Editor’s note: This post was co-written by Alyssa Donahue (Drift Customer Success team) and Fritz Stunzi (Drift Sales team).
After analyzing the reasons why customers left Drift in 2017, our Customer Success team found that lead volume was a recurring reason.
Especially when you have low site traffic, each lead that hits your site is so important. The speed of engagement (and ultimately conversion) with your site visitors is of utmost importance when the pool is smaller.
So, how can Drift help you make the most of your website traffic and drive more qualified leads?
Here are a few recommendations…
1) Be everywhere.
Put Drift sitewide. Your blog, homepage, contact us page, landing pages — they’re all fair game. We’ve seen customers have success using a simple, low-barrier-to-entry bot.
So, what do we mean by a simple, low-barrier-to-entry bot? Think two to three questions, and make sure one of those questions asks for a lead’s contact information (see example below).
On higher-intent pages, like your pricing page, you can try the “fastlane” approach. Instead of asking the qualifying questions, just ask if they’d like to book time to speak to a specialist. Since you know visitors on these pages are further down the funnel, you can focus on grabbing their email address and starting the conversation.
Now, if this gets to be too much and you’re having too many conversations and booking too many meetings, then you can roll it back. Until then, keep experimenting!
2) Complement your paid advertising with Drift.
We have a customer here at Drift who created bots specifically for their Google AdWords campaigns. That way they can greet those visitors immediately with a custom welcome message.
Then, when a visitor starts a conversation, the sales team is there to guide them and help them make the best purchase decision possible.
Think about it: How would you feel if you visited a store after seeing one of their ads, but when you walk in no one will assist you with your purchase? You might just walk out and go elsewhere.
By setting up Drift to be the virtual assistant for your website, you can greet visitors as soon as they arrive, and customize your message based on the content of the ad they clicked on.
For example, if they clicked an ad that highlighted a specific feature of your product or service, you should mention that same feature in your welcome message so it’s a seamless fit for that audience.
The bottom line: Make your visitors feel like they’re getting a 5-star hotel experience.
3) Use all of tools Drift has to offer.
Outside of Playbooks, Drift has an array of tools to empower your sales and marketing efforts. Two powerful ones are the calendar integration and Drift Profiles.
Integrating your calendar within Drift will enable you to book a meeting live with your site visitors. They don’t have to leave the site or check their email to get something in the books.
In addition to having your calendar setup in Drift, make sure your Drift Profile is good to go. You can see mine here.
Put the link to your Drift Profile directly into your email signature so people can book time with you immediately. This will help make the time between email sent and meeting booked as minimal as possible.
4) Write welcome messages that pull people in.
When a visitor hits your site, make the message stand out.
For example, we have a customer who currently offers a discount right in their welcome message.
This allows the site visitor to see the potential value they could be getting upfront.
Pro tip: When writing your welcome messages, avoid sounding like the copy you’d read on a lead capture form.
For example, “What’s your first name?” works in a form, but in a bot flow, it feels a bit forced. Messaging like “Let’s get to know each other. Can I grab your name?” sounds much, much better. (And better messaging leads to higher engagement.)
One more thing: Don’t be afraid to use an emoji or two. ? When chatting with people in Drift, treat it like you’re having a one-to-one conversation with a friend.
Final Thought
For years, companies have struggled with converting traffic into qualified leads.
At Drift, we’ve found that taking a real-time, conversational approach is the future. With low site traffic, Drift can amplify your sales and marketing efforts, capturing more of the leads that hit your site.