In this article you will read how you use Engineering as Marketing in your right target group as a power channel, and which mistakes should be avoided.
Recently I used this tool. What was it again? A backlink checker, or an online tool to check website speed.
That made me so enthusiastic that I also wanted to know more about the provider. I learned that the tool was not intended for the public at all at the beginning.
In the beginning it was a rather “nerdy” and unattractive tool, with which the company behind it had made manual and recurring work easier for itself.
At some point the resourceful founders came to the conclusion that it makes perfect sense to make an existing tool available to customers. This makes unobtrusive and value-creating marketing possible.
The Hubspot website grader is a very impressive example of successful engineering as marketing.
Engineering as Marketing is about using your engineering time (or that of your team) to build useful tools such as calculators, checkers or checklists, widgets and even micro-sites that place your company in the needs of potential customers.
Providing these tools creates trust as well as credibility with potential customers. You or he can take the first step towards your company without having to dig deep into your wallet.
According to Venture Harbour, a company that provides its potential customers with something personalized and value-adding, such as lead magnet tools, can achieve a 30 to 40 percent conversion rate.
Colleagues from Business to Community have found that around 90 percent of marketers confirm that interactive content, such as that from Engineering as Marketing measures, sets them apart from their competitors.
You’re putting in a weak call to action
Please do not ask too much from potential customers. But still you should ask the user of your tool for something. Call to Action is essential, because if you think your leads and visitors know what to do next, you’re wrong. So the instructions should be clear and unambiguous.
Your contact forms are too long
The biggest mistake of many companies is to ask prospective customers and users of tools to fill out a long registration form and get too much information (name, position, email, phone or mobile number, company name and other details, etc.).
Forms that require too much information end up losing potential customers.
You make it too complicated
Many companies that use a tool or a freebie as a lead magnet make it difficult for their prospects due to bad layout, confusing instructions or too many alternatives. Therefore, always offer the tool on a page with as few other distractions as possible.
The Quick Win is missing
Engineering marketing tools, for example, often promise “87 steps to lose 5 kilograms”. This sounds like a lot of work to the customer and does not promise quick success. A formulation, if it can also be given as a product promise, could therefore be better read “In 5 minutes to a lasting feeling of satiety”.
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In Marketing Funnel as a whole, the activities you carry out with Engineering as Marketing are located between Top of the Funnel and the middle range.
The focus here is on measures that (potential) customers first become aware of you and your solutions and want to learn more about you.
Engineering as marketing takes time and, compared to sales, for example, does not have a strong immediate impulse that encourages purchase.
The reverberation is strongly increasing over time due to the influence on other channels such as SEO as soon as your tools gain attention.
When you compile your portfolio of channels and actions, the actions of Engineering as Marketing will typically have the function of acting as networks for potential customers.
This channel therefore works best in combination with the extremely targeted spears and the seeds to be planted.
Keep it short, simple and specific
A Lead Magnet as engineering as marketing tool must not comprise any complicated sales messages. It should be as simple, clear and specific to your particular target group as possible.
Use Social Proof
One of the most important and often overlooked tips is using of evidence from people, who are similar to your potential customers, but have started using your tool and they are super excited about it. People tend to trust to what other people have already tested and experienced and have something valuable to share. Just add a couple positive feedbacks and statements on the page, and you will see the boost in your conversion rates.
Evergreen Content
Evergreen-content is content that is always relevant – regardless when it was published. It means, that, no matter whether again another awesome product appears in US or Asia. When the tool you have created and granted access to is designed to be relevant longer than 2 weeks, it stays engaging and to the point, this is your confident step to a long-term effective content.
Remove too manyextra options
The more decisions a visitor on your website has to make, the less likely will they be converted to your actual customers. This is due to the fact that, decisions require decision making. If you want to enhance the lead generation using engineering as marketing tool, you should eliminate as many extra options from your website as possible. Don’t be misleading, be leading instead.
Monthly page views
This key figure measures the number of hits on a single page of your website, for example your Engineering as Marketing tool. If your visitor first looks at the home page, then the about page and finally the lead magnet tool, this will be counted as 3 page views, but only as 1 session.
Average length of stay
The length of stay provides information on how long a visitor remains on the page of your engineering marketing tool, for example, during the visit, i.e. how intensively the offer of the website interests the user.
Bounce rate
The bounce rate is a percentage of how many of your website visitors leave a page without interaction.
Number of returning users
The returning users provide information on how relevant the visitors find your engineering as a marketing offer or to what extent they consider the expectations to be true.
The use of tools that may already be available in your business is promising if it fits into your overall story with mission and vision. In Marketing Funnel, Marketing as Engineering is in the Top of the Funnel area, i.e. at the very beginning.
If you then design the lead magnets in such a way that they offer a quick win and do not offer the user too many possibilities, then you lay the foundation stone for throwing out a net with which you can draw the attention of potential customers to yourself in the long term.
And now: Take a look around on your hard drive to see if there is not already such a valuable treasure slumbering there for your customers that you can test out for marketing purposes quite quickly.
About Me
As a founder and entrepreneur, I experience every day how important customer centricity is for companies.
Integrate the essential customer perspective into your product genesis and marketing processes. That puts horse powers on the street, until it runs.
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