Having a marketing engine that drives demand is a foundational capability for any marketing function. And it all starts with the lead-form. Eloqua have always been at the forefront of thinking here and this little piece has some terrific insights:

As you’d expect, the less fields asked, the less friction for submission. There’s as much as 16 percentage points of variation between using 2 fields and 15 fields.  But most of the forms seem to settle between 5 and 10 questions in exchange for an average 40% conversion rate.

Of course, not all forms serve the same purpose. Forms that are offering a trial don’t see a signifcant drop in submissions until you get to about 8 fields. Forms where you’re offering a download of some sort can ask around 11 questions before a noticeable drop off. Webinar event registration forms see a significant drop after 5 fields.