4 Engaging Ways to Capture Online Leads

Struggling to capture leads online? Not sure what you’re doing wrong? We’ve got you covered with a few ideas for capturing leads and engaging your audience at the same time. Two birds, one stone, if you will.

First and foremost, ask yourself if your lead capture strategies provide value for your customers. Don’t expect to get something for nothing.

Now, without further ado, let’s dive into 4 engaging ways to capture online leads, optimize conversions, generate revenue, and most importantly, keep your customers happy.

Quiz your customers

We’ve all done it: put off important tasks to take one of those Buzzfeed quizzes on which TV or movie character we are. It’s a fun way to pass the time.

Not only are quizzes engaging for your customers, but they’re also an invaluable lead gen strategy for your business. (Just Google “how to capture leads through quizzes” if you don’t believe us.)

Quiz ideas

Test their knowledge of your niche or industry. 

Let’s say you manage a dentist’s office. A sample quiz question might be, “Do you know what this is used for?” Then include a photo of a dental instrument. Not only will you discover how much your customers know about your occupation, but they’ll learn something new, too.

Get to know your customers’ purchase preferences. 

Instead of bombarding your site visitors with pop-up ads for products, why not use a quiz? For instance, if you run a car dealership, you might set up a quiz that guesses their dream car.

“Which ___ are you?” 

These are always fun! If you’re in the legal industry, you might ask which fictional lawyer your customers are. (Think Elle Woods from Legally Blonde, Saul Goodman from Breaking Bad, etc.)

Tips for setting up quizzes

• Keep ‘em short and sweet. Ain’t nobody got time to take a 20-minute quiz.

• Add photos. You don’t want your quiz to look like a real exam, after all.

• Ask personal questions, but don’t intrude. People like talking about themselves. But you also don’t want your quiz to make your customer feel like you’re fishing for personal info. Make it fun!

• Add a CTA. They’ve taken the quiz. Now what? They share their results on their social media, which attracts more people to take the quiz, which means more shares, more reach, more engagement — you get the idea.

Interview your customers through surveys

Surveys are slightly different from quizzes. They allow customers to give feedback on the business’ products and services, assess the efficacy of your customer service strategies, and more.

But they can also be just as fun as quizzes. Here are a few ideas and tips for setting up your own survey.

Survey ideas

Conduct market research.

Wondering if you’ve priced your products or services correctly? The easiest way to find out is to ask your customers. Sample questions might include, “How much would you pay for ___?” You might also collect data on customer demographics and user preferences.

Get feedback.

Let’s say you just updated your logo, redesigned your website, or installed a chatbot. How’s your performance looking? Ask your customers! Sample questions include, “We redesigned our website recently — what do you think?” and “Have you used our live chat feature? Tell us about your experience so we can continue to improve.”

Measure customer satisfaction post-sale.

It’s always better to take the initiative to address issues before the customer contacts customer service. With a customer satisfaction survey, you’re saving them time while resolving issues faster and safeguarding customer loyalty. It’s a win-win.

Tips for setting up surveys

• Keep ‘em short. Again, ain’t nobody got time to complete a 20-minute survey.

• Be polite and show gratitude. Your customers and site visitors are going out of their way to complete your survey, so say please and thank you! Let them know how much their responses mean to you personally as well as your business.

• Offer a reward. Let’s say you’re interviewing your customers for a case study. But what’s in it for them? Maybe the chance to get their comments featured in an article. Or maybe even a voucher for one of your products or services.

• Post your survey everywhere. To maximize responses, share your survey on all your social channels.

Host competitions, giveaways, and freebies

Everyone loves free stuff. People are more likely to respond to your call-to-action if there’s something in it for them.

Freebie ideas

E-books, checklists, cheatsheets, and worksheets. 

Basically, any free PDF that provides value to subscribers. A downloadable feels like a product, too. They get a useful freebie, you get a lead or maybe a new email subscriber. Win!

Webinars, tutorials, courses, and Q&A sessions. 

Share trade secrets and resources to teach your customers something new. Give your customers and aspiring industry professionals the chance to ask you their burning questions.

Giveaways and raffles. 

One of the best ways to generate leads is to run a giveaway or raffle. People are more likely to sign up for your newsletter or fill out your survey if there’s a chance they’ll win something.

Tips for setting up freebies

• Draw up a budget. Creating a freebie doesn’t have to cost a fortune. There are tons of free tools out there for formatting e-books and video content, recording webinars and tutorials, and promoting giveaways and raffles.

• Repurpose existing content. Got a blog post that’s not performing as well as you’d hoped? Repurpose it! Include a reference back to the source material to boost engagement.

• Partner with thought leaders in your industry. To increase your reach, partner up with influencers and thought leaders. You’d be surprised how easy it is to make a connection after reaching out with a worthwhile opportunity.

• Run a poll to engage your audience. First time hosting a webinar? Not sure what freebie you want to provide? When in doubt, ask your audience.

Chat with your customers through live chat

Your site is your virtual storefront. When customers enter a business, they expect to be greeted warmly and offered assistance in case they need it.

Live chat is a great way to accomplish this online. Not only does it make visitors feel welcome, but it’s also a handy tool for staying on top of your customer service inquiries.

(To save yourself some time, you can also set up chatbots to automatically greet your site visitors and respond to queries.)

Engaging ways to capture online leads: wrapping up

And there you have it — 4 online lead capture strategies that boost your engagement and also provide value to your customers. If you’ve given some of these tactics a try, we’d love to hear all about your experience. Share your thoughts with us on social!