Leads are the lifeblood of any business. Without a consistent flow of high-quality leads, a business will eventually die. But with so many lead generation strategies available, it can be overwhelming to know where to place your focus.
To successfully generate leads and convert them into client’s, your marketing strategy needs to reflect what your clients want and expect.
Business lead generation is the process of identifying new prospects, then utilizing a variety of tactics to turn those leads into new sales opportunities.
If you are a business owner or offer any kind of professional service, generating high quantity as well as high quality leads are your most important objective. A successful lead generation engine is what keeps the pipeline full of sales prospects even while you sleep. Generating leads is a top priority for all marketers, and it should be for all businesses as well.
While there are a lot of things businesses and professionals can do to increase leads and sales, we’ve boiled it down to just what the title says:
10 Surprisingly Simple Lead Generation Strategies
These ten lead generation strategies are so simple; you may scratch your head and wonder why you haven’t put some or all into practice.
1. Utilize email marketing
Email marketing begins with an offer in exchange for an email address of your potential customers. Create a targeted list of potential prospects in your niche and then continue to stay top of mind with email marketing.
79% of B2B marketers credit email as the most effective distribution channel for demand gen efforts.
It’s necessary to determine if your product or service is the right fit for them, so this is a tremendous opportunity to research your prospects thoroughly and send them a personalized email.
Whether it’s one-on-one emails, if you are just getting started or it’s emailing your entire subscriber list, email marketing is a great channel for new lead generation.
Make sure you have an opt-in strategy. The first step to email lead generation is to make sure you have happy subscribers that enjoy receiving emails from you.
In addition to using email to initiate conversation, you should also use it as an effective follow-up tool to stay in touch with lead, prospect, and customers. It’s important to stay top of mind, so you can have the opportunity to reach them when they are ready to buy.
2. Blog regularly
Blogging regularly is a great way to keep your website fresh as well as build up your visibility for Google keyword searches. It is also an excellent way to build trust in your brand, nurture leads and build your credibility as a subject matter expert.
- 55% of marketers say blog content creation is their top inbound marketing priority.
- Marketers who prioritize blogging efforts are 13x more likely to see positive ROI.
- 70% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing
- The most common customer marketing tactic is ‘creating exclusive content for customers.’
According to HubSpot’s recent Benchmarks report, companies that blog six to eight times a month double their lead volume. This proves that blogging is a highly effective channel for lead generation.
In every blog post, you should also include hyperlinks to other pages on your website within the copy of the post, as well as a prominent call-to-action.
3. Post consistently on social media
In addition to blogging, get into the habit of regularly posting on social media. LinkedIn is an especially important platform if you offer any B2B product or service. Sharing content on LinkedIn will increase your visibility and drive up your metrics on LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index and similar sites.
While utilizing social networks, strive to:
- Attract a loyal following by sharing content that would be of value to your potential customers. Social media connections are all about people-to-people relationships, so get to know your online audience by communicating and sharing information. To generate leads, you must have human interaction with others.
- Remember, social media requires and thrives on dialogue. Companies that only use social media to broadcast messages about themselves and how great they are, aren’t using social channels effectively. The goal is to interact with others and to be helpful, so at times consider sharing content that isn’t related to your company, such as links to other interesting things you’ve found online that you know would be of interest to your online community.
“People don’t care about your business. They care about the problems they have. Be the solution they are looking for.”
~ Melonie Dodaro
4. Get involved in networking
While digital marketing is essential, you’ll never beat face-to-face contact for impact and the ability to have a two-way conversation and to develop the vital know, like, and trust factor. Go ‘old-school’ whenever you get the chance.
In addition to attending networking events, consider volunteering to be a presenter at such events. Many offer participants the opportunity to give a 10 to 15-minute presentation about their business or the services they offer. Often, such presentations lead to direct leads or even recommendations from someone who saw the presentation.
