Are you thinking of growing the business? Do you want to expand your customer base? Starting a business has become effortless in today’s digital age, but ensuring survival, growth, and profitability is still quite challenging. Besides additional capital, expansion needs high consumer demand and a steady stream of sales leads. In the marketing world, leads are the people who have a keen interest in your products and service offerings.
Therefore, you have to attract lead prospects and analyze their behavior to keep the revenues flowing. After all, the more you know about user buying patterns, the easier it becomes to display the right offer at the right time. Any idea how to generate leads?
Surprisingly, there is no one-size-fit-for-all approach when we talk about lead generation because every business is different. Some people might tell hosting webinars can bring in substantial leads, but it only works for B2B.
Hence, before calling the shots, learn about different lead generation strategies to determine which works for your business. However, if you don’t know much about it, have a look below. Here we are listing five ways to generate leads for your small business.
1. Captivate Visitors with Lead Magnets
Today, none of the online users are willing to give out contact information for nothing in return. Hence, when it comes to lead generation, consider investing in lead magnets. It offers visitors something in exchange for their contact information such as – contact number, email address, etc. In short, lead magnets work like a bribe that encourage prospects to give out their information. You can add different types of content in lead magnets like videos, blog posts, and podcasts. However, if you want more innovative lead magnet ideas, have a look below.
- Free Shipping: Delivery charges seem like an additional expense to shoppers. And surprisingly, many people even abandon their carts because of shipping charges. Thus, you can use free shipping to get people to sign up for marketing emails.
- A Roundup Content: You can bring all experts together to discuss a relevant topic to your niche. It attracts traffic, social shares and builds brand recognition, making it an excellent lead magnet.
- Online Quiz: Believe it or not, but launching a giveaway generates real value for your brand. Likewise, visitors won’t mind giving in their contact information for free products.
Also Read: 4 Useful Services for Small Businesses
2. Personalized Email Marketing
Is email marketing outdated already? Of course, not. It is one of the evergreen marketing strategies and a great way to drive leads. According to campaign monitor, approximately 3.8 billion people have email accounts across the world. However, since competition is skyrocketing, consider personalizing the emails. You can group the contacts by name, location, purchase history, interests, and use your email platform to personalize greetings.
In addition to creating segments, show clients you know them with a creative personalized message. For instance, you could send happy birthday greetings with a discount offer or give your top clients unique benefits. These small gestures can help you drive more leads while establishing brand loyalty. Remember, your job doesn’t end after sending emails; make sure you track your success. You can compare ‘open and click rates’ with the industry to determine whether your campaign is lagging or not.
3. Create & Publish Top-Notch Content
Similar to SEO, content marketing can bring in many leads to your business. After all, valuable and interactive content retain audiences while driving profitable customer actions. Thus, use the power of words to captivate people to take action. From churning out blog posts, creating videos, writing content for SEO, to making infographics – you can explore different content formats. However, more than promoting your services, focus on showcasing your expertise to lead as an industry expert.
Furthermore, create content that assists buyers in their purchase journey, caters to their pain points, and entices them to purchase. Once you start producing customer-centric, consider gating it. If content offers value to users, they won’t mind giving away their email address in exchange for it. For instance, if you are publishing an eBook on ‘how to lose weight in 40 days.’ The health-conscious people won’t mind giving their email address in return. Besides boosting leads, content marketing delivers your brand message across different channels.
4. Get Creative with Social Media
Believe it or not, using social media organically can be one of the best lead generation strategies. And if you manage to get creative with social forums, it can bring additional benefits for the business. You can begin by investing in paid social media marketing because it goes beyond organic posts in reaching a vast audience. Instead of targeting everyone, you can select demographics on Instagram and Facebook to attract people who have a genuine interest in your offerings.
Most social forums offer one-click email submissions encouraging users to submit their information readily. As a result, you can generate leads with minimal hassle. Moreover, connect with influencers in your niche. They can bring attention to your company as millions of people look up to them for suggestions. You can send in PR packages, offer collaborations, and approach them to become your brand ambassadors. It will help you attract more targeted audiences, increasing traffic and lead prospects.
Ask for Referrals
Today, nothing beats ‘word of mouth’ marketing because people believe customers’ verdicts more than anything. So, why not hop onto referral marketing? Surprisingly, referrals can be the most valuable source of leads. You can ask your existing customers to share your brand and invite their friends to exchange rewards or discounts. No matter if you are offering a gift card, free shipping, or extra dollars – referral incentives should be of value to the customers. If you need more ideas for your referral marketing campaign, have a look below.
- Offer Rewards on Milestones: At times, brands give rewards for every sign-up and purchase. Indeed, this looks captivating but doesn’t provide profitable results. Therefore, give rewards based on several actions to ensure the ‘one’ bringing optimal results is receiving rewards.
- Ask for Reviews: Product feedback can drive leads since they act as social proof. According to Kosher, 40% form an opinion about a brand after reading reviews. Hence, it brings people to your site and encourages them to buy.
- Follow-up with Referrals: Although customers have referred people to you, don’t mind asking again. After all, the social circles change in a blink of an eye.
To Conclude
Despite savvy tools and applications, lead generation requires a lot of time and effort. You have to develop a keen understanding of your target audience and then develop strategies to entice them. Look into different content formats, think of creative lead magnets, and take advantage of social media forums. These smart tactics will help you generate leads even on a small budget. And the more leads you have, the higher chances of increasing sales.
