Introduction to Principles of Online Lead Generation
The litmus test for the success of an internet marketing campaign is summarized in one simple question: how much revenue is the business earning from its website? Creating a website isn't enough to earn new business, a proper internet marketing campaign will allow your business to reach revenue goals on a consistent basis through your website. It will be more effective as drawing in costumers, while saving your business money.
The 2012 State of the Inbound Marketing Industry Report by Hubspot states that companies that switched from traditional marketing (tradeshows, direct mail, etc.) to inbound marketing save 40% on the cost of a lead. Companies can and do earn more business at a cost-effective rate with proper internet marketing plans.
Your website performs at its best when it generates revenue for your business. The natural question that emerges is how do I obtain new customers through my website?
The purpose of this blog is to share the principles of online lead generation. This blog connects you to the key concepts behind online lead generation. Read them in the order presented to have a more complete understanding of the concepts.
Lead Generation Process
For an overview of the process, this blog post describes "how it works." It lays the groundwork from which other blog posts will be built upon.
How do businesses generate leads online?
Lead Generation Elements
To understand how the individual elements contribute towards the success of the process, this section is beneficial.
Calls to Action
Calls to Action appear on the sides of main content; they are designed to grab the website visitors attention to guide them to premium content.
What is a call to action? 4 Ways to use CTAs in your Marketing Arsenal?
The 4 C's of Call to Action Quality
Image by Anirudh Koul
Landing pages are a bridge that transport website visitors from Point A: (anywhere on the internet) to Point B (your website). It also plays a huge role in transforming from merely website visitors into new potential customers. The purpose of landing pages is twofold, so it plays a key part in the success of online lead generation.
Landing Pages
Landing pages are incredibly important role in lead generation online as they play the role of gate keeper between valuable information prospects seek and new potential customer for a company.
What is a landing page? How does it help generate leads online?
How Landing Pages help Build Relationships
How Landing Pages Generate Leads Online
Landing Page Elements
Each element within a landing page influences the success of the page, so it is important to know what the vital elements are to understand their role and improve them over time.
Headline
Hooked on Headlines: 4 Ways to Write a Landing Page Headline
Form
Landing Page Forms: Forms that Generate Leads Online
Offer
Landing Page Offer: Exclusive Offers Generate Leads Online
Lead Generation Best Practices
The success of the individual elements rests upon following proven practices for success. These blog entries provide insight into what contributes towards a successful online lead generation plan.
Form Friction
How to Prevent Form Friction in 3 Proactive Ways
How to Prevent Form Friction on Landing Pages
Landing Page Content
The 7 Deadly Sins of Landing Pages
The Beginner's Guide to Landing Page Copy that Sticks
7 Point Checklist for Powerful Landing Page Content
8 Questions for Great Landing Page Content
Lead Generation Evaluation
As the old saying goes, what gets measured, gets improved. In order to improve over time, it's important to know what improve the visitor to lead conversion rate. Statistics can track the success of different efforts to improve for the better over time. The statistics may yield a new internal best practice.
Metrics Matter to Generate Leads Online
Using A/B Testing to Maximize Conversion Rates
How to Choose Between Multi-Variate and A/B Testing
The Benefits of A/B Landing Page Testing
5 Landing Page Test Ideas
This blog series was designed to provide an introduction into how to generate leads online with inbound marketing. By reading the blog posts, you should have a good introduction on how businesses gain new customers through online lead generation.
Businesses that adopt inbound marketing are able to: (1) increase the effectiveness of their marketing and (2) reducing their marketing expenses.