One of the most difficult things to do for your business at times is to generate new leads. You must have a layered plan in which you take your business down many avenues to seek out that targeted customer base. But, your efforts must be direct and focused, so follow along with this article to gain some new ideas.
Try direct mail as a lead generation tactic. Many people think that direct mail has gone the way of the dinosaur, but it’s not true. In fact, it may be very powerful for your market as a lot of competitors shy away from it as a strategy. You may find a lot of business opportunity here.
Avoid overkill in your information gathering. Many leads will be happy to supply basic information. However, with each data field that your potential lead needs to fill, their desire to continue wanes. Gather the basics that will be necessary to qualify the lead without pushing for every bit of information you can gather.
You want to definitely know that you have obtained original leads. As you go through the process, you might not consider the possibility of duplication, but it is important. Especially if you have a narrow target market, multiple leads from the same company or person may be happening. Ensure that each lead you target is unique since this will increase your exposure.
Consider teaching a class on the skills you have. For example, if you are an excellent marketer, teach a basic marketing class. You can let students know about whatever it is you’re doing and you can look for those students you think would make the best leads and then target them directly.
Don’t forget your website! Many people create a site and then just leave it, believing that “if you build it, they will come.” They won’t unless you actually put some effort into it. Create a blog and update it frequently, or add new content as often as possible to the site itself.
Absolutely every site you have up, whether a blog forum or regular content page or your main site, there should be contact information, social media plugins and opt in suggestions. These need to be strategically located and should be placed on every page so that people know how they can stay connected with you.
If you have kids in school, trade referrals with other parents. For example, if your child is in karate classes, talk to the parents there and ask them what they do for a living. If you can trade referrals for each other, you might just start seeing some leads come in.
Take a class which would better your skills and talk to the other students. They might just be honing their skills because they aren’t very good at what you’re good at, and maybe they can use what you’re selling to make up for the fact they can’t do it on their own.
Make sure to keep your lead pipeline in motion at all times. This means you need to do lead generation tactics on a daily basis. It can take a lot of leads to get just one to convert into a customer, so you need a good source of them at all times.
Look at all pages on you site to be sure everything is clear. No matter what you’re offering, prospects should know how to get it. Make sure your wording is clear and your pages are uncluttered.
Don’t completely rule out direct mail for lead generation, because the fat lady has yet to sing. Many marketers are ignoring the tried and true direct mail methods. You can stand alone in this marketing avenue. Do some experimentation and see if you get any good results.
Who is your target lead and at what point in the purchasing cycle are they? For instance, new parents or newlyweds may be rushing to find a new home, which is why real estate agents must market to the urgency. Another lead for salespeople is recent college graduates.
Research any company that is going to sell you a lead. You can easily get swayed by a great deal; however, it can be too good to be true. The key is to make sure that the lead purchase will focus on leads that fit your demographic needs and customer base.
In order to grow your mailing list, hold a contest. You can do this on your website, on Facebook or Twitter, or even locally if your company is locally-focused. Just ask for an email address and name in return for an entry into your contest, and you can even give bonus entries to those who refer their friends.
Word-of-mouth referrals may seem like an old fashioned approach to gaining more customers, but they are like gold when it comes to generating leads. If you want to raise the stakes a little bit, come up with an offer or deal that potential customers can’t refuse. You may even be able to come up with content that goes viral in order to generate even more leads.
Consider creating websites for all the different niches of potential leads you have. For example, “NewlywedHomes.com” for a real estate agent marketing to newlyweds, or “EmptyNestHomes.com” for the same agent marketing to those whose kids have flown the coop. Targeting your pages to your leads will boost the number which convert.
Has this article helped you with direction as to what you need to do to get new leads for your business? Even if things have been working out for you, the well can always run dry. Staying ahead of the game is what it’s about with getting new leads, so use the advice that has been given.
