Trying to get new leads for your business without the proper education and tools is like trying to find something in the dark. You are technically in the dark if you’re proclaiming things to the masses without a targeted effort. What good leads will come of that. The following advice is designed to help you understand how to generate leads within your business.
Build your presence on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the most business-friendly social media channel out there. People use linked in to network and even broker new deals. It’s the perfect place to create lead generation opportunities for you and your company. Invest in a Premium membership as it will allow you to see everyone who has viewed your profile.
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.
Incentives for buying can greatly enhance lead generation, just from customers acting on the incentive itself. You providing customers with incentives they need generates sales immediately. Providing them with an additional reason to purchase with you can generate a lot of extra leads for you.
Check out events in your area and see if there’s a way you can use them to generate leads. For example, if there is a cycling race, buy a sponsorship package. Then you can get yourself on TV talking about it, or in the paper, or just talk to people who are there to watch.
Analyze the numbers surrounding your lead generation. Are you finding it takes lots of hours to discover potential leads? Are these leads qualified or rather weak? Measure the time you have in versus the conversion rate. This will help you decipher which tactics give you the best return on your investment.
Search engine optimization can take awhile to get going, as can other lead generation techniques. While they are the best, and while some experts saying purchasing leads is a bad idea, it’s not always the case. Buying leads from a trusted source within your niche can actually be extremely beneficial.
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.
You don’t just have to buy ad space in local newspapers to get your ads in there. Instead, consider writing an article on a topic related to your business. For example, if you are a landscaper, you can write about how frequently to water your lawn and what the best time of day is.
Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone. A lot of people get scared of making a call to generate a lead. They think it’s akin to annoying telemarketing. But if you’ve got a solution to a problem a company is having, you’ll definitely get phone time with someone. Even if it’s not a long call, pitch it and get a meeting to continue the conversation.
Find ways to qualify leads that you’ve brought into the company. Yes, it’s important to get as much data as you can, but leads are of different levels of quality. Some leads are more likely to be bigger customers than others. One way is to develop a survey to learn more about their buying habits.
If you’re using a lead database, make sure it is well suited for you. Your product or service may require a certain niche of prospects. It is useless to buy leads if there was no effort made to ensure their value. These leads may not be anywhere in the neighborhood of your customer demographics.
Let visitors to your website know what they need to do. Try taking a closer look at your landing page or website. Can you tell what you should do next? If it isn’t then you need to make it a little easier to figure out.
Your website needs quality content. When you are putting up fresh and current content, interested traffic will turn to leads. Make sure your content has no spelling or grammar errors, and is factually accurate. This way, you don’t risk losing a potential customer as soon as you get their attention.
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.
Be cautious of buying large amounts of Twitter or other social media followers. Yes, this may boost up how many leads you have, but a lot of the time those leads aren’t even valid. The accounts may or may not be valid. If you go this route, you may be advertising promotions to fake accounts.
Test your lead generation marketing campaigns. Sometimes simply changing a call-to-action or offer will lead to a whole lot more leads being generated. You won’t know unless you test. You should always be testing something. This can have immediate and lasting effects on the leads being generated by your company.
Are you ready to use these tips to get new leads for your business? If so, then you better get started because there is no better time than now. Leads are where it all begins, and you have information to boost your business in the right direction. Get motivated, and start implementing these strategies today.
