Issue #85
A conversion-focused Contact Us page [Part 2]
(We’re continuing talking about our contact page. For the first part, see Thursday’s Daily)
#3 – Include Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
This one depends on the nature of your business and the volume of inquiries you get. If you get a fair amount of email volume, you can often deal with some of the more common inquiries in advance using an FAQ and keep them from having to email you in the first place.
So, one purpose of the FAQ is just that… a first layer of support that might very well handle their question instantly without an email needed.
But, there is another purpose…
The FAQ on your contact page is also a potential marketing opportunity.
You can take common questions of your market and point them right to blog posts or even offers that answer their question. For instance, here’s one way I did that…
In my case, I do get a fair amount of people emailing me asking how to get started. So, I get up an FAQ question for it and I link them to my Getting Started page as well as a lead magnet that answers their question in more detail than they likely ever asked for (which you can find here). That link is a squeeze page and will put them on my email list.
Here’s another one…
This answers the question by pointing them to The Lab and to the strategy coaching sessions.
Using the FAQ on your contact page, you can route common niche questions right into products or services – or even lead magnets – and therefore use your contact page for conversions.
#4 – Provide Multiple, Frictionless Contact Options
It’s disappointing the number of companies (even small ones) who seem to look at customers as a nuisance that needs to be kept from direct contact. But, when you make having a conversation hard, you’re hurting your business.
So, you want to have more than just email. Your contact options should be:
- Multiple. Give people choices.
- Frictionless. Contacting you should be easy and not make people jump through hoops. You also want to allow them to reach you on the platform which is easiest for them.
- Instant. You want to get as close to instantaneous as you can.
Potential contact options to include on your page are:
- Email (of course).
- Phone (if your business has a phone number that somebody will actually answer)
- Facebook Messenger
- Live Chat (if you use it)
- Snail Mail (yes, some people still use it)
For email, you could simply display your email address on the page, although that could open you up to robots who collect your address for spam purposes. I’d recommend you use a form. I personally prefer (and recommend) Gravity Forms. There are, of course, various free options such as Contact Form 7.
With Gravity Forms, you can easily set up a question for what the general inquiry is about and then route the message accordingly. This is perfect if you have multiple departments, team members, or support seats.
Facebook is a great, frictionless way to have people contact you. It is practically a utility these days and most people are surfing the internet logged into Facebook 24/7. So, Facebook Messenger is a great and often overlooked platform for client contact. Plus, Facebook is setting up Messenger to be a central tool for communicating with businesses.
There are a few ways you can hook your ‘Contact Us’ page up with Facebook Messenger. The first (and easiest) option is simply to hyperlink to your own Messenger page.
Messenger has a shortlink which is m.me. If you then put your URL name after that, it creates a shortcut link right to Messenger so that somebody can message you directly. For instance, my Facebook page URL is…
http://www.facebook.com/
So, a link direct to my Messenger would be:
http://m.me/
That link opens up the Messenger web app full screen, preset to message me. You can place this link anywhere you want. Go ahead and click on it to see what it does.
Another option is to use is Zotabox. They have a Facebook Live Chat widget that you can use for free. It will only work with pages (not profiles). The widget is nice, but it appears in the lower corner of your page. Great for a live chat support option (if you’re actually there to answer their questions).
The option I personally love these days is ManyChat. ManyChat is about much more than Facebook buttons. This tool allows you to build a list on Messenger, set up autoresponders, Messenger bots and much more. But, for the purposes of our contact page, they have a “growth tool” that allows you to put a simple “Send to Messenger” button anywhere you like (such as your contact page).
The beauty of ManyChat is that when they contact you via Messenger, you can actually put them onto your Messenger list and foster ongoing engagement. And… the open rates are insanely high.
If you wanted to simply invite people to connect on social media, that’s easy as well.
As for using a phone number, only do so if somebody will actually be there to answer it. I’m well aware that you could sign up for Google Voice and technically have a phone number for your business. I have one, too. But, I never answer it. It goes right to voicemail. And, for that reason, I do not list it on my contact page. Voice mail introduces friction. Plus, support is actually much faster (in my case) if you go through the standard support desk.
All this to say…
Make it super easy for people to start a conversation with you and your business. And, think beyond just email.
(We’ll wrap this up tomorrow)
– David