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How to Build Incisive Lead Capture Pages

Are you trying to get more leads but not succeeding at it?

Do you wish to achieve your lead generation goals every month, quarter, and year?

Do you want more leads to share their contact information with you?

If the answer is ‘yes’, I’ve got good news.

Lead generation is surprisingly easy to do online.

You don’t need any outdoor ads or social media/PPC ads. All you need are lead capture pages.

Lead capture pages with benefits-optimized copy, powerful CTA, and valuable lead magnets do a great job of lead generation.

You can have multiple lead capture pages for your target audience if you want more types of customers.

But how do we build lead capture pages?

Even if we build it, how do we know how to build a good lead capture page that truly converts?

Simply designing lead capture pages isn’t enough.

You must continuously work to make it better – measuring, testing, and optimizing it along the way!

How to create Lead Capture Pages?

A lead capture page doesn’t capture leads on its own; it’s a part of a larger sequence.

There’s the source ad that links to the lead capture page.

The page itself has a lot of different optimizable parts.

Then there is the auto-responder email (or email sequence) to send the lead magnet resource(s) to the visitor after he/she clicks the lead capture page CTA and becomes the lead.

Buildin Lead Capture Landing Pages

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Before you start creating a lead capture page, you have to create an advertisement or a post that leads visitors to the page.

You could deploy the post as a social media advertisement, a PPC ad, or a simple post on your social media page.

Select an appropriate lead magnet and use it to position your business better.

Also, write lead capture page copy that’s clear, crisp, and benefits-focused.

Find/design the relevant media for your lead capture page.

Use benefits to craft the CTA copy and make sure it starts with a unique (or less commonly used) verb.

Finalize and store all the lead capture page text and media in a document.

Now let’s get down and dirty. Time to get an overview of the steps to create lead capture pages.

1. You must first sign up for a marketing automation tool and create an account on one of their websites. For first-timers, EngageBay provides a FREE starting plan.

2. Connect your email marketing service to the tool so as to send emails with an actual lead magnet. EngageBay users don’t need a separate tool; they can send emails from within the system.

3. Select any of the ready templates provided by them that you like.

4. Customize the colors and layout so that it suits your website color palette.

5. Insert text and the image (or a video).

6. Create your email autoresponder to serve lead magnets.

7. Make the lead capture page live and use the link in source ads/posts.

How to create Lead Capture Pages with EngageBay without wasting any time

Designing the actual lead capture pages isn’t a complicated process.

In fact, with the help of modern marketing automation tools, it’s literally a matter of minutes.

Here is how our customers get rid of all the fluff in the lead capture page creation process:

1. After logging into your EngageBay account, they click on “Landing Pages” from the menu bar. A small welcome page appears.

Create lead Capture Landing Pages Quickly on EngageBay

2. Hover over the landing page builder template you like and click “Choose”.

Create lead Capture Landing Pages Quickly on EngageBay

3. This where the fun begins. Thanks to our ultra-intuitive landing page designing interface, you can customize these templates with complete freedom and in quick-time. These templates are populated with all the essential sections such as contact information that you will need on the lead capture page.

Create lead Capture Landing Pages Quickly on EngageBay

Hover over each section to highlight its controls (in blue).

Click the three lines icon on the top-left of the section and drag/drop to reposition it above or below another section.

Chop them off if you don’t like them. Or embellish them if you love them and want them in your own final lead capture page.

All the text boxes are directly editable.

To change the text in any section, simply click on the text and start editing. Editing text is a matter of clicking and typing.

4. To add a new section, click the “+” sign to show the list of section templates

EngageBay has plenty of readymade section templates.

Click on the type of new section you have to add and click the selected section template you want to add.

Simply clicking the desired section template inserts it into the lead capture page – without any coding or design.

Click the gear icon to show its settings panel and make changes from there.

Edit this section and craft it the way you want it on the final lead capture page.

5. After adding and editing all the necessary sections on the page, simply scroll to the top and click “SAVE” button on the top right corner of the page.

A popup input box shows up.

6. Give your lead capture page a name in that box and click SAVE to save the changes to the edited template.

7. Click “Settings” to see the settings page and make the backend changes.

Create lead Capture Landing Pages Quickly on EngageBay

Every setting on each tab contains simple-to-edit tweaks that affect your lead capture page in a major way.

