Not long after college, I received a phone call inviting me to sign up for a credit card. I started giving the guy some personal information – name, address, phone number (hey, I was young!). When he asked me for my annual salary, I hesitated a little, but kept answering. Asking for my social security number, however, was too much. I told him “someone’s at my front door” and ended the conversation.
Many prospects go through a similar process when requesting your white paper online. They’ve read through your sales copy, and are excited about getting that report. So they start filling out the form. No problems with name and email. Mailing address, company name and website URL usually don’t cause much concern, either. But when it comes to things like position, phone number, company size, revenue, etc. – then the hesitation starts kicking in. Your prospects start experiencing “landing page anxiety”.
It’s not the information that’s the problem – it’s what it triggers. These additional fields start raising questions in your prospects’ minds:
- Why do they need to know that?
- Does this mean they are going to call me?
- What are they doing with all this information?
These questions produce a level of anxiety – an emotional reaction that counters their initial excitement. Left unaddressed, anxiety can easily build to a level sufficient to cause landing page abandonment.
“No problem – I’ll just not ask for so much information.”
This is indeed what many landing page advisors suggest – reducing the number of required information elements. And sure enough, if you do that, you’ll likely see an increase in form completion rate. However, this tactic ignores one important point: there are often very good and necessary reasons for requesting this data.
I don’t believe the credit card guy was trying to con me (this was 30 years ago). Recent events notwithstanding, credit card companies need to know things like SSN, salary history, credit rating in order to classify risk. Likewise, you want to ensure your white paper gets into the right hands. You’ve done your research – you know who needs to see this white paper. Your sales staff has limited resources, and you want your white paper to qualify your prospect as much as possible. Therefore, this additional data is vital to the efficiency of your lead generation efforts.
“So how can I increase my response rate, yet still attract the right prospect?”
This may sound like a simplistic answer, but essentially you have to reassure your prospect.
You have to address his concerns about “why” you need this information, “what” you’ll do to safeguard it, and “how” it will be used. I’m not suggesting that you publicize your entire sales process – but give your prospect a reasonable expectation of what will happen after they click “submit”. Let them know that they’re not signing up for a series of mailings (unless they are – then tell them that). If you plan to call them to follow up, let them know up front.
So how do you do all this prospect reassurance without mucking up the design of your landing page? A simple, elegant answer is a small, strategically placed link that says, “Why are we asking for this information?” Send that link to a separate page that addresses the “why”, “what” and “how” questions. Let it pop in a new window – so the signup form stays right there on their screen.
But don’t get lazy.
Avoid the temptation to link straight to your privacy / terms of service pages. These pages are almost always written in “legalese”. They exist not so much for informing prospects as they do for protecting the company. So send your prospect to a simple list of questions and answers. If they have additional questions – THEN they can check out your lawyer’s writings.
Remember – you’re not just looking for more leads: you’re looking for more of the “right” leads. Recognize the elements that cause anxiety on your landing pages – don’t eliminate them, but rather address them. The addition of a simple link can cause your form completion rates to jump. And your prospects won’t be tempted to “go answer the front door”.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I think that is a fabulous idea. What you’re saying is to humanize things a little bit. And that isn’t too much to ask for.
B2B marketers can also use progressive fields to capture more information should they have other content assets behind a gate. With some basic info captured in the first form, the next form might ask for 2 or 3 other pieces of information to help build the profile.
Lastly, with a little basic information, you’d be amazed how much information your prospect already shares freely online. Within minutes google, linkedin, jigsaw, etc. can help you get plenty of profile information.
Hi, Chris.
Progressive forms can indeed work, but they have to be carefully thought out. If I fill out a 1-page form and click submit – I’m expecting to see the thing I signed up for, not a second form requesting more data. My reaction would then shift from anxiety to downright annoyance, which is a totally different problem.
Different problem, but same reaction – I’m gone.
It goes back to the point I made earlier – give the visitor a reasonable expectation of what’s going to happen after the click.
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