Lead Generation for Architects | Converting Prospects To Customers

LEAD GENERATION FOR ARCHITECTS - CONVERTING PROSPECTS TO CUSTOMERS

Unless all of your lead generation comes from referrals and you're happy with the current growth of your business, you need to work on getting your website found by prospects. Online lead generation starts by taking a hard look at your existing website. Ask yourself - and others- if it's well-designed, user-friendly, easy-to-navigate and most of all informative. Is it connected to social media so that visitors can share your images and does it have a blog that is updated with new, customer-centric articles weekly? The whole point of having a website is selling architectural services to customers you want to work with and growing your business. If these are not your reasons then you can probably stop reading now. Unless you're already working at the highest levels, a "portfolio only" websites is usually nothing more than an ego boost. Beauty. Skin deep. We help architects build and update websites that convert visitors to prospects and prospects to customers. We do this with a content marketing approach. 

The process at it's most simple is as follows.

1. Write Keyword Rich Content - Attract people to your website with keyword rich informative blog articles and web pages.
2. Create Page Links - Insert Call-to-Action buttons and links within your articles and page content.
3. Design CTA Buttons - Design the call-to-action so that it stands out and visually attracts your reader with an offer.  
4. Build Landing Pages - When the reader clicks on the call-to-action, take them to a landing page where they can download your offer in exchange for contact information.
5. Email & Direct Mail - Reach out to your new contact regularly with direct mail and automated email marketing campaigns.

“Download our Paper,  How to Work with a Residential Architect” is a Call-to-Action. It should be designed to attract the attention of your reader, if text, make it bigger and bolder than the other content on the page.  Creating a graphic using the built in button builder on a Squarespace website, Adobe Creative Suite, or the free online design system Canva will increase the conversion rate of your call-to-actions. Think of it as trout fishing and your CTA is the fly. Not all fly's work at all times with all fish in every river, so creating a variety of call-to-action buttons and using them in different locations on your website will allow you to cover your bases. A call-to-action should link to something that provides value to your prospect. An example of your work has very little value to the prospect unless they are very close to hiring you. That's about 4% of your website traffic. For the other 96% provide an e-book, white paper, video guide, webinar or an offer of an estimate.

When the potential customer clicks on your offer, he or she is taken to a landing page, which is where you convert prospects to leads by having them provide a little information about themselves to complete the transaction. It should be a simple page with a contact form. Your landing page should include a headline, a brief description of the offer, a related image and a form. That is all. You don’t want to distract people from the form because the form is the tool that will give you the leads.

Don’t request too much information. Collect only what you need to be in contact with the prospect. Make it easy for them to complete the form otherwise they will click off the page. Start by asking for first name, last name, email address, and address. If your website is built on the Squarespace platform, an easy to use form builder is included. More complex systems like Hubspot have smart forms. These forms pre-populate form fields when a prospect has previously filled out the information and allow you to ask for additional information with each new offer. 

Since 96% of your leads are not ready to engage your services when they find your website, you should try building a relationship with your prospects. Once they fill out the form, make initial email contact, offer a link back to a helpful blog article and then stay in touch. Craft your communications in a narrative format so the result is like a long conversation, not a hard sell.

As you gather information you will begin to identify leads that are more promising than others.  CRM software can help you with lead management. A thoughtfully designed website helps guide prospects through your sales funnel: At the wide top are all the prospects: people looking for content, casual browsers; at the bottom, narrow end are customers. Not everyone will make it to the bottom of the funnel, but the farther a prospect travels down the funnel, the more likely they’ll end up a customer. A website that uses automated marketing tactics, great call-to-actions and helps them — don’t try to push them — through that funnel is one that will attract, and guide leads towards using your services without a tremendous amount of effort or time. 

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About Michael Conway

I'm the owner and strategist at Means-of-Production. My firm builds Squarespace websites, Houzz profiles, and content marketing and advertising solutions for architects, interior designers, design-build contractors and landscape design firms. Our all-in-one marketing tactics attract the right clients with exceptional architectural photography and brand messaging that sets you apart from the competition.