From this screen, you can apply new form settings and change the important page settings.

You can create a double opt-in email and an autoresponder to welcome your leads into your email address list.

Tracking codes can also be added from this screen.

8. Click SAVE again to save the updated template to your account.

That’s all there is – that’s how EASY it is to create a beautiful, responsive, and high-converting lead capture page for maximum lead generation, with EngageBay.

Read more: 20 Of The Best Product Landing Page Examples Online

Warning signs for underperforming Lead Capture Pages

  • 1. A headline that is not connected to the lead post
  • 2. Missing crucial elements in the lead capture page copy
  • 3.  Not testing enough
  • 4. Not capitalizing on the trust of the converted user
  • 5. Not doing enough to get focused attention o your CTA
  • 6. Lack of customer orientation in the lead capture page copy
  • 7. Selecting bad fonts or serving them in illegible sizes
  • 8. Using ineffective images
  • 9. Compromising on lead capture page copy when the page already has a video
  • 10. Not using Testimonials correctly

Before you make your page live, you need to bulletproof it.

You have to rid your finished product of all the blemishes and scars.

You need to fix your mishaps and correct your mistakes so that they don’t cost you leads.

So here are some mistakes for lead capture pages that you have to avoid.

Think of this as a  reverse checklist, a list of things to remove.

1. A headline that is not connected to the lead post

When visitors click the PPC ad, they expect to see a page that relates to the ad.

If the page gives them a different feel than the ad, they would be annoyed.

They would think that it was a bad ad or maybe that they have been lured by a malicious ad.

Here’s how it might look:

No message match in lead capture landing page

This was the ad I saw when I searched for “best air conditioner in Mumbai”. Why ACs? Well, because the summers have started in India.

The ad links me to this page: Mitsubishi Ad

It looks like the ad would connect to a product description page.

The meta description of the link has all the necessary keywords a buyer would be interested in.

When I clicked the link, I expected to land on a product feature page which collects my lead or lets me locate the nearest store to check out the product. This is the “message” I am getting.

What do I get instead?

No message match in lead capture landing page

Mitsubishi has decided to share its journey on a page that is linked to a product ad. There is no message match. Headlines are different.

Instead, the resulting page looks more like a homepage. The first image covers the full fold and says nothing about the product.

It does have a video though, but it’s been poorly used.

It’s good for brand awareness, not if Mitsubishi wants to sell its ACs.

Go further down on that page, and you see a generic block of text and grid of its products.

No message match in lead capture landing pageNo message match in lead capture landing page

These descriptions are surprisingly well-written. Mitsubishi could have made good use of these texts by placing them upfront.

To give your visitors the same feel on the PPC ad and the lead capture page, apply the concept of Message Match.

To do so, repeat one phrase from the PPC ad in the landing page headline.

This connects the lead capture page headline with the PPC ad and it’s the easiest way to achieve Message Match.

Your lead capture page must continue the conversation which your PPC ad started.

So if you have a disconnected headline, go ahead and fix it before you start testing your phase.

To fix the above Mitsubishi ad, reduce the video, and use the first paragraph with a matching headline.

Then in the second fold, show them the grid of products with full design and features showed in an overlay.

Add a floating store locator or a lead collector form on the right side (as per the F-pattern) and this page could work wonders for Mitsubishi.

2. Missing crucial elements in the lead capture page copy

Your list of benefits is essential to the brand new leads.

Your social proof/testimonials section is essential if you want the lead magnet to be downloaded by middle-of-the-funnel leads.

A high-converting CTA is important for bottom-of-the-funnel leads.

Whether you want new leads or existing leads to download your lead magnet, your lead capture page should include something all types of visitors.

Missing any of these results in dropping long term leads and potential customers. It could cost you potential revenue.

The same Mitsubishi ad above is also a great example as it misses the point of the lead capture page completely.

It’s simply a generic feature page that’s been linked to a PPC ad. It has no lead capture page elements besides an above-average lead capture page copy, some products, and an (irrelevant) video.

There is no good headline, and there’s no CTA at all.

3.  Not testing enough

Testing is all about maximizing the conversion rate. You have to set up one main lead capture page (say, page A) and at least one variation page (say, page B).

