It’s a natural tendency for humans to copy one another, even without realising it -- we like to be a part of tribes and social communities. So when we notice our social circle is doing one thing, we follow suit. One great way to make an offer more valuable is to show that other people are participating.

Proof in Numbers

When possible, a great way to indicate how fantastic an offer is is to mention the number of people who have purchased, downloaded, signed up, or donated. 

Some examples include:

• Webinars: On this page promoting our webinar with Facebook, we’ve stated that more than 40,000 have signed up.
• Blog Subscription: Similarly, on our blog, under our “subscribe” module, it indicates over 130,000 people have subscribed. This proves that people should follow a highly trustworthy and famous blog.
• Conferences: Events like SXSW and INBOUND are some of the hottest
  events because tons of people flock to them every year.

Leverage News-jacking  

After Prince William and Kate Middleton married in April 2011, no one could stop discussing Kate’s wedding dress. Within hours after the wedding, vendors began making near-identical copies or similar dress styles. Vendors such as David’s Bridal now have a “Royal” category so you can dress “just like Kate.”

When something is buzz-worthy, it creates high demand. In such situations, you can align offers with “what’s hot.”  Companies will often leverage news-jacking for this type of technique, and it works very well for offers, too.

For example, at one point people couldn’t stop talking about Pinterest. HubSpot capitalised on this craze by creating the first Pinterest ebook for business owners and marketers, How to Use Pinterest for Business. It quickly became one of HubSpot’s most successful ebooks, with more than 125,000 downloads to date.

Because it was the first and only ebook available on Pinterest (and we made sure people knew that), and learning how to use Pinterest for marketing was in high demand, it made the offer more unique and thus more irresistible -- that’s the power of leveraging both timing and popularity! 

Focus on Creating an Amazing Title!

Brian Halligan, HubSpot CEO and co-founder, once said, "You can have a great offer with a bad title, and no one will download it. But if you have an amazing title, suddenly everyone wants it.” Yes - people do judge a book by its cover. If your offer is a piece of content, such as a white paper, ebook, or presentation, put effort into creating a fantastic title.

For an experiment, we changed the title of an ebook and ran an A/B test to see which would perform better. We took the original title, “The Productivity Handbook for Busy Marketers”, and changed it to “7 Apps That Will Change the Way You Do Marketing.”

As you can see, the revised version outperformed the original by 776% in generating leads (first-time submissions). Not only that, but it resulted in more customers as well.

If you’re struggling to find the perfect headline, try using the Headline Analyser Tool by Advanced Marketing Institute or read 7 Proven Headlines that Convert.

Create Offers for Different Buying Stages  

The most common offer on most websites is “Contact Us.” Sure, you want all your prospects to talk to sales, but not everyone is ready. As you know, buyers are more likely to research before engaging with a salesperson. And every prospect is at a different stage of exploration. Some may need more education than others. That’s why developing different offers at different buying cycles is essential.

Someone at the top of the buying cycle may be more interested in an informational piece like a guide or ebook. In contrast, someone more committed at the bottom of the cycle might be more interested in a free trial or demo. You don’t need to pick and choose; create offers for each phase, and include a primary and secondary CTA to these offers on various pages throughout your site                                           

A professional image is necessary, but you must avoid the dreaded corporate gobbledygook. What is gobbledygook, you ask? Great question. 

These jargon terms and phrases have been over-used and abused, rendering them meaningless (you’ll find them mainly in the high-tech industry, but everyone is an offender at one point or another). These words are meant to add more emphasis to a particular subject, but instead, they make your eyes roll.

Avoid these words when describing your offers

• Flexible
• Robust
• Scalable
• Easy to use
• Cutting edge
• Groundbreaking
• Best of breed
• Mission critical

USE HIGH-VALUE OFFER FORMATS

Not all offers are created equal. Some “formats” of offers perform better than others at converting leads. For example, what’s more valuable, a white paper or an ebook?

Below are the types of offers that generate the most leads in order of performance.