Networking naturally lends itself to one-on-one follow-ups allowing you to learn more about a potential client as well as get to know them as a person. As you gain their trust, they will more likely turn to you when they have a need you can help meet.
5. Plan your work and work your plan
This tip is two-fold:
- First, you need to have a lead generation plan, so you’re not just shooting in the dark. Set some goals for how you will reach out to prospective clients and what methods (email, social media, etc.) you will utilize.
- Second, being prepared gives you a significant advantage, especially when you’re searching for and reaching out to connect with new prospects on a platform like LinkedIn. You must take the time to learn about your prospects and create a plan before contacting them via email or social media.
There’s that good old say… “fail to plan, plan to fail.”
Instead of trying to tackle many lead generation strategies at one time, create a plan to focus on the ones that are best for your business to reach your target market.
6. Design great offers
The word “yes” is a powerful one, and ultimately, everything we do as professionals is designed to get prospects to say “yes” to our offer(s).
And – human nature being what it is – when an offer is “exclusive,” “limited,” or “in high demand,” it triggers a physiological reaction that makes the offer even more appealing.
To overcome your prospects’ doubt or concern, people need to perceive the value of your offer – whether it is a white paper, free trial, membership, sales promotion, or download – as irresistible.
The higher the perception of value, the more irresistible the offer.
7. Use success stories to attract new customers
Emailing prospects with links to case studies or customer success stories can be incredibly effective in attracting those prospects to your business. A proper case study demonstrates a clear and quantifiable ROI [Return on Investment] and provides social proof, setting you up for success.
8. Get personal
In this day of social media, text messaging, and emails, it’s easy for communication to get lost in the shuffle or be ignored.
How about trying something different, such as writing a letter or calling a prospect and having a real conversation? It’s difficult to ignore such a personal touch, and it often breaks down barriers in connecting.
At a time when people are overwhelmed by the digital ecosystem, people enjoy having real conversations that add value to their lives or business.
Customer referrals can become be one of your primary sources of generating new business leads. But to be in that position, you must keep in touch with your existing customers on a personal level. Everyone is looking for silver bullet lead generation strategies and often forget to go back to the basics – instead of B2B (business-to-business), why don’t we start thinking H2H (human-to-human).
9. Utilize calls to action (CTA) and landing pages
If you don’t give people instructions as to what to do next, often no action will be taken. Make sure you provide a clear call to action throughout your marketing, including your LinkedIn profile, website, and even your content.
One of the most effective online lead generation strategies is to have landing pages set up to convert website traffic into leads and customers.
Having a call to action (CTA) to a dedicated landing page is often overlooked by many businesses. Effective calls-to-action will send visitors to a dedicated landing page where they receive a specific offer and shouldn’t be used to drive people to your homepage where they will get lost on your website.
Think of your CTA as the seasoning on the steak that drives prospects to your offers. If your CTAs aren’t effective at capturing people’s attention and persuading them to the click, then it negates the value of the offer.
In today’s world, where every person and brand are fighting for attention, prospects must choose your offer over your competitors.
10. Keep on keeping on!
Don’t take your foot off the gas when business is good; continue to implement your lead generation strategies to keep your sales pipeline full.
By making the mistake of slowing down lead generation when business is doing well, you risk a shortfall of leads at the time when you may end up needing them. Continue to consistently generate leads to maintain the health of your sales pipeline and protect the future growth of your business.
Lead generation does not have to be complicated
While you may be utilizing one or more of these ten lead generation strategies, you may be getting distracted by the next shiny object and forget to focus on what works.
If you’re not utilizing email marketing, blogging, and some of the other strategies outlined in this article, then it’s time to plan your work and work your plan. Don’t forget to create personal touchpoints, leverage success stories, design great offers, and create calls to action and landing pages.
Above all, keep on keeping on as you plan by employing these strategies to generate new leads, nurture prospects, and close more sales.
Should you need any help with lead generation strategies for your business, click here and we can schedule a time to chat about what you want to achieve and how we can help.