When running a business, generating leads is one of the most important things you need to do as part of your everyday activities.
Having a lead generation strategy that is properly thought through will help you to make sales and grow your business. It will generate short term sales and build a pipeline of people that are interested in your product or service that you can engage with and convert them into a sale.
Successful companies know that leads come from a variety of sources and perseverance is key. Very few sales are made on the first contact. Successful lead generation is nurturing them over time, so when they are ready to make a decision, your company is top of mind.
Here are 9 ways to generate leads for your business:
1. Paid advertising to reach your target audience quickly
Paid advertising is the fastest way to get your brand in front of your ideal target audience. How you do this depends on your target audience and of course your budget. One of the most cost effective ways to reach a wide audience is by advertising on facebook, instagram, google or you-tube.
But if your budget allows, TV and radio advertising are very cost effective ways to reach large audiences, increasing brand awareness, getting website visitors and therefore generating leads. When investing in paid advertising media it’s important to plan your campaign first to ensure you’re spending your money wisely:
What’s your objective? Are you trying to build brand awareness? Engage and entertain your audience? Or generate leads?
How much have you got to spend? - How much can you afford to spend to get one sale? And if you need 10 leads to convert into one sale, how much can you afford to spend to generate each lead?
Define your audience - Who are they and what channels do they use as part of their day to day life? Are they 16-25 year olds who spend their time on tik tok? Mums in their 30’s who are on Instagram and You tube? Or retired people connecting with their family on facebook, and read the newspaper readers and watch TV daily?
Pick your channels - A mix of online and offline channels can often be the best to try and get your brand in front of your target audience in multiple places.
Develop captivating creatives - Whatever channel you are using, always think about stand out messaging and hard working call to actions.
Test, test and test again - After your first campaign you’ll have knowledge you can use to make decisions and learn from. What if you tweaked an audience segment? Changed an headline? Used a video instead of an image? Keep optimising your campaigns to get better and better results.
2. Content marketing to attract and engage
Content marketing is a strategy that is used to attract, engage and retain an audience by creating and sharing online material (such as videos, blogs, and social media posts). This approach establishes expertise, promotes brand awareness and engages prospects - positioning your business as the solution to the problems they are trying to solve, so when it’s time for them to buy the service you sell, your business is top of mind.
Content comes in various forms. It can be a photograph, an image, a gif, a infographic. But it is video that is the king of content.
Did you know that you-tube is the world’s second largest search engine - after google? There are over 2 billion monthly active users and about 75% of adults watch you-tube videos on their mobile devices at home. Some of the best types of video content to engage an audience are:
how-to guides and tutorials
product reviews
Vlogs
shopping sprees / hauls
educational videos
(and funny animals of course!)
So investing in creating useful videos will not go in vain. But don’t forget, as the goal is to engage and convert people into a lead for your business, so it’s important to always include a CTA (call-to-action) at the end of the content, which can be as simple as asking a question, or ask them to visit a product page, or particulate in a survey.
3. SEO to rank highly on search results pages
The purpose of search engine optimization (SEO) is to get your web pages to rank highly on Google and other search engines, which drives organic traffic to your website, which in turn generates leads and ultimately sales and grows your business. The practice of SEO is the refining of webpages to improve their ranking on the search engine results pages (SERPs). The higher your web pages rank, the greater the likelihood that Google and other search engines will display your pages to users for relevant search queries.
The best ways to increase lead generation on your website by SEO:
Use keywords - Research and use keywords that are appropriate to your business, used naturally (avoiding keyword stuffing) in your headlines and content.
Publish regularly - You need to publish content consistently, with the more frequently you post, the better results you get
Source data - Use H1, H2, H3 and H4 headings to help Google understand what your content is about. Add page links to other relevant content on your site to boost page views and format your content so it is valuable, easy to read, and engaging.
Increase your website speed - So users get the best experience possible. Use a reliable web host, optimise for mobile users, optimise images so they download quickly and fix broken links.
Link building - This is the activity to get links from other authoritative sites to yours. Links help users navigate the web more easily, but also help search engines crawl between pages and websites. You must do this credibility though and never buy links.
Local SEO - If you have a local business then you can benefit greatly from using local SEO strategies to help local people find your business. Use online directories, optimise your content for local search using local keywords and generate reviews from customers.
Promote and manage customer reviews - Customer reviews positively impact SEO as they are a strong signal to Google and other search engines that your website is trustworthy and authoritative. It’s important to encourage reviews and respond to customer that leave feedback - the good and the bad ones - to show you value their feedback.
