You’ve optimized your landing page to convert like an electric car salesman in a world without oil, and your PPC campaign is pumping out a CPA lower than a spring break limbo pole. Yet despite having a well targeted and relevant giveaway (a whitepaper for example) on your lead gen landing page, you feel like you could be generating more paying customers from your prospects.
Could it be that you’re not holding their hand long enough?
Conversion is hard
Turning a visitor into a lead is one thing, and turning them into a paying customer is a whole other bucket of frogs. It requires constant attention and marketing effort to capitalize on your available opportunities.
“statistics show that it takes six to seven contacts before you can turn a prospect into a customer.”
— Constant Contact (pdf)
Keeping them in the mood
Take advantage of that magic moment directly after the customer says “Yes, I like you” and you’ll keep your new leads in your sphere of influence while they’re “in the mood”. To do this you need to try and keep their attention on the first thing they see after submitting your lead gen form – the confirmation page.
The confirmation page
The lead generation confirmation page could be considered the digital equivalent of a post-conversion supermarket candy shelf. We’ve all fallen victim to the shelves of sweet goodness lined up by the checkout as you wait in line – aimlessly throwing crap we don’t need into the basket. But asking someone to pause and listen to your message after they’ve paid is a lot more tricky. Staying with the supermarket analogy for a sec, imagine if the guy bagging your food said, “Hey, here’s a $5 voucher for next time” – chances are you’d pay attention.
5 Post-Conversion Marketing Ideas For Your Confirmation Page
At this stage it’s all about EXCEEDING expectations. You have a blank page to work with and a few precious seconds to direct your new lead. Here are 5 ideas that you can use:
1. Ask them to follow you via social media (Twitter, Facebook) to learn about other opportunities
This can be used as a secondary “safety net” call to action on your landing page, as long as it’s small and subtle. On your confirmation page, you can throw a great big icon out there to entice them into your social media world. It’s a fairly low risk action for a customer and can place their ears in front of your digital mouth for a long while to come. It also exposes them to the positive reactions you gather from others which adds some word of mouth reputation strength.
2. Invite them to a webinar
This is another low commitment value add to offer. Make sure the subject matter is closely related to the goals of the leads you’re capturing. If you can get someone to attend a webinar you are effectively establishing a higher level of contact – they will get a chance to see or hear you and ask you questions. If you can establish yourself as a thought leader on your given subject, this can elevate the trust factor massively.
3. Give them a discount coupon (or code)
I once bought a Sony Playstation PS3 that had an open box. It was already marked down by $100 making it a great deal. Without my asking for anything, the salesman offered up a free game and a further discount – with no catch. What was the result of this action? I told all of my friends about my great customer experience. If you give people a discount when they’re not asking for it and don’t have to give you anything in return (they already completed your lead gen form) – they’ll get that great service buzz and momentum.
4. Send them to an important “What To Do Next” page
Many people enjoy a guided experience. Tell them what to do and they’ll often do it. Use only a single link for this and send them to a “Greatest Hits” or “Top 10” list page that shows off the very best content and information you have to offer.
5. Ask them to subscribe to a drip campaign
Drip campaigns are a powerful permission marketing tool that keeps you in the leads stream of consciousness for a defined period of time. The confirmation page is a good time to ask if someone would like to participate if you can automatically transfer their details to the new list without asking for more data. An example campaign would be the ProBlogger 31 Days to a Better Blog. The expectation and benefit is set right away – you will receive an email every day for a month and by the end of it you’re blog will be better! This type of campaign take a lot of work to put together, but once it’s ready you can automatically “drip” the emails to your prospects as soon as they sign up.
4 Benefits of “In The Mood” Engagement
By paying careful attention to your confirmation pages you add the opportunity for some powerful brand extension touchpoints:
- The opportunity for more subtle follow-up marketing: sharing knowledge via social media, staying within the sphere of marketing influence
- The opportunity to exceed expectations: differentiate by being the best at every step
- The chance to offer info/advice etc. that would have crowded your landing page: if you wanted to convey a message that wasn’t appropriate for your landing page (as you were rightfully keeping it focused on a single message), you now have the opportunity to do so
- The chance to offer a guided experience: most people like direction. Offer a suggestion and even if some only 1 of your leads takes the bait, it’s still better than none…
