Page 29 - MetalForming January 2013

significantly harm your business. The fact is, 79 percent of marketing leads don’t immediately convert into sales. Why? Primarily due to a lack of lead nurturing. Knowing this, why wouldn’t you work to nurture leads?
Make Your Website a Lead-Generating Machine
Once you understand the value in generating leads, the task turns to bringing in more leads and developing them into customers. Here are six guidelines we follow at National Metal Fabricators that should work for your website as well.
1) Create trust. Your entire market- ing campaign, from advertising to your website, must build credibility with your audience. In order to close sales, you must win trust. Some of the ways we’ve achieved this goal is by adding a privacy policy to our website, stating publicly that we won’t sell client data. Social-media activity also can go a long way toward increasing trust, as clients see you consistently demonstrating industry knowledge without being pushy.
2) Tell them what to do. Never assume website visitors will know what to do when they visit your website; you have to tell them. Do you want them to fill out contact info in a form? Should they subscribe to your e-newsletter? You may want to set up capture forms in more than one location on your web- site, such as at the “Contact Us” page or at the “Subscribe to Our Newsletter” button.
3) Design landing pages—parts of your website specifically designed to prompt readers toward a specific action when they’ve landed on your website from another site. Keep these pages simple, featuring strong content that prompts a reader to take action. You might design specific landing pages for your Twitter account or your LinkedIn page.
4) Show what’s in it for them. This is Marketing 101: If you want your visitors to take action, give them a reason to do so. Offer a free service or a big discount for subscribing to your e-newsletter,
or provide a 20-percent discount on an initial purchase. Whatever the case, make the benefit compelling so that your website visitors will be more like- ly to share their information with you.
5) Simplify the process. No one likes CAPTCHA codes. While the codes do fight off spam, they also often discour- age visitors from connecting. That’s why you want to remove all excess steps and make it as easy as possible for vis-
itors to respond.
6) Track everything. Effective track-
ing is an important part of any good lead-generation campaign, because it gives you the knowledge needed to make decisions, monitor progress and know when/what to adjust. Establish quality metrics that will provide a clear picture of what’s happening on your website, and be prepared to make changes as needed. MF
Connect and follow OMAX for the latest news in waterjet technology.
ONE EVERYTHING COMPANY. YOU NEED.
OMAX offers a complete line of high performance waterjet technology with cutting envelope sizes ranging from 2'5" x 2'1" to 46'8" x 13'4".
When it comes to abrasive waterjet machining, OMAX® Corporation has everything you need.
We understand that in today’s challenging marketplace, you need a partner that can provide the comprehensive solutions you need to be productive and stay competitive.
OMAX is a single-source provider of
the industry’s most innovative abrasive waterjet technology. With the OMAX and MAXIEM lines of waterjet equipment, we offer a complete range of capabilities from industry standard to high performance.
When it comes to waterjets, OMAX is the only partner you need.
Please visit WWW.OMAX.COM for more information on the ways in which OMAX can help you be more productive.
WWW.OMAX.COM
1.800.838.0343
Made in the USA
The MAXIEM line of affordable waterjet solutions includes machines with cutting envelope sizes ranging from 2' 6" x 2' 6" to 53' 4" x 13' 4".
WWW. MAXIEMWATERJETS .COM TEL 877-MAXIEM5 (877-629-4365)
www.metalformingmagazine.com
MetalForming/January 2013 27