When facing steep competition online, you want to ensure your company's website stands out from the competition, and one of the best ways to do so is to offer your customers unique content and offerings that they can't find anywhere else.
Six entrepreneurs from FounderSociety (FS) share some of the website techniques they've found to be successful for gathering new leads and driving return business.
Q. What is one unique offering that I can provide to my website visitors in order to improve my lead gen funnels?
1. Unique and interesting content
People (and therefore search engines) love unique and interesting non-promotional content. Create lots of it inexpensively by hiring student bloggers and sharing blog posts out via social media and your newsletter. –Lisa Curtis, Kuli Kuli
2. Your differentiators
Think about what makes your company unique. Which of your products sets you apart from the competition? Put your best foot forward, and offer it up immediately. This will leave a lasting--and positive--impression on your visitors, and improve their chances of visiting your site again. –Steven Buchwald, Buchwald & Associates
3. Free advice
One of the things I always recommend to our clients is to provide some type of free advice/consultation offer on their websites. Be upfront that it is not a sales call but rather a call to provide friendly insight or advice--from an industry thought leader-- into what the client could be doing better. You could also host a monthly/weekly webinar to answer FAQs that you hear in your industry. –Josh Ames, SparkReaction
4. White papers
Some of the best online sales funnels include a free white paper for download in exchange for lead generation info such as name and email address. The user gets free exclusive access to information or a how-to on a topic they were searching for, and in exchange the business gets a sales lead the sales team can follow up on. –Steven Newlon, SYN3RGY Creative Group
5. Freebies and an open line of communication
Offer a free trial or a consultation depending on what you're offering. Give them the chance to see the value you can provide so that they would be willing to pay for it moving forward. Use coupon codes, redirect to different splash pages for first time visitors, and be reachable on your site while visitors are there. –Jon Bradford, Colab
6. Your best work, for free
You only have one shot to impress your audience, so why not give them your best work for free? To gain the attention (and email address) of your audience, you must give them something for free on their first visit (usually through a pop-up or lead gen form). Get your audience on your mailing list so you can follow up with them after they leave your site and really show what you have to offer. –Zac Johnson, Blogging.org
