According to SBA data, approximately one-third of businesses with employees fail within their first two years. There are a variety of reasons why a company may fail; however, this article will highlight one of the most critical factors for success: lead generation.
The key to scaling your venture quickly and consistently is to learn how to generate business leads using various lead generation strategies.
In marketing, lead generation refers to acquiring actionable customer interest in your business’s products or services. An example of this would be when a customer initiates a conversation with your business or provides you with their contact information for follow-up regarding your products or services.
As an example, a law firm seeking business leads might receive the following:
- Inquiry form submitted by a potential client
- Potential clients calling to schedule a consultation
- Directly contacting the company on social media to find out their rates
- A potential client has requested a consultation by email
It is, therefore, necessary to develop a marketing strategy that facilitates the engagement between your company and potential customers to find new business leads. There is no point in separating demand generation from lead generation at this point if you have heard about demand generation and are wondering whether you need demand generation vs. lead generation.
All lead generation strategies must result in exchanging a prospect’s contact or payment information or an in-person meeting.
Business lead generation strategies will help you convert strangers into paying customers, regardless of whether you plan to purchase leads or build your lead generation marketing plan.
If you are planning to generate leads for your business, take a moment to review the following 12 ways before developing your strategy.
Engagement directly
Getting in touch with a potential customer is a great way to generate new business if your business sells a high-value product or service billed monthly. However, this option should not be considered if your revenue model relies on low-value, high-volume sales.
After establishing that your business might be a good fit for a prospect, you can contact them directly via social media, email, phone, or even in person.
For example, if you own a facilities maintenance company in a city and large commercial property is being built nearby, contact the property manager to inquire about servicing the finished property. This is an excellent example of generating leads in Houston or any other area your local business may serve.
LinkedIn Lead Generation
Would you be surprised to learn that the audience on LinkedIn has two times the purchasing power of your average web audience? As a result, using LinkedIn for B2B marketing is particularly effective, and the results can be very profitable.
A great way to generate business opportunities is by establishing connections with relevant industry leaders. Potential relationships who ask for recommendations for a service you offer may become your next paying customer.
You can also leverage LinkedIn by advertising through social media if you have the budget. In addition, you have the option to purchase lead generation ads that include forms directly within the ads. These ads allow relevant users to easily sign up for your products and services.
LinkedIn can also be used to generate business leads by connecting with members of your target audience, engaging with their posts, and messaging them directly with your product or service. However, it is important to note that this approach will only work if their profile and posts indicate that you can meet one of their unmet needs. If that is not the case, your outreach may be viewed as spam, damaging your credibility.
Retargeting and Advertising
Advertising is not limited to social media! For example, pay-per-click advertising on Google and Bing can be used to target users of search engines. As a result, you are able to serve ads for searches that you are already aware are highly relevant to your business.
Imagine you are a Car Dealership seeking to improve your business’s marketing efforts. It is possible to create ads that target phrases such as “best car dealer in [city],” or “new cars in [city],” and even use a geo-filter to target consumers located in your region.
The number of web visitors who convert on their first visit to your website is deficient. Display retargeting shows visual advertisements for your products on other popular websites when users click on your PPC ads.
It takes some time to perfect digital advertising, but it can be a very effective method of generating leads.
Get Referrals from Current Customers
Lead generation strategies based on customer referrals have been around for a long time. Ask your existing customers to share their experiences with their friends so they can also benefit from your product or service.
If your business’s offerings are good enough, customers may do this for free, or you may be able to set up an incentive program for them. You can, for example, offer your customers a certain percentage off their following monthly retainer fee if they refer new clients to you.
It is very profitable for your business to gain more leads through customer referrals, and your existing customers do the majority of the work.
Generate leads by Ranking in Search Engines
You should ensure that your target audience can easily find you online when searching for your products or services. Utilize SEO and SEM to generate more leads for your business.
You should conduct keyword research to determine what phrases your target audience searches before purchasing your product or service. You can use tools such as SEMrush or Google Ads Keyword Planner to find search data.
As soon as you have identified the right keywords, you should optimize the content of your page. A highly competitive product or service may make it difficult for you to rank organically. Still, in the event that you are prepared to invest in SEO, it can be an effective method of generating consistent leads.
Choosing an SEO company is one of the most important decisions you can make before investing any money. Knowing how to select an agency that is right for your business is essential, as not all agencies deliver the same results.
Guest Blog on Other Sites
You can generate referral business through content marketing and improve your SEO by writing guest blogs.
The following marketing benefits can be derived from guest blogging:
- Establishes new connections in the industry
- Referral traffic generated by a relevant audience
- Obtains meaningful, industry-relevant links to improve your SEO
By guest blogging on relevant sites that do not directly compete with your business, you can find leads for your business. An example will be guest blogging for sign companies in your area if you are a marketing company. The sign maker’s audience is interested in marketing themselves, and your services complement their efforts.
The practice of guest blogging for local influencers aligns with local SEO best practices. For example, you may be able to rank more efficiently in your local area if you write a guest blog and gain backlinks from a popular podcaster in your area.
