Lead scoring. It’s the kind of term that sends shudders down the non-technical, non-business school types. Algorithms, graphs, and money – lots of money spent – may start to run through your head. And, in order to get peace once more you convince yourself, “I know who my leads are.” False.
Unless you possess some mind-reading elixir (if so, please email me about this), you can’t magically know who your leads are. But, don’t be discouraged! You don’t have to be an MBA nerd like me to do some basic lead scoring.
Today, I’d like to cover some poor man’s lead scoring tricks that I’ve learned along the way. These tips and tricks can apply to just about any business, and won’t cost you a dime.
Tracking Traffic
First things first. In order to score leads, you have to know who they are. I recommend using Google Analytics, by far the most comprehensive and thorough analytics program that is completely free. (However, there are free versions of some other top-notch services out there.)
Google Analytics can tell you everything. Who’s coming to your website, their location, what pages they’re landing on, how long they spend there, the paths they take through your website, etc. There’s very little you can’t find out from Google Analytics. If you aren’t running this (or some other paid analytics program), insert the code now.
Developing Your System
While big business lead scoring can get super detailed, the truth is, you can come up with a lead scoring system of your own that does the trick. Figure out a points system that works for your team.
Maybe all of your website visitors get five points. For each minute or set of thirty seconds they spend on the landing page, maybe they get five more points. Then, perhaps they get ten points for looking at two product pages.
You get the idea. I don’t know your business, so I can’t come up with the scoring system for you. But, the point is to just start. Your lead scoring approach won’t be perfect when you first start out, and that’s okay. However, once you get the ball rolling, you’ll soon begin to figure out what elements of your scoring system help you accurately consider your leads, and what parts are not working.
Look for Trends
Once you have a system going, it’s time to start looking for trends. Do you have an anomalous amount of traffic from southern Illinois? If so, create PPC ads that target that region. Maybe one landing page on your site accounts for 80% of your site’s traffic. If so, put in the work to make that page really shine.
Perhaps there’s a sharp tail-off in on-site time when customers get to your fourth product page. Maybe you need some kind of pop up offer on that page.
Looking for these trends can be fun and exciting, but you have to start monitoring your traffic first. However, once you get this part down pat, you’ll be ready to start scoring and nurturing your leads!
What are some free or cheap lead scoring tactics you are using?
Poor Businessman Photo via Shutterstock
Justin Hitt
You can get even more accurate lead scoring by limiting measures to behaviors associated with information collection. Just knowing someone stayed on your site for a greater length of time isn’t as valuable as someone who requested specific report then later became a customer. Visitors have no value, it’s buyers who pay the bills.
Amie Marse
I agree but if you wait for someone to convert before you pay attention you are missing out on a huge piece of the puzzle. While that person hung out on your site for 3 minutes, they probably checked out your competition as well.
If you didn’t collect any information on them like an email address, implement a retargeting campaign (from sites like Adroll) so that they see your site’s banner while they are choosing between you and your competition.
Note: Retargeting campaigns are MUCH better for B2B sales as the sales cycle is longer but still work for B2C. We’ve all seen Amazone or Overstock ads that include our recently viewed items.
I know this is more offsite, but we had something called a four point day (inspired by Jennifer Till of http://www.jennifertill.com). Again, it needs to be tailored, but basically, it broke down as such:
4 points: signed contract
3 points: conversation with someone who had the authority to write a check
2 points: conversation with one degree removed from a 3 pointer
1 point: networking discussion
If you did activities worth 4 points every day that you worked, then you’d do enough to make the sales you needed.