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Lead conversion rates can make or break campaigns. Low conversion rates are a clear indication your content isn’t resonating with your audience. High conversion rates imply that you’re content is targeted for the correct audience and is perceived as valuable to them.
In a broad sense, conversion rates show you when your lead generation strategy is working and when it needs to be revised or trashed. The more you focus on optimizing lead conversion rates, the better your lead generation strategy will operate. A goal-oriented strategy is the surest way to improving revenue.
With that in mind, here are five bad practices that kill lead conversion rates.
1. Un-nurtured Leads
Most of your leads will be interested in the products and services that you sell, so long as they were acquired in the process of your lead generation strategy and not as a purchased list. Even if they are interested, that doesn’t mean they’re ready to make a purchase. First, you need to gain their trust by carefully and consistently nurturing them.
Effective lead nurturing requires you to skillfully move your leads through each stage of the sales funnel with amazing content that compels them to convert from a lead into a sales qualified lead, and finally, a paying customer. An effective lead nurturing process will ensure that you’re converting the right kinds of customers.
4 essential lead nurturing tactics:
- Create targeted content
- Use a multiple touch approach
- Focus on multiple channels
- Communicate effectively
2. Leads Aren’t Segmented
Successful lead conversion relies on showing the right marketing message to the right audience at the right time. Every lead in your company’s database won’t necessarily be the ideal audience for all of your content. That’s where lead segmentation comes into play.
Lead segmentation is a fancy term for grouping your customers and clients according to shared qualities, such as location, interests, demographics, needs and more. Segmentation allows you to create targeted content that will improve your chances of converting leads.
3. Unresponsive Website Design
It’s 2017. If you don’t have a responsive website you’re behind the times. Mobile internet usage has now surpassed global desktop usage and continues to grow exponentially.
If you want to reach today’s audience, your website needs to accommodate their habits. Mobile responsive web design is no longer an option—it’s the requirement. Today’s audience is much harder to engage than they were seven years ago. If you don’t have a mobile-responsive website design you’re going to lose visitors and potential customers.
4 . Inaccurate Marketing Expectations
Setting accurate expectations from the start will help your lead conversion rates climb higher. Whether you’re looking to increase sales or grow your subscriber list, your marketing goals need to be aligned with your conversion process, and vice versa.
Misaligning your lead generation expectations with the nature of your company’s mission will result in low conversion rates and decreased revenue potential. Lead conversion needs to be an extension of your business goals, not a separate entity.
5. Not Following Through
Lead generation is tricky, especially qualified lead generation. If you don’t follow up with each lead as they enter your funnel, you run the risk of alienating them from your brand. Each and every one of your leads deserves some form of follow up contact. If you don’t follow up with leads, they will forget your brand and probably never initiate another interaction with your organization.
Ideally, you want to create a nurturing process for every type of lead with the intent of delivering value and establishing brand credibility. Increasing lead conversion rates requires communication between your brand and your leads. Most of the time it will be one-sided, but it’s important to keep your company on their mind and show them you’re invested in building a relationship.
Remember to nurture, segment and follow up with leads, optimize your website for mobile responsiveness and align with your marketing goals. If you take care of those five tactics your conversion rates will improve and your brand will gain affinity with your target audience.
