What to Put In Lead Generation Form So It Works

Capturing quality leads for the sales funnel helps businesses keep the needle moving. The process has a direct impact on your revenue and fuels your growth.

However, lead acquisition is an intricate process. No matter which method you use to attract prospects, it’s best to design well-thought-out lead-generation forms to make your efforts pay off.

This may be easier said than done, as many struggle with what to add to these forms to make them work.

The goal here is not to make random people fill out your forms but to attract a relevant audience with a high conversion likelihood.

Here are a few things you should consider when creating a lead generation form for your target audience:

Consider Customization

A common mistake most businesses make is using a single lead generation form for all their campaigns.

Whether they strive to generate leads through referrals, affiliates, paid advertisements, or social media platforms, they use a generalized template for it all.

This is a flawed approach, as each campaign may target a different audience profile. Using a single form for them all may not help you get the best results.

Leveraging custom templates as per use cases allows you to get more eyeballs and helps you generate leads that are more likely to convert.

Plus, you should have a different landing page for each campaign. As said earlier, different campaigns may attract a diverse audience with distinct preferences.

So, it’s best to tailor your page design and copy to grab their attention. This may take more time than using a single landing page and template. However, all the effort would be worth it in the end, as you would get better results than expected.

The following is an example of two lead generation forms that inspire a single call to action.

You may notice the change in the copy and the format of the template. Plus, these forms were embedded into different landing pages. So, you can use them as inspiration and start customizing your own.

Offer Value

For your lead generation to work, try offering some value to people in exchange for providing the information that you need.

It can be anything—an extensive report, a free demo, a giveaway or a free trial of your solutions.

You can also offer a discount or free shipping. As long as your offer has some sort of value, your audience will be likely to give you the information you need and be compelled to go for the call to action.

This may also serve as an excellent strategy when you require sensitive information or want your audience to take your solutions for a spin.

If you want to create a discount form, this interactive template by invovle.me serves as an excellent choice.

You can choose the template as it is or customize it as per your preference. The template is optimized for desktop and mobile screens. So, you don’t have to worry about the user experience. 

Keep It Simple

Try not to go overboard when creating lead generation forms, and be as simple as you can. People may not mind sharing the information you ask for. However, it’s best to know what’s essential and what you can do without.

The following form from Entrepreneurs on Fire serves as an excellent example here. You can see that the only information they require from you is your email address. They didn’t even ask for your name, let alone other personal details.

These types of forms have massive potential to capture quality leads for you. They are minimal and only ask for details that you’re comfortable providing.

You can effortlessly integrate a form like this into your website with just a single click or incorporate changes to your liking using our above newsletter template.

Add Optional Fields

As said above, it’s best to keep your lead generation forms simple. However, sometimes you may need certain information from your audience, and that leads you to add multiple fields to your forms.

When you do that, consider making some of those fields optional, especially the ones you think users would be reluctant to fill.

Make your audience as comfortable as you can. It’s best that you have collected some information from them rather than losing potential leads altogether.

We can help you create custom forms with optional fields. All it takes is just a few clicks to add them to your website.

Be Mobile-Friendly

It’s a rookie mistake to assume that people will always view your content on the desktop. They are always on the move and mostly use their smartphones to access relevant information.

Therefore, it’s important to ensure that your lead generation forms are mobile-friendly. You can’t expect to engage your target audience by offering a clunky user experience.

Your forms should be compatible with all screen sizes and can easily be accessed via mobile for you to generate the desired traction.

The following is a picture of the same lead generation form used by the Social Media Examiner that we talked about earlier. However, you may notice that the layout of the form is different.

This is because the form is optimized for mobile screens to ensure a seamless experience for the audience.

Add a Compelling Call to Action

Adding a clear and visually appealing call to action is a must for your lead generation forms to work and attract a relevant audience.

Your call to action should be short, compelling, and eye-catching. It should give your audience an idea of what they should expect after clicking the button.

Plus, the color of your CTA should align with your page’s theme and grab the attention of visitors.

The above picture of a lead generation form from The Influencer Marketing Factory serves as a great example here.

Test Different Variants

No matter how well-thought-out your lead generation form is, you can’t just rely on one to get optimal results.

If your form gives you certain results, how would you know that you got the best yield from your efforts unless you compared it with other alternatives?

So, it’s highly recommended that you test different variations of a lead form to determine which one of them has the most potential to generate quality leads for you.

You can play around with the form’s fields, copy of the form, CTA text, color scheme, and so on. Do whatever you think may work and compare different versions of forms with one another after testing them.

This will likely lead you to get better results than your expectations and help you attract prospects with a high conversion likelihood.

Final Words

Lead generation forms help you attract a relevant audience and fuel your sales funnel with promising prospects.

However, there are a few things you should carefully consider when creating and deploying those forms to make them work.

So, if you have not been getting results as per your expectations, try the recommendations in this article to optimize your lead forms and see if they work for you.

Author Bio

Syed Balkhi is the founder of WPBeginner, the largest free WordPress resource site. 

With over 10 years of experience, he’s the leading WordPress expert in the industry. You can learn more about Syed and his portfolio of companies by following him on his social media networks.