As a small- to medium-sized business owner, your expertise is in your business, not marketing. So, you’ve probably come across some niche industry terms while researching the best marketing strategies and tactics.
One of those terms was most likely “Lead Generation.” And it makes sense because getting leads (or more customers and business) is one of the main goals digital marketing is trying to achieve.
This blog post serves to help you understand a little bit more about what exactly lead generation is and gives you some lead generation examples that could be helpful while running your business.
Lead generation is the process of attracting people to your business and then increasing their interest through nurturing, with the ultimate end goal of converting them into a customer.
Of course, this requires a specific strategy.
A lead generation strategy is a plan for getting prospective customers to share their contact information with you and opt into marketing or sales communications (also known as becoming a lead.) With the right lead generation strategy, you can:
To put it simply, lead generation helps you get more customers.
Now let’s get into some real-life examples of lead generation to help you really nail down this aspect of digital marketing. You might even be utilizing some of these strategies already without being able to name them as “lead generation.”
Research shows that email marketing ROI is $36 for every $1 spent, which is higher than any other marketing channel, making it one of the most effective ways to nurture leads. Small businesses find that this is an accessible way to build brand loyalty and promote products because it doesn’t require a large budget. Use emails to relay content that will turn prospects into paying customers.
Creating educational or problem-solving content is a great way to introduce prospective customers to your products or services. This content can be in the form of a blog, videos or educational downloads. Pro tip: create plenty of evergreen content that can exist and still be relevant for a long time.
While most of your content will be free for your prospects to access at any time, you should also think about creating a few lead magnets. Lead magnets are high-value pieces of content that require users to share information in exchange for access. For example, asking for an email address in exchange for providing a design eBook. This allows you to collect emails or other info for continued lead nurturing.
Studies show that 60% of business-to-consumer (B2C) brands get their customers through social media. This makes social media an excellent tool for lead generation.
To get the most out of your platforms, make sure you’re posting valuable content regularly to keep your brand top of mind. You can also nurture leads further by sharing content that appeals to your target audiences and engaging with your followers by starting conversations and answering questions. All of this will help provide potential customers with the info they need to make informed buying decisions.
Search engine optimization is a low-budget way to give your business a competitive advantage online. It uses the keywords on your website to help you rank highly on Google and other search engines.
Even though potential customers might not be familiar with your brand, they’ll be able to find you online when they search for terms related to your products or services. The higher you are on the page, the more trustworthy you seem, and you more likely you are to be clicked on over your competitors.
You can help encourage potential customers to become paying customers by offering a free trial of your services. This works in your favor in a couple of ways. One, it gives customers who were on the fence the confidence to finally make a purchase and two, even if the customer doesn’t commit to a purchase after the trial has ended, you have their information in your sales pipeline and can keep nurturing the lead with promos or additional information.
Collect potential customer info with the help of giveaways. It’s no secret that people love free things, so they’re probably willing to give away their email address or phone number for a chance to win. This is especially true if they were already interested in your business in the first place but have never committed to a purchase.
Keep in mind that it’s important to choose the right kind of prize. Something like a cash prize might attract a lot more participants, but something like a year’s membership to your gym might attract more high-value customers who are more likely to continue to use your business.
Did you know that customers are likely to spend 31% more with a business that has good customer testimonials? This makes adding customer testimonials to your website an easy and cost-effective way to nurture leads. You’ll help potential customers who find their way to your website make an informed buying decision by displaying sentiments from happy customers.
And if you’re a local business, make sure your Google Business Profile displays plenty of positive reviews too. The quality and quantity of ratings can positively impact your visibility in Google’s map listings.
Obviously advertising is one of the most effective ways to attract customers to your business, but it can be pricey, so it’s not always a viable option for small business owners with a limited marketing budget.
If you can justify spending some money on your lead generation efforts, you can use social media and Google ads to drive traffic to your lead generation landing pages.
We saved the best for last because forms are your bread and butter when it comes to lead generation. They help you capture important contact information for potential customers so that you can add them into your sales pipeline. Here are a few things to note about using online forms most effectively:
If you’re just getting started on the digital marketing journey with your small business, we hope this quick rundown of lead generation examples will help give you the confidence you need to start creating a lead generation strategy of your own.
Remember that this is just a list of examples. There are plenty more lead-generation tactics out there that might work even better for your business. Try picking one or two ideas from this list to try out while you’re doing your own research.
If you find that some of these lead-generation strategies work well for your small business, check out our services page to learn about more ways that we can help you reach your business goals. Or you can reach out to us today for a free, no-obligation consultation!
Mideya Kinney, Junior Content Writer
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