Several years ago, I worked with a client who was convinced that the marketing we were doing for them was not converting. We ran paid Meta ads and local SEO for them every month, and according to them, no leads were coming in.
This was surprising because we had run similar plays with others in similar industries and had had great success.
However, they were adamant about cutting some of the channels that we were marketing to.
What the data showed
When we pulled their website data, we saw several things that were interesting.
First, the two channels that they wanted to cut were actually their top two sources of their website traffic, ahead of both their direct and organic search traffic.
Second, we saw that while visitors were pouring in, they were immediately dropping off. The reason for this was because after clicking, prospects landed on a three-page form fill. Naturally, they left.
The client was using a lack of form fills as their metric of failure. In addition, their entire read of what was working came from the second to last question: “How did you hear about us?” With about 10 options to choose from.
Self-reported data is misleading
Self-reported data can feel honest, but the human brain can be a bit fickle. Did I choose my insurance company because I saw their commercials, their billboards, or because someone mentioned a name? We can’t say for sure, but they all have influenced us in some way.
In addition, this client was only getting information from those patient enough to make it through three pages of questions.
What to do instead
- Look at your traffic sources directly in your analytics, rather than the channels that people self-report.
- Treat your forms as part of a funnel rather than a free data collection step. Every extra field is another reason to leave.
- If you want to know how people found you, ask a short optional question after they convert, rather than gating the whole conversation behind it.
The lesson
I completely understand not wanting to waste time on unqualified leads, but the way you collect information has to be built so that it doesn’t scare off the qualified ones too.
Otherwise, the data from that poor setup can steer you into making a decision to kill channels that were working.
What wound up happening for us is the client kept that long form, but they did agree to build a separate landing page, which did get better engagement.
Where we come in
The data you trust is only as good as the way you collect it. You’ve got to get that set up right so your numbers can tell you the truth.
That’s what we do with the businesses that we partner with. If you’re staring at your reports and something isn’t adding up, let’s talk.