Optimizing Forms
Forms matter - don’t let them be your weakest link!
1 Pick a form to optimize
Look out for: Landing pages with high levels of traffic and low conversion rates. (Why is this an indication that your form may be a problem?)
2 Consider the buyer’s journey
Buyer’s Journey – a recap
An optimized form shows that you understand the buyer’s journey and respect the different relationships visitors have with your organization.
3 Align form fields with buyer’s journey
Group Discussion: What information do you feel is necessary to collect at each stage of the buyer’s journey? Awareness... Consideration... Decision....
Appropriate information to ask for at each stage of the buyer’s journey Awareness – high-level marketing information What most accurately describes your current position? Consideration – important marketing + minimal sales information What is your biggest sales challenge? Decision – important marketing + important sales information What is your monthly sales’ budget?
Ask yourself : “Will a visitor to this page feel comfortable answering these questions in exchange for the offer?”
4 Collect data through hidden form fields
Are you a marketing qualified lead? Would you like to try out a demo? Inbound is about empathy. Hidden forms help you retrieve data that is useful, but not appropriate to directly ask your visitors! Are you a marketing qualified lead? Would you like to try out a demo?
5 Use progressive profiling
Information gathering is a process.
“What is your marketing budget?” to a first-time visitor. = “How much money do you make?” on a first date.
Step 6 = SKIPPED
7 Adjust the look and feel of your forms
Your forms don’t have to emulate a Picasso, but they do have to be user-friendly and visually appealing!
Quick edits you can make to your forms Add placeholder text Group multiple fields into the same row Add help text Change the text of the “submit” button
8 Report and iterate on other forms
Forms are an important, continuous part of the inbound process Forms are an important, continuous part of the inbound process. Learn to love optimizing them!