How to get more bookings from your website

Why aren't you get more bookings from your website?

Did you know that up to 70% of website visitors that come to your website won't ever return if they don't find the info they need? Just think about that for a second! 70% of potential students are lost because your website isn’t set up correctly. 

Just because your visitors are not ready to buy from you now, it is essential to capture their contact details to follow up with them. You will build a relationship, and your school can stay "top of mind". When they are ready to move forward, you will be their school of choice.

It is widespread for schools to waste a lot of their marketing budget because they have not optimised their website to do exactly this. We call this lead capture.

What is lead capture?

Any potential student visiting your website is a "lead". If you don't have the essential elements in place on your site to capture their contact details, then you're wasting a lot of money. Try to think about it from a student's perspective. When a student is looking for a school, the initial search phase is all about research. They most likely have not come to your site with the clear intention to purchase from you yet. 

The typical buying cycle goes like this:

1. The student realises they need to improve their chosen language

2. The student starts to check for schools online and compare them (courses, prices)

3. The students ask friends for a recommendation

So assuming most of your visitors are just evaluating your school when they visit. We need to make them think about your school more seriously. The best way to do this is to become very familiar with your school. The key to this is to get their names and emails.

There are many ways to capture potential students' contact details, and we will talk more about this later, but first, let's talk about why you should. (You need to make sure your contact form is GDPR compliant)

The importance of email for your school

• Email is almost 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter combined in helping your business acquire new customers. (McKinsey)
• You can send people back to your website again to see offers 
• Email is personal; you can reach out to these potential students in a more personal way
• You can add these contacts to your email list and follow up on your latest news and offers
• You can build a very targeted audience on Facebook using these email addresses
• You own your email list; Social media platforms will change their policies, but if you have your own email list, it will always be yours

There are many more reasons to collect potential customers' email addresses, but these are the main ones.

Lead capture and how to collect email addresses

The easiest ways to collect email addresses

• Adding a contact form to your website pages - you should have a contact form at the bottom of every page. Try to entice students to sign up with an offer. You can offer a discount on upcoming courses, news etc. 
• Pop-ups and overlays - most people hate these, but if you are making a great offer, they are effective, and they will get you a lot more sign ups & email addresses. Read this article for more information.
• Lead magnets - a lead magnet is a marketing term for a free item or service that you offer for gathering contact details. For example, lead magnets can be free trials, free testing's. eBooks about certain aspects of grammar are great ways to collect contact details.
• Scheduling software, like Calendly, allows a student to book a time online to talk with you; they also collect contact information. Use this to enable students to book testing's or trial lessons.

Don't underestimate the value of collecting your potential customer's emails. Lead capture is an essential part of your marketing. Without it, you will not be able to follow up with potential new students. It gives you the advantage to be proactive, reach out to them and shape the conversation.