• Ebooks or Guides
• Templates or Presentations
• Research & Reports (ex: State of Inbound Marketing)
• White papers
• Kits (multiple offers packaged together)
• Live Webinars
• On-demand Videos
• Blog (including offers in the nav or sidebar)
• Cutting edge
• Groundbreaking
• Best of breed
• Mission critical
• Flexible
• Robust
• Scalable
• Easy to use
• Blog posts (if there is a CTA in the post)
• Middle-of-the-funnel offers Demo Requests, Contact Sales, RFP, Etc (more sales-read offers).

It’s essential to test different types of offers with your audience to determine what works for you. While ebooks score high on our list, you may find that reports, videos, or other formats do better.

Calls-to-action that rock

Calls to action (CTA) are the secret to driving people to your offers. The offer is useless if your CTAs aren’t effective at capturing people’s attention and persuading them to click. 

CTAs can be used on product pages (non-landing pages), in display ads, email, social media, direct mail, and pretty much anywhere you can market your offer.

However, not all CTAs are created equal. In a world where every brand fights for consumers' attention, prospects must choose your offer over your competitors. In this guide, we’ll uncover tips for creating CTAs that rock.

PLACE YOUR CTA WHERE THE EYE CAN SEE 

Calls-to-action does best “above the fold” - the space where your web page is viewable to the user without having to scroll down. According to heat map analysis, anything “below the fold” will only be viewed by 50% of people who visit your page. Doubling impressions on your CTAs can significantly increase your lead count.

CLARITY TRUMPS PERSUASION

That is one of my favourite phrases I learned from the folks at Marketing Experiments. Often, marketers will put more focus on being clever than being precise. Be crystal clear about what offer is in your CTA. And be specific. If you’re giving away a free guide, say, “Download our FREE guide to X.” If you’re hosting a free webinar, say, “Register for our FREE webinar on X.” X should convey a compelling benefit of receiving the offer. 

This is much more effective than “Download Now” or “Get a Free Article.” These aren’t specific enough 

USE CONTRAST TO MAKE CTA's STAND OUT

A call-to-action is meant to stand out, so if your CTA blends in too much with your site design, no one will notice it. You want as many eyeballs to land on that call-to-action as possible, so use contrasting colours to make the CTA stand out, and more importantly, use design to make it clear it is a clickable call-to-action. 

LINK YOUR CTA TO A DEDICATED LANDING PAGE

This tip might seem minor, but it’s incredible how often businesses miss this opportunity. Calls-to-action is meant to send visitors to a dedicated landing page where they receive a specific offer. Do not use CTAs to drive people to your homepage. Even if your CTA is about your brand or product (and perhaps not an offer like a download), send them to a targeted landing page relevant to what they are looking for. If you can use a CTA, send them to a page that will convert them into a lead.

PROMOTE OFFERS ON PRODUCT PAGES

CTAs shouldn’t be one size fits all. If your company offers various products or services, you may want to consider creating a different offer for each. Then you can place CTAs linking to each request on the website pages that are most relevant to that offer.                                                    

THANK YOU PAGES ARE GREAT CTA REAL ESTATE

Even if someone completes a form on your website (thus, they’ve converted as a lead), don’t stop there. Increasing engagement is also a top priority for marketers so that prospects turn into loyal fans.

Once someone reaches a “thank you page,” the page that a visitor arrives on after completing a form, use that space as an opportunity to promote more offers and content. For example, if a visitor on pipedrive.com downloads the “Rewards are waiting” offer, we can offer them another offer to see a demo of our sales tracking software.       

Landing pages that convert

Landing pages are one of the essential elements of lead generation.  In fact, according to MarketingSherpa’s research, landing pages are effective for 94% of B2B and B2C  companies. Using landing pages lets marketers direct website visitors to targeted pages and capture leads much faster.

What’s great about landing pages is that they direct your visitors to one particular offer without the distractions of everything else on your website. Visitors are on a landing page for only one purpose: to complete the lead capture form.

#14 ELEMENTS OF AN EFFECTIVE LANDING PAGE

Landing pages, sometimes called a “Lead Capture Page,” convert visitors into leads by completing a transaction or collecting contact information from them. Landing pages consist of:

• A headline and (optional) subheadline
• A brief description of the offer
• At least one supporting image
• (Optional) supporting elements such as customers or security badges

REMOVE THE MAIN NAVIGATION

Once a visitor arrives on a landing page, keeping them there is your job. If there are links on the page to move about your website, it will distract the visitor and decrease the chance of them converting to the page. 

