Lead generation is the process of attracting and converting strangers and prospects into someone who has indicated interest is you company’s product or service. Some examples of lead generators are job applications, coupons, and online content.
Want a solution that can save your business or organization from being that annoying, disruptive cold caller? Then Lead Generation is a term you need to become more familiar with.
What is a Lead?
A lead is a person or organization who has indicated interest in your product or service.
Instead of getting a random cold call from someone who purchased your contact information, you are contacted by a business or organization you have already opened communication with.
For example, maybe you filled out an online survey on refinancing your home. If you got an email from a finance company it’d be far less intrusive and irrelevant than if they’d just called you out of the blue.
And from a business perspective, the information the financial company collected would help them personalize and communicate with your needs.
What Is Lead Generation anyway?
Lead generation is the process of attracting and converting strangers and prospects into customers.
Simply put, Lead Generation finds unique ways to attract people to your business and provides them with enough goodies to get them interested in your company so they eventually warm up enough to want to hear from you!
How do I Qualify a Lead
A lead is a person who has indicated interest in your company’s product or service. Information collection could come as the result of a job seeker showing interest in a position by completing an application for the job, a shopper sharing contact information in exchange for a coupon, or a person filling out a form to download software, an ebook or something else.
Amazing Offers
Most visitors to your site visitors are ready to talk to your sales team or see a demo. At the beginning of the buyer might be interested in an informational such as a PDF or video, whereas someone who’s more familiar with your product might be more interested in a free trial or demo. Make sure you have offers for each phase of the buyers experience and provide CTA’s (Call to Action) forms for these offers throughout your site.
Many effective CTA’s are in the form of a popup informational form that will ask the customer to provide an email to obtain more information from the company. More information could be in the form of free membership, free product download or even a newsletter.
Landing Pages.
Make sure that you create a dedicated landing page for that your CTAs redirects to rather than driving people to your homepage. Even if your CTA includes more information about your brand or product (and perhaps not an offer like a download), you should still be sending them to a dedicated landing page that’s relevant to what they are looking for. A feature-specific landing page will help convert them into a lead.
Social Media
While marketers typically think of social media as best for top-of-the-funnel marketing, it can still be a helpful and low-cost source for lead generation. The key is using social media strategically for lead generation.
Start by regularly posting links to your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media posts directly to the landing pages of high-performing offers.
Another way to generate leads from social media is to run a contest. This can teach you a ton about your potential customers and keep them engaged.
Last of all, take advantage of the lead generation opportunities each social media platform already gives you. For example, Facebook has a feature that lets you put a simple call-to-action button at the top of your Facebook Page, helping you send Facebook followers directly to your website.