Thanks to the internet, marketing a business is no longer as easy as posting an advert in a newspaper or handing out flyers on the street. In order to stand out and make money, you require a strong lead generation strategy. In this article, we discuss what lead generation is, why it’s important and how to generate leads and encourage greater levels of success online.
What is lead generation in digital marketing?
Lead generation in digital marketing refers to the process of turning people with an interest in a product or service into potential clients using online channels. This process typically involves collecting a customer’s contact information, with the company then following up with that customer at a later date as a method of securing a sale. This is the upper stage of the sales funnel and is the point at which the information that goes through the funnel is generated.
Why is lead generation important?
Lead generation is important for several reasons. These include:
Increasing your revenue
Online lead generation helps businesses take a more active role in creating sales. Without lead generation, companies are simply waiting for customers to make purchases, wasting time. Using a sales funnel allows businesses to follow up on interest from leads, in turn creating more sales. This is especially useful in the event that potential customers forget about the product they were considering purchasing, or can’t quite decide whether they want the product or not.
Building awareness
One of the best ways to convert leads is to create newsletters and other forms of content you can send directly to them. Sending this content to potential customers keeps your company in their minds and also provides opportunities for you to share your branding. If your newsletter is valuable, these leads may even share it with their own friends, increasing your potential customer base without much effort on your part.
Eliminating cold calling
Cold calling refers to the process of calling people at random and seeing if they have an interest in your product. This is an inefficient use of your time and will likely annoy customers rather than incentivise them towards a purchase. Lead generation eliminates this process as companies only contact those who have provided their details and have already expressed an interest in the product or service on offer. This makes lead generation much more efficient, as it’s more likely to generate sales from potential customers and less likely to annoy people who didn’t provide their permission to be contacted in the first place.
How to generate leads
1. Attract people to your website
The first step in the process is actually attracting people to your website. Companies can use a number of methods to do this, including pay-per-click advertising, which requires them to pay for any clicks that people make on their sponsored content. Search engine optimisation is another method companies use, which helps websites to rank higher on search engine results pages, therefore increasing the chances of getting visitors. Of course, businesses can also use social media to promote their websites as well.
2. Highlight your products or services
Once people are on your website, you need to keep them engaged. This means making your products and services front and centre of your content, discussing all of their benefits and using attractive photos. Even if people don’t buy anything at the time of visiting, you want to impress them enough that they’ll come back.
3. Collect information
The final step of the process is collecting information from your potential clients. You can do this by encouraging them to fill out your contact form, download an e-book or sign up for an email newsletter. Whatever method you choose, you want it to be easy for them to fill out their details – just a phone number or email address is enough. Make sure you get confirmation that they are happy for the company to contact them as well.
Data protection regulations exist as a means of preventing businesses from contacting people without their explicit consent, so include a data security disclaimer on your website and a tick box stating that the user is happy to receive communications from you. Collecting this information is the final stage in generating leads and allows your sales team to act on potential purchases.
At Fifteen, our digital marketing experts can help generate leads for your business. From generating social media posts to PPC campaigns, we use a range of tactics to attract customers to your business. Get in touch to find out more about how we can help your business.