Last updated 30 July 2017
Every business, to grow, need new customers, there is not another way. To reach new customers, lead generation is a critical part in the life and future of any business.
7 Leading generation tips is a little guide to give you the basic understanding for lead generations for your business, in the hope to help you to elevate your lead generation efforts to the next level.
1. First Impressions
Like in real life, the first impression that a potential customer get from your landing page can make or break the deal.
The main purpose of a landing page is to push your call-to-action button and fill the form. Does not matter if is a request for a quote, a booking or simply a free giveaway, it is important that you spend the right time to make a great first impression with a potential lead, so that they fill the form, you gather information and make decisions based on that information.
2. Content
One mistake I often see, is to create a landing page to appeal a wide audience. Bringing more people on the landing page is not equal to more sales? No. Not really.
Nowadays, you have very few second to attract a potential customer, and with a lower attention span, a general content is not going to do the work. You need to create specific content that target a specific segment of the market relative to your business
Do not fall for the quantity. Quality is always better than quantity. Try to create content that is engaging and interesting, with the focus on relevant content to engage your audience. One valuable article is better that 10 irrelevant ones!
Try to stand out from the crowd and makes the reader think “wow”. In that case, they will be more likely to share the content, expanding your reach and eventually bringing more leads.
3. Getting Discovered Online
So, we make a good first impression and quality content, what now? Well, we need to be discovered, and one place great for lead generation are social media!
Ideally, you should use social media to publish content and guide your audience to your website. Ideally, 1 post every day, but if not, 2 or 3 can make it work. The important is to be consistent, not only with the pace of posting but also WHEN they get published. If you decide to publish every Tuesday and Friday, do so for every week!
The advantage of social media is that allow a two-way dialogue, so is your priority to respond to comments on your post. This will help to build your brand and raise your reputation as a genuine business that invests in its customers.
Be aware though, do not duplicate the message on each social media, try to understand the audience on each and use a different tone. A conversation on Facebook should be different than one on LinkedIn.
A great help to push your content can come from influencer. Try to find and interact with influencer in your business sphere. Contac them and try to write a piece as co-author, so they will publish on their sites, with content that you know their audience will be happy to consume.
4. Effective Landing Pages
Creating an effective landing page can be stressful and demanding. Always looking to reach a perfection that is out of our reach. No worry is not your fault, simply, the perfect landing page does not exist. The needs of the market change and trends shift, so it is important to always A/B test your landing page, to understand if you are in the right track or you need to do some corrections.
We will talk specifically about CTAs in the next section. But those are not the only element needed to create an effective landing page. Be sure to create a Hero Banner where to focus your message together with the CTA.
Then, show the potential customer how they can benefit from your products or services. Do not be too long, but brief and concise. Try to highlight each benefit with the use of images or icons.
Another way to build your trust in your leads, is to show some testimonial. Do not create a dedicated testimonial page, make a section under the benefits. In this way they will be showed more often, and the customers does not need to intentionally look for them!
5. Highlighting Your CTA
A fundamental aspect of each landing page are what so called, Call-To-Action (CTA). Usually, CTA, are those button that allow your lead to contact you, fill up a form o download a free give-away in exchange of their data. CTA should always be very visible and easy to find!
Be sure that your CTA stand out from the rest of the page. Avoid simple hyperlinked text in a paragraph, instead try to use a clear button that is align with your header in the hero banner. Moreover, be sure to choose a colour with a great contrast from the rest of the page.
Usually, you just need one CTA on your page, but if you have a paid and a free choice, is good to put both CTA near each other. You may try to sell a service, but also offer a demo, a free E-book to convince those that are still not sure to pull the trigger. It is a great way to gather their email and send a follow up after few days!
Of course, your CTA need to be relevant to the content of the landing page and the way you engaged the customer and brought to your site. That would not make much sense to have a landing page about cooking recipes and your CTA is to request a quote from a plumber, isn't it?
6. Analyzing and Testing Your Data
Data is the new petrol. It is incredibly important to connect your landing page with google analytics, that will help you to study the traffic on your page.
The analytics may help you understand the online behaviour of your leads, allowing you to gather information about their country, demographic, time spent on your page. Furthermore, the use of different link used in different social media or online advertisement will help you see which strategy is working.
Try to understand the lead journey, from where they come from and which effort converted leads. From there you can make and educated guess on your next move.
7. Marketing
Cross and delight of each business. You may have the best product of the world, but if your marketing strategy is wrong, you will fail. On the other hand, a good marketing strategy may help you to push a good product in the “hands” of the right lead.
One golden rule is to always provide a value to your potential customer. This can be in the form of an E-Book, a checklist, how to do video or a newsletter. You are asking their valuable information, and they will give you in exchange for something worth it.
Another way, as mentioned before, is the use of social media. Creating contests, give-away, surveys or simply sharing your quality content can take leads to your website.
Then, if you are willing to invest in online advertisement, Google AdWords allow targeted ads around keywords related to your business will allow the user to be directed to your website or landing page. Once on your website or landing page, if you applied all the suggestions above, you should have a good chance to convert those leads. And the best part is that you pay only when the user clicks on the ad!
In this regard, when creating an ad, it is crucial to spend time doing research for the right keywords, the value of each and the competition. Choosing the wrong keyword will lead you to spend money on wrong lead with a lower conversion rate.
Remember! You do not want just to bring any leads on your website, but only the right leads!