One of the top concerns many business owners have is how to continuously bring in fresh hot leads. It’s the same in any industry you look into – real estate, retail and even construction.
Without lead generation, a business will solely rely on its current customer base. Unless you’re a giant like Amazon, this will sustain your company but only for so long. If you’re committed to boosting your sales, then it’s important to know how to generate leads.
The millennials are quickly taking over the market, so it’s very important to learn this customer (unless your target market is geriatric). There are about 92 million people in the millennial age bracket.
Each one owns approximately 7.7 connected devices (smartphones, laptops, desktops, TVs, tablets, etc.). This means, your focus has to be on how to generate leads using the internet.
One way of doing this is by building an online presence using social media. At first glance, it seems like a harmless campaign to run, but there have been one too many companies that have failed horribly.
Not only did they lose money, but they tarnished their reputations as well. This goes to show how the web can be a double-edged sword. When used correctly, it can actually be a lead magnet for your business.
But where do you draw the line? Hopefully, the following tips will help clarify how to generate leads using online marketing.
Make Use of Online Video
YouTube continues to be the leading platform for watching online video. It boasts 1.5 billion users, and there is a whopping 300 hours worth of video content uploaded every minute.
But what’s really telling is that 5 billion videos are watched every day. That’s a whole lot of video content being consumed by YouTube’s users.
This goes to show how popular online videos actually are. And if you play your cards right, you can get in on this action and earn some additional traffic from your audience.
Now, there are different ways you can use videos to attract more visitors. For instance, if you have a product you’re selling, you can showcase it in the video. Have an employee do a thorough product demonstration.
Or even better, have a customer offer an in-depth product review.
And if you’re in the services industry, you can create videos of your workers performing these tasks. Showcase a portfolio or testimonials from customers. The idea is to create a short, but informative piece of content that is easily digestible.
But most importantly, it has to be valuable to the end user. Does it explain something they wanted to know? Or teach them how to do something new? Your content should show why your product or service will make their lives better.
This is all key to appealing to today’s consumers.
The videos you create should be between three and five minutes long. Anything less is a commercial and anything more is a possible bore.
Once you’ve created these videos, you can post them directly to your site, embed them in blog posts or upload them to your social media profiles. Share them wherever you can, so your audience can do the same.
Set Yourself Apart from Your Competitors
If you come at your content marketing using the same old tactics, words and methods your competitors are using, then you’re starting off on the wrong foot. You need to make a great first impression.
And that first impression should scream DIFFERENT!
But you don’t want to try to be unique just for the sake of standing out. You have to create a persona and brand that resonates with purpose and understanding for whatever it is that sets you apart.
If you can’t figure out why your company is different from the next guy’s business then you need to have a brainstorm session. This may be the time to rethink your branding strategy and company culture.
Determine what it is your business strives for internally and externally. Are you committed to making your community a better place? How? Whatever it is you come up with, it needs to differentiate your brand.
One way to find a unique selling point is to find the one thing that your competitors are lacking in. Maybe their services are too slow. If that’s the case, you can hone in on how you take pride in speedy transactions and deliveries.
Also, focus on demonstrating your quality and rates and how it all fits together into an attractive package. Just make sure the unique selling point is something your audience actually cares about.
For instance, if your customers typically purchase in-store, versus use delivery options, then broadcasting your fast delivery would be mundane.
How to Generate Leads Using Magnets
Lead magnets is the catch phrase for all digital marketing departments. It’s how businesses will inevitably draw in prospects by the caseload, with their purses and wallets out.
There are different types of magnets you can use, but it comes down to determining how to generate leads using the correct methods.
For example, you can use e-books, email newsletters, white papers and so on. Again, you have to pinpoint the magnet that will actually attract your audience. Otherwise, no leads will be generated.
The idea is to create content that will greatly benefit your audience. One way to know is to identify how it will add value to their life. Is it something you’re teaching, demonstrating or sharing?
How eager is your audience to get this information? It’s important to dive into the forums, social media and comments sections to get a feel of the pressing concerns your audience has.
Once you’ve created this content, it’s time to release it to the world, but for a price – their email address. Or you can require them to register to your website to gain access. After you’ve obtained a list of emails or registrations, you can use this to market your products and services.
These individuals have already shown interest, so they’re more likely to spend money on your products. This is one of the best ways of how to generate leads to your business.
Sharing Juicy Content on Social Media
Those lead magnets you’ve created should be shared on social media shortly after publishing. It doesn’t make sense to create a lead magnet, only to let it sit there. It’s not like your audience has a built-in ping mechanism that notifies them when you’ve published something on your site.
