Using Forms in Content Marketing Strategies

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Regarding Content Marketing

Content marketing is about establishing a brand as a thought leader in order to increase brand engagement. However, not all content is created equal. You must ensure that you are providing value to prospects with the content you create, or your content marketing strategy will fall short. 

Refer to this external documentation for more information on the benefits of content marketing.
 

Using Website Traffic to Promote Form Fills

If you have started an online lead generation program, you have likely had issues with forms not being filled. Certain precautions may already be in play—such as an autoresponder email on forms—in effort begin nurturing the lead upon submission.

Web presence is directly tied into this. If you are just starting to build a web presence, be aware that your form fill rates will grow over time. However, you can optimize form submissions by understanding where on your website visitors are going. If your forms are not in an accessible area on these webpages, you should add them to ensure you are intercepting website traffic getting in front of the largest audience.
 

Determining Form Submission Rates

If leads are submitting forms, but you do not know where or why, you may be missing out on engagement. By understanding where form traffic is coming from, you can focus on creating or bolstering content surrounding those areas.

For example, if a Contact Us form is getting the highest engagement, then consider a nurture campaign that sends relevant content about who you are, the services you provide, or any other relevant information. To that end, Lead Gen & CRM shows total form submissions, unique leads, and other information all of the forms funneling leads into Lead Gen & CRM. Focus your content marketing efforts into creating content that is relevant to the high-value forms on your website.
 

Converting Form Traffic into Engagement

There may come a time when leads are submitting forms, but their engagement beyond form submission is minimal. The concern there is that leads are submitting the forms to access content, but have no real intent of further engagement with your brand. If that is the case, content marketing efforts will not provide a return-on-investment, as leads are disengaging after consuming the content.

Once leads are successfully funneling into your pipeline, continue to provide valuable content. This way, the lead progresses from being a prospect to making decision. As such, if form traffic is great, but leads are not engaging after submission, consider dynamic email content. By implementing dynamic messaging into emails, you can deliver a message that captures the attention of your target audience. To reinforce interest, use previous content views, non-views, general engagement, or any other lead attribute to tailor the content a recipient receives.
 

Five Forms to Increase Lead Conversions

While there are many different types of forms, consider using the following forms to best increase lead conversions:

• Limit content with gated content forms. When maximizing your content strategy, you can limit what content a lead can access by gating the larger content—or even all content—behind a form submission. This is a great way to validate qualified leads and confirm that your content is something your targeted demographic would find valuable.
   
• Give readers subscription options with subscriber forms. Create a basic email-only form to allow leads to subscribe to blog content. Link multiple form submissions together in a list and enable RSS emails to automate content delivery to these subscribers.
   
• Allow visitors to contact you with schedule request forms. Include a date/time picker custom field on a form to allow leads to request or schedule a specific time to speak with a member of your team. Use the custom field in conjunction with time-based workflows to automate follow-ups unique to the requested date.
   
• Provide targeted content with promotional and offer forms. Whether you are offering a free assessment, discounted consultation hours, or a consumer commodity, promotional forms are a great way to have leads submit information to receive the offer. Once the lead is in your funnel, you can follow-up with strategic marketing.
   
• Let visitors be themselves with persona forms. Add a field to your form that includes a self-identification question to allow leads the ability to identify as demographic you are targeting. This will help to improve dynamic messaging.

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