The Best Lead Generation Channels
For many businesses, this early summer will be the launch of their recovery — the reopening of business in America.
It will be nice as the transition back to normal happens. The mood will lift and lead generation will become a little easier, however competition will increase dramatically too.
Amidst the competition and booming economy, will you be able to attract, engage them, nurture prospects and close the deal? Whether it’s real estate, finance, travel, or professional services, leads are the lifeblood.
I hope you’ll enjoy and use the list of lead generation strategies below which need to be used strategically together for an overwhelmingly strong impact on your sales this year.
Small Business Needs the Full Marketing Service
My review of most small business websites is they don’t attract leads nor create a sale.
It’s no surprise that most business people today try to bypass all marketing and promotion activities and just get right to lead generation. That as I explain below is not wise. The complete lead funnel has to be appreciated and supported.
Serious clients and customers expect substance, a pleasant trust building experience, and need to build confidence in you. Leads must be nurtured wherever they came from.
In fact, it’s the digital and personal nurturing that can turn indifference into a worthy sale. Leads plus pro conversion strategies generates much more success.
Today, we’re discussing some good lead channels and what you can do to maximize your chances of success. As we list the lead generation methods, we must remember that the channel and your online connection determines the lead quality. Your goal should be to sustainably create and convert high quality leads.
Sometimes the Low Hanging Fruit is Rotten
Yes, quality of leads is often a function of what you do to attract them. Post your name around in the wrong places and you’ll attract flies. Your mother told you not to hang around in bad places. Your brand image will take a hit.
Poor lead generation can cause a lot of personal and business pain. This has ended many careers and businesses that started out with promise. Please don’t go there.
The leads you get from PPC ads or outdoor advertising can be be low quality. There’s an adage that you are your clients. Your clientele is a reflection of you, since your methods color the business you get. Bad leads drag you down. Maybe leave the rotten fruit where it is. Let’s target the good ones.
Being Strategic and Resonant
There’s a lot to work on with your lead generation strategy. It’s not just a hodgepodge of isolated, random tactics either. The strategies we talk about here need to be strung together intelligently. It’s only then that you build the awareness, comfort, frequency of connection, to project your unique value proposition correctly. Your UVP is what clients are buying.
The best approach to lead generation is in integrating really good techniques for maximum impact on your audience. Consider that they’re going to look at your website, Linkedin profile, Facebook page, Youtube videos, and value proposition in different ways. They’re trying to verify and validate your power to provide the solution they need.
Your Content is What Cements the Deal
So here’s the key point: they receive your promise or value proposition via your website content, ads, videos, profiles and the places they find you online. When they get multiple sources resonating the same message, it generates trust. For relevance on the other hand, your content has to reflect what they aspire to and makes them feel confident.
Your content is the value added, since it builds the perception of value in your service or products. Work hard on your content. And it’s not easy to make your more valuable and to build a unique differentiated style that makes you the preferred business they look to. Spend a lot of time on your content – edit, re-edit, and keep hoing it until it’s absolutely excellent.
Yes, your website is very important and you should commit to creating the highest quality, enriched customer experience on it. Your content needs to be really good — to make them feel inspired and confident. Then when your lead pipeline brings leads to your website, your content creates the engagement, comfort and commitment to you.
As they check all the boxes on their “emotional list” they build a feeling of confidence, certainty, clarity, and energy. The energy is translated into clicks and contacts. They buy you or your product, and they’re happy. That feeling of happiness, satisfaction and calmness is really what they after.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Realtor, manufacturer, ecommerce retailer, Chain or restaurant owner, or marketing agency, the process is the same.
After you review these marketing strategies, keep the end goal in mind — comfort, clarity, confidence and elation, or happiness.
Lead Generation Strategies that Bring Real Customers
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- limited, focused PPC keyword advertising via Google ads, Bing Ads, or Facebook ads (good source of leads if your content funnel can convert them).
- gated content (valuable insightful information and a good experience, and they must register to receive)
- referral commissions for leads from other professionals in your industry/sector (e.g., for Realtors, building relations with other agents online via your content strategy, vital for generating leads).
- serve news first — create a hot off the press Newsletter to create a direct connection to prospects (your content must be unique and offer value-added insight).
- host an online or in person event (e.g., at a tradeshow, or webinar or workshop. These events are very effective content for reaching and making an impact and awareness. They’re a window to a closer relationship).
- make a free offer (e.g., marketing consultant offering a free digital marketing audit. Adding value for those targeted prospects who are wary or hesitant. You must get them off the fence).
- hire an SEO consultant/copywriter (SEO and content are a big source of traffic and leads). An SEO/copywriter has the ability to create the expert level content you must have to woo great clients.
- engage via social media (find relevant contacts and begin to chat with them. Post really good relevant content for them to view as a way to get attention, and then hopefully to create topics of discussion).
- paid sponsorship or advertise on the most relevant sites in your sector (sponsorships are vastly underutilized. Sponsorships on some sites could come cheaply while those on high traffic influencer sites might be pricey. Even for a short period they could help build prestige and awareness if you highlight them in your network. They would like that you’re helping to bring traffic to their website and are actively promoting it).
- use the best lead generation services or software (e.g., Realtor lead companies may provide some leads for Realtors, although you can just advertise like they do).
- use a chatbot on your website to get responses from all those who leave and don’t contact you. The CRM powers they claim are overstated, however they may be able to help get a response, and any info you can collect about visitors and prospects will be helpful to your efforts).
- use a predictive analytics tool to listen on social media for those ready to buy or sell (you might not recognize the signals, but these tools can help you improve your awareness of what is driving purchase activity)
- Geo fenced advertising (e.g. simpli.fi) Advertising with services that focus on one specific geo graphic area can work well for local focused businesses).
- create entertaining compelling videos (If you have the skills and resources, there are ways to make a video that will showcase your company, brand, products, services and value proposition. Whether to lighten things up or introduce yourself, videos can help warm up visitors who don’t know you or your company. Video searches have risen significantly and your video will get viewed, and can act as a focal point for your content strategy and conversion funnel).
- advertise in and contribute to the top magazines, associations and portals in your industry. Big publishing portals and industry associations provide a good opportunity for awareness. When your name or brand appears on many reputable, authoritative websites, it generates trust which is vital. Partnerships with these big portals can create unbeatable advantages, so find ways to work out advertising and even content contributions to them.
A Necessary Investment in Your Future
Of course, before you use these excellent lead generation tactics, you need to set up a great website. It’s your focal home base for your business. This is where prospects see the real you, where you build relevance and trust, and where you can expose your value proposition repeatedly when they return.
Prospects won’t return to anywhere else, just your website. And when it’s good, they could return once a week because you’ve got such great things to say and it elevates them. People are desperate for education and inspiration and you’re the perfect one to deliver it to them.
Real Estate Website Example
Let’s say you’re a real estate agent. They may return to see home listings, news on mortgages and neighborhoods, and other info. Whenever you hear news, it gets posted on your site (and social media) and it draws them back, seeing you as the best source.
It’s not about a pretty real estate website. It’s about being useful and making them feel all the emotions you want them to feel, as I mentioned previously. With respect to the paths prospects take when they’ve found you, you might want to consider a funnel path software to help you map out the process. You can set the touchpoints, content flow, and monitor their progress to the sales goal.
There are AI marketing tools that specialize in nurturing leads that might be worth exploring.
It takes time to build trust, liking, commitment, and close a sale. If all roads lead to you, then you’re going to generating a lot of new clients or customers when you set up your marketing strategy.
Please give me call at 416 998 6246 or email gord@ai-marketers.com to discuss your online marketing and if I can help you.
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