Form CompletionAnalysis:

Time to fill out a form was a key factor in completion rates for both new leads and those who previously had completed a more basic form and were given a more detailed one to enable the marketer to gather further information. The forms that were able to be completed quickly were most likely to be finished, while those that took longer were more often abandoned mid-way through. However, the number or percentage of required fields appeared to have little impact on completion rate.

The study found that update forms were completed at a rate 20 to 25 percent higher than new-lead forms. Update forms often require fewer fields be filled because marketers are populating fields with existing data. Pre-populating forms saves people time and, when done effectively, reinforces a positive relationship with the prospect. Additionally, higher completion rates of update forms most likely occurred because prospects recognized the relationships they had already established with the company and the time they’d already spend providing information.

Key takeaway for marketers:

For new lead capture forms, there doesn’t appear to be a magic number of optimum form fields. But we believe there is an optimum number or range for each company. Obviously, fewer required fields generally will produce a higher completion rate, but you need to balance that against gathering information you need to begin qualifying or nurturing leads.

The study results do appear to suggest that the time to complete a form may be more important than the number of fields. Therefore, make sure your form pages are simple, clear and brief. The form fields should be designed and written so they can be completed without any hesitation. For update forms, consider incorporating pre-populated fields to speed completion.

Best practices to sharpen qualification programs

The following best practices can help you sharpen your qualification program, weeding out marginal prospects while moving hot leads on quickly to your sales team:•

Standardize your lead-capture questions, including only those that can help you quickly identify hot prospects to be moved on to sales or those in need of nurturing. Avoid open-ended questions; give users drop-down menus that define choices and allow you to evaluate leads more uniformly.•

Use forms that both populate automatically with the information your prospects have already given you and provide new fields for your next round of information-collecting. This reduces the time a returning prospect has to spend entering information and allows you to use fewer fields in your update forms.•

Allow hand-raisers who indicate on the form that they’re ready for a demo or a sales call to bypass the rest of your lead nurturing process and move directly over to sales. Customers who receive a sales call within hours of indicating they’re ready to talk will be much more impressed with your  program than if they sit for days without a contact.•

To provide a good customer experience, progressively gather more information over time, rather than forcing everyone to fill out a long list of questions early on in the relationship.

Source – Tim Ash’s book – http://www.amazon.com/Landing-Page-Optimization-Definitive-Conversion s/dp/0470610123