When a visitor comes to your site, it is advantageous to collect some basic information, such as their name and email. Often first time visitors will be looking for something specific, and they will read an article and move on. If you can get their email, you can keep in touch, build a relationship and continue to remind them about your services and/or products. Many potential clients and customers don’t buy anything right away, but they will down the line, especially if they get to know you and what you offer through periodic email newsletters and updates.
Collecting this information, however, is not as easy at is seems. An opt-in form is imperative, but it is not enough. A “lure” – such as a free report or video – has become necessary to get sign ups. In the past, it was possible to get opt-ins with a free e-newsletter subscription. But, these days people are so inundated with email they may be hesitant to sign up to receive more (and savvy visitors are frequently choosing facebook and twitter as a way to receive updates instead).
So what can you offer that will help build your list of future clients?
A Case Study
Last fall, we launched a newly designed site for one of our clients. Now, this client had already been marketing online, and building her email list, for 5 years. Being a nationally known expert in a specific niche, she had many radio and television appearances under her belt. Each public appearance resulted in rushes of traffic, and she grew her list in fits and spurts.
Our plan was to do SEO for this client. However, even BEFORE getting her ranked well for her terms (and thus attracting a steady stream of visitors) we wanted to make sure that she was poised to capture the leads that came to her site. This way, she could market to them over and over, thus increasing her chances of generating revenue from her efforts.
The purpose of almost any home page for a small business is to capture leads. You want to engage your site visitor, emotionally, and then offer them value in exchange for their email address. We worked with this client to develop a quiz (or a self-assessment) that her visitors could download when they got to her site. We had three avenues through which we could capture their information.
- We implemented a short video that when paused or finished invited the visitor to download a free self assessment quiz (email opt-in required)
- The text next the video engaged the visitor and also led them the the download of the self-assessment (email opt-in required)
- At the top left of the page, there was an image of the self-assessment report that could be clicked, also leading the visitor to the opt-in form.
At the time we launched her new website, our client already had already spent 5 years building her list, and it was a decent sized list (around 2600 people). But, by implementing an effective “lure”, combined with getting her ranked highly for high traffic terms in her market, she doubled her already sizable list! Yes. We were able to do in ONE year what it took her FIVE to do, previously. Her list went from 2600 to 5200 with these techniques. With so many more people in her reach, she was finally able to fill her appointment book with clients that that paid the rates she desired.
Self assessments can be an excellent way to get visitor information, as people want to know more about themselves and compare their scores to others (the quizzes are always the most popular feature in magazines like Cosmopolitan).
Other Attractive Opt In Lures
Depending on the nature of your business offering a self assessment may not be an ideal lure. A free video or audio download might be more appealing to your clients, or a free report or e-book that offers them some valuable information right away. Maybe a free phone consultation or hour of your services will help get a new client in the door.
Remember, there is a lot of potential value in collecting their information, so it is important to offer something of value in exchange. This exchange starts the relationship that can turn a website visitor into a paying customer.
