#convcon @MediaWhizLLC
The Tricks and Traps of Lead-Gen Conversion
Jeremy W. Leonard SVP Strategy & Operations
MediaWhiz
#convcon @MediaWhizLLC
Integrated digital media agencyCombine performance marketing, technology and digital-media expertiseHelp brands acquire customers more profitablyPart of Hyper Marketing agency network
About MediaWhiz
#convcon @MediaWhizLLC
About MediaWhiz
ADVERTISING AGE#11 U.S. Search Marketing Agency
TOPSEOs.COM:Top-10 Best U.S. SEO Agencies
ADVERTISING AGE#21 U.S. Digital Network
2012
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About MediaWhiz
TEXT LINK ADSIncrease organic search traffic with link-building options.
AFFILIATETargeted, high-quality leads with top-ranked affiliate network MonetizeIt.
DISPLAYEfficiency and scale via top-ranked ad network. >2 billion impressions per month.
EMAILTargeted engagement and relevance for proven ROI.
DATA ACQUISITIONTargeted reach to 350M consumers.
SOCIAL MEDIAProfitable consumer engagement via measureable social media marketing campaigns.
SEARCHEfficiency. Growth. Reputation. PPC, SEO, SEM, ORM and link-building services.
#convcon @MediaWhizLLC
Lead Gen Conversion Issues• Call-to-action must be clear• Short-form vs. long-form decisions• Mobile options are essential• Quality vs. quantity of consumer traffic must be considered• Downstream client KPIs are essential• Final quality feedback loop with client
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Specific Challenges• Lead gen provides financial incentives to drive fraudulent traffic to
sites• How to create sites that convert well and separate good traffic from
bad traffic• Understanding consumers’ mindset more critical than ever
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Typical Verticals that Challenge Lead Gen• Will be looking at:
o Educationo Payday o Auto Insuranceo Navigationo Client obstacleso Proper mobile implementation of these instances
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Education Specific Challenges• Site leads must convert to student enrollment
o Education is a “considered” purchase• Typical site traffic lead to enrollment KPI is 90 days• Call centers become a critical component in lead qualification and
conversion• Essential to stay on top of Call Center experience
o Ensures client doesn’t have 90 days of poor quality traffic in the pipeline
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Two Types of Form Field Navigation
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• Poorly laid out sight with “auto advance” navigation• Text heavy• In spite of:
• Poor call-to-action• Small video imbed• Text heaviness• Color scheme that
blends Action in with frame
• Conversions were 63% higher than with standard form
Case Study: Liberty University
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• Approached the site with more engaging graphics
• Made “auto advance” navigation a contrasting color with rest of the site
Case Study: Liberty University
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• Every time a selection is made on navigation shield, the graphics slide to the left
• The navigation advances one further step
Case Study: Liberty University
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• Better designed, better laid out site
• Contrasting call-to-action• User is “invested” by the
time she reaches final page• Site performed 17% worse
than text-heavy version• Currently testing with fewer
graphics that pull the eye away from lead form
Case Study: Liberty University
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• Nicely performing EDU landing page
• Conversion to Call Center: 18.7%
• Focused on Criminal Justice• Visuals match
consumer traffic• Pre-selected degree
field• Imbedded Video• Regulatory issues prevent
stronger call-to-action• How to “go mobile”?