If you wish to achieve optimal results, ensure that the industry and location of the site for which you will be guest blogging are relevant to you.
Provide a Free Tool or Lead Generation Incentive
Offering a free tool is an excellent method of generating business-to-business sales leads. How does your product or service solve a problem? Would it be possible for you to develop a free tool to help users without eliminating the need to purchase from your company in the future?
As an example, consider that you work as a healthcare business owner. By conducting some keyword research and polling your Twitter audience, you discover that users are interested in finding out how much a procedure costs and how long it takes to recover.
Therefore, you decide to compile an eBook that outlines the prices, recovery times, and before and after photos for all the different procedures you offer. As part of your teaser blog post, you require people to provide their name, phone number, and email address in exchange for the information you have provided.
You can earn contact information from your blog post by choosing the right topic, targeting, and call to action. In addition, a higher conversion rate will likely be achieved if the blog topic, CTA, and offer are aligned.
In your industry, what opportunities exist? You can generate leads for your business by constructing calculators, compiling original research, offering free guides, or even providing free consultations.
Comment on Blogs in a Helpful Manner
As a business owner or marketing executive, you should subscribe to industry publications and even competitor blogs. By doing so, you may be able to keep your finger on the pulse of your competitors and take advantage of opportunities to assist them.
Whenever you notice that readers have left several comments on a post that have not been addressed, offer your insight. A call to action to some relevant information on your website might be a good idea to further answer the reader’s question.
When attempting to generate business leads through blog comments, proceed with caution. As a result of their susceptibility to spam, blog comments are difficult to make with authenticity. Furthermore, your competitors may not be amenable to your headhunting of their audiences.
Provide Answers to Forum Questions
You can demonstrate your subject matter expertise by answering forum questions while setting the stage for reciprocity. This practice can help you find leads within minutes if it is carried out strategically in the right circumstances.
You can begin by answering forum questions on Reddit or Quora. Start by selecting a relevant category for your business and then answer user questions. Ensure to include a call-to-action at the end of your response to encourage the user to use your product or service to assist them.
Consider the case of a law firm providing family law services. It is possible to subscribe to a legal subreddit where users ask questions about your business. Every day, spend a few minutes searching for questions you may be able to answer.
Whenever a user asks about contracts, you should provide a helpful answer, link to your website, and suggest that the user contact you for a consultation. It may be more likely that the user who asked the question will reciprocate by paying you for legal services in the future if you offer free advice.
You can generate new business leads by answering forum questions and enhancing your search engine optimization efforts. In the example of Reddit, if your contact law answer receives enough upvotes, your link can have a positive impact on the SEO of your law firm. In this way, your lead generation efforts can yield compounding returns.
Interviews with Influential Individuals
Your business can benefit significantly from interviewing leaders in your industry. This is not only a great way to network and learn from experts within your field, but it can also be used to create powerful content.
Your interview can be recorded as a video, turned into a Q&A blog post, or staged as a podcast. Using these different formats will allow you to leverage your interview content and attract interested users to your website or social media properties. If you wish to improve your business lead generation, you may even wish to gate the interviews and request contact information.
Influencers often share the interview results across their marketing channels, multiplying their reach and return on investment.
Take the initiative to Network
Even though networking rarely produces direct revenue, it is a great way to cultivate professional opportunities. Consider attending a networking event that is both local and related to your industry. This way, you can reduce travel costs and take advantage of accessible business opportunities.
How can networking benefit you? If you walk into a meeting expecting ROI, you will almost always be disappointed. So instead, look for opportunities that are oblique.
You may have the opportunity to partner with a complementary business to share leads, thereby expanding your market reach. Perhaps you meet an influential person who agrees to interview you so that you can build a great piece of content while expanding your marketing reach. As a result of networking, your company may be able to participate in guest blogging opportunities.
Networking is one of the most effective ways to generate leads for your business, as it almost always yields multiple returns on your investment.
Send an Email Offer to your Subscribers
It is not always necessary to expose oneself to a new audience in order to generate leads. Your email list may have untapped business potential.
Putting together a particular offer may be an option if you have built your mailing list. It is possible to convert a passive bystander into your next paying customer by offering a special discount or limited-time offer.
It is also possible to make special offers to other people’s email lists by sending them an email. You may be able to structure a deal to promote yourself to the audiences of complementary businesses in your industry if you are actively networking with them or partnering with them.
Remember the previous example of a guest blog partnership between a marketing agency and a sign-maker? It may be appropriate for the marketing agency to suggest a business promotion in the sign company’s next email blast and offer the sign-maker 5% of all sales generated from the initiative. In this instance, there is a win-win-win situation for both the marketing firm and the sign company, as well as the happy new customers.
The Way to Generating Better, Cheaper, and Merrier Leads
In the end, every business would like to implement at least some of those methods, but time is needed. Instead of trying to pick what’s the most urgent approach, we highly recommend that you’ll contact us and see how we can improve your digital marketing channels to new heights, thanks to our speciality and experience.
If you’re ready to advance forwards, leave your details below, and one of our experts will contact you ASAP.