Mar 14, 2013
By Renae Rossow
In Marketing Strategy and Planning, Content Marketing

WHAT TEMPERATURE ARE YOUR INTERNET LEADS?

Your website engages with different people at different times 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Whenever someone from your target audience is on the web asking questions, hopefully they are finding your website because you are providing the answers on a regular basis. That being said, I think it's pretty well understood that those website visitors who choose to engage can be at different stages of the sales cycle.

So how do you know what part of the cycle they are at? How do you, in essence, take their Copyright (c) <a href='http://www.123rf.com'>123RF Stock Photos</a> your internet leads temperature?

The key to knowing the temperature of your internet leads is by analyzing the content that is sparking their engagement. When you use a tool such as Hubspot or Google Analytics, you are able to tell when a website visitor comes to your site for the first time, what pages they are looking at, what page they are on when they choose to leave, why they come back to your site, what information they are reading and what actually sparks engagement. This is key to understanding where they are at in the buying cycle.

Example

You are a real estate agent. Visitor A comes to your site on April 1, 2012. He looks at your bio page then he looks at your testimonials page and finally, he clicks on your Call To Action that takes him to a Tip Sheet titled "10 Key Steps For Selling Your Home." The form on that sheet required his name, email address and the zip code his home is located in.

What about the above example should you analyze?

How did Visitor A find your site? Was it an organic search? Was it your blog? Was it an inbound link or Social Media? This is important information because you will know if he was searching for an answer you provided or just hanging out on social media when he happenedacross your info
How much time did he/she spend on each page? Find out what held his attention the most in order to understand what is being considered and thought about.
Identify the engagement spark. Obviously, Visitor A has a home to sell or wouldn't need to read a tip sheet about selling a house.
Where did they go after they engaged? Did they leave your site? Did they visit another page?

After considering all of these answers, map out your response to Visitor A. The form they completed should trigger a lead nurturing campaign. If he/she spent a lot of time on your site, consider placing a personal phone call to follow up. If they were quick to leave, it might be too soon to reach out personally. This, of course, is dependent on your normal sales cycle. If it is a quick sale, then the minute they engage, it might be time to call.

Overall, we're going to say that Visitor A found you online in response to a question they searched for on Google. He spent a lot of time reading your testimonials (approximately 5 minutes) and then read your biography for 2 minutes. Then he downloaded the tip sheet and went on to spend a couple more minutes looking at your current listings. Interestingly enough, he was looking at your listings only between the $200k and $250k price range.

Analysis Results: Visitor A came to your website for the first time and spent a considerable amount of time there. He engaged and continued looking at very specific information. Although the lead nurturing campaign you have set up for your internet leads was triggered, you decide that it is best you make a personal phone call to follow up within 24 hours.

The temperature of this lead? Warm. Why? In this day of short attention spans, Visitor A spent a lot of time on your website learning about you. He Chose to download a tips sheet about selling his house on his very first visit and then looked at a specific price range. You have enough information to qualify him as a potential lister.

Outcome: You call and leave a simple voicemail that you're available if he has any questions. In addition, your lead nurturing email was sent and he knows how to connect with your blog to find all sorts of informative articles on listing advice. A couple days later, you see that Visitor A has come back to your site. He is reading articles on your blog. You send him a hand-written note with a complimentary Home Market Value Report. Visitor A calls you to set up an appointment.

Bingo.

How do you take the temperature of your internet leads?

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Thinking with Cleriti

WHAT TEMPERATURE ARE YOUR INTERNET LEADS?

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