Make the Most of Your Online Presence to Generate Leads

In order to maintain a healthy customer base, every business—regardless of what type of industry—needs to generate good leads.

And with digital marketing technology readily available, and the sheer number of people spending time on their laptops, desktop computers, tablets, and phones, online leads are more important than ever. You can generate leads online through: 

Gated content
Gated content is content you access in exchange for your contact information. It’s a trade-off. You fill out this form and then you download this free guide, eBook, webinar, etc.

Research shows that the type of gating that most effectively boosts your CRO and SEO results isn’t set up only as a PDF form, though. It’s set up as a web page indexed to improve ranking.

Webinars
When it comes to gated content, it makes sense to collect an email for webinars in order to send reminders. The trick here is to make sure the webinars are polished, professional, and packed with quality content. People like webinars because they’re perceived as valuable hands-on training (experienced from the comfort of home).

They have the potential to learn how to solve a problem. They get training. You get leads. Just by signing up for your webinar, they’re showing that they respect your company and are interested in what you have to say. Your job, when producing the webinar, is to simplify your points, show that you’re passionate about the topic, and leave room for questions. 

Relevant blog
Want to establish yourself as an authority in the industry? A compelling blog is an excellent way to acquire new leads. The best way to make your blog work for your company is to remember this: It isn’t about you. It’s about your audience.

You need to put yourself in their shoes: What are the “pain points?” Is the blog useful, insightful, helpful? Do you have a clear message and call-to-action?

Create quizzes and surveys
Use third-party software to create a quiz or survey (rather than coding it from scratch). Collect the information into a single database and pass to the appropriate department.

Your website
Not just any website will work here, it has to be a good website. If your homepage—the opportunity to make a positive first impression—doesn’t explain who you are, what you offer, and why people should care (clearly representing your values and culture), you risk losing a potential customer.

Email marketing
Email is an easy way to keep consumers informed, it’s inexpensive, it’s versatile, and it can help drive online and in-store sales. Deliver the right content to the right people at the right time for a relatively high conversion rate—seems like a no-brainer.

There are definite “do’s” and “don’ts” of email marketing, according to Hubspot, otherwise the email is perceived as junk clogging up the recipient’s inbox. It should have a catchy subject line, it has to be concise, images should reinforce the copy, and in order to “move them further down the sales funnel,” there has to be a strong call-to-action.

Online advertising (social media ads, search engine ads)
Nearly 3 billion people will be on social media by 2020—that’s nearly half of the expected world population. Why wouldn’t you be investing in social? If you’re not using social media to convert leads to revenue, you’re missing out.

This requires establishing a rapport with your audience, following competitors, and maintaining consistency. When your audience believes in you, trusts you, and genuinely likes you—and you take the time to engage with them and develop a relationship—that’s golden. Don’t get hung up on “likes” and “shares” on Facebook, concentrate on lead generation.

Get people to engage on social by asking loyal fans to be brand ambassadors, by offering discount codes (make sure there’s a tab for a form, so you can collect necessary lead information), or by creating a contest. If you’re leery about running a contest, especially considering the number of rules involved, the ShortStack template helps simplify the process.

 
Follow these tips to create a powerful lead generating strategy. Before long, you’ll be boosting results by turning those leads into sales opportunities.

Our digital strategy starts with targeted SEO research and elegant, functional web design—and follows through with data-driven email marketing, digital ads, social media and more. We’ll work closely with you to build a web presence that amplifies your brand, attracts your ideal audience and boosts conversions. Let's get digital.