So you need to use all resources available to you to spread word about your content. You should be using any and all platforms your customers and prospects frequent. This may be Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.
If the platform is visual, such as Pinterest, Instagram and SnapChat, you can get creative with the presentation. Create a meme or short video related to the issue you discuss, then point users to the content.
Now, you don’t want to share the content only one time. You want to do it repeatedly, but not in a spammy way. Pay attention to the analytics tools on the social media platform. What times of day is your audience using the social network?
Are they on it every day of the week or specific days? This will help you with selecting the best times and days to share content with your followers.
Use Paid Social Ads to Boost Posts
Facebook and other platforms allow you to boost your posts for a fee. This means you can pay to have your posts seen by non-followers. You get to select the demographics of who the post should be shown to.
You can even make use of social ads, which are also fee-based. Like with Google ads, you can control the daily spend. This too has demographics markers you can set for your ad campaigns, so it’s likely to reach the right people.
More and more platforms are starting to add these features to their networks. Test out the different platforms to see which delivers the best results (more traffic to your content and site).
Create In-Depth and Valuable Content
If you’re wondering how to generate leads with your content, then you need to focus on creating something more detailed. The longer you make it, the better. But make sure everything included in the content is actually valuable – no fluff allowed.
For instance, you can write an e-book that goes deeper into the topic of interest – deeper than your competitors. Remember, the way for your content to be viewed as valuable is for it to offer something no one else has.
Research businesses in your niche to see what white papers, e-books and infographics they’re publishing. How can you fill the niche with something not already thoroughly covered? This is your answer on how to generate leads – hot leads to your business.
Today’s consumers are hungry for knowledge, so they’re taking to Google and other search engines to find the information they need. This may be to improve themselves and their lives or better educate themselves about a product or service before they purchase.
While this type of content is being used to increase traffic and potentially boost sales, it’s not about selling. The trick is to give so much information that the user thinks they robbed you. In this case, they will be more than willing to give up their email address in exchange for your groundbreaking content.
Personalize Your Content as Much as You Can
What does personalization have to do with how to generate leads? Everything.
Today’s consumers aren’t turned on by ads and content that is generalized. If you really want to evoke emotion and interest, then you need to personalize their experience.
Each advertisement and content you create need to be geared towards a specific person. How? By creating separate campaigns. This isn’t for your blog posts, but more for your landing pages, ads and email marketing.
These can all be developed into multiple campaigns, based on the different customer personas. If you don’t already have customer profiles created, then it’s time to do so. Use analytics tools to identify your customers and visitors.
You’ll need information about their geographical location, age, ethnicity, employment and whatever else you can find out. The more you know about your prospects, the more personal you can get with your content.
Once you have your profiles, you write multiple versions of the same content or ad. When a consumer opens up an email or sees an ad that really speaks to them, they’re more likely to respond. It’s common sense, really.
If You’re Not Sure How to Generate Leads, Just Ask
Well, you don’t outright ask them how to generate leads, but you do ask them questions that will help get you some answers. Surveys are still a useful tool for finding important details about your audience.
If there’s information you can’t dig up from your analytics tools, you can resort to a questionnaire. This survey can be given after they’ve made a purchase, emailed to them or shared on social media.
To help get more people to take the survey, you can offer something in return. Such as a coupon, chance to win a free product or service, and so on. Make it interesting, so people will want to participate.
The questions you want to ask should be geared towards your products and services and whether they’re satisfying. How your business can be improved. What words they’d use to describe your brand. And how well your business meets their needs.
Focus On a Smaller Niche
When you first begin writing content, you’ll want to write on a wide variety of topics. Your idea is likely to attract as many people as possible, which seems smart.
But if really look at it, you’ll see it’s the exact opposite. Imagine this – you find a great piece of content on a website, then you browse through the other posts. Yet, there’s nothing similar to the post you just read.
So you leave the site, never to return again. Then imagine visiting a website filled with content on the topic you’re interested in. You can spend hours, days or even weeks browsing through the content. You may even bookmark and share some of the posts.
This goes to show why having a niche is key when you’re looking at how to generate leads. Offer a lot of what they really want and you can hone them into loyal customers and visitors.
How to Generate Leads for Your Business Today
These tips are excellent for jump-starting a content marketing strategy that addresses how to generate leads. But where do you start? It can all be overwhelming, especially for new and/or busy business owners.
This is where Monster Media comes in. We have a team of professionals that not only give answers on how to generate leads, but help you achieve your goals. We offer a suite of services, which include web design, social media marketing, mobile apps, SEO plans, PPC management, content marketing and more.
Stop wondering how to generate leads. Contact us today to get a run through of our packages and rates!
