Looking to generate more leads online?
In this post, I´ll walk you through some quick ways to accomplish that and also show you the one lead generation strategy that never fails.
Let´s face it, generating leads isn´t rocket science, sometimes you just need to find the strategy that best suits your unique business.
Ready to get more leads?
Let´s go!
Ask These Questions Before Generating Leads
I know you want to jump straight into the strategies. However, as you probably already know, before building a house you need some solid foundations.
In the case of online lead generation, the foundation comes as a form of market research.
You have to be crystal clear about your target audience.
If you are not, it´s going to be hard to generate leads in the first place. These questions will help you get clear on your ideal customer:
- What does their average day look like?
- Do you know their dreams and ambitions?
- What do they so desperately desire?
- What are their needs and pain points?
- Is there anything that could prevent them more than anything else from buying your product or service?
- What are their hot buttons that if pushed trigger a certain desired action?
- Who else is involved in their decision-making process?
This type of information can easily be gathered by talking to your prospects and existing customers.
4 Quick Tips To Generate More Leads Online
These are some best practices that will help you generate more leads online and if you´re paying for traffic, decrease your cost per lead.
In some instances, particularly when it comes to landing page experience, cost per lead could decrease by 50% or more.
1 – Create A Lead Magnet
If your goal is to generate leads online, doesn´t it make sense to have a lead magnet?
Of course!
This is something you give away, that your audience finds valuable enough to exchange their email address for.
These are some examples:
- Webinar
- Worksheet
- eBook
- Cheatsheet
- Video Series
- Mini Course
- Audiobook
2 – Congruency
If you study the best leaders in the world, you´ll find that their message is consistent. You know what to expect from them!
The same applies to your marketing.
You can´t say one thing in your ad or offer and talk about something else on the landing page.
Stay on brand as well, make sure the fonts, colors, and messaging are consistent throughout your customer´s journey.
3 – Landing Page Experience
A great landing page experience is vital to the success of your lead generation efforts.
If it takes more than 3 seconds to load, you´ve got some work to do!
Use a free tool like Pingdom to test your website speed.
Also, make sure the landing page is visually appealing and professionally designed.
4 – Add Calls To Action In Your Content
You can get clever with this one.
What I like to do is have a pop-up that is triggered only if someone stays on the blog post for a certain period of time.
You can also add a call to action at the end of a blog post, in the middle, or in the beginning. It could be text or image.
Here´s an example:
The call to action could be about your lead magnet or it could take people to a contact page.
Don´t overcomplicate it, the key is having something that helps people take the next step, whether that is signing up for your webinar or filling out a contact form.
Lead Generation Strategies
When it comes to generating leads online, you have two choices: paid and organic.
Paid helps you build a customer base faster, it´s also easier to scale, while organic takes longer and requires more effort.
There´s no right or wrong here, you have to decide which one better fits your needs. I´d recommend you do both!
The Slow Way – Organic Lead Generation
As I´ve mentioned previously, organic strategies take longer. They can be part of your long-term customer acquisition plan.
These include:
PR
As you´re probably aware, this can also be a paid strategy to generate leads online. However, services like SourceBottle and HARO can help you get on other people´s websites or publications for free.
Search Engine Optimization
When we talk about SEO, what we´re really discussing is the process of optimizing your content marketing so it ranks higher in search engines.
The more visitors you have on your company blog, the more chances you have of generating qualified leads.
Social Media
We both know social media is a big player in any marketing plan, it is often used poorly though.
Its goal is mainly to build relationships with your audience so that when you do make an offer (webinar sign up or eBook), they´re more inclined to take that offer.
A solid customer acquisition plan will have all of these working together to not only generate leads but also to build brand awareness.
The Fast Way – Paid Lead Generation
Any kind of paid strategy will involve advertising. It´s been around for decades and in my opinion, it´s no longer an option these days.
Paid traffic can come from:
Google Search
This one is probably the most effective way to generate leads online. It´s due to the fact that the people who search on Google already have purchasing intent, making the path to the sale shorter.
On Google, it´s easier for someone to opt into your lead magnet and immediately buy your entry-level offer.
Social Media Advertising
I´ve already stated that social media is becoming more important for businesses to connect with their audience.
Advertising on social media can take your lead generation efforts to a whole new level.
There are many options such as Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, or Pinterest Ads. Choosing the right platform will depend on where your audience hangs out.
YouTube Ads
Video marketing is also on the rise. According to Brandwatch, people spend over 1 billion hours a day watching YouTube content.
This can also be an organic strategy, preferred by many over blogging, which takes longer to rank on Google.
Organic YouTube videos rank faster and video ads are more impactful than text or image ads.
Keep in mind that not all ad platforms are created equal.
Some are more expensive than others. To advertise your business online successfully, you have to understand which one(s) is right for you.
One Lead Generation Strategy That Never Fails
Ok, I know this sounds like a bold claim but hear me out.
Would you rather tell someone you know about your business or someone who´s never heard of you?
You might be thinking “well, the people I know are easier to sell, assuming they´re a good fit.” – that´s exactly the point.
So, the strategy that never fails is simply going after the part of your audience that is already familiar with your business.
These are what we call warm audiences, your low-hanging fruit, if you wish.
Often, these are your most engaged followers, people who open the most emails or sign up for most of your free offers.
Start Generating More Leads Online Today
Let´s do a quick recap of what we´ve discussed here.
First step: get super clear on your ideal customers
Second step: choose the right strategies for your business
Third step: take advantage of warm audiences to make easier sales
Remember that you need to find the right strategies and stick with them for a while.
Don´t change your approach all the time, the last thing you want is to find yourself saying “this didn´t, that one didn´t work, nothing works!”
If you want to take the guesswork and hard work out of your customer acquisition process, reach out, and let´s explore how we can work together to accomplish your business goals faster.
