The Dreaded Form, and why it can be disastrous to your marketing efforts
While it’s considered best practice to use a form to generate leads from marketing efforts, be they landing pages from search engine marketing or simply from your contact page, be very careful in how you treat the leads coming in or it could end up doing more harm than good.
What’s the first thing you think about when you see a form on a web site?
Likely it’s “oh crap, I bet no one is going to get back to me.”
You see, we all have this sneaking suspicion that when you click Sumbit, the form you just filled out goes into a black hole…the same black hole where all our single socks disspear to from the laundry.
So Form Rule #1 – make sure you follow up on leads or inquiries fast. Do it as fast as they come in ideally. If that’s not possible, absolutely within 24 hours. In fact, it’d be helpful to put a blurb under the form “We’re committed to replying to your inquiry with 24 hours” or something to that effect.
What’s the consequence of not following Rule #1? Simple. You confirm your prospect’s worst suspicion, and your firm’s reputation just took a serious ding.
Form Rule #2 – keep the number of fields to a minimum. Less is always better. There is a direct correlation between the number of fields and the likelihood someone will finish filling out the form. If it looks too overwhelming right off the bat, forget about it. Try just 3 fields, their name, company and email address.
Form Rule #3 – put reassuring copy under the Submit button that you will never ever ever ever reveal their information to third parties. People are antsy enough about giving their information to a stranger. Make them feel a tab bit more comfortable.
Form Rule #4 – some people just hate forms period. They hate them more than they hate the sound of nails on a chalkboard. So try and put your company’s contact info on the same page as the forms page. Offer an alternative with a phone number and email address.
Shameless Plug – Firecracker PR has extensive experience creating killer landing pages and can help you in all areas of your marketing and PR. We’ll help you generate more leads so you can learn firsthand how to implement these Form Rules.