Life cycle stage. Subscriber count. Lead to Customer Rate. Sales Qualified Lead. Qualified Traffic. These are all overused digital marketing buzzwords for generating quality leads via one or more digital marketing methods designed to find, qualify, and push potential customers into your sales pipeline to increase enquiries, sales, and ultimately, market share.
Not too long ago, email marketing was the favourite channel for reaching people in their mailboxes and keeping brands top of mind. And while email marketing, when strategically planned and implemented, using a clean and relevant database can yield excellent results and can be turbo-charged when paired with an effective lead generation campaign.
Social media and influencer marketing are additional ways of gaining brand awareness and nurturing relationships with potential customers. But you may get disappointing results if you don't invest time and effort in growing your communities, producing unique breakthrough content, and managing your influencers.
If you, like many marketing professionals, need to sweat your budget and prove an ROI, then a smart, strategic lead generation campaign might be your best solution. It’s measurable, can be optimised to enhance performance, and has come a long way since digital marketing came to the centre of all B2B and B2C marketing plans.
Here are six lead generation strategies to boost your online visibility, gather qualified and interested prospects, and turn them into customers.
Inbound social media
When implemented correctly, social media lead generation marketing is one of the most potent channels for certain sectors. Social media marketing and social shopping can turn prospects into shoppers or enquiries in one click. And research shows that consumers are more receptive to marketing messages in the social space than on any other channel.
Search engine optimised content
Advertising online is fleeting, but online content lives forever and is a powerful tool for ensuring your digital properties appear on the first page and prime search engine results. As with social media, do not think blog posts are a waste of time. A cleverly crafted article with the right keywords will trigger higher rankings. If you're after leads, you must outrank your competitors, or they will outrank you.
Optimise landing pages
Your website must be at the centre of your lead generation efforts. But far too many home pages have significant drop-off rates from poorly designed elements and complicated navigation. "If you want to do business in 2022, you can't use the tools of 2002. A hard-working campaign landing page immediately tells visitors what you do, how you can help them, and how they can contact you," explains Desirée Gullan, Co-founder and Executive Creative Director of G&G Digital. “Do not run a lead generation campaign without a dedicated landing page specially developed for that particular campaign.”
Public Relations makes news
Your lead generation campaign can be substantially enhanced with Public Relations and earned publicity. When your content and news feature on third-party sites and publications, it builds reputation and trust, which pushes your potential customers past the consideration phase into customers. Public Relations also enhances web rankings as Google prefers when traffic to your website and landing page comes from sources other than your own.
Cold calling doesn’t have to freeze
Humans thrive on connections, but there’s nothing worse than getting a phone call with an unsolicited pitch. Unfortunately, approaching businesses directly as a means of lead generation is tricky but not impossible. Make sure you do your research and find connections and shared interests. “My suggestion is to use a social media person-to-person lead generation campaign that effectively replaces that freezing phone call or email,” says Gullan.
Reviews do matter
What customers say about your brand can impact your success, whether by word of mouth or online review. “Bad news travels fast, but good reviews go further,” suggests Gullan. Turn positive reviews and comments into digital billboards. “A complimentary review on Google or a social media shout-out means your satisfied customers have become your private sales team.”
Don’t let all these steps be daunting. Instead, think of it as a lead generation recipe that you don’t have to follow precisely. You may need a generous helping of social, with dollops of email and a strong website landing page as a base. Mix it well with PR and top it off with customer reviews and then taste and test until you find what yields the best results.
Desirée Gullan is the co-founder and executive creative director of G&G Digital.
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