In our last thrilling episode, we demystified online payment processing with Salesforce. Done and done! Now, it’s time to chat about how we’re going to help you convert more bystanders into donors...and hopefully evangelists.
Let’s get ready to talk forms!
I often tell organizations to “think beyond the donate button.” The problem is that few visitors are going to come to your website for the first time and say, “I can’t wait to give this organization some money!” Okay, maybe some will, but let’s assume that’s the minority of your visitors.
In one of my earlier posts, we discussed ladders of engagement. These are paths of engagement, moving bystanders to evangelists through a process of simple steps. Now, it’s time to put these ladders to work!
Good coaching on ladders of engagement start with making small asks, and then moving to bigger asks. These asks, which I like to call “on-ramps”, are far different than donate buttons. They include...
- newsletter signups
- free event registrations
- petition signing
- advocacy actions
- survey submissions
- application processing
...to name a few.
The question, of course, is how are you going to collect all this data in Salesforce?
Salesforce provides a free functionality you can embed in your website called the Web-to-Lead form. While this is a helpful starting point, it’s really rather limiting in the automation goodness you’re looking to achieve.
So, what’s beyond the Web-to-Lead form?
- Event registration apps
When you’re collecting data about folks attending your events, you need to include ticketing information, calendar views, multiple tickets per person, and more. Find the right event registration tool that allows you to grab all this data goodness. - Newsletter sign-up apps
As visitors sign-up for your newsletter, you probably need their data to go directly into both Salesforce and your email marketing tool. Unfortunately, the Web-to-Lead form simply sends this data to Salesforce and doesn’t do anything after that. It’s important to use a form app that will allow you to move this data into the right home in Salesforce and your email marketing tool. - Petition signing apps
When you have actions that you’d like potential advocates to take, it’s important that those actions are recorded directly in Salesforce and that the activist is able to know the next step. If they take the next step, say, another action or a donation, we don’t want to create duplicate data with another submission from a Web-to-Lead form. Utilize apps that allow you to auto-convert for certain actions, and then allow for matching to existing Contacts.
There’s a ton of apps out there that can help you with collecting new supporters more efficiently, so once you’ve determined that the Web-to-Lead form has met its usefulness, look for action-specific apps to make sure that you’re giving yourself the best shot at converting the passerby-visitor into the engaging supporter!
Now that you’re running through ideas on how to onboard new supporters faster with Salesforce, in our next post I’m going to give you some inside tips on growing your community engagement with free automated drip email marketing. Automation for the win!
Keep engaging!
Other posts in this series
- Simple online engagement secrets every savvy Salesforce organization should know
- How Salesforce Campaigns can rock your data world
- Get inspired by beautiful website + Salesforce integrations
- Improve supporter nurturing by making Salesforce Leads your friend
- Raise more money with Salesforce by demystifying online payments
- You are here >> Gain supporters faster by going beyond Salesforce Web-to-Lead forms
- Increase community engagement without pressing a key through drip marketing
- Protect your Salesforce org from spam with one simple trick
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