One of the best ways to increase your landing page conversion rates is to remove the main navigation from the page. That’s it!

Keep your messaging consistent on both your CTA and the landing page's headline. If people click on a link for a free offer and then find out, there’s a catch on the landing page; you’ll instantly lose their trust. 

Similarly, if the headline reads differently than the CTA, it might lead to confusion, and the visitor might wonder if the CTA is linked to the wrong page.

LESS IS MORE

I’m sure you know the rule, “Keep it simple, stupid.” The same applies to landing pages. A cluttered page means a distracted visitor. Be brief and to the point; it’s in the offer itself where you give more information. In addition to your headline, include a brief paragraph explaining what the offer is, followed by a few bullet points outlining the benefits of the offer.

EMPHASIZES THE BENEFITS OF THE OFFER

Make it clear in your brief paragraph and/or bullet points what the offer's benefits are. It’s more than just listing what the offer comprises; it takes a bit of spin. Instead of “Includes specifications of product XYZ,” say, "Find out how XYZ can increase productivity by 50%.” In other words, convey the value of your offer clearly and effectively.

EMPHASIZES THE BENEFITS OF THE OFFER

Remember to include buttons on your landing page to enable your prospects to share content and offers. Since people have different sharing preferences, include multiple social media channels and email. When your offer is shared more, more people will land on the page, fill out your form, and become leads.                                           

MORE LANDING PAGES EQUAL MORE LEADS

According to a recent marketing benchmarks report, companies see a 55% increase in leads by increasing landing pages from 10 to 15. The more content offers, and landing pages you create, the more opportunities to generate more leads for your business.                                                    

Optimised forms

Forms are the key to a landing page. Without them, there is no way to “convert” a visitor into a lead. Forms come in handy when it’s time for people to sign-up, subscribe to your site, or download an offer. The following tips will uncover how to build excellent landing page forms.

THE RIGHT FORM LENGTH

You might wonder how much or how little information you should require with a form. There is no magic answer regarding how many fields your form should contain, but the best balance would be to collect only the information you need.

The fewer fields you have in a form, the more likely you will receive more conversions. This is because each new field you add to a form creates friction (more work for the visitor) and fewer conversions. A longer form looks like more work, and sometimes it will be avoided altogether. But on the other hand, the more fields you require, the better quality of those leads might be. The best way to determine what works best is to test it.

TO SUBMIT OR NOT TO SUBMIT

That is the question most of your visitors are asking. One of the best ways to increase form conversion rates is NOT to use the default word on your button: “SUBMIT.”

If you think about it, no one wants to “submit” to anything. Instead, turn the statement into a benefit related to what they get in return.

For example, if the form is to download a brochure kit, the submit button should say:

“Get Your Brochure Kit.”

• Other examples  include:
• “Download whitepaper"
• “Get your free ebook.”
• “Join our Newsletter” 

Another helpful tip, make the button big, bold, and colourful. Ensure it looks like a button (usually bevelled and appears “clickable”).                                                                      

REDUCE ANXIETY WITH PROOF-ELEMENTS

People are more resistant to giving up their information, mainly because of the increase in spam. There are a few different elements you can add to the form or landing page to help reduce a visitor’s anxiety about completing the form:

• Add a privacy message (or link to your privacy policy) that indicates their email will not be shared or sold.
• If your form requires sensitive information, include security seals, a BBB rating, or certifications so visitors know their data is safe and secure.
• Adding testimonials or customer logos is another great to indicate social proof. For example, if your offer was for a Free Trial, you may want to include a few customer testimonials about your product or service.
         

Sometimes, people won’t fill out a form because it “looks” lengthy and time-consuming. If your form requires many fields, try making it look shorter by adjusting the styling.

For example, reduce the spacing between fields or align the titles to the left of each field instead of above it so that the form appears shorter. If the form covers less space on the page, it may seem you’re asking for less.

Both forms have the same amount of fields, but version A might look shorter than B on the page.

Multi-channel lead generation

Your website isn’t a silo. Marketers must utilise many other channels to maximize their lead-generation efforts. In this sense, a channel might be a retail store, a website, a social media platform, an email, or a text message.

