Why use HubSpot lead flows?
While a resources page on your website is a great way to group all of your content together in a single place, you are essentially waiting for visitors to actively seek it out.
Sure, calls-to-action (CTAs) and smart content placed around your website can help distribute this content, but they too are static and rely on your website visitors having previously filled out a form on your website, as this will allow you to show them the right content at the right time.
But what about people who are visiting your website for the first time? How do you get your content in front of them? They are unlikely to navigate straight to your resources page, so how can you make your key pieces of content stand out?
The answer? HubSpot lead flows!
HubSpot lead flows are a great way to engage and convert the more ‘passive’ leads on your website. They are easy to set up and can be attached to specific URLs on your website, allowing you to display key pieces of funnel content to prospects.
But to use lead flows successfully, you have to be strategic with the content you choose and where you choose to deploy it. So, what do you need to do?
First off, conduct a content audit
The best way to work out which pieces of content would work best across your website is to catalogue and evaluate all of the content that you have.
Why is this important?
Well, from your content audit you might find that a piece of top of the funnel, evergreen content from a campaign you created ages ago, has a conversion rate that is far higher than the rest of your top of the funnel content.
Now that information is worth knowing!
Once you have a centralised record of your content in one place, make sure to record the format of each piece of content, as well as which part of the funnel it fits into and which of your buyer personas it targets.
Segmenting your content in this way and being able to see it all in one place also helps you to identify any gaps in your content, which is useful for future content strategy, understanding your top-performing content and lead flow deployment.
Be savvy with your homepage
HubSpot lead flows should be treated in the same way as the CTAs that you would add to a homepage. Avoid pop-ups for product demos and bottom of the funnel content. While pop-ups are tempting, they can irritate prospects.
Your prospects don’t want to be interrupted, so you need to engage them with content that is informative and helps them to solve their problems.
Instead, try to identify the most top-of-the-funnel piece of content which appeals to a number of your buyer personas. This content is more likely to help your prospects understand their business challenges, as well as provide them with some helpful insights to solve those issues and encourage them to move further into the buyer’s journey.
Top tips for creating a HubSpot lead flow for your homepage
When creating your lead flow, ensure that the pop-up is 1) engaging, 2) asks a question to capture interest, and 3) includes a clickable button that directs the user to a short form for the content asset in question. A small pop-up on the left or right-hand side of the screen is noticeable, but not too intrusive.
For your lead flow’s triggers, set it to display after either seven seconds have elapsed or if the prospect has scrolled through more than 50% of the page.
What about your product pages?
On the deeper pages of your website, which are likely to focus on the specific products and services that you would offer prospects, you can be more targeted with the content you use for lead flows.
Your product pages are likely to be specific to the personas you are targeting, and if they are looking at these pages, then they are likely to be at the consideration and decision stages of the buyer’s journey.
Here, the more useful pieces of content are likely to be whitepapers, brochures, and of course, demos. But again, it is worth being mindful of deploying demo-based lead flows, as not everyone will be ready to sign up for a demo at this point. If a contact takes the time to read through product content, then a whitepaper or case study that provides ‘proof’ that your product or service is useful may have more of an impact.
Lead flows can be adapted and changed as you analyse the results, so you can experiment with them until you find the right middle or bottom of the funnel piece of content that resonates with your audience.
Don’t forget follow-up emails
If a demo lead flow isn’t resonating with your audience, consider adding a CTA to your lead flow follow up emails to encourage contacts to engage, moving them further down the funnel.
A short ‘P.S.’ after your email sign off signature is a subtle way of introducing the demo that doesn’t seem pushy!
To summarise…
When deploying HubSpot lead flows, always keep the user experience and buyer journey in mind to ensure that you’re always offering content that helps to solve a problem! When in doubt, refer back to your content audit to work out which personas your content will appeal to the most.