To make it better, you duplicate the lead capture page and change a few elements which you think might convert better.

Testing your lead capture page has many benefits. Not only your conversion rate gets better, but you also get a better idea of what works for your audience.

As a result of the learning, you become a better marketer yourself.

For example, if you chose the CTA, you can compare a CTA with one benefit to another CTA with a different benefit.

Your split testing result will reflect which one converts better.

Now, look at finding other elements which you can vary from the new page A and test the two new versions again.

For efficient testing, don’t keep that duration too short, or you may not get enough conclusive results.

4. Not capitalizing on the trust of the converted user

You could say “thank you” for downloading a lead magnet in a simple alert box with your brand’s graphics on it.

Or you could redirect them on to a lead capture page.

On the EngageBay platform, you can configure either one of them with ease.

Just select the option you want to set up your thank you message.

Having a full thank you page has better benefits:

  • You get more real estate on the page to write a branded message and strengthen your brand recall.
  • You can also ask them to follow you on social media sites. This converts the lead to an omnichannel lead and potentially shortens the Sales cycle for that lead.

As an alternative, you could also send them a welcome email to their email address for thanking them to subscribe.

 

Send them a few of your most popular blog posts related to the lead magnet.

Or share content that helps them become ready to use the lead magnet.

This could be a primer or prerequisite content that the lead absolutely must know before consuming the lead magnet.

Doing this has two distinct advantages:

  • More branding opportunities
  • Better lead experience which contributes to higher long-term customer satisfaction rates.

Your thank you page intently is a sign that you care about your potential customers and your brand.

Start creating your lead capture page with a “thank you page” today with EngageBay.

Check out EngageBay’s Real Estate CRM to grow your business.

5. Not doing enough to get focused attention to your CTA

Your CTA is the conversion handle your visitor will click on.

If they can’t see it, or if they see it but click on some other link on the page, your lead capture page has failed.

For example, on this lead capture page, KeyShot 5 uses a plain CTA “Download” for its form.

Plain CTA on Lead Capture Landing Pages

The form collects data for a 14-day free trial. This benefit has not been used to enhance the CTA.

On the other hand, this lead capture page from ZenDesk gets everything right.

The CTA “Try it for free” is sharp and directly connected to the benefit of the offer, that it’s “free”.

Benefits-optimized CTA on Lead Capture Landing Pages

Always follow the F-pattern or the Z-pattern for lead capture page layout design. Both of these patterns are derived from several eye-tracking studies.

They are professionally used by designers and are proven to drive visitors’ attention towards the CTA.

Another common mistake on the most lead capture page is including too many other links on the page.

The idea is to bring focused attention to the CTA by cutting out the link clutter.

If they can’t see other links, the distraction would be far less. However, a privacy policy or a terms & conditions link is universally acceptable.

For example, here is a lead capture page for “Ford Employee Pricing” ad.

There are so many outgoing links in the footer. Thee CTA attention ratio is 1:86 (there are 86 other links besides the CTA).

Link Clutter on Leed Capture Langing Pages

Here are a few checklist items to help you remove unnecessary links from the lead capture page:

  • Cut the footer out
  • Remove the menu bar from the top (or include only the most essential links in there, and hide rest of them).
  • Even in the body copy, the only acceptable links are the Privacy Policy page and/or the Terms of Service page.

Often changing CTA colors works wonders during split-testing.

There are various color theories that have proven how different colors have a different effect on visitors.

Blue color shows professionalism (especially the darker shades). We see it being used with LinkedIn and Dell.

Blue is also preferred majorly by male visitors and even liked by 35% of women.

However, using purple on a female majority audience works wonders.

Green is very easy on the eyes and suits shoppers who are budget conscious.

Red may also be a good color if it brings out the contrast with the rest of the graphics on the page.

Overuse of Red on the page (or using the wrong shade of it) may have adverse effects on your conversion rate.

It is known to reduce conversions as visitors might subconsciously associate it with the traffic light color RED which means “STOP”.

Red may be acceptable for the Privacy Policy link since you’d prefer your visitors to notice it.

6. Lack of customer orientation in the lead capture page copy

Without a direct personal connection, your page loses the visitor’s trust they showed when they clicked your ad.