4. Social media the multi-tasker
Your social media channels can achieve a number of different marketing objectives for you.
Generate leads - Especially if you create enticing lead magnet offers that people want in exchange for their contact information. This could be a discount code, a research report, a whitepaper or webinar and many more.
Social proof - Sharing case studies and testimonials showing how customers have benefitted from your product or service is a great way to demonstrate trust and brand value.
Targeted paid advertising - Social media channels allow you to be hyper targeted with your paid advertising in a way that other offline channels do not. And when you create lead generation ads on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn, for example, the ads come with pre-populated forms which speeds up the led generation process and can boost conversion rates.
Retargeting ads - You can significantly boost your lead generation efforts with retargeting ads which have a much higher click through rate than regular display ads. You can use sequential ads to move the prospect through the decision making process by presenting them with relevant messages based on their past behaviour, moving them closer and closer to a sale each time.
Host a virtual event or conference - This is a great way to attract your target audience whilst establishing yourself as an expert and authoritative figure in your field.
5. Design your website and landing pages towards conversions Your website and landing pages play a critical part in any lead generation strategy. When you are investing time and money in content creation and paid advertising to engage prospect customers and get them to go to your website then you want your website to work hard to convert that interest into a lead. So if you’re not generating the leads you expect, then an inferior website could be the reason why. It needs to work hard from both a technical and visual perspective. Many successful businesses direct their paid advertising traffic to a landing page instead of the website homepage. This is because they are designed solely to create conversions as they eliminate distraction and capture the visitors undivided attention. You guide them where you want them to go, i.e. to a data capture form, rather than let them drift around your website.
6. Offer valuable content on exchange for a customers contact details
Gated content means providing valuable information in exchange for the customer’s contact details. Of course you need to provide enough valuable information before the “gate” to entice the prospect to give you their details. And the information they receive after the gate needs to ensure they are satisfied with the exchange of their details.
You might provide a product or service guide, which features everything you need to know to buy. Or you might provide a how-to manual to help prospects learn a new skill. This is a tried and tested method for capturing a prospects contact details that you can then use to nurture the relationship and move them towards a sale.
7. Use personalised email marketing to nurture prospects towards a sale
Personalising emails increases open rates by 328% and click rates by 543% compared to non personalised emails, which from the receivers point of view can be intrusive and annoying. When emailing prospective customers, here’s how to use personalised email communications;
Don’t bombard them with emails every day. It will have a negative impact on your brand.
Segment your leads based on their interests, and send them emails that are relevant. Don’t tell everyone about everything. Be tailored in your communications.
Personalise the subject line.
Include the recipient's name and organisation or any other relevant. information within the body copy at least once.
Select a suitable time to send the email. Look at the metrics of your email sending system and sent at the time that has the most open rates.
Optimize the email for mobile.
Link to relevant pages on your website (or a landing page), not to the homepage of your website.
8. Be active on social media and in real life and become a trusted source of information
Becoming a known expert in your field that provides helpful information and how to solve problems that your target audience has, is a great way to generate leads.
You can do this through content on your website, hosting live Q&A events on social media, speaking at conferences and networking events to become a trusted source of information.
9. Be creative and think multi-channels
Think of new ways to interact with your target audience. And in today’s digital world, it’s easy to forget the offline marketing channels. TV and radio advertising are still unbeaten for reaching the largest number of people and generating brand awareness. Many online businesses are using TV to grow their business as digital advertising just doesn't get the same volume of people exposed to their brand as TV advertising for example. Direct mail and door-drops are also seeing a resurgence, as fewer companies use these channels today after a saturation period in previous years. Having your brand land on the doormat of your target audience generates great stand-out and can generate leads through hard-working call to actions and incentives such as coupons and offers. Also if you’re a local business, think about sponsorship of a local club or event, engaging with your local community by fundraising for a local charity, or working collaboratively with another organisation to offer a joint offering to increase your brand awareness and generate leads.
A final note:
Successful companies know that leads come from a variety of sources and perseverance is key. Very few sales are made on the first contact. Successful lead generation is nurturing them over time until the customer is ready to make a decision.
By expanding your lead generation strategies you’ll improve accuracy, hit your sales targets and grow your business.
To request a FREE 30 minute 1-2-1 marketing consultation to improve your lead generation strategy, click here.
Avens Marketing - experts in generating high-quality leads to achieve short-term sales targets and growing brands for long-term growth success.
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