Read time: 6 minutes
Although lead conversion is the top priority for the majority (74%) of businesses, turning potential customers into sales can be tricky.
In fact, there might be times when it feels almost impossible no matter how hard you try.
This is because a staggering 96% of website visitors aren’t ready to buy when they visit and 80% of new leads will never actually convert to sales.
Knowing this can make improving your lead conversion rate feel like a daunting endeavour and one that’s going to take a huge amount of time and investment.
But we’re here to tell you that it’s actually easier than you might think. Here are eight simple but effective ways you can improve your lead conversion rates.
Get reacquainted with your target audience
When was the last time you sat down and really thought about your target audience?
You might think that you do this every day, creating campaigns that you hope will resonate with them.
However, over time, your campaigns, ideas, and judgments can become clouded by your everyday responsibilities. Keeping up with the latest trends, tracking metrics, hitting targets and driving the team forward can all take up your time.
So, it's a good idea to revisit your target audience every now and then and update your buyer personas if necessary.
Recommended reading: How to build an ideal customer profile for better lead generation results [+ free template]
To do this, you should conduct some thorough market research and look at your own data, using intent data to dive even deeper into how your customers behave.
You should also reacquaint yourself with the needs, pain points and preferences of your target audience. This allows you to tailor your messaging and offers to address their specific challenges and interests.
Make sure you’re creating compelling content
Content marketing can be an effective way to generate and convert leads, but generic or vague content is far less likely to convert.
This means it’s crucial that you develop high-quality content that educates, entertains or solves problems. This will help you to move prospective leads through the sales funnel.
The type of content you create depends on your target audience and their preferences. However, some mediums are far more effective than others. For example, 70% of B2B marketers believe video content helps more leads to convert than some of the alternatives.
That's why it’s essential to stay up to date on the latest trends and to generate the content that your audience is looking for.
It’s also important to create lead magnets that offer valuable incentives wherever you can. These will increase the chances of prospects sharing their details with you and engaging with your brand.
Optimise your landing pages
You could have the most impressive, visually appealing landing pages out there, but if these aren't user-friendly or optimised for lead conversion, you’re not going to see the results you want.
That’s why you need to make sure that every landing page, whether it’s for a free trial, whitepaper, discount code or anything else, is clear and compelling, encouraging leads to take the next step.
This optimisation often requires some careful collaboration between the marketing and design/development teams.
It can also be worth A/B testing different templates, content and calls to action (CTA). This will give you real data to work with that can help you to further optimise your landing pages and improve your lead conversion rate.
Personalise your marketing and communications
You need to segment your leads based on factors like demographics, interests and intent so that you can personalise your communication accordingly.
The aim should be to personalise as many interactions as possible, such as email campaigns, landing pages or targeted adverts.
For prospects who are getting bombarded with content, promotions or adverts all day, a personal approach gives you a chance to genuinely capture their attention and stand out. Plus, tailoring your message towards their needs and goals can increase your response rates by more than 35%.
Recommended reading: Personalisation is only as good as your data: Improving data accuracy
Provide social proof
A great way to generate more leads and encourage conversions is to share testimonials, case studies, reviews or endorsements from past customers. This will help to build trust and credibility and move your leads further down the sales funnel.
Social proof can reassure prospects that your product or service delivers on its promises. It can also help them when choosing between two (or more) companies. A strong testimonial or a case study could be the final push they need to choose your brand.
Looking at online reviews is a good place to start, but it’s also worth reaching out and asking existing or past customers to share their experiences with your business. This way, you can turn their feedback into persuasive marketing content.
Get a strong (and prompt) follow-up campaign in place
Although it can feel like a big task, you need to be responding to high-quality leads promptly and consistently across all channels.
Creating and implementing automated lead nurturing campaigns can help your brand stay top-of-mind and guide your prospects through the sales funnel.
For example, you could set up retargeting adverts for those who have visited your website, as those who see retargeted ads are 70% more likely to convert to a sale. You could also use targeted email marketing campaigns to reengage warm leads.
Implement a lead scoring process
Attempting to convert every prospect you generate isn't just unrealistic - it's also a waste of time for your sales team. Instead, assigning scores to your leads based on their behaviour and engagement with your brand can help you prioritise prospects that are most likely to convert.
Lead scoring involves evaluating various factors such as website visits, email opens, content downloads, and social media interactions. A well-defined scoring system allows your marketing team to better understand where a lead is in their buying journey and therefore know when to pass hem from marketing to sales for conversion.
Additionally, implementing lead scoring helps you tailor marketing efforts to different segments of your audience, providing more personalised and relevant content.
Over time, you can refine your lead scoring criteria based on the data you collect, making the process even more accurate and effective.
Track and analyse the right metrics
Our final suggestion is to make sure you're tracking the right metrics. This means monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) and looking at web analytics like click paths, heat maps, open rates, social media engagement, and more.
By keeping a close eye on these metrics, you can gain valuable insights into your audience's behaviour and preferences, and understand which aspects of your lead conversion strategy are working well or need modification.
This data can then help to identify any key areas for improvement, so you can optimise your lead conversion strategies accordingly.
Are you ready to improve your lead conversion rates?
By implementing these strategies, you can instantly boost your lead conversion rates.
Plus, by gathering and analysing data, as well as revisiting key aspects like buyer personas and content marketing strategies, you can continuously refine and improve your approach.
This will increase your lead conversion rates and drive more revenue to your business.