The objective is to make it easy for buyers to research, evaluate and purchase products in any way most appropriate. It’s all about having the right marketing mix. This last email will briefly cover a few channels that help businesses generate the most leads.

BLOGGING BRINGS IN THE LEADS

According to HubSpot’s recent Benchmarks report, companies that blog 6-8 times per month double their lead volume. This proves that blogging is a highly effective channel for lead generation. In every blog post, include hyperlinks to landing pages within the copy of the post and a prominent call to action.

An example of a CTA is at the bottom of a blog post. The offer matches the content of the post for relevance.

EMAIL MARKETING

Many businesses may think email marketing is best used only when communicating with existing prospects and customers. Not so! Email can be an excellent channel for new lead generation. Here are some ways you can use email to generate more new prospects:

• Focus on an opt-in strategy. If you’re buying email lists and spamming your prospects, no one will want to share your email with others. They will only want to unsubscribe! The first step to email lead generation is to ensure you have happy subscribers who enjoy receiving your emails.
• Send people valuable offers. If you send attractive or valued offers - downloads, discounts, or educational content - people will more likely share your emails with friends or colleagues. 
• Give people the tools to share. Don’t forget to add a “Forward to a Friend” link or social media sharing buttons within each email to encourage people to pass it on.

A/B TESTING

While this isn’t a channel per se, it is a great way to increase leads across all channels and tactics. A/B testing can be used in calls-to-action, landing pages, email marketing, advertising, and more. According to HubSpot research, A/B testing your landing pages and other assets can help you generate up to 40% more leads for your business. When done correctly, A/B testing can provide a substantial competitive advantage for your company.

Generating leads online has the power to transform your marketing and sales machine. Using great offers, calls to action, landing pages, and forms—while promoting them in multi-channel environments—can reduce your cost-per-lead while delivering higher-quality prospects to your sales team. 

The basics herein are just the beginning. This guide contains many best practices for every aspect of lead generation to help bolster your conversion rates, but these tactics are only the tip of the iceberg. To improve lead quality and increase revenue, continue to tweak and test each step of your inbound lead generation process.

Now go, young grasshopper, on your way to becoming a lead generation master. (if you haven't seen the TV series, this won't make sense ;-)

Well done on reaching the end of the series. For more information, please feel free to visit our resources pages. 

Social media isn’t just for liking funny pictures or tweeting what you ate for breakfast. It's a channel that most businesses are taking advantage of. Here are some great tips for generating leads on social networks.

• Build a loyal following. Building a relationship with potential customers is a critical first step. Social media connections are really about people-to-people, not always company-to-individual. Get to know your audience online, communicate and share information. To generate leads, you need to interact with others humanely.
• Remember, social media is a dialogue. Companies that only use social media to blast out messages about themselves aren’t using social channels effectively. The goal is to interact with others and be helpful. When you share content on social media, don’t always post something related to your company. Share links to other exciting things you’ve found online. People will be very thankful you are noticing their work, too.
• Influence connections for content sharing. Publishing and sharing content that directs traffic to targeted landing pages is the single biggest lever to increase lead generation through social media. Share your new content offers by posting links to landing pages and sharing blog posts, discounts, and other great resources.

ORGANIC SEARCH

While promoting your offers in many channels is crucial for lead generation, making it easy for people to find your landing pages through search engines is equally important. To do this, you need to apply search engine optimisation (SEO) best practices to your landing pages, such as:

• Pick a primary keyword for each landing page and focus on optimising it for that word. If you oversaturate a page with too many keywords, it will lose its importance and authority because search engines will not have a clear idea of what the page is about.
• Place your primary keywords in your headline and sub-headline. These areas of content have greater weight on search engines.
• Include the keywords in the body content but don’t use them out of context. Make sure they are relevant to the rest of your content.
• Include keywords in the file name of images (e.g. mykeyword.jpg) or use them in the ALT tag.
• Include the keywords in the page URL.

USE LINKS AND CTAS WITHIN OFFERS

Your offers themselves are great channels for lead generation. For example, I have included links to other content offers you can download in this email series. As people share this ebook, they may discover additional resources we offer through the links within the content.