The Inbound Marketing Methodology: Convert

A lead is simply a person who has expressed interest in your company’s product, information, or service. Obtaining their information and saving their contact information into a comprehensive CRM will keep them updated in all channels of communication within your business.

Of course, you need the right content to attract visitors to your website. Your content needs to be useful and legitimate to the point that visitors trust you enough to put their contact information into your system. Since people seem to be getting more mistrustful each day, that’s a tall order. Thankfully, everyone loves free stuff, so to get their information, you can give something away!

Provide premium information, like white papers, how-to guides, and eBooks, to visitors who give you their contact data. These assets are usually longer and more engaging than a blog post or a web page. You may need assistance from a graphic designer to create them.

Contact information is essential for executing a successful inbound marketing, which makes the conversion phase one of the most important.  There are many different methods to open a conversation with a potential lead. You could use live chat, a “contact us” page, a webinar, or a simple button. Once you are in touch with your visitor, you become a value to them by answering questions or providing relevant content.

Place Forms on Your Website

Forms can live anywhere on your website, such as in the footer of your homepage or on a “contact us” page, but they are most often placed on landing pages. A landing page is web page whose sole purpose is to collect contact information and provide the visitor with something in return.

A landing page should have no global navigation to tie it to your primary website. Visitors can only access a landing page by clicking on a call-to-action button (more on those later).

Placing a form on your landing page is one of the simplest ways of converting guests into qualified leads. The form should be very straight-forward. Don’t request for more information than you need, otherwise, the visitor might think it is too time-consuming and exit your form.

Once they submit the form, you might offer them your latest eBook, white paper, infographic, or another piece of exclusive content for download (usually as a PDF). You could also offer a coupon voucher, contest entry, free trial, or webinar registration. 

Install Live Chat

To get more conversions, you’re probably going to have to talk to people (sorry, introverts). In the past, this usually meant making a phone call. Today, you can convert people through live chat directly on your website or by offering them an easy way to mark your calendar for a consultation. Make sure to stay open to any type of meeting and be flexible to their schedule when they are booking.

Live chat should be built in an easy to follow format that messages your sales team when someone has an inquiry.

Convert Visitors with Calls-to-Action

A call-to-action is an image, button, or line of text that prompts website visitors to take action. The action could be anything from downloading an ebook, signing up for a webinar, getting a coupon, enrolling for an event, or taking advantage of some other type of offer. A CTA can be placed anywhere in your content, website, or even in an email. Often, a CTA will link to a landing page where the visitor will fill out a form.

There are a few tricks to creating a successful CTA. Make sure your call-to-action is designed in an eye-catching way. Throwing in a pop of color that contrasts with the rest of your website is a simple tactic that you could use. You could have your CTA in a different shape or even flashing colors, use your creativity!

Any language in your CTA should be a clear proposition that someone will want to act on. A call-to-action is usually a concise phrase that uses actionable verbs so it’s clear what will happen if a visitor interacts with it. CTAs should not be clickbait. If your CTA says “download the free eBook,” the visitor should receive a downloaded eBook after clicking the CTA and filling out a form.

Use a CRM to Track Your Contacts

A CRM is a contact and customer relationship management system. Essentially, it’s a database that helps your business communicate with your contacts and keep track of how they behave on your website. When you convert leads on your website, they’ll appear here.

A CRM helps manage your contacts within your company’s sales funnel. Track every interaction with a lead and store that information so you can refer to it later. This includes any emails, page views, calls, scheduled meetings, and notes relating to each contact. You can also use your CRM for lead scoring and to make the handoff from marketing to sales more efficient. This will ensure that no website visitor falls through the cracks.

Convert

Now that you understand the Convert stage of the inbound marketing methodology, you're ready to learn how you can close those converted visitors as sales.