Since its invention in the last decade, smartphones have come a long way in terms of accessibility and technological advancements. With new features getting updated consistently, mobiles phones are becoming an integral part of our everyday lives. Today, more than 50% of internet traffic is through mobile devices. Users are spending more time on smartphones than any other device.
For marketers this is an opportunity as well as a strategic move, as a greater number of people are spending time on the internet through mobile devices, it is important to include mobile-friendly strategies in your digital marketing plan.
One such digital marketing activity is online lead form. Lead forms are the gateway or the stepping stone of building a relationship with your customers. With the internet and mobile users increasing exponentially, it has become easier to get information about the potential customers and making them fill an online lead form is an effective way to do that.
Due to its convenience and accessibility, a mobile lead form is something a consumer can easily fill. If the lead form has a mobile-friendly design, this process becomes a convenient method for consumers to complete the activity. However, if the lead form is not mobile friendly, filling up details may get frustrating and the customer may abandon your website.
But what is mobile form design?
Mobile form design is the process of creating online forms that are easy to view, complete and submit while on a mobile device, such as a smartphone and tablet.
Mobile vs. Desktop form design
Today, customers are navigating a business or a website through multiple channels and platforms. It means that users are not only accessing your website through desktop but also mobile devices. Hence it is important that the user must be able to view and complete the lead forms via mobile devices. Since there is a difference in display or screen size of desktop and mobile devices, a form easily visible on the desktop may not be compatible on mobile devices. To provide a seamless user experience, it is crucial to keep the experience of mobile users in mind.
Responsive Web design
Taking the mobile user experience one step further, businesses today are adopting a responsive design layout. Responsive design takes into consideration the user’s screen size, orientation, platform and adjusts the website elements as per the device compatibility. Responsive web design is a popular choice among businesses as users today are visiting websites via different devices.
Importance of Mobile lead forms
A great mobile form provides positive user experience and the probability of the customer getting converted increases. The design, layout and typography are important aspects of mobile lead forms. Many customers browse and purchase products via mobile devices. Failing to provide a mobile-friendly form may lead to fewer conversions, less traffic and high exit rate.
In this blog post, we will review the most important aspects of designing a mobile lead form and suggest some tips in order to improve the overall customer experience and boost conversions.
- Minimize the input fields and user typing effort
The long and complicated the form seems the less likely a user is willing to fill the form. Especially if the customers are in their awareness stage of buying, they may not feel comfortable providing unnecessary information. Especially, on mobile devices, a long-form looks complicated. Remember to remove all the unnecessary input fields and include information that is necessary. Also, make sure, your form fields are labeled clearly with the fewest words possible. Mark the optional fields as “optional” and required fields with an asterisk symbol
- Automate actions when possible
Typing on a mobile keyboard is a tedious task and users are prone to make errors and hence your lead forms must ‘autocorrect’ a user response.
If a user is a regular customer, they might type their email address and a box may popup suggesting their email id asking you if you want to ‘auto fill’ the rest of the form.
Automated features improve the overall customer experience through a quick, efficient and straightforward process.
- Single column layout beats multiple column layouts
When you have a form with too much information, list the layout in a single column. The single-column layout is less confusing, easier to read, and quicker to complete.
- Implement input constraints wherever necessary
If your mobile form includes asking for information from the customer, it is necessary to implement input constraints like limiting the number of characters used. Since typing on mobile is not easy, a form asking to explain may seem like a daunting task. Sometimes a user may over-explain something which may result in a time-consuming process for you and your visitor.
There are other types of constraints like avoid booking flight tickets for past dates. A form may prevent the user from selecting the date and thus avoid unnecessary confusion.
- Clear Call Action Buttons
After taking the time to fill the information, a user wants to make sure that their information is submitted to the required business. Use large buttons labelled with clear information about the action a user is taking like “submit’, “send” or “complete”. Provide a message saying that the submission has been successful, and you can also guide them to take further steps like verifying your email address to avoid confusion.
- Explain the necessity of information asked.
Sometimes a form may include some personal information like phone numbers, email address or a website URL. Users are not usually comfortable with providing sensitive information and hence you should provide the reason for asking the information. This way your form will appear professional and helps to build trust among your users.
- Provide the stage of form completion
If you have a long multi-step form, it is necessary to provide the stage of completion. This makes the user aware of the amount of time remaining in completing the task.
Additionally, once your leads submit the form, direct them to a thank you page, so the user can confirm the submission of the form.
- Provide clear information about the errors
A user may commit some errors while filling the forms, your lead forms must include clear information about the errors that occurred and ask users to refill the information in real-time. Real-time feedback makes your form efficient and confusion-free.
- Pay attention to the design and form appearance
Human beings have a short attention span and hence the first impression is very crucial in building relationships. Your form needs to be highly functional and aesthetically pleasing. A cluttered form may result in bad user experience. You can brand the lead form with your logo and colors.
Wrapping Up
Consumers today are consuming information from multiple platforms. Since mobile is a convenient device, it has become easier for people to interact with businesses using this device. Your digital marketing strategies must include mobile marketing strategies. An online lead form is an important tool to build customer relationships and hence it is important to create mobile-friendly designs. By implementing the above-mentioned guidelines, you will be able to provide a positive user experience and boost your conversations.
