When you have the right leads coming in, you can train your salespeople properly to close those sales or generate more leads for further training.
Knowing this, you may be wondering why you should care about lead generation in the first place.
There are several key reasons why you should focus on lead generation:
- It builds credibility. A company that can generate quality leads for industry experts like you is a company you can trust.
- It expands your network. By getting in touch with industry leaders and generating a friendly conversation, you can make a valuable connection that may lead to future business relationships or referrals.
- It improves your marketing strategy. If you’ve been trying to grow your business through word-of-mouth marketing and satisfied customers are telling others about your services, then you should try generating more leads to see how many people you can reach. You can also measure the success of your marketing campaign by looking at the number of leads you’ve obtained.
- It improves your sales cycle. Getting in touch with potential customers and hearing their needs directly is one of the best ways to shorten the sales process. This is especially beneficial if you’re selling a service rather than a product where the sale involves more discussion than just the payment.
- It improves the quality of your product. The more you know about your customers’ needs and expectations, the better able you can serve them with the products they want. This is important if you’re a business that supplies components or materials for manufacturing purposes.
- It reduces your marketing costs. Instead of paying for expensive ads in newspapers or on social media, you can generate leads at lower costs by simply asking for the business.
- It gives you the opportunity for multichannel marketing. With the right lead generation tool, you can get in touch with your potential customers regardless of whether they’re online or offline. This gives you the chance to connect with them where they are rather than just where you are.
- It improves the user experience. The better your user experience, the more likely they are to become a customer or a lead. For example, if you create an online form that’s overly complicated to complete, you’re going to lose a lot of potential customers due to frustration from the complicated steps required to make a purchase. On the other hand, an easy-to-use form with a few appealing features will likely generate a higher number of responses and sales.
- It increases conversion rates. According to HubSpot Blogs, there are several tactics you can use to increase conversion rates, including asking for the name of the product or service they’re looking for, adding a sense of urgency by limiting the time they have to make a decision, and building trust by proving you’re a reputable company.
- It improves the amount of time it takes to close a sale. Since you have more experience and knowledge about your product, you can identify the main points of concern for your customers and solve their problems more efficiently. This, in turn, will speed up the close of each sale. You can also turn leads into customers faster than you could otherwise. In fact, according to MarketingCharts, getting in touch with a potential customer once every two weeks results in a 49% higher closing ratio than once every two weeks.
- It improves brand visibility. Since you’re an expert in your field, you’ll likely have the opportunity to give an expert opinion on products related to your industry. This is often referred to as brand counselling or brand analysis. The better you analyze your brand, the better the results of your brand analysis will be. If you can prove to your customers that you’ve done your research and have the authority to give an opinion, they are much more likely to follow your advice. This leads to better customer satisfaction and retention. It also gives you the credibility to add “specially endorsed” or “certified” next to your name.
- It shows you’re proactive. Customers like to see businesses they can trust taking the initiative to connect with them. Even if you don’t offer lead generation services, you can still be seen as a proactive brand by simply asking for the business.
- It shows you’re a brand ambassador. If you’ve been asked to be a brand ambassador or spokesmodel for a company, going above and beyond with a little something extra can sometimes be what’s required. However, you’ll never know unless you ask.
- It proves you’re a brand cultist. The more your customers and potential customers know and trust you, the more likely they are to follow your advice and actions. This is especially beneficial if you’re providing advice on a regular basis as part of your brand’s marketing plan.
How To Generate More Leads
Now that you know the importance of lead generation, it’s time to figure out how to get those leads.
The first step is to define what you mean by a lead.
A lead can be someone who:
- Is interested in your product or service
- Has an open mind and is looking for further information
- Is likely to recommend your product or service to a friend or colleague
- Is interested in purchasing your product or service
Each of these leads has the potential to become a paying customer or a referral.
The better you can define and segment your leads, the better you can determine how to approach each one.
Even if you’re getting some leads but not enough to make it worth your while, you can still reach out to these people by getting in touch via phone or email.
