Lead generation is, directly or indirectly, at the core and the purpose of every marketing campaign. For most businesses, expansion or even just maintaining the status quo is simply not possible without continuously replenishing the funnel with quality leads.
There are myriad methods to feed the funnel. You
may be lucky enough to find a company that can source highly targeted leads for your business but this is costly. If the company uses a scattergun approach then the cost goes down but the impact of contacting leads that are not delighted to hear from you is at best a waste of your time and money. Companies that are capable and eager to understand your business and the characteristics of your potential clients can provide data that can give your sales a new lease of life and transform your business. This becomes cost efficient in the short term by outsourcing lead generation to trusted third party organisations in territories such as India.
A tried and tested method for companies to generate leads themselves, but strangely neglected, is by attracting people to the company website and convincing them to part with their contact information. Here are ESG’s top tips on generating high quality leads and improving conversion rates on your business website:
Publish the right type of content tightly aligned to your target audience. Content in all channels should be consistent and relevant. Make your content valuable. Quality not quantity. Quantity just muddies the waters.
Include a strong call-to-action (CTA) in the content. Clearly indicate what you’re expecting from the visitor e.g. a share, a site visit, their contact information, a subscription to your page or channel… Include calls-to-action on blog posts to give visitors the opportunity to express interest in your ideas. Example: contact ESG for quality lead generation. Get the idea?
An irresistible offer will attract prospects and retain them. If you have difficulty growing your lead base then it could be that your offers aren’t compelling. Make the offer appear scarce, in demand and exclusive and it becomes irresistible. We will do anything to get our hands on something we can’t have!
Understand the difference between a lead and a qualified lead. Lead generation should be all about quality of the target. If yours is an Events company and your tulip pruning article gets 5000 downloads but no-one books your annual IT Security Event then then maybe you should revisit your content strategies.
Don’t forget to cultivate and nurture your leads once you have them tucked up in your database. Keep educating them throughout their buying journey. Host webinars. Send out newsletters. New leads will become familiar with your company over time and have a nice warm feeling when they are ready to be sent to sales.
Regularly play with your landing page layouts, headlines, text, form fields, images, CTAs etc. and how it all appears on different devices. Continue the tests to analyse broad elements like page layout as well as specific items such as calls-to-action and button colour. You will be surprised on how conversion can change with a few well timed tweaks.
Find your aficionados and put their voice all over your website. Don’t just have a separate page for testimonials, rather have them where your call-to-actions are and link the praise to the main testimonials page. This is ‘social proof’. People like people that people like and it’s no different for products and services
Make use of surprising and strong words to write powerful headlines and draw in the attention of readers. Strong verbs in your headline add interest, flavour and conviction. Be different. Give the reader a jolt to make sure they’re still awake.
The content on your website and in your communications should focus on engagement. Don’t try and get past 1st base too quickly. Don’t try too hard. The content that you provide should be useful. After a while they’ll come to you.
Revisit your buyer personas at regular intervals and check they still align with what you’re selling. If your targets have changed then your content won’t be effective any more.
Offer valuable content without worrying about giving too much away. Don’t stress about linking to other websites. Contrary to popular hype, Google et al actually increase your search engine rankings if you use outbound linking.
Our names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. are already stored on sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Google. Your website can ask leads to sign up using those sites so they don’t need to fill in tedious contact forms. Anything to make their life easier.
Separate your lead generation efforts from your sales processes. Each marketing practice requires a different mindset. The lead generation team creates awareness and finds leads. The sales team should be hitting the phone. Keep them seperate. Better still have ESG provide the leads straight to your sales function.
Generating targeted leads from your website is effective but takes time. Don’t lose patience. Focus on quality. Spend a few hours a week revisiting this article, apply the advice and the leads will follow.
And if you prefer a shortcut to lead generation then contact us at ESG
