnels to move prospects from one stage to the next.
For most consultants and professional service providers, that process looks something like this:
- A stranger becomes Lead
- A Lead receives content and offers over time
- A Lead agrees to engage in a sales conversation
- A Lead becomes a client
To do its job in the overall sales process, your Lead Capture System needs to:
- Deliver the lead magnet – keep your initial promise.
- Gather and store our leads’ contact information – for follow-up during the Lead Nurture phase.
- Organize and segment – so you can deliver relevant, persuasive messages, turning leads into sales.
Let’s talk about the different components needed to carry out those jobs.
Components of a Lead Capture System
Your lead capture system can be as simple or complex as makes sense for your business. Here are some of the typical components you will find in a small business lead capture system.
Your List or Database
You’ll typically store contact details (name, email address, company size, etc.) for your leads in either your customer relationship management system (CRM) or your email service provider (ESP) – Mailchimp, Constant Contact, etc.
Each CRM and ESP has its own way of organizing contacts. The two main ways you will see are:
- Lists
- Tags
- Both lists and tags
If you can, use tags. In my experience, tags are more flexible and a better way to organize contacts.
The more lists you have, the more complicated your system becomes. In most cases, it’s easier to keep one master list and use tags to slice and dice the list as needed.
For example, if you generate leads from webinars, don’t keep a separate list for each webinar. Rather, add a tag to your main list that will allow you to record which webinar(s) your prospect attended.
Looking for a CRM? This list of Best CRMs for Small Business is a good place to start.
Lead Generation Forms
We typically associate lead capture forms with websites and online marketing. But they don’t have to be – more on that in a minute.
Most CRMs and ESPs allow you to create a data collection form and add it to your website. The benefit of these forms is when potential customers fill them out, their contact information is automatically added to your database.
Many businesses still use offline methods to capture leads – a clipboard by the cash register, business cards from a networking event, or the fishbowl at your tradeshow booth. In these cases, creating a form for internal use for entering data into your system may be of benefit.
How much info should you ask for?
Generally speaking, there is a trade-off between short and long lead capture forms. Longer forms tend to have a lower conversion rate, but the people who do opt-in are typically more qualified leads.
Even though your lead magnet may be free, I find it helps to think of it as a transaction. Your prospects’ information is the “currency” they exchange for your lead magnet. Try to match the amount of currency you are asking for to the perceived value of what you are giving up.
For example, if your lead magnet is a checklist, asking for a name and email address is sufficient. On the other hand, a customized product demo may have a higher perceived value, justifying a higher “price” – i.e. more information from potential customers.
Landing Pages
When your lead capture form lives on the web, it is typically either
- embedded on a page on your website or
- part of a dedicated landing page.
Landing pages, sometimes called squeeze pages, help boost your conversion rate (the number of people who fill out the form). They do this by removing all distractions and focusing on one task – getting visitors to complete the form.
Your landing page is also where you include persuasive copy and social proof, like customer testimonials, to sell the benefits of your lead magnet.
Email Autoresponder
Once someone completes the form, you need to respond – to provide the information we promised and to begin nurturing the relationship.
You could do this manually, but in today’s world, people expect to get their response right away. That’s where autoresponders come in. As the name implies, autoresponders automatically send an email to fulfill the request – typically within a few minutes of submitting a form.
Most email service providers and CRMs include an autoresponder tool. However, you will find they differ in their feature sets.
For example, some tools will allow you to send different follow-up messages depending on how an individual got on your list (i.e., which form they filled out). Others give you more control over when your messages are sent (i.e., send my messages only on weekdays). Some free tools will allow you only to send one follow-up email vs being able to send a series of messages.
Traffic
For your lead generation strategy to be successful, you need enough traffic and quality traffic.
Without traffic, you can’t turn visitors into leads.
If your marketing campaign attracts the wrong traffic, your sales team will complain that marketing only delivers unqualified leads.
Getting traffic simply means getting eyeballs to see your lead magnet offer. Advertising is only one way to get traffic. Other ways to feed traffic to your lead capture system include referrals, joint ventures, and cold outreach (email, direct mail, LinkedIn, etc.) – just to name a few.
Conclusion
In today’s world of online marketing, it’s easy to get caught up in the technical aspects of lead capture. Technology is great, but don’t let the complexity or cost of it hold you back. It’s not the set of tools that is important. Having a system for consistently capturing leads and turning those leads into sales (without opportunities falling through the cracks) is what will grow your business.
