Multiply Sales Using Web Marketing
Leverage Techniques using Online Forms to Grow Marketing Success
An introduction to using forms in the web marketing process to ensure prospects are leveraged effectively and increase conversion rate of leads generated outside the site
Introduction
This article is geared principally towards:
- Online Marketing Consultants
- Online Business Owners
- Students of Marketing
The main theme of the article is the result of listening to and observing some of the great masters of marketing strategy, such as Bob Bly and Ben Settle. We will look at the primary focus of the landing page of a marketing web site, how forms can be used to sell and pre-qualify leads, and ways to increase response rates by using an autoresponder.
Purpose of the Marketing Web Site
The primary aim of an online marketing letter is to capture the leads email address. We might be masquerading as a sales letter, and use traditional copywriting to ensure that, by the end of it, the lead is ready to buy, but all we really want is their contact information. The reason for this is that, with these details, we can always sell to them later on; if they are sold now, then they will be sold then.
If, however, we never get that email address, then we have lost a potential sale. The reason this is so important is that we are going to pre-qualify the prospect via the sales page on the web site, and if we do not get the email address up front, then we risk losing the prospect altogether as they go through the form itself.
Multiple Form Sales Technique
The typical technique involves two forms. For most businesses that do not require detailed pre-qualification of prospects, this is enough. We pre-qualify to avoid wasting time in following up leads that do not have the capacity or need that our business addresses. We capture the name and email address of the lead, and then we give them a short questionnaire containing the pre-qualification questions.
However, some businesses will require more forms; all online marketing efforts must start with the email capture, but sometimes pre-qualification is in two stages. It might be useful to be able to group prospects into categories, depending on which forms they have filled out, and the contents of those forms. A sophisticated back-end can then be built up around those prospects that buy, those that do not, and those that do not qualify.
The Importance of an Autoresponder
The reason for grouping prospects in this way is so that they can be targeted with autoresponder messages. An autoresponder is just an automated mailer - it emails a number of prospects at once with a different message over time. The first message might urge them to come back and finish the questionnaire - perhaps they didn't have the information that was required at the time, or were interrupted. The next will extol the virtues of the product, and make them an offer if they come back and complete the process, and so on.
This is why it is key to get the email address up front. Only if we have that can we reach out to our prospects.
Assuming we have grouped the prospects into categories, we can then use the contact and form data to sell other products to them - even if they did not qualify for this one, they might be perfect for other products down the line. So, using an autoresponder, with correct multi part forms and leveraged pre-selling, we can multiply response rates and make the most of the traffic that we generate outside the web site itself.
Summary
So, in order to be successful, we need to:
- capture all email addresses
- pre-qualify prospects
- follow up incomplete forms
- reinforce the sales message through autoresponders
These four key tricks on their own can raise awareness and sales by a large factor. When they are combined with a well-targeted traffic acquisition program, an integrated unique selling proposition (USP), and above average customer service, sales can be increased almost exponentially.
