Leads are the lifeblood of any business. A business without a steady flow of quality leads can eventually fail. Customers no longer want companies to buy their attention, but they expect companies to earn it.
Audiences have drastically evolved during the past decade, and today they are armed with more precise and real-time information. This means that organisations have to be more alert about lead generation strategies and revamp them to better meet the target markets.
The first ‘e’ enterprises launched in the early 1990s never looked back. The internet has grown significantly in the thirty years since then. The main advantage of internet commerce is that you can do it for significantly less money and in comparatively shorter amounts of time by reaching a wide range of prospects around the required area. The days when advertising in newspapers, on television, or by handing out fliers were the only ways to promote a business are long gone. Today, all a marketer needs to launch an effective digital campaign is a smartphone and an internet connection.
Although the information flow is more advanced, the buying patterns and general consumer behaviour have not changed much. Hence, the distinction between a lead and a prospect is a crucial factor to keep in mind. Every lead is a prospect, but not every prospect is a lead. A lead is a presumed possibility that only becomes a prospect after being qualified. When qualified, a lead turns into a prospect who fits your target market, is ready to make a purchase, and has the necessary funds to make that purchase.
To bring potential customers into the sales funnel and eventually convert them into paying clients. Modern marketing businesses employ a variety of strategies to drive sales inquiries, including press and broadcast advertising, social media presence, networking, and the usage of cutting-edge software.
Difficult
Even with the abundance of lead creation software available, most people still find lead generation to be a genuine difficulty. According to studies, a vast majority of shoppers do online research before making a purchase. As marketeers, we must create a digital marketing plan that adds value to the buyer’s research and generates qualified leads in addition to traffic.
One of the first steps in your lead generation strategy is to start creating content. As previously stated, the audiences are knowledgeable and well-informed, and marketers must provide accurate information in order to capture their attention. According to recent research, 47% of B2B buyers read three to five pieces of content before speaking with a sales representative, and 96% of B2B buyers desire content with greater involvement from industry thought leaders.
Marketeers must use online marketing strategies like SEO, social media, and email to promote the material produced. If people couldn’t locate it, even excellent content would go unnoticed. Spend some time refining the content for search engines because organic search is the main source of high-quality leads.
Lead generation using social media is perhaps most effective in Sri Lanka. Building an engaged audience that you can turn into leads takes time and work if you want to be effective at generating leads through social media. Choosing the correct tool for your business is the first obstacle. On Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram, you may conduct paid social media advertisements. With over six million subscribers, Facebook is arguably the most valuable platform for Sri Lankan audiences.
Because Facebook is where the majority of internet users hang out, 84 percent of marketeers use it to drive traffic and generate leads. Facebook Lead Ads are currently heavily used by marketing organisations. Contacts can input their information using this ad format without ever leaving Facebook.
Facebook lead ads are also an excellent platform for remarketing campaigns. In the majority of cases, website visitors will see the advertisement, and you can take advantage of this to offer them a perk to entice them back to your sales funnel. Facebook reduces acquisition costs and removes friction, improving user experience, and generating more leads.
Email marketing is a powerful tool in modern-day lead generation. In particular, segmented audiences can offer better lead generation results. This may be very effective when attempting to connect with prospects or upsell existing clients, despite the fact that it may be one of the more traditional approaches. It is critical to modify your email marketing approach by adjusting your messaging to target particular client database categories. Currently, marketing automation is a well-liked technique for assisting marketers in sending highly focused emails.
Adapt your approach as you gain additional insight into each lead. You can modify your messaging as you learn more about each lead to help them go through the funnel. According to research, companies that nurture their leads have a 50% increase in sales-ready leads compared to their non-nurturing competitors.Marketers have become much more savvy when it comes to the inbox because of their capacity to collect data from website visitors and combine that data with behavioural triggers.
In addition to using email to initiate dialogue with the customer, marketers can also use it as an effective follow-up tool to stay in touch with leads, prospects, and customers. It is important to stay “top of mind” so you can have the opportunity to reach them when they are ready to buy.
Getting involved in physical networking is immensely beneficial. While digital marketing has numerous benefits, a face-to-face meeting is unmatched for impact, the ability to have a two-way conversation, and to develop the vital know, like, and trust factor. Hence, ‘old-school’ methods must be practised whenever you get the chance.
In addition to attending networking events, volunteering to be a presenter at such events can provide additional space to physically promote the company. In a short presentation at an event, an introduction to your business and the products or services provided by your organisation can be effectively and creatively presented to the audience. Most often, in such events, instant, high-quality leads can be generated.
CTA
Networking naturally lends itself to one-on-one follow-ups, allowing you to learn more about a potential client as well as get to know them as a person. As you gain their trust, they will more likely turn to you when they have a need that you can help meet.
Using calls to attention (CTA) is important. You have to provide clear instruction to the audience about the next step. If not, the possible leads will move to the next advertisement instantly. In this regard, the landing page set up is one of the most important aspects to converting website traffic into leads.
In today’s complex market, every marketer is fighting for attention, and the prospects must be influenced to choose your offer over your competitors.
As explained, lead generation is a consistent process. An organisation cannot take the foot off the gas in good or bad times. Therefore, constant attention and continuous attempts to implement the lead generation strategies to keep the sales pipeline full are required. A lapse can risk a shortfall of leads.
With everything discussed in the article, lead generation does not have to be complicated regardless of the strategies or methods used. One salient factor, however, is that without a consistent inflow of good leads that can be converted into prospects and finally into customers, no matter how good the products or services sold are, a company may fail in the long run.