Most companies set up a lead generation activity on their website – a subscribe button, or maybe one of those irritating popups. They get email addresses – WOW! They send out two newsletters. Then give up because no-one called them to place an order.
It’s not that easy (especially not in THIS economic climate)
Step-by-step Lead Generation
1. Identifying Potential Customers
The first step in lead generation is identifying who your potential customers are. You are not looking for random email addresses, as easy as that sounds. This ISN’T a numbers game – if we sent out 10 000 emails, surely someone will call us?
When you are on the receiving end of spam, you know spamming doesn’t work. But when you’re the one sending, the person selling you “sales journey” software will convince you that YOUR spam will work.
Understand your target audience’s demographics, interests, and needs. By defining your ideal customer profile, you can tailor your lead generation activity to attract these specific individuals or businesses.
2. Attracting Interest
Once you know who your potential customers are, the next step is to attract their interest.
The goal is to create valuable and engaging content that resonates with your target audience and encourages them to engage with your brand.
- A fun quiz that quietly qualifies them as a prospect
- A download they really want
- Access to a course that’s useful
- Free access to a paid event
- A discount
- A physical giveaway
3. Capturing Information
After attracting interest, the next step is to capture information from potential leads. you not only want to get an email address, you want to know a little more about who they are, and their interests. Mailing lists are often charged by volume, you want 500 REAL prospects and keep to a free account.
You want your form to be attractive, easy to fill in, but hard to spam. You also want those details to feed into Mailchimp or a spreadsheet, and you want them to be saved in a database so you can filter.
You probably also want some reports so you know what lead generation activities work best, for the right quality leads.
4. Nurturing Leads
Once you have captured a lead’s information, the next step is nurturing the relationship.
- send targeted and personalized content based on the interests specified in 3 above.
- build trust and demonstrate credibility, and the value of your product or service
- when the time is right, connect personally, or invite them to a more specific event
- weed out the names of people who are not interested. When they stop receiving freebies, there is a small chance they will realize how valuable you were.
Effective lead generation strategies directly impact sales and revenue. By targeting the right audience and nurturing leads, you repurpose good content on your website and get to see which topic results in opened emails, and who clicks further.
Ready to take your business to the next level?
Start thinking about your audience today and what might interesting them. Then give me a call and let’s brainstorm how your website can boost engagement, and create direct, personal connections with your audience.
