When you first launched your event planning website, you leveraged all the best tools and designs to make it effective. But today’s online environment is vastly different from even last year. And with more people turning to mobile devices as their methods of choice for finding new products and services, how can you be sure your website is still working?
Start by evaluating your lead generation machine. Are you getting leads from your website? Are you filling your sales funnels with web-based messaging, landing pages, and surveys? If you’re not sure or are confident you’re NOT generating leads with your website, consider these immediate improvements and strategies.
1. Revisit Your Buyer Personas
If you’re not getting the leads from your website like you used to, start by evaluating your target audience. Revisit your buyer personas or those fictitious characters developed to best represent your ideal client. Are those people still your primary targets? Or have your audience's preferences and needs changed? Make the necessary changes to your website, with designs, messaging, or funnels, to re-align them with the core problem you’re trying to solve for your ideal customer.
2. Email Capturing Tools
Look to make sure you have tools on your website that capture the email addresses of interested visitors. These might be requests for more information, subscription to company newsletters, or invitations for free offers. Your website should be a hub for your customers where all the answers live. But it should also be working for you in a way that allows you to effectively build your database of leads to nurture and develop.
3. Using Intuitive Forms
HubSpot and other marketing experts insist that websites use forms to help generate and cultivate leads. Forms can be simple, requesting basic customer information. Or they can be more complex, like surveys, asking for more in-depth insights pertaining to the customer experience. Either way, event planners can rely on website-based forms to grow their lead pools. They’re also instrumental in identifying new pain points or challenges your target clients might be facing. Before developing forms for your website, spend some quality time with your site’s analytics. You might be surprised to learn which pages are driving the most interest. And those are the opportunities with which you can leverage intuitive forms for improved lead generation.
4. Better Conversion Rate Metrics
Speaking of metrics, how in tune are you with your event planning website data? Look at the numbers and see which pages generate the most interest, which call-to-action buttons have the most clicks, and how long visitors spend with each landing page. These insights will help you develop the strategies you need to tap into that current traffic. It will also help you identify which entry or exit points need more work, either with messaging, design, or funnel flow.
5. Web Content Improvements
The internet is a super-noisy space. Your ideal clients are inundated daily with ads, messaging, images, and videos begging for their attention. But the one surefire way to get them to stop scrolling on your post or message is with quality content. What you say is far more important than anything, especially if you’re hoping to capture attention and turn eyeballs into qualified leads. Make sure every opportunity you have to say something online, with your website, social media, or event promotions, that you say something:
- Inspirational
- Motivating
- Thought-Provoking
- Problem-Solving
- Attractive
- Different
- Relevant
- Brand-Infused
6. A/B Testing Ongoing
Event planners are resilient in coordinating the most lavish and engaging New York conferences, celebrations, and events. That resiliency is rooted in your ability to stay on top of emerging trends and ahead of predicted challenges. You’ll need to adopt the same strategy with your website and lead generation efforts.
Everything about your lead-gen plan should be flexible and ready for shifts and changes. And the only way to anticipate those changes and nuances is with ongoing A/B testing of your current strategies. Put a process in place that allows you to test different messages, forms, designs, and CTAs. Check which results are the most effective and make the necessary upgrades to create the best lead-gen strategy.
Your website should be driving interest and generating leads for your New York event planning business. If you’re falling short or your analytics suggest a sluggish response, consider these improvements to get back on track.
Make sure you check out the latest on available exhibitor space with The Event Planner Expo 2023! Spots are limited, and you’ll want to get in on the action fast. It’s the best place to be, especially for event professionals interested in lead generation and growing their businesses.
