Nowadays, we live in a very competitive time to do business. Differentiating your product from your competitors is essential but not an easy task. Yet, what is vital for your business at the end of the day? What matters the most is how many people want to buy your product or service.
How can you find more people willing to buy your product? You can try taking advantage of social media to drive more clients to your business, but you won’t be the only one.
It’s no easy task to create an audience for your business from scratch, but it’s possible. The whole process will take effort, time, and constant monitoring to get the results you want.
This article will show you some of the best practices to promote your company to the right person, with the right message, and at the right time.
Ready to go? Let’s dive into and start with something essential.
1. What is Lead Generation?
A lead is any person with interest in your company’s products or services. Every person has different needs and preferences. That means for your business that you need to dig hard to find good leads.
Unfortunately, many businesses try to market to everyone. Yet, they should focus on those most interested in what the company offers. Anyone who shows any interest in a company’s product or services in any possible way (or form) is a lead.
Leads are more likely to hear from your business after performing some initial “communication” with you (submitting some offer, trial, or subscription). That is a better option than getting a random cold call from a company that bought their contact information.
How do you become a lead? Let’s imagine you complete an online survey about taking care of your car. Then you receive an email from the auto company in which they explain how their services can help you take care of your vehicle a day later. The collected data from your survey responses allow them to personalize a way to approach you.
The process would be much less effective if the auto company called you randomly without knowing your car maintenance needs, right? After they understand your needs, you become a lead to their business.
Yet, leads are not all the same. Different types of leads can be classified based on their qualifications and lifecycle stage. But now, let’s jump to the next point and focus on something easier to understand.
2. How to Generate leads?
You can generate leads by attracting prospects to your company and turning them into customers. How can you do that? You can start by incorporating in your business one or more of the lead generation strategies below:
- Blogging
- Email marketing
- Marketing via social media
- Networking
- Coupons
- Seminars and live events
- Website landing pages
Have you tried any of these? If not, don’t worry and try one of them out to see how it works for you. Moreover, if you dig deeper, you will find even more strategies to get potential customers for your business.
Most companies prefer to stick with the strategy that works for them, which is not the same for every industry.
For example, while email and social media marketing can work well for online fashion shops, they may not be effective for software companies. A blog or series of webinars might be more beneficial for people looking for software.
After all, lead generation is the ability to create new clients or customers effectively. You can do that by using inbound or outbound marketing strategies. But which method is best for your business?
Well, you can use both depending on the goals you have and the type of leads you need. How can you attract and keep the perfect client?
The first step is to grab their attention. Then your goal is to turn that interest into action, which will result in people becoming your clients. Once you master the strategies that work best for your business, you will create a daily flow of new customers.
Consequently, creating a steady flow of customers is the key to any business’s success. That’s why it is so essential for you to master lead generation.
3. What is Lead Generation Marketing?
What is lead generation marketing? Moreover, how can you determine which type of customer is right for your product line or service? These are questions that every marketer, network marketer, and business owner needs to ask themselves before approaching or building a relationship with new clients.
Lead generation marketing, also known as lead capture marketing, is nothing more than a web-based approach to obtain names and other personal information from potential leads.
While some marketers may prefer to work only with phone calls, several other types of lead generation channels are equally effective.
For example, email marketing is a great way to acquire new leads for your business. But how can you leverage this online tactic and make the best out of it?
Well, you can start by creating emails that convert. That sounds easier said than done. Yet, a marketing email should be compelling enough to get the consumer to click, engage, and then provide steps to convert. These are some tips to increase the conversion rates of your email:
- Having an excellent subject line is a must
- Use images to send subconscious messages
- Write in an easy-to-understand and concise manner
- Share appropriate links on social media
- A good call to action is essential
- Use the opt-in strategy
Many marketers get more leads by using this approach. Always try to send meaningful content to the lead and try putting yourself in their shoes. Imagine how you would feel as a customer if you receive emails from your company.
Let me help you out with you that. People want to receive emails with interesting or valuable offers, such as discounts, educational material, or downloads. They don’t want to read any boring information, which brings no value to them.
Also, try to focus on quality and not quantity. To fully understand your target audience, you must research the market. Then you should segment the target consumers, which means to divide them into non-random groups. Now that you have those groups, you can send curated offers that appeal to each group (segment).
4. Types of Lead Generation
What types of lead generation can you use for your business? We mentioned in the article some of the ways you can effectively generate leads. Now we will list all of them with a brief description.
You may know that a new business needs fresh leads every day, yet all business owners have to get leads regularly if they want their business to grow.
One type of strategy will only yield limited results. That’s why using more than one strategy for your business can yield better results for certain goods and services. However, some lead generation strategies are suitable for specific types of products.
Consequently, depending on the product or service, you need to try out different methods and find what will work best. You can see below some of the most common ways to generate leads for your business:
- Outbound generation – contacts over phone and email
- Third-Party networks – to distribute your content as well as lead brokers and agencies offering lead list sellers
- Real-life events – trade shows, networking events, etc.
- Advertising – building a brand in the mainstream media, getting sponsorship, brand image, etc.
- Physical Mail – you can send hardcopy mail directly via postal services
- Referrals – leverage the database you have to generate leads
- PR – all kinds of editorials, press releases, and speaking opportunities.
You can start with the most suitable way for your business depending on your budget.
5. What is a lead generation website?
A lead generation website is a tool you can use to promote your business online. However, unlike a physical store, it never stops working. This means that it also works on holidays while you are on vacation.
You can see that it is vital to have a website that generates leads for you. Yet, most companies consider generating traffic and new leads as their biggest marketing challenge, according to VentureHarbour.
How can you design your website to generate leads? It’s essential to properly set up your website to attract people, convert visitors to leads, and increase your inbound inquiries. It will also help if you focus on creating original, engaging content.
A relationship between your company and the customer is one of the most important aspects of a successful website. Meaning that you should strive to establish a strong connection with your content from the moment a person visits your website until they become a customer.
One type of lead generation website includes social media. You may know that various social networking sites allow you to build online followers. You can share exciting and beneficial blog posts, discounts, and information with your social network of people.
All you have to do is quickly join popular social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace, to name a few. The most popular of them include LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Friendster.
To increase your influence, you can even begin your own fan club. Yes, this is not a joke. Have you ever thought about doing that? Still, you can use social media marketing tools to discover popularity among your target audience. That will ease the whole process.