Lead generation is an essential part of any marketing campaign, but that doesn't mean finding qualified customers isn't challenging. 61% of marketers view lead generation as their biggest challenge, while 62% of B2B companies struggle with implementing a lead nurturing strategy.
That's often because lead generation is a multi-tiered digital marketing strategy. Businesses can't just start generating leads out of nowhere; they need to help their customers cozy up to their brand first.
For this reason, successful lead generation strategies include marketing experience improvements on social media, creating value-based content, and positioning yourself as a thought leader.
While lead generation takes a lot of hard work, it's worth it in the end. Once potential customers know and trust your brand, both loyal and new customers will keep coming back for more.
The only thing standing in your way is choice. There are hundreds of lead-generation strategies out there. Some are effective, some aren't, and some only work for certain industries.
If you're not sure where to start, try these ten best practices to generate leads for your business.
How to find New and Quality Leads for your Business?
Thanks to the internet, most businesses can find hundreds of ways to sell to current customers. But choice can sometimes confuse and inhibit marketers, so we created this list to help you choose.
Use a Quality Sales Intelligence Platform
Sales intelligence software crawls millions of websites to gather data before matching it with profiles in its database. Businesses can get more leads by making a list of individuals that match their ideal customer profile, thus making room for a personalized sales strategy.
There are plenty of sales intelligence tools that could benefit your business, so we recommend reading comparison articles to find the perfect one. For example, you can read how lead411 and ZoomInfo compared to other sales tool competitors, such as Apollo, Uplead, and Seamless.ai. Additionally, exploring ZoomInfo competitors can provide insights into alternative platforms that may better suit your specific needs.
Start a LinkedIn Lead Generation Program
LinkedIn has over 850 million users, and most of them are business professionals. B2B startups flock to this platform because it's filled with their ideal customers. With that said, just about anyone can sell on LinkedIn thanks to its variety of matchmaking tools, like Sales Navigator.
On LinkedIn, you have three main ways to generate leads: your personal profile, company page, and groups. Users have to optimize their pages and build connections to bring in leads while messaging potential prospects via InMail to find prospects outside their network that are relevant to your business.
Create Value-Based SEO-Backed Content
Companies should create value-based, SEO-backed content that resonates with the buyer's journey. You really need to balance these two concepts to make your users and Google happy. When in doubt, you should focus on making your customers smile rather than a robot.
All content marketing strategies should include blogs or videos that tackle customer pain points. When you do this, you're bridging the trust gap and shortening the sales cycle. Remember that customers don't care about your product; they care about how it solves their problems.
Ask satisfied Clients/Customers for Referrals
According to a BrightLocal survey, 97% of consumers read online reviews when searching for local businesses, while 12% do so daily. If your customers see negative reviews or no Google reviews, they won't trust your business. Don't forget to simply ask for reviews can bring in more new leads and grow your business.
However, it isn't enough to ask for text reviews, as they're easy to fake. Video reviews, on the other hand, are hard to skew. Don't be afraid to ask satisfied clients or customers to create short video testimonials. Just know you'll get more willing participants if you write them a script.
Focus on delivering Differentiated Value
A differentiated value proposition is something you do better than the competition. However, the thing that separates your product or service from the competition doesn't have to be unique or present at all. The choice between Pepsi and Coca-Cola largely boils down to preference.
But why do people have a preference for one or the other? Marketing. Coca-Cola's tone is more happy and flirty, whereas Pepsi's is more grown up. Brands can differentiate themselves by looking at their biggest competitors and marketing in a way that defies the largest brands.
Position Yourself as a Thought Leader
Thought leaders are a lot like celebrities in that their opinion matters more to others. Unlike celebrities, thought leaders must be experts in a subject to get any clout. Thought leadership is the key to a new level of professional accomplishment, achievement, and career growth.
That's because of thought leadership quality leads to exposure to your ideas on the inside and outside of your company. Journalists, event organizers, and analysts will want to feature you on their sites. However, becoming a thought leader takes time, visibility, and the ultimate power to persuade.
Leverage trendy Social Media Hashtags
Hashtags are like the keywords of social media. They help people who are interested in your content find you while also encouraging user-generated content from followers. While hashtags can be used on any social media site, they're more popular on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.
If possible, try to use hashtags that talk about trendy topics, as they'll help your reach. You can also create campaign-specific hashtags that target new demographics. For example, makeup brands could reach a more socially continuous audience through anti-animal testing hashtags.
Host educational Live Shows or Webinars
Live video is becoming super popular, especially with young teens and adults. Webinars are also effective, usually with older crowds, but you can target audiences both at once by recording your live webinars. That way, you have something to share with new audiences via a lead magnet.
Webinars are effective at educating viewers, demoing products, and demonstrating a need for your services. The people who click on your webinars are some of your most interested buyers, so they should be marketed to email subscribers, which will further boost your email marketing plan. You can also create a QR code and add it at the end of the webinar for attendees to scan. You can redirect them to your website, a form, or even your social media for further conversion. However, social media platform is another great place.
Interview a Current or Ideal Buyer/Client
Case studies are a perfect bottom-of-the-funnel content type that doesn't hold back. Most case studies will include testimonials from clients, statistics, and a breakdown of the prospects' pain points. By the end of the case study, potential clients will know what your services are worth.
But if you want to hammer that point home, you should interview your current or ideal clients. These interview snippets can be placed in a case study, but their main purpose is to lead new buyers to the bottom-of-the-funnel content. The interview can appear on all of your platforms.
Get Crystal Clear on your Brand Story
If there's any advice you should take from this article, it's this: your brand story can make or break your lead generation strategy. It's the easiest way to deal with the stress of changing algorithms, updating platforms, and new SEO strategies that could mess up your program.
At the end of the day, you should know what value you provide, how you offer this value to customers, and who benefits the most from your products and services. A job can be done by anyone, but your story is the only thing no one can compete with, so try to work on it!
In Conclusion
Best lead generation is difficult, but it's impossible to grow a decent customer following without it. If you find a strategy that suits your company to drive leads and generate new business, you've already done most of the work. Now, you need to study the data and ensure you're producing a valuable piece of content for your followers.
If you found this blog helpful, we recommend checking out our many services that make lead generation a breeze. We have the tools to make your site, social media pages, and brand more visible, including advice on inbound marketing, search engine optimization, and marketing automation.
You can also contact us directly to learn more about what we can do for your business to build strong relationships with your target audience.