3 Innovative Techniques to Boost Form Submissions and Their Benefits
Pushing juicy leads down the sales funnel is rarely easy, and one of the main stumbling blocks comes when you want to convince prospects to part with their personal information by filling out forms on your landing pages. The good news is that with a dash of creative thinking and an eye for refinement, you can catalyse this process and increase your hit rate, so here are a few strategies to take and make your own.
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Enticing with Exclusivity: Limited-Time Offers on Form Submissions
First up, offers that are unlocked when forms are completed in a timely manner work well, and here’s how and why to apply this approach:
What's the Technique?
The power of scarcity can never be underestimated in marketing. When you introduce a limited-time offer as a reward for filling out your form, it creates a sense of urgency among your potential leads.
This could be anything from exclusive access to content, a discount code valid for their next purchase, or an entry into a contest that promises attractive rewards. The key is ensuring the offer is compelling enough to act as an immediate call to action.
Why it Works
Limited-time offers play directly into the psychological principle of scarcity, which elicits a fear of missing out (FOMO). When people believe they might miss out on something great, their desire to obtain it increases significantly. This tactic not only boosts form submissions but also fast-tracks the decision-making process, encouraging quicker interactions and engagements with your brand.
Moreover, this strategy helps filter in highly interested parties who are more likely to convert further down the sales funnel. A Refinery29 post points to the example of active wear brand Girlfriend Collective giving form-fillers a 100% discount on leggings in exchange for sharing a time-limited offer on their social media feeds, which generated 10,000 sales and meant that its marketing budget was basically unused for a brief period, proving the effectiveness of this approach.
Gamifying the Experience: Interactive Forms that Engage
With over 63% of people gaming on a regular basis, modern audiences are familiar with the types of incentives and rewards that come along with this, and the principles can be applied to form submissions too.
What's the Technique?
Turn the mundane task of form-filling into an engaging, game-like experience. This could involve using quizzes, puzzles, or interactive sliders that not only gather data but also entertain. For instance, a quiz can tailor questions based on previous answers, dynamically creating a personalized experience.
Alternatively, adding a progress bar for completion or providing instant rewards for answering certain tricky questions enhances interaction. You could even consider offering a randomized reward, like loot boxes do in titles like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, so just as players are compelled to keep coming back with the promise of a CS:GO case opening, leads can be generated by the allure of some unknown yet potentially lucrative prize passed on for completing the form.
Why it Works
Gamification taps into the innate human love for games and competition. It transforms the lead capture process from a passive to an active endeavour. People are likely to spend more time on your form if they're enjoying the process, which not only increases completion rates but also improves the quality of information collected as users engage more thoroughly with content.
Plus, enjoyable experiences are shared experiences; users might share these unique forms with peers, amplifying your reach and potential lead pool.
Harnessing Social Proof: Testimonials that Tempt
People love to hear what others think about a business before buying from it, with Gartner pointing out that reviews are seen as vital by 86% of companies for this reason alone. Social proof can therefore be compelling in a form-filling context.
What's the Technique?
Incorporate testimonials or reviews directly into your form, ideally right before or alongside key fields where users might hesitate.
Choose testimonials that reflect the positive outcomes of submitting the form, such as success stories, benefits received, or problems solved thanks to the information or service obtained. This strategy turns casual visitors into more confident participants, knowing others have benefited before them.
Why it Works
Social proof is an influential factor in decision-making. People tend to follow the actions and behaviours of others, especially in uncertain situations.
By showcasing how filling out your form has positively impacted others, potential leads are reassured and motivated to submit their own details. It effectively reduces friction and builds trust around your brand and offer, making the submission process feel less risky and more rewarding and can even be included in popups as well as forms.
Conclusion
You should now have a great idea of how to revamp your forms so more leads fill them out when they encounter them, but don’t forget to keep checking that any strategies you deploy are actually working as intended, because testing and refining is the only way to get the best results in the long term.