It’s a common problem; you send content out into the internet, and it disappears never to be heard of again. Instead of leads, you can practically hear the crickets. What can you do to get the leads you need?
First you need a strategy that can be refined. You will also need to analyze and document in order to know what works and what doesn’t. It’s only by paying attention to small details that your marketing will work to bring you new leads.
One of the most critical tasks of effective lead generation is knowing your audience. Are they professionals or persons who work in a particular field? How old are they? Let’s face it – you can’t use the same marketing for an 18-year-old and a 60-year-old. Begin by doing a little research and learn just who your target audience is and what they want.
Educating Your Buyers
This first point is critical. Your customers need to know what types of unique information you offer and how you intend to provide it. You can do this through generating White Papers or other written content and then giving it away in exchange for an email address. You have now created a lead. The cost of having content created is now dropping, and many freelance writers would love to work for you. Of course, it’s even less expensive if you or a team member has the skills needed to do the research and writing.
Next decide what other forms this material will lend itself to, YouTube videos, Webinars or perhaps a blog. Knowing your audience is critical at this point. You must understand how they prefer to receive information. While many people prefer, visual information others prefer to receive it through the written word. It’s possible that if you segment your audience (separating them into demographic groups) you will find that you need to present your authority in more than one form.
If your business is a B2B business, the best platform for educating your buyers is LinkedIn. Their groups are known for generating leads. Using these principles means you can’t just create a profile but that you must participate in discussions. Be sure to pick your groups carefully. In the above example, the authors would not want to target other writers but perhaps a group of editors would work better.
Using Social Media To Interact With Your Target Audience
Using social media is one the most common method for generating leads, but many people say that it just doesn’t work. The truth is that they have done no research into which platforms their audience prefers. One such group was an author’s platform. As a start up they attempted to hit all the different social media platforms and ended up getting no leads.
Finally, they began to analyse their results. They found that Facebook and Google+ did poorly, while Pinterest and Twitter drew the audience they wanted. The saddest part is that if they had done a little research first they would have found that for authors both Pinterest and Twitter create greater leads than did Facebook or Google+. Before you spend all of that time on something the probably won’t work for you research what others in your industry are doing.
You can find many analytic software programs on the internet. Of course, the biggest is always Google Analytic but there are others such as PIWIK who offers free analytic software on their website. Next you need to define what a lead is. Is it an email address or a download? Without analytics, you will never be able to refine your strategy. One word of warning though, social media leads can take some time to deliver leads, so just keep refining until you find the perfect lead generator.
Why You Need To Target Your Demographics
Knowing your target demographics is also important for lead generation. As an example let’s say that you are a start-up business offering a service needed by food companies. No matter what you do, it’s almost a certainty that targeting a company such as Kellogg is not going to work. Your audience is most likely to be start-ups such as yourself.
You can create ads on the social media platforms most likely to be used by your audience. Understanding your audience demographic is it’s important in learning to reach them. It won’t do you any good to create a fantastic ad for Twitter if your audience is over at Google+. Look up other ads being used on the social media platform that your audience is hanging out at. Find out what they are doing and saying that seem to be working for them and create ads that appear to be working the best.
Social media ads whether on LinkedIn or Pinterest are a good way to not only generate leads but to show off your brand. It also encourages interaction between you and persons who have expressed an interest in your product. In today’s market branding and communication is a critical to building leads. Be sure to interact with discussions created by your ads. These are the people most likely to generate leads.
Have You Tried A Webinars?
Webinars are perfect for sending out unique material. By using this method on the right social media platform, you can target the audience you want to reach. Many people prefer to receive information in this form. Offer a written transcript for those who prefer to read because it’s faster for them. These people are unlikely to sign up for a webinar, but they can become leads.
Be sure to advertise your webinar on the social media platform that works best for you. Both Twitter and Facebook are good choices to let people know that you are offering a webinar. This method can not only target your preferred audience but can establish you as an expert in your field. Another great thing about webinars is that many people find them less “spammy” than they do written ads. Webinars have many benefits such as:
Allowing you contact with your audience both before and after the event. This communication means that you have a wider time span to convert them into.
A webinar gives you greater opportunities to interact with your audience. A must for today’s marketing.
Webinars can save you time, and money as a webinar is often cheaper to produce than traditional ads. Also, they can reach a wider audience.
It can give you direct contact to your audience again allowing you a greater chance of turning them into a lead.
Have You Considered YouTube?
We’ve all heard of the video that shows a baby doing something cute that went viral. Going viral could happen to your video, too – if enough people find it both educational and enjoyable. Even if it doesn’t go viral, it can bring in hundreds of leads.
One of the largest benefits for Video Marketing is that many people tend to remember the information from it better than they do with written ads. Studies that have researched marketing through video have found that almost half of all viewers will take action and go to your landing page. Let’s face it people love short videos so why not give them what they want?
Can Content Marketing And Blogging Work For You?
The first step that you must take for this method of lead generation to work is to create a marketing plan. Done properly both content marketing and blogging can give you a presence online where your target market can be found. It can increase you organic reach and improve your SEO rankings.
Be careful though, studies have found that 80% of B2B companies use this method but less than 40% say that they see benefits from it. The same studies have found that those who say it doesn’t work for them don’t document or test their results. In other words, they have no way of knowing what is working and what is hurting them.. When companies think of content marketing, they think of written information that can be found on their web pages but the truth is it can cover visual materials just as well. Try info-graphs and YouTube videos as a part of your content and blogging plans.
Does Guest Blogging Still Work?
There are marketers who will tell you that Google algorithms have killed guest blogging, but that just isn’t true. It is alive and a great method for displaying your expertise within your niche. Of course, if you are careful as to which blogs you hope to appear on it can give your SEO rankings a boost.
It’s also a unique way to share your branding with persons you may not have reached otherwise. It can also increase your social media followings. You will need to start by creating a list of topics for your niche. You must do some research and find out what the quality blogs are discussing and chose a theme from your list that matches the type of information that the author prefers. The good news is that