What is Lead Generation and How Does Your Website do it?

Your website can be your single-most-valuable asset when it comes to lead generation. But just having a website isn’t enough. You have to work it properly.  Lead generation is about having an online sales funnel – attracting cool visitors, converting them to warm prospects and closing hot leads.

There’s a difference between a contact and a lead.

Online contacts are at the very top of your sales funnel. They’re people who have given you their email address via your website, perhaps by subscribing to your blog or e-newsletter. They obviously have some interest in your dealership or products or after-market services, but you don’t know what. Yet.

You need to convert those contacts into leads, so you can get to know them better.

You’ll use targeted, relevant content to do that, with your website as the cornerstone of your efforts. Your goal is to retain and grow each lead’s interest, turning it into desire to buy from your dealership.

Lead generation is as simple as 1-2-3.

1. Landing pages are your conversion tools.

A landing page exists for only one reason – it’s where your prospect lands when they click to learn more, register for a webinar, download an ebook, etc. It’s where they fill out your contact information form and receive something from you in return. You use landing pages on your website to convert contacts into leads and, later on in the process, to convert leads into buyers.

2. Make them an offer they can’t refuse.

Don’t confuse “offer” with “discount.” It can be anything that has value in your prospect’s mind. Usually that’s information for early- and mid-funnel shoppers. For leads farther along in the buying process, a valuable offer might be something involving personal contact, such as an equipment demonstration or a free consultation with a sales or financing rep.

Value is the critical element here. If the offer on your landing page isn’t on-target and tempting enough, your prospects won’t move forward.

3. Call them to action.

This is actually the first step, the one that directs people to your landing page to get what they want. Make your call to action obvious. Tell people what to do next, with a button, a graphic or text (“download our new ebook”). And put the call to action where it’s can’t-miss visible.  

Every page of your website should display a call to action that relates to that page’s content. Since your home page is generalized, offer something that will appeal to a broad cross-section of your audience. Do the same for your blog, as it’s often a source of initial attraction for potential customers. Sprinkle blog or e-news subscription buttons throughout your website to capture initial contact information.

Tweak your lead generation technique till it’s converting generously.

If just one of these three key components is off-target, your conversion process will grind to a halt. That’s why it’s so important to use your inbound marketing analytics to study which offers and calls to action work best. Even the visual design of your landing page can be a pivotal ingredient in your success.

Your online content stimulates interest and response from potential customers. And your website works on your behalf to streamline the process of converting those contacts into leads. You’re delivering information that educates your prospects, building your reputation with them as a credible and trustworthy resource. At the same time, you’re gathering information about them that helps educate your sales team, preparing them to follow-up at the right time, in the right way with each prospective customer. 

Get a professional opinion of your website, and find out where you stand.