How SmartBug Media increased sales leads by 40% with Typeform

Leading digital agency SmartBug Media had a “Let’s Talk” button on its website that sent all incoming leads to a single contact form—and the form wasn’t fully optimized.

Part of the problem was that the static form couldn’t differentiate between different types of leads. Not all form questions were relevant to all users, so there was an opportunity to optimize the experience and increase conversion rates.

SmartBug’s VP of Marketing, Stephen Lackey, recognized the experience users were having and wanted to do something about it:

“We saw people who wanted to talk to our sales teams, others who made media inquiries—and even those who wanted to pitch us projects. Updating our contact form would be an easy way to improve their user experience and satisfaction.”

Stephen envisioned a form that he could tailor to different types of inquiries and automatically route leads to the relevant SmartBug teams. 

“We needed a form-creation tool with multi-step logic and dynamic questions based on user responses.”

Routing leads to the right SmartBug team would also create a better user experience by decreasing response times, using automation to forward the inquiries to the right team members. 

SmartBug’s marketing team was already using Typeform for small projects. Based on that positive experience, the team chose Typeform to develop a contact form that’d meet the needs of different audiences.

Stephen and his team started by testing customized CTA buttons to see if they improved click-through rates to the Contact Us page. 

“We ran a five-way multivariate CTA test through HubSpot, with buttons labeled Boost Revenue, Increase Pipeline, and Secure More Leads, among others. We saw a dramatic increase in clicks going to our Contact Us page,” says Stephen.

Knowing that customized CTA buttons helped with click-throughs, Stephen was even more convinced that a customized typeform would help increase completion rates.

The SmartBug team created a contact form that takes users through a series of questions, with each subsequent question determined by their answer to the previous one. 

The first question presents users with three options:

1. Use SmartBug to help us grow. Let’s talk services.

2. Sell something or pitch a partnership to SmartBug.

3. Talk with SmartBug about media or speaking opportunities. 

After users complete the series of questions, they’re presented with a confirmation page with information and resources that are relevant to their inquiry. 

These pages further help to improve the user experience, giving them immediate access to resources even before someone responds to their inquiry.

The SmartBug team also applied branding to their forms, without additional coding, ensuring a cohesive experience for its users.

“We added a background animation of a rocket lifting off on our contact page, reflecting our slogan, All Systems, Grow. We also vary what users see next, depending on how they answer our questions,” explains Stephen.

The entire form was developed in-house by the SmartBug team, without coding support from developers. 

The team can easily update the form themselves as their needs continue to iterate. 

“Typeform offers so much more than a one size fits all form. It is incredibly user-friendly. Our marketers can create dynamic, interactive forms without coding,” says Stephen.

The multi-step, logic-based form also gives Stephen and his team new data insights into their audiences and prospective leads. 

They then use these data insights to identify ways to optimize the form and improve user experience.

“You can see where your drop off rates are. You can check to see where people are answering specific questions. You can see how long it takes people on average to fill out a form. It’s an incredibly valuable tool.”

With the successful implementation of Typeform for the contact form, SmartBug’s marketing team soon came up with new use cases, including a self-guided Shopify audit for their clients.

The 12-15 question survey allows users to identify if and how they need to modify and update their Shopify theme and integrations. The form is integrated with the HubSpot platform to generate dynamic email messages that highlight opportunities for improvement.

Stephen explains: “We created this survey without having to hard code the page. Typeform integrates seamlessly with our other tools, including HubSpot. Our marketers can route data to multiple applications, and it is no longer siloed.”

“Typeform offers so much more than a one size fits all form. It is incredibly user-friendly. Our marketers can create dynamic, interactive forms without coding. We can even monitor drop-off and conversion rates for specific users and questions.”

With SmartBug’s new Typeform contact form, the company has seen a 40% increase in form completion.

“We hypothesized Typeform would increase our sales lead volume but we were pleasantly surprised to see a 40% quarter-on-quarter or year-on-year lift. Our dynamic form means we’re no longer speaking to everybody at once, and we can segment our leads based on their responses. That’s the Typeform difference,” says Stephen.

Switching to Typeform also reduced lead follow-up times by 24% thanks to the streamlined process.

“Typeform integrates leads from the contact page to HubSpot, making them instantly actionable by our sales team. That alone speeds up our response time. We also ask users what marketing platforms they’re using or hope to use, and that information helps our sales executives have better conversations with prospects. Our sales team has more at bats and better data, increasing the likelihood of closing a deal,” adds Stephen.

If they have a question when creating a form or the logic behind it, Typeform’s support team is always ready to help.

“We can create a dynamic form in a couple of hours, including the layout, logic, and destinations. The few times we’ve stumbled, Typeform’s help team has answered our questions in no time. That ease of use and outstanding support have given my team the confidence to take form creation to the next level without calling in developers,” says Stephen.