Generating Qualified Leads

Prospects. Leads.  Future customers.  It doesn’t matter the the terminology you use, it is what all marketing teams are after.  There are thousands, if not millions, of leads out there waiting to be found.  It is finding the right leads that turn into customers that is the tricky part.  Identifying, nurturing and converting those leads into long-term, loyal clients takes time, strategy and hard work. Let’s look at some strategies to help your marketing make more of those conversions.

• E Mail Marketing -According to research done by Direct Marketing, “for every $1 spent on email marketing, you can generate more than $40 in returned revenue for your business.” Suggestions to beef up your usual email newsletter include: making it genuine with a personalized name and greeting, adding custom images to capture the lead’s attention, including social sharing icons, and incorporating a clear call to action.

• Landing Pages – This page allows a business to capture a visitor’s information through a lead form.  If your landing page is targeted toward to a particular stream of traffic (such as an email campaign) you will convert a higher percentage of your website visitors into leads with which you can follow up.

• Social Media – Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn or Instagram, social media helps expose your business to prospects.  If you are not on social media, know that your competition is and they are building relationships daily with future customers and building their credibility by “being out there.” Integrating social media components into your company’s website design helps it to not only rank higher in search engines but to get your name and brand out there where the leads really are.  Promotions, coupons, and deals are easily shared and re-tweeted via social media thus making your business more visible.

• Solve Problems and Share Ideas – Videos, blogs, podcasts, webinars are just a few ways to share your expertise in your field.  If customers see you as a leader in the industry, they will begin to follow your blog, videos, social media and webinars.  According to SalesForce online, 23% of total Internet usage time is devoted to social networks or blogs, which means that a large chunk of users are obtaining information and knowledge via blogs. This is a less corporate and less direct method of sales that will help capture more leads.  At the end of each blog, video or webinar offer an email sign up to convert those leads to clients.

• Referrals – Offer incentives for customers and employees who refer a friend who later turns into a client.  Word-of-mouth referrals can be very powerful.

Categorised in: Advertising, Blog, Blogging, Marketing, Social Media