If you use a lot of jargon and complex sentences on the lead capture page, your higher conversion rate will crash.

The page will drive visitors away.

When a visitor lands on the lead capture page, your page should make him/her feel like the most important person in the world. The copy should speak directly and simply to them.

To show an example of this, we will go back to the KeyShot 5 lead capture page.

Plain CTA on Lead Capture Landing Pages

Things that could potentially drive the visitors away from this lead capture page are the following bullet points:

  • The first paragraph has two sentences stitched together, which makes up one very complex sentence.
  • The second part of the sentence has some technical terms that could potentially be difficult to understand for a small section of your audience.

You might not need a large-scale survey to know what your customers really want.

You could look at your competition and try to understand what problems they might be solving.

When I was a beginner in content writing for marketers, I researched for more hours than I would write for. I really wanted to focus on the “content” part, so that “writing” would take care of itself.

Writing a relatable copy is just a matter of telling visitors how your product/service solve the same problem in a better way. This might not be immediately apparent.

Spend time in writing a good copy and avoid the temptation of throwing whatever is written in the internal PPT on to the lead capture page.

This will also result in a few good customer reviews for your business.

7. Selecting bad fonts or serving them in illegible sizes

Making your visitor squint to read your content is a surefire way to lose a potential lead.

Yet there are way too many websites that serve web pages from the early Internet era – way too much and most of it in tiny font size.

As an example, this photo shows how Alaska Government’s website loads on mobile.

The font is way too small for anyone to read.

This is due to the same desktop website being rendered on the mobile screen.

Small font size on lead capture landing pages

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Your lead capture page content should be in at least size 14 or more for clear readability.

Make sure you use a mobile-responsive template.

Without it, your mobile leads will drop off the marketing flywheel before even stepping on it.

8. Using ineffective images

Searching for perfectly relatable stock images is a frustrating adventure – as a content writer, I know this too well!

Many lead capture pages use a generic stock image.

These images are not even related to their content or the lead magnet you are offering.

Moreover, chances are someone somewhere in the world is using the exact same stock image that you are using.

Look at this lead capture page from Multitouch.

How many times have you seen this image on the graphics of IT companies? It’s stale, and quite frankly, a tacky image.

Using generic images on lead capture landing pages

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Create your own images, invest in a graphic designer.

If you don’t want to hire one in the house, search for a suitable one on Fiverr. Don’t have the budget for a graphic designer?

Find great free images on Canva. They offer superior quality free images that can be transformed into branded images with some basic editing.

If your character in the image looks at the CTA, your visitors are very likely to follow him/her.

So, if you have a real human being (adult or baby) in the images, try having one looking right at your product and the lead capture page copy.

Use such images wherever appropriate to draw attention to your lead capture page CTA.

9. Compromising on lead capture page copy when the page already has a video

Many companies think of Video is kind of a big deal when it comes to conversion. Yes, a video draws high engagement.

If made well – and kept short enough to not bore the visitors – it can even drive conversions.

While videos are enjoyable, conversion (not engagement) is the topmost priority for your lead capture pages.

Solely relying on video to convert visitors is like feeding them only salads instead of wholesome food.

You are giving them the nutrition that has a rudimentary taste.

If you are doing this mistake in one or more of your lead capture pages, add a benefits-focused text to it.

Make videos to supplement the content, not the other way around.

10. Not using Testimonials correctly

Social proof is the best conversion weapon you have in your arsenal.

Be proactive in collecting them. Use simple and short survey forms regularly to collect your feedback.

Create open-ended questions that don’t restrict what the user wants to say about you.

Without testimonials, your lead capture page looks incomplete.

The users can’t overcome the trust barrier.

Testimonials give that guiding light that takes them over the line and makes them convert.

Many companies either buy testimonials or generate them in-house.

That’s not going to work. If you want them to believe the testimonials, make sure they have the following points covered:

  • Full (first and last) name – tells the visitors this is a genuine person and they can search about him/her if they wish to.
  • Designation of the person and name of the company he/she works for – tells the visitors why they should listen to him/her.
  • An image of the person – establishes credibility for the person.
  • Natural language testimonial – A robotic tone sounds inhumane and fake. 

A/B Testing for Lead Capture Pages

When combined with the right campaign measurement metrics, your lead magnet can generate more downloads and your email address list can grow up to twice as faster (maybe even faster!).

