Progressive Profiling is a Win-Win-Win

Start with only the questions you absolutely need to ask

For the first form, ask only for essentials such as name and email. Asking too many questions, too quickly, can come off as aggressive behavior. It's also asking the visitor to spend more time filling out fields; they may decide it's just too much, and abandon your form. The shorter the form, the higher your completion rates will be. In fact, conversion rate improves by almost half when the number of form fields is reduced from four fields to three.

Progressively build the relationship with carefully timed and chosen questions

Once that first form is done, as the relationship continues, the prospect is served subsequent forms with one or two questions each time. Over time, your picture of the prospect is filled out; the prospect learns what to expect from you; trust builds and everyone wins:

• The prospect wins because as you learn more about her, you tailor the offers to meet her needs
• Sales wins; they get better-qualified leads and they know her exact interests
• Marketing wins, by cultivating and delivering higher quality leads that lead to more sales

Remember to remind visitors of your privacy policy every step of the way, to provide reassurance that any information they share is for the purpose of increasing relevancy.

The steps of progressive profiling:

Once that first form is done, as the relationship continues, the prospect is served subsequent forms with one or two questions each time. Over time, your picture of the prospect is filled out; the prospect learns what to expect from you; trust builds and everyone wins:

1. Visitors fill out a basic form with minimal information, usually name and email
2. Visitors return, and are served a new form with a few additional questions. This form may display their name and email already filled in, showing that the site recognizes them.
3. Visitors return yet again, and the next form asks one or two new questions. The questions this form asks may be dependent on the answers given in the last form.