There are countless strategies you can use to generate leads for your business, but these five lead generation strategies are some of the most effective, flexible, and versatile. Each one can be used as part of an overall lead generation strategy, or each one can be used by itself depending on your company’s goals and your personal preferences.
1. Content marketing
Content marketing is a key ingredient for lead generation. A study by Content Marketing Institute found that companies that have content marketing programs in place generate 56% more leads than those that don’t. So you must have a strategy for creating and distributing useful content on your site that educates prospects about your products or services so they become interested enough to contact you.
Anyone can indeed write a blog, but not everyone can be good at writing interesting, valuable posts people will want to read—and share with others. Fortunately, there are plenty of resources out there to help you establish yourself as an authority and develop best practices for effective content marketing; just look at successful businesses like Kissmetrics (blog) and Buffer (blog) for examples of great blogs businesses in similar fields.
Tip: looking for a great way to write compelling blog articles? Check out Anyword!
2. Email marketing
Email marketing is one of your most accessible and affordable marketing channels, even if you’re just starting. You can easily send out newsletters, surveys, or free content (such as whitepapers or infographics) with a link back to your business website. Best of all, every email you send remains in someone’s inbox—which means you have a fresh opportunity to drive sales whenever you add new content. Try adding an email sign-up form at the bottom of your website so visitors can subscribe. If you have trouble starting with email marketing, check out our Email Marketing Startup Package.
Tip: looking for a great platform to start with email marketing? Try out MailerLite for free!
3. Social media marketing
Social media is about so much more than getting likes, comments, and shares. It’s about engagement, trust, and relationships. Through social media marketing (SMM), you can build relationships with your audience, drive new traffic to your site, generate leads for your business or cause...there are many potential benefits of social media marketing in today’s online world.
However, it takes time and effort to master SMM, which is why we encourage small businesses to partner with a professional who has experience in doing social media management. The most important part of SMM is having a strategy in place first; then you can focus on execution. Without planning, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by social networks—which one should I focus on? What kind of content do they want? Why aren’t I seeing results?
Tip: looking for a template to develop your concise marketing strategy? Download our free 1-Page Marketing Strategy Template!
4. Online advertising
Google’s advertising platform is a great way to connect with potential new customers. When you run ads, Google displays your business ads in other people’s Google searches. If users like what they see and click on your ad, it will take them directly to your website. Since many of us turn first to Google for information these days, that allows you to be top of mind with people who are interested in what you have for sale.
With conversion tracking, you can get data about how effective your campaign is and target more valuable clicks. Be sure to set up conversion tracking so you know when someone clicks on your Google Ads banner and then follows through by making a purchase. Also, use different types of advertisements to appeal to different groups: For example, display ads work well if you want someone else owns and operates a site (such as The New York Times), while search ads could get noticed by just about anyone – including people looking for specific terms related to products or services.
Not sure how to set up your Google ads campaign? Get in touch, our online advertising experts can surely help you out!
5. Free giveaway
Content marketing has changed significantly in recent years and one of these most important changes is what I call the power of free. In today’s crowded information market, a strong content offer can often be even more powerful when it’s coupled with an awesome giveaway. If you have ever tried your hand at lead generation, you know that it can be hard enough just trying to collect email addresses from potential customers who are interested in your product or service.
Offer someone something for free (ebook, whitepaper, etc) – give them some additional incentive to sign up. A few months after sending out your lead gen offer, follow up with those recipients and ask them if they would like more information about your company or services. Make sure that any contest entrants provide their email address as part of their entry submission so you will have everything you need to send them a follow-up series.