Split (A/B) Testing is the conversion rate enhancement technique that not only gives you good results, but it also delivers them in the way you want it.

See, split testing has no set of rules, only fields which can you vary and test for. So there’s more space for your creativity.

However, while you can experiment in A/B testing, you cannot go for random stuff.

There has to be a structure and a goal behind it – a method to the madness, if you will!

The end goal of split (A/B) testing is to improve conversions.

At this stage, you will polish your page elements to make it the most relatable for your audience.

With that in mind, let’s look at things you can actually customize and test during this phase:

1. Number of form fields

You will need to capture all the most important details with the lead capture form to get self-qualified leads. There is a barrier here too, though.

Getting high-quality leads is also important for your business.

Nobody wants to spend hours or days following up to gather extra information.

If the lead can self-qualify itself, it’s always the preferred option.

Most people filling online forms are not comfortable giving out too many details or spending too much time filling the form.

Your lead magnet is free, they’ll say, then why are you asking for so much information?

It’s a trade-off that A/B testing can easily solve.

It will help you understand how many maximum fields the audience in your niche is comfortable filling.

2. Two-step lead capture form

Your lead capture forms are great candidates for A/B Testing.

A two-step form, as the name suggests, a lead capture form with two different faces – each one having its own copy and own CTA.

After clicking the original (lead capture page) CTA to obtain the lead magnet, visitors see a second form with benefits of the lead magnet which drives them to click on a second CTA.

After clicking the second CTA, the visitor is redirected to an actual lead capture form (i.e. the second face of the form) where their email address and other relevant details may be collected.

Are you thinking right now that this may be counter-intuitive?

It’s not. Read on to figure out why.

Before they click the second CTA, they are forced to be absolutely sure of their decision.

It ensures only willing leads (who truly want your lead magnet) enter your email list.

If they are not sure about handing over their personal information before, single-stage lead capture forms may be a little overwhelming.

These two-stage lead capture forms help relieve their initial jitters, by explaining the benefits once again.

At a later stage, your email marketing metrics will be healthier because they were checked right at the source.

Other elements you should consider running an A/B test for

  • Use the word “FREE” on your lead capture forms and/or in your lead capture page copy. Even if your lead magnet is a free one, explicitly saying “free” can only increase conversions. It can’t push potential leads away – who doesn’t want free stuff!
  • Use an explainer video alongside your lead capture page copy, instead of an image. Explainer videos can be a great way to reduce lead capture page friction because it uses familiar imagery to explain the offer. This type of video provides information in both text (on video and in the body) and audio information thereby increasing chances of conversion.
  • Make the CTA button sticky and make it scroll with the lead capture page. On a long lead capture page, the reader might often be ready to convert before he/she reaches the CTA. If at this midway point, they don’t see a CTA button, they may not scroll up or down again to see the CTA.
  • Remove unnecessary fields. This goes in reverse of the principle we explained above when we asked you to test a number of form fields. Most lead magnet forms have email and name fields. If your form asks sensitive information such as “revenue”, it may be preventing the visitor from submitting his/her data. The only way to find out is to run a split test for it.
  • Consider offering shortened free-trial periods as lead magnets. If it’s a 30-day free trial, it gives enough time to use your and your competitors’ products/services as well. Having a trial that’s 14-day or 7-day long invokes a sense of urgency for both, trying out your product fully and making a decision to choose your product.
  • Provide a time-limited offer on your lead magnet and make it a coveted resource with the help of scarcity marketing.

Concluding Thoughts

Because a lead capture page has so many elements, it’s daunting to ensure every element works in harmony with all the other elements

Message match and an engaging headline-subhead combo give a great start to any lead capture page.

Benefits-infused copy and an explainer video amplify the visitor’s trust and improve lead generation manifold.

Ensure the use of relevant images (if not using a video) and comfortably readable font size.

Don’t forget to look for mobile-responsiveness when shopping for landing page builder themes.

Don’t just let your lead capture pages stay as they are. Test them for better conversion rates by using Split Testing.

Finally, don’t forget your testimonials. Include all the details – the full name, image, designation, and the name of the company.

Got any landing page tips to improve conversion rates? Share them in the comments.

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