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What is a lead capture form?

This article will explain what a lead capture form is and how to use it to generate more leads.

If you have a website for your business, the purpose is to drive more sales or educate your customers with a blog or other valuable content. To grow your business consistently you need to capture leads. A lead is the contact information of prospective customers. On the web, leads are gathered using forms on landing pages called lead capture forms. In case you’re not sure, landing pages are the pages where your prospects “land” when they click on a link in your online advertisements.

When should you use a lead capture form?

Whenever you want to attain contact information, like email addresses, from your potential customers you should use a lead capture form. To entice them, offer something of value in exchange for their information. These might include a report, a handy reference, or the convenience of receiving email notifications when you publish new articles on your company blog.

Promote this offer on your website and on PPC, search engine marketing (SEM), banner ads, social media ads, or email marketing. When they click on the link in the advertisement, send them to the corresponding targeted landing page.

Including a lead capture form on your landing page makes it easy for them to take advantage of your offer and opt in to your mailing list. Gathering this information allows you to develop a business relationship with your prospective customers where they grow to know, like and trust you. And, when they are ready to buy, you’re most likely to be the logical choice.

Why use a form to capture leads?

You may still be wondering what the big deal is about adding a lead capture form to the page where your prospect is sent when they click on the link in your advertisement. Well, landing pages with lead capture forms are useful for many reasons including:

  • Minimising distractions by being focused solely on the offer that inspired the person to click on the link in your ad. This is critical because people’s attention spans average approximately 8 seconds. So those arriving at a regular web page, instead of a targeted lead capture page, might get distracted by all their options, forget about the offer, and end up not providing you with their contact information. Sending them to a landing page with only the offer information and form keeps them on track so they opt-in and receive their bonus.
  • Providing specific offer details that relate to the advertisement that piqued their interest and caused them to click on the link. This creates a smooth and efficient process so they don’t change their minds or forget why they landed there in the first place.
  • Aiding in gathering valuable data concerning where your customers are coming from. This enhances your understanding of which marketing tactics are working effectively and which ones need to be adjusted or even discontinued.
  • Simplifying the opt-in process by making it effortless for your prospect. An ad or promo that’s tailored to a specific segment of your audience attracts them to click on the link. Having a lead capture form on their landing page provides them with a frictionless process for taking advantage of your offer and opting into your list.
  • Accelerating growth because it’s been proven that companies that use lead capture forms on landing pages effectively and consistently grow their customer base. This is the case because lead capture forms result in a higher lead conversion rate than campaigns not using them.

So, when you’re ready to grow your email list along with your customer base and bottom line, remember to add a lead capture form to your landing page. They’ll help you create a landing page that converts more consistently and produces better results!

Learn more about landing pages: