Get to the Bottom of Your Inbound Marketing Results

When was the last time you analyzed your landing page statistics?

If it's been a while, I urge you to take a look. You might be surprised, in fact, you very well could be appalled.  Why? Because most website visits (with the exception of some of the social media sites like Facebook and Twitter) averaged less than 30 seconds, while some of the larger sites make it all the way to 97 seconds. So you have about a 30-60 second window of opportunity to grab your visitor's interest. If you have a website to generate leads and sales, then it's critically important to go beyond the landing page, using advanced lead generation and analytics techniques to capture interest and convince your visitor to provide contact information.

Recently, my wife and I watched a TV show where CEOs of large, successful companies went "undercover" to discover what works, and what changes and improvements should be made. The CEO of a cruise ship did backbreaking work laying down tiles for skating, only to have no one show up for the event. Often, companies do the same thing when trying to generate leads - putting blood, sweat, tears (and plenty of money) into creating a website. Not surprising, some people don't think it's worth two minutes of their time. That's why it's critical to use advanced lead generation and analytics on a website. So, sit down with an old-fashioned piece of paper and determine what you're trying to accomplish. Answer the following questions:

• Is your website designed to only give information to the visitor or do you see this as a two-way process: you'll give them what they're searching for after they give up their Name and Email address (or other info) to you. 
• How can you capture their information?
• How can you convert that person from a lead to a sale?
• What sales cycle works best for your service or product?  (One-step?  Two-step?  More steps?)
• What is the best way to test and analyze the results? 

The importance of testing your advanced lead generation and analytics program

Prior to implementing the strategies for advanced lead generation and analytics, don't just assume that your marketing efforts will be successful. Test your ideas and analyze the results. Remember the cruise ship CEO? Someone thought that skating on a cruise ship was a great idea. However, in reality, it wasn't. 

After you've tested your ideas and analyzed results, it's time to create a website marketing campaign. Well thought out programs have the best shot at being successful. When you're developing the campaign and creating an advanced lead generation and analytics program, remember that campaigns should start with:

• Identifying detailed information on products and services offered
• Identifying tactics to use
• Defining lead qualification criteria
• Defining success metrics
• Developing personas of the target audience

Knowing who, why, when, and how customers buy is the key to delivering the right solutions and content to the right market at the right time.

Now, set program objectives. A company who doesn't set goals and objectives will probably fall short in their advanced lead generation and analytics program. The web is not the "field of dreams." If you build it, they may not come, and even if they come, they may not stay. So, when a potential customer arrives at your landing page, make the most of it by creating and implementing your advanced lead generation and analytics plan.

Deliver the Right Content, to the Right People at the Right Time