Here’s a basic question for you. When you visit a website and want some information from them, or want to order a product, they give you a form. Do you fill it out? Of course, you do, because they have something you want or need. Form fills are a natural result of motivation for a product or service or information. When thinking about a form fill it helps to understand a “me” form approach, versus a “them” approach. The me approach looks at the form from the perspective of you wanting their information. A them perspective is looking at the form from their perspective. What motivates them to fill out the form?

And that is the ultimate issue with forms on landing pages. Motivation. If you can’t give someone a valid reason to give you their information, they won’t give it. A generic “Get your degree” type message, although targeted is NOT a powerful enough reason for most to fill out a form. So, the question becomes, what will motivate someone to fill out your form?

I have a few ideas. These are the tip of the iceberg but may start you thinking.

• Receive our 5-page white paper on what completing your degree can to for your career.
• Register now and receive a $500 ($1,000) scholarship for your first semester.
• Fill out the form and attend your first class free.
• Receive a 15% bookstore discount for your first semester.

All of these will resonate for prospects who want to complete their degree or get a graduate degree. Remember, put yourself in THEIR shoes, not yours. Most institutions don’t recognize that investing a few thousand dollars in getting a student to attend their school, will pay back with tens of thousands of dollars for the institution in the long run.

Schools also fail to consider the long-term value of a student or graduate. Of course, you get their tuition over the years they are attending school. BUT when they graduate, they become donors. I graduated from the University of Minnesota back in 1973. I was not on their radar for being a donor, yet, 4 years ago I created three scholarships for my alma mater. Did they think, 46 years ago that I would be worth over $200,000 in donations? Had they given me a “gift” via a scholarship, discount or some other contribution to my degree would a few thousand dollars in 1973 have hurt considering what I am donating to the U of M today? Maybe not everyone donates. Yet, a large enough group do donate to allow an institution to invest in their future.

MOTIVATION. That is the key to form fills. Give them a good reason, they will fill forms until the internet ends. With no motivation, don’t expect to see many form fills.

For more information write david@marketmappingplus.com or call (616) 956-7129.