The second stage of the sales funnel - 5 scenarios for converting website visitors into leads

In the first part of this guide, we looked at how to work at the top of the funnel to make sure prospects are aware of us and remember what we offer.

Now let's move down to the second level of the funnel - where demand has already been created. The user sees our ad and, if we've done everything right in the previous stage, thinks, "Oh, I know them!

Our job now is to capture that opportunity, drive them to the site, and convert them into a lead.

User Journey Scenarios

The primary lead generation channels at this stage of the funnel are contextual advertising and targeted social media advertising. The user encounters your ad - and from there, several scenarios can unfold. We will explore the five most popular.

Scenario 1: Ideal

The ideal scenario is "advertise - click - lead". You run an ad, the user sees it, clicks, goes to the site, leaves their information, and becomes a lead.

However, our goal is not just any lead, but as many quality leads as possible at an acceptable cost. The primary advice for achieving this is as follows:

Test different ad combinations. This will help you identify the most effective audience segments and creative. For example, if you're promoting IT equipment in a B2B environment, you might assume that targeting 35- to 55-year-olds would be optimal, given their decision-making age range (as well as targeting specific job roles and professional interests). However, it may turn out that younger managers, who can collect such quotes, gather details, and then pass the information on to decision-makers, are more likely to convert to leads. Run multiple ads simultaneously and immediately analyze which audience clicks and provides contact information and which clicks but does not convert to leads. Identify which creative generates low-cost, high-quality leads and which generates low-cost clicks. Scale the best solutions and disable the ineffective ones.

Scenario 2: Retargeting

The "ideal" scenario is so named because it rarely happens. The majority of visitors, even from the most successful advertising campaign, leave a site without converting into leads. They can be brought back through retargeting, a mechanism that identifies these users, finds them across the web, and displays ads to them.

Retargeting can be conveniently executed through Google AdWords, social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn), or programmatic platforms.

• Advertising Platform: Google AdWords

Where Ads are Shown: Partner websites within Google's network

Available Retargeting Types:

- Classic site visitor retargeting

- Visitors + Look-alike

- Users who reached campaign goals + Look-alike

- Automatic segments

• Advertising Platform: Social Media

Where Ads are Shown: News feed, stories, communities within the respective social platforms

Available Retargeting Types:

- Site visitors + Look-alike

- Users who reached campaign goals + Look-alike

- Users who performed specific actions on the site

• Advertising Platform: Programmatic Platforms

Where Ads are Shown: On thousands of connected websites

Available Retargeting Types:

- Site visitors - unique and repeat

- Users who performed specific actions on the site

- Users from specific channels, sources, campaigns

- Users who spent a certain amount of time on the site

How retargeting works, for instance, on programmatic platforms:

1. A user visits a website.

2. A script is triggered, assigning an identifier to the user, capturing their session, and analyzing whether they converted into a lead during the session.

3. A list of users who didn't convert to leads is compiled and sent to the programmatic platform.

4. The programmatic platform identifies these users during their visits to various websites and displays the banners provided by the advertiser.

On platforms that display retargeting ads, users are focused on their tasks and often ignore the ads. Plus, there are multiple brands vying for their attention. Here are a few tips to break through banner blindness:

1. Remind users why they came to your site: show them the offer they were interested in.
2. Create a dialog within the creative: ask what didn't satisfy your potential customer, what service they expect. This creates a sense of interaction that makes it easier for users to engage.
3. ?Create a series of messages.

Scenario 3: Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

The conversion rate (CR) of a website depends on several factors:

• Commercial terms: It's possible that you're losing out to competitors in terms of price-quality ratio and/or delivery terms, causing potential buyers to go where they find the cheapest and most convenient option. Conduct a competitive analysis to ensure that your offering is competitive in the marketplace.
• Quality of traffic: Compare CR across channels and traffic sources. If it's low everywhere, that's a signal to work on your site. If a particular ad campaign has a low CR compared to others, it may be bringing in non-targeted traffic and needs to be optimized.
• Website quality: This includes the usability, visual appeal, content quality, and technical specifications of your site. If you're confident that you have competitive commercial terms and high-quality traffic, then the problem probably lies with the site itself. Focus on optimizing your site.

By addressing these factors, you can improve your site's conversion rate and ensure that potential customers not only visit your site, but also take meaningful actions that contribute to your business goals.

Hypotheses for improving the effectiveness of specific pages, sections, or form submissions:

1. Add online chat to the landing page.

• ??Expected Result: Users will receive timely assistance, leading to increased engagement and trust, ultimately increasing conversion rates.
• ??Methodology: A/B testing

2. Simplify the contact form

• ??Expected Results: Streamlining the form will reduce user friction, resulting in more form submissions and a higher conversion rate.
• ??Methodology: A/B testing

3. Include testimonials and social proof

• ??Expected Results: Displaying positive testimonials and social proof will increase credibility and persuade users to take the desired action.
• ??Methodology: A/B testing

4. Call-to-action (CTA) wording adjustment

• ??Expected Result**: Changing the CTA text to be more specific or action-oriented will encourage users to click through and convert.
• ??Methodology: A/B testing

5. Improve visual hierarchy

• ??Expected Results: Improving the visual arrangement of page elements will direct users' attention to important sections, resulting in a higher conversion rate.
• ??Methodology: A/B testing

?Scenario 4: Optimizing the Click Through Rate (CTR)

It's important to remember that high click-through rates (CTR) alone are not the ultimate goal of an advertising campaign. Every click should be tracked not only to the call-to-action (CTA), but even beyond that to actual conversions.

By testing these hypotheses through A/B testing, you can gather empirical evidence on how each change affects user behavior and conversion rates. This iterative approach allows you to refine the elements of your site and improve its overall performance.

How to improve CTR:

• Create concise, informative, and compelling ad headlines and text - use keywords, numbers, and strong calls to action.
• Take advantage of all available ad extensions - they make your ad more prominent in search results and provide additional information to potential customers.
• Ensure landing page relevance - if you're promoting a specific product, direct users to the product page instead of the homepage.
• Test different elements - find the headlines, images and text that drive the best CTR.

Scenario 5: Cold leads

If a particular audience segment isn't clicking on your ad while other segments are showing a high CTR, it suggests that these users are unfamiliar with your brand and need to be warmed up at the top of the funnel. In this scenario, you should focus on introducing your brand, building awareness and establishing a connection before attempting to drive conversions.

In the first part of this guide, we discussed when it's appropriate to work with a cold audience, which ad combinations are most effective, and how to evaluate the results of broad-based advertising campaigns.