Case Study: Bryant & Stratton
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Mobile Options• Code site so it auto sizes for screen size• Pros:
• Prioritize elements to display in any order
• Displays in long vertical rather than horizontal scroll
• Captures some organic mobile• Cons:
• Sacrifice strong visuals• Poor navigation• No need for dedicated mobile site
Case Study: Bryant & Stratton
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Preferred Method: Code site so it looks like an app• Pros:
• Consumers prefer apps to mobile websites
• Maximize smartphone navigation• Integrate “Click to Call” feature• Still capable of presenting rich
content in mobile site• Conversions increased 517% over
basic mobile site• Cons:
• Spend money on dedicated mobile site
Case Study: Bryant & Stratton
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Faux App Method • Allows rich content to load in
background slower than foreground load
• Fewer abandonments for load-time issues
• Provides potential consumers with easily controllable video endorsements
• Navigation remains consistent across all pages
• “Click to Call” remains consistent across all pages
Case Study: Bryant & Stratton
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Additional Issues to Consider• Pros:
• No flash or HTML 5 required• Additional content easily created
as compared to app and app upgrade
• After consumer leaves phone number or presses “Click to Call” SMS becomes valid method of CRM
• Cons:• Spend money on dedicated mobile
site
Case Study: Bryant & Stratton
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Long-Form Challenges• Payday is one of the toughest “long-form” challenges
o 19 questionso Highly sensitive information (SS#, bank account #, etc.)o Lenders determine field values
o Form field validation is criticalo Multi-variant testing on fields is limited
• What worked best: 2 pages or 8 pages?o Best practices: More pages with strong navigation feedback should convert
besto Fewer pages with high number of questions would scare off consumers
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• Navigation• Bread crumbs• Macro level visibility• Additional info easily
found• Results
• First-page bounce rate: 48%
• Overall completion rate: 23%
• Abandonment after 1st page — consistent across remaining pages
Case Study: Rescue Cash
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Don’t forget that Google doesn’t like “auto-chat” and may delist your site
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• Navigation• No bread crumbs• Macro level visibility• Additional info not
easily found• Results
• First-page bounce rate: 19%
• Overall completion rate: 47%
Case Study: Rescue Cash
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• Conclusions that we drew:• These consumers are highly
motivated – they want money
• When they can see all of the questions at a single glance, they can collect the necessary information for form completion
• The likely optimal length is probably between 2 & 8 pages. We are still testing.
Case Study: Rescue Cash
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• How hard could a “zip submit” be?
• Only two fields:• Radio button: “Are you
currently insured?”• Zip Code field
• Expected ~8% conversion rate• 3% conversion rate• Used “happy shiny people”• Used “logos” of our insurance
lead buyers• Put in the “three steps”
Case Study: The Auto Insurance Scout
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• Substituted a car for people • Put zip submit on left side of page• Put logos on right side of page• Added additional text around
process• All to no avail ...
Case Study: The Auto Insurance Scout
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• Then put zip field first with cursor defaulting to field
• Auto-populated “insured” question with a “yes”
• Conversion rates jumped by 275%
• Sometimes the answer is staring you in the face
Case Study: The Auto Insurance Scout
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• What to do when client’s legal team designs landing page?
• Time for A/B testing with legal approval
• Version 1 from legal team:• Call-to-action is “request”• No sense of urgency• Covers everything from
repair to maintenance
Case Study: Home Depot
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• “B” version included small badge for “special financing same as cash” • This should be the real
sense of urgency• Moved customer rating higher
on page• Included names of top
manufacturers to lend further credibility
• Conversions improved 61%• Legal approved as Version “A”
Case Study: Home Depot
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• Continued to A/B test with Legal permission
• “Special financing for 12 months” is now clearer • Not large enough, in our
opinion• Introduced tag line that
referenced “deal”• Call-to-action is now “Get A
FREE Consultation.”• Included consumer information
around maintenance and financial savings
• Conversions improved additional 44%
Case Study: Home Depot
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Finally, always remember quality
• Use automated tools to check for obvious offenders
• Foreign traffic masked by U.S. proxy servers
• Unusual spikes in traffic o Always check referring URL
reports:o Typically a sign of bot traffic
• Make sure traffic comes from expected sourceo Search traffic is not actually
masked email traffic
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Talk to Clients About KPIs• Downstream KPIs
o Leads to call center conversionso Call center conversions to information packetso Info packets to “sales”o Return rateso Optimize sites and traffic around all of these KPIs
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Questions?