Social media is all the rage at the moment (and unlikely to abate). In line with this, in our world of pr and marketing, social media marketing is quickly becoming a basic essential in any good marketing plan.
All this talk of social media and social networking means the business website could be left feeling like the third rate cousin. However, and to carry on the analogy, keep your family close – that third rate cousin is still the one holding all the money, in terms of potential customers. In other words, your website is one of the most useful and important weapons in your business toolbox, helping you to generate those all important sales leads, whether you sell products or services. Humble website? Not on your nelly.
Potential customers looking for a product or a service will still do the first thing they have done since the internet was invented – they’ll research it online. So ensuring your website is hitting all the marks in terms of search engine optimisation and web searching is essential.
Understanding the Value of Website Lead Generation
The aim of your website should actually be the aim of all your marketing, including social media marketing – lead generation.
When it comes to lead generation, begin with the end in mind. What exactly does a “lead” mean to you? Defining this will make your testing and analytics goals even clearer, and help you determine exactly what actions you want the user to take as they progress through each stage of your sales funnel. Is a lead considered someone who fills out a form? Someone who signs up for a newsletter? Requests a callback? Once you have your goals clearly identified then you can begin to design a website that leads potential customers to an effective landing page, to increase your conversion rates. Here are our top five tips for that all important landing page:
- Be useful and real – focus on what your target audience wants, use ‘you’ not ‘we’, include a phone number
- Keep it simple and focused – don’t overcrowd a landing page with too many messages, visuals or ‘clever’ headlines
- Be urgent, or else – Grab it now! Don’t lose out!
- Tell them why they need your product/service but keep it short – focus on benefits, address them directly
- Highlight your call to action – arrows, images, one but not all.
And a bonus tip’.Monitor – see what works, amend what doesn’t, strengthen what does.
