Leads are important tools for businesses, as each of them can bring in a potential customer. Thus, companies would want to gather as many as possible. But how do you do that? Let’s take a look at five of the best ways for lead generation and learn some tips to gather more of them.
Lead Generation Technique No. 1: Content Marketing
Content marketing remains one of the most popular means of attracting leads even today. According to a study made by the Content Marketing Institute, 86% of business-to-customer companies make use of it. This figure goes up to 91% for business-to-business transactions.
The biggest reason to take advantage of content marketing is that it can generate three times as many leads compared to traditional marketing methods. It also costs 52% less to do. This combination of effectiveness and costs makes it very accessible even for smaller businesses.
Another great thing about content marketing is that you can use it to nurture the leads that you have gathered. By continuously providing these leads with more information, you steadily increase their interest. Eventually, 60% of consumers go on to purchase after reading your content.
Tips for Using Content Marketing
Increased visibility plays a large role in the effectiveness of your content in catching the attention of potential leads, For that, take advantage of content syndication. This is the strategy of publishing your content on third party sites that have a wider audience. Carefully choose the sites that would best fit your target audience to ensure that you are getting the right traffic.
You would also want to use more lead magnets. These are content that provides immediate value to your audience, such as solving a specific problem. There is a large variety of lead magnets that you can employ. By making these short pieces of content easily accessible, you get leads more interested and draw them towards your products.
Lead Generation Technique No. 2: Social Media Marketing
Social media has become one of the important marketing tools for businesses in the last decade. This is not surprising since a large chunk of the population is using them. Facebook alone has 1.47 billion users, giving you plenty of potential leads to gather in one place.
Another great thing about social media is real-time communications. You will be able to get an immediate response from potential leads instead of having to wait. This moves the lead generation process a lot faster.
Tips to Using Social Media as a Lead Generator
One of the effective tactics to employ when gathering leads on social media is chatbots. This automation lets your business connect with potential leads even outside regular office hours. They also work well for gathering more information about your leads, including:
- Identifying product interests: You can use social media bots to identify the likes and dislikes of your would-be customers.
- Targeted segmentation: Chatbots help divide your social media audience into different categories like demographics, interests, location, etc.
- Education: This element is vital for driving the interest of your potential; leads and getting them to respond to your marketing.
With that greater information, you can more effectively identify which of the leads you collected are more likely to turn into customers. This makes your social media lead generation efforts much easier and more efficient.
Another great tactic you can employ here is social community building. By having a community for your loyal audience, you can better connect with and engage them. In turn, they will be more likely to recommend you to their peers. This is a great way to accelerate your lead acquisition.
To make this method effective, you need to actively engage your audience. Come up with fun campaigns that will draw their attention. You would also want to always be ready to respond to inquiries from non-customers on your social media posts.
Lead Generation Technique No. 3: Contests
Image from WordStream.
The biggest draw of contests as a lead generation strategy is that people are more willing to give their contacts. After all, they are getting a chance to win something in exchange for it. This makes them another favorite of small businesses for gathering a large number of leads.
Another great aspect of contests for lead generation is their shareability. Even without prodding, people will be inclined to share your contests with their peers. This gives you a significant increase in the number of leads generated.
Tips for Using Contests
The most important element in a successful contest is the prize. By making sure that your prizes have a lot of value for your target audience, you convince them more to part ways with their contact info. Consider what these customers need or want and offer it to them. You would also want to offer useful consolation prizes to other contestants to encourage them and generate a few more sales.
To better take advantage of contests for lead generation, you would want to build a comprehensive marketing strategy around them. This lets you integrate the different contests better into your overall marketing strategy. It will also nurture the leads that you have gathered from each event further.
Lead Generation Technique No. 4: Personalization
Personalization might seem like an odd lead generation technique but there is data to back it up. According to Business2Community, 75% of customers are more likely to buy from companies that mention them by name.
Another thing that makes personalization more enticing is the quality of leads you are getting. Since your marketing message is tailored specifically for specific customers, they are more inclined to give you detailed information. Such high-quality leads will help you more successfully land customers down your sales funnel.
Using personalization the right way
However, you might still be curious as to how it works since you are engaging with new audiences here. This is where technology becomes handy. Things like artificial intelligence and customer data platforms help you gather large amounts of information faster. Additionally, advances in the latter make it easier for customers to converse with your brand online. This convenience encourages them to further connect with you and make a purchase.
Building a smart database also helps you better understand your customers. Aside from the usual data points like age and location, include things like behavioral information. With this detailed information, you can plan out how to engage your leads and attract new ones from the same group.
Lead Generation Technique No. 5: Create Mobile Apps
With over three billion smartphone users worldwide, the mobile market has become one of the major sources of leads for businesses. All of the techniques above are even applicable to mobile. But one lead generation technique that you would want to explore here is using mobile apps.
Apps are great because they provide you with high value leads right from the get-go. The people who download your app are those who are already interested in engaging with your business. Because of that, you can get them towards purchasing faster.
Using Apps More Effectively
What kind of app you should create is the first thing to think about with this method. Games are a popular option here since they have universal appeal. But if you want to target a more focused audience, create an app that addresses their particular concerns. For example, online shopping apps have become popular in the current COVID-19 pandemic because these help users make purchases without having to head outside.
You would also want to make your app enticing to new users. Don’t ask for too much information early, as this would deter these new users. Instead, just get their name and email. As they use the app longer, you can gradually ask them to complete their profiles. Another effective strategy here is to offer various virtual prizes like discount coupons and freebies they can use within the app.
Grow your leads with these techniques.
Using the lead generation techniques included here will help you collect a greater amount of customer information to boost your business. And there are more strategies that you can explore. Check them out and grow your sales faster.