I’ve been asked a few times recently if I can help software companies to understand why they are struggling with lead generation and in particular low conversion rates from their website. If you are having similar challenges, you might find this questioning process helpful:

1. Who are we counting as leads?

Are we sure that all the people who we are counting as leads are really in the market for our product at our price point? Or could it be that our our SEO and advertising are too focused on filling the top of the funnel, rather than being fine-tuned to attract prospects who are likely to convert?

2. Are we driving people to engage with us before they are ready?

Is the website pushing, say a demo, before offering visitors resources to help with their research and clarify their needs? Are we, metaphorically speaking, asking them back to our place after a first date?

3. Is our marketing sufficiently focused?

When people visit our website, can they see and feel right away that our whole purpose is helping people just like them with challenges just like theirs? Are we really focusing all our effort on connecting with and converting those people who are in our sweet spot?

4. How realistic is the vision we are selling?

How well do we set expectations as people read our website content, download our papers and watch our videos? Does our marketing describe a utopian vision, followed by a stark reality check, or do we set the stage for mature discussions based on openness and trust?

5. Is our product/service positioning realistic?

Do we have the functionality, user experience and credibility to outshine the market leaders? Or do we need to focus our marketing and lead generation on niches where our capabilities, service level and price give us a clear sales advantage?

These questions may not lead to easy answers, but they can help you understand where you need to focus your attention. Great marketing starts from an understanding of who exactly you are serving, what changes you are helping them to make and how your products and services can do that, better than the competition.

If this sounds like the kind of approach that you would like to take with your marketing, then I’d love to discuss it with you. Please call Philip Jones on 01905 317 318.