Lead Generation: Perceived value and cost of free incentives [Live test from Lead Gen Summit preview]
At MarketingSherpa Lead Gen Summit 2013 in San Francisco, marketers will have the chance to participate in a live test, straight from the event. As tradition, MECLABS will offer an exciting live test with transferrable takeaways marketers can apply to their own lead generation efforts. This year MarketingSherpa teamed up with Act-On, premier sponsor of Lead Gen Summit 2013, to conduct a landing page test to discover which incentives are more effective for generating leads.
“Something we all wanted to is make the audience aware that yes, they can run tests just like this,” Kyle Foster, Research Manager, MECLABS, said.
As Summit sessions and festivities commence, let’s take a look at some background information on the test.
Test Objective: To determine if a single incentive versus a selection of incentives is more effective for generating leads on a landing page. We are also seeking to discover whether a choice of incentives increases the perceived value of the incentive and will encourage visitors to offer more information for higher quality leads.
Research Questions:
- Which incentive approach will generate the most leads per visitor?
- Which form yields a high lead generation rate?
Test Design: A/B/C Split Test
The Lead Gen Summit 2013 live test will consist of one control landing page, with two treatments. On the control, visitors will encounter a short form and will receive one free e-book in the form of a MarketingSherpa Quick Guide, with the topic selected by audience members at Lead Gen Summit.
Control page
The first treatment will also consist of a short form, but this time visitors will have their pick of one of three Quick Guides MarketingSherpa offers.
Treatment #1
The first research question applies to the control and the first treatment. Will a choice of incentive offer, the e-book, result in more leads generated from the page?
A second treatment page will also be employed for the test, only this time, visitors will encounter a long form and a choice of free e-book. The second research question applies to treatment 1 and treatment 2: which form, long or short, yields a higher rate of lead generation?
Treatment #2
To drive traffic to the site, MarketingSherpa and Act-On will be sending an email with links to the control and two treatment pages to MarketingSherpa Newsletter subscribers as well as recipients on Act-On’s list.
Marketers will have to wait until Lead Gen Summit is underway to see which page wins. However, here is a breakdown on each page if it turns out to be a winner:
Control win: Choice of incentive does not have a greater perceived value than the single offer visitors were given, and having the choice of e-book may cause friction and hinder lead generation.
Treatment #1 win: Choice of incentive increases perceived value of the free e-book higher than the single incentive, and the perceived value of choice does not outweigh the perceived cost of a longer form to fill out. We will also learn which incentive choice the leads are most interested in.
Treatment #2 win: Choice of incentive increases the perceived value of the incentive, just like the first treatment. At the same time, the perceived value of the choice of incentive outweighs the cost of a longer form and ultimately, generates a higher quality of leads. Similar to the first treatment, we will learn what incentives leads are more interested in choosing for their incentive.
If you are an attendee at Lead Gen Summit 2013, you will have the chance to see the results of the test unfold in real time. Also, Summit attendees will have the opportunity to directly impact the test by selecting the incentives, how many form fields the long form treatment page should have, and what they should ask customers.
“They will be able to choose the outcome of the test. We will implement their changes and run the test. There will be results based on what attendees want to learn,” Brittany Long, Research Analyst, MECLABS, said.
Don’t miss the live test launch during the “Welcome and Introduction” session on Tuesday, October 1, presented by Flint McGlaughlin, Managing Director, MECLABS.
If you are not a Summit attendee this year, learn all of the results as well as additional background information on the development of the test in an upcoming MarketingSherpa case study. Be sure to follow #LeadGen2013 on Twitter to stay connected with updates on the live test, as well as sessions and events at Summit.
“This is a test that, regardless of the outcome, it will lead to a learning for everyone,” Brittany said.
Related Resources:
Lead Gen Form Optimization: Why a lower conversion rate can be a good thing
Customer Motivation: 3 steps to help you stop thinking like a marketer
Landing Page Optimization: 6 common traits of a template that works
