Lead Generation: 4 quick case studies about web forms, local keywords, referral campaigns, and virtual business cards

This article was originally published in the MarketingSherpa email newsletter.

Quick Case Study #1: A/B testing web form generates 326% more leads for homebuilder

MECLABS conversion marketing services split tested web forms in an experiment with a homebuilder (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).

Creative Sample #1: Control web form from marketing experiment

Creative Sample #2: Treatment of web form from marketing experiment

By making a simple change of substance in a single, important section of content, the treatment generated a 326% increase in leads.

You can learn why this form performed better, along with tips for optimizing your lead generation, in the MarketingExperiments video Accelerating Lead Capture: Four psychological keys that transform conversion rates (MarketingExperiments is the sister publication of MarketingSherpa).

Quick Case Study #2: Startup increases email opt-ins 37% by adding pages for local keywords

Air Guns Daddy is a commission-based website that monetizes its content via an affiliate marketing model. The website reviews many different types of air-powered guns and their accessories and has been conducting SEO (search engine optimization) for all the relevant, direct keywords.

However, recently the team took a different, more creative approach. In addition to search engine optimization for the obvious keywords, they started thinking how else they could attract the same type of audience that is interested in air guns by capitalizing on indirect keywords.

"Since the inception of our company, I have been concentrating on conventional SEO where I would optimize my site for directly related, commercial-intent keywords. I have never had the time to stop for a moment and start thinking outside the box; start to test other, more creative approaches. This is until we collectively decided, as a team, to invite outside consultants. This has been the smartest move we made because it helped us to gain a different perspective on how SEO can be done,” said Alex Davis, co-founder, Air Guns Daddy.

Since the website features all types of air-powered guns (airsoft, pellet, paintball), the team hypothesized that the same people who buy those guns will want to shoot them somewhere.

So they started researching and found thousands upon thousands of untapped, local-based keywords with extremely low competition. Keywords such as “airsoft fields in Houston TX” or “paintball in Miami.”

After gathering a huge list of those indirect keywords, the team created hundreds of pages with relevant content using a bulk page generator – each optimized for a particular location.

Creative Sample #3: Local-targeted page for air gun website

After a few days the pages started appearing in search results and after a few months the site is getting close to 3,000 new users from search engines each month.

The new users increased the site’s email opt-ins roughly 37% and affiliate commissions roughly 10% on the front-end and 28% on the back-end (those who opted in to the mailing list and have been receiving the follow-up sequence).

Based on this early success, the team is adding a few thousand more new pages to cover all the large and medium-sized locations in the United States.

Quick Case Study #3: LinkedIn coffee campaign increases number of leads 75% for B2B SaaS startup

The team at SuperOps.ai devised a referral strategy to get the word out about its product on its beta launch day – May 12, 2021. “We launched a ‘coffee campaign’ on LinkedIn where people in the MSP (Managed Service Provider) space could tag their MSP buddy in the comments section of the launch post and we would DM (direct message) a coffee voucher worth $10 to both of them,” said Sriram Palaniappan, Growth Marketer, SuperOps.ai.

To get things rolling, they started by tagging a few prominent people in the MSP industry who they had a good relationship with. There was silence the very first hour but things quickly started to pick up. People started tagging MSP professionals creating a snowball effect. The team proactively DMed the coffee vouchers as soon as possible when people tagged others or were tagged by their peers. This got more people excited who came back to tag more people. “We ensured that the momentum was never lost so that the LinkedIn algorithm would keep improving our post’s organic reach,” Palaniappan said.

Creative Sample #4: LinkedIn post about referral coffee campaign for B2B SaaS startup

The software company received 105 comments on the post and reached 150 people in the MSP space, out of which roughly 100 people had not heard of the company before. Traffic to the website increased 385%. New users on the site rose by 591% when compared to the previous day. Number of leads increased 75% (comparing May 12^th to 13^th against Mary 10^th to 11^th).

“We had only spent $1,500 on this campaign. A traditional ad campaign would have cost us a lot more,” Palaniappan said. “Most referral campaigns offer ‘one reward to a random someone.’ We made it ‘a reward for everyone’ and proactively rewarded everyone the moment they were eligible to get our coffee vouchers.”

Quick Case Study #4: Real estate company generates 103,500 new leads with virtual business card

“Pressing the flesh” has been an essential part of business for hundreds of years. Of course, the way business is conducted changed drastically when the spread of a global pandemic suddenly made the simple act of shaking hands and passing along a physical business card a health risk.

EXIT Realty experimented with sharing contactless, virtual business cards.

“We wanted to ensure that this was not a basic ‘vcard.’ It had to be a business tool that brings unique value to the user. The EXIT design allows its users to share their contact information and give the end customer the ability to search properties immediately,” said John Lim, CEO and Founder, Share Local (EXIT’s card provider).

Creative Sample #5: Virtual, contactless business card used by EXIT Realty

More than 5,500 EXIT real estate professionals leveraged these cards to generate 103,500 new leads.

The data from customer interactions with the cards provided ongoing learning about clients, audiences and markets. “The new technology add that allows our individual agent to remarket via Facebook, Instagram and the Facebook audience network is a game changer for our busy network,” said Samantha Morris, VP Digital Marketing, EXIT Realty Corp. International.

Related resources

MarketingSherpa Quick Guide to Lead Generation: 8 content, social media and webinar tactics to boost lead volume

Lead Generation Success = Nature + Nurture

Lead Generation: Content and email combine for high-quality list building

Lead Gen: 4 quick lead generation case studies to give you ideas for increasing demand