You can also use your favourite lead generation tool to get in touch with these potential customers.
Once you get them on the phone, you can further engage with them to understand their needs and determine the best course of action to take.
This is usually followed by them becoming a customer or a lead and then you repeating the process to generate more sales.
Key Online Avenues To Get Leads
If you’re looking to grow your marketing department, how do you go about doing so?
Do you need to beef up your in-house team?
Hire more marketers, or should you look to invest in an agency to get the results you’re after?
When you’re tasked with growing a marketing team, you have to consider a number of factors.
One of which is lead generation.
And in this section, we’ll discuss three proven ways to generate more leads for your business.
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SEO
Every business has an online presence, and these days it’s practically impossible to avoid.
However, having a great website alone won’t cut it. You need to be maximizing the value your website provides to your customers.
One of the simplest and most effective ways to accomplish this is with search engine optimization (SEO).
By applying the right SEO techniques to your website, you can substantially increase your conversion rates.
That is the number of visitors that turn into leads or customers.
To find out how SEO can help your business, contact an SEO expert today.
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Content Marketing
Content marketing is all the rage these days.
Everyone is trying to get their content in front of as many eyeballs as possible, with the hopes of attracting new customers or leads.
In the perfect content marketing world, you would create helpful, valuable content that inspires curiosity and hopefully, delight.
When your content is appreciated and shared by others, you’ve accomplished your goal and made a brand believer out of someone new.
The problem is, that not all content is created equal.
Some content is only valuable to certain audiences, which means you should probably cater your content to be more valuable to specific groups of people.
This content strategy requires research, planning, and a whole lot of learning.
So before you dive headfirst into content marketing, ask yourself,
“Does this content push our brand values? Does it add value to our audience’s lives?”
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Social Media Marketing
If you haven’t jumped on the social media train yet, you’re definitely going to want to.
Everyone and their mother is on social media, so it’s safe to say you’ll be able to find an audience.
But finding the right audience can be tricky. You don’t want to bombard people with your awesome content, but neither do you want to alienate those you’ve tried to connect with.
What you can do is build a following of people who are already interested in your product or service, and gradually expand your target audience by sharing content that’s relevant to them.
Not only does this provide you with more leads, but it shows you’re trying to be helpful instead of just plugging your product.
Make sure you measure the success of your social media strategy.
Using tools like Hootsuite and Buzzsumo can help you gain valuable insights into the performance of your various social media platforms.
Doing so can help you confidently adjust your strategy to maximize results.
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The Correct Way to Approach Leads
Now that you have a good idea of what a lead is, it’s time to figure out how to get those leads.
As we discussed above, each lead has the potential to become a paying customer or a referral.
This is why it’s so important to get them on the phone immediately after you get in touch via email or phone call.
As you’re trying to build relationships with your leads, you don’t want to bombard them with emails or phone calls.
Instead, you want to start the relationship off on the right foot by getting in touch via a channel that feels right to them.
This is easier said than done, of course, but you have to understand the mindsets of your target audience if you want to connect with them.
If you can’t get in touch via the channel they’re most comfortable with, then either your email address or phone number won’t mean much or you’ll lose them forever.
You also don’t want to randomly call people either; this could come off as creepy or even offensive.
Instead, you want to find out who they are and why they’re interested in your product or service before you start pitching.
When it comes to generating leads, it’s important to remember that you’re not just selling a product.
Instead, you’re marketing a relationship.
This means you’re not only selling your product but also building credibility, trust, and authority as you go along.
The more you do to prove you’re a useful resource for your customers, the better your chances of generating more leads.
This marketing plan can include anything from getting in touch via email to following up with a phone call, creating an online form, or buying leads from a data firm.
The Difference Between Buy and Leads
If you’re new to marketing or business development, it can be difficult to know what exactly to call the leads you generate.
There’s a lot of jargon and marketing speak out there, and it can be hard to know where to start or what’s important to focus on.
One of the best guides I’ve found in understanding the difference between buying leads and generating leads is The Singapore Manual of Marketing and Advertising.
This guide will help you understand the ins and outs of buying leads vs. generating leads and the pros and cons of each.
The Difference With Inbound Marketing
Outbound marketing is all about hunting for leads, engaging with them, and converting them into paying customers.
Inbound marketing is very different in that it focuses on creating awareness and attracting customers through content that helps them find what they’re looking for.
The most successful brands and multi-million dollar companies in the world today all follow this principle.
When you think about it, all of these businesses started with a simple idea and grew to encompass multiple industries and functions all because they knew how to engage with their audiences in a way that helped them discover the need for their products or services.
The bottom line is that customers aren’t looking for you. They’re looking for a solution to their problem.
That’s why inbound marketing focuses on lead generation, while outbound focuses on converting leads into paying customers.
But how do you generate leads in an inbound world?
The answer is engagement. Content is king (or queen) in the inbound world, and it generates engagement like nothing else.
Inbound marketing is all about sharing valuable information that helps your target audience find solutions to their problems. In order to do this, you must establish credibility.
You can do this by creating high-quality, valuable content that is easily accessible and applicable to your target audience.
Consider this blog post, for example. It’s valuable information that relates directly to the needs of B2B marketers who want to generate leads for business-to-business (B2B) sales.
In this instance, the content provides a clear value proposition and helps solve a specific problem. It’s easy to understand and memorable.
The more you engage with your audience through relevant, informative content, the more they’ll trust you as a brand, and the more likely they’ll be to click your calls to action (CTAs), visit your site, and ultimately convert into a lead or a customer.
The Rise Of Artificial Intelligence (AI) In Lead Generation
While humans have been searching for leads since the 1800s, modern tools and platforms like Google Ads and Salesforce have made it much simpler.
This is especially beneficial to smaller businesses or those who want to get started quickly and don’t have the budget for a full-time marketer.
What is artificial intelligence (AI) and why is it important to lead generation?
AI is a form of digital marketing that uses computers and technology to generate potential leads.
Instead of relying on humans to manually search for potential customers, AI does it for you.
While AI can be used in many ways, one of the simplest and most effective methods is through paid search ads.
Paid search ads work by matching keywords or phrases with advertisements that appear at the top of the search results page.
When a user clicks on an ad, they’re taken to a landing page where they can learn more about the product or service advertised.
In general, paid search ads are highly effective because they target the right audience and display only the most relevant results at the top of the page.
Why should you explore paid search ads as a lead generation strategy?
Because they’re so effective. According to HubSpot Blogs, research from the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) shows that while 59% of consumers visit websites to find general information, 49% want to hear about products and services that match their needs and wants.
If you want to reach the largest audience possible, focusing on paid search ads is the way to go.
You can start with a basic knowledge of Google Ads and how to set up a campaign, then progressively become more advanced with each passing week.
Alternatively, you can take a crash course in a few days with a free Google Ads certification (more on this later).
If you’re looking to generate leads for business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing, however, you may want to look into other strategies.
Why Should You Outsource Your Lead Generation?
Outsourcing your lead generation process is a common practice among businesses of all sizes.
It’s not a luxury that large organizations can afford to have in-house marketers spend the majority of their time chasing down leads and converting them into paying customers.
(In fact, according to HubSpot Blogs, 37% of marketers feel that they spend more time doing administration and follow-ups than generating leads.)
Instead of having to focus on selling your products and services and worrying about generating leads later, you can outsource the entire process to a company that specializes in generating leads for businesses like yours.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a way to generate more leads and sales in your business, then there’s a solution for you. All you have to do is ask.
MediaOne Lead Generation Services provides high-value leads and conversions for our clients.
Thousands of companies around Asia depend on us to feed their income funnel.
Even if you’re already doing everything else right, having the right leads is what will make or break your business.
Maybe you’ve tried implementing a marketing plan and yet you’re not generating enough leads to make it worth the effort.
Or maybe you’re even getting some leads but they’re not the right type of leads that you want.
Whatever the case may be, you’re going to want to find a way to generate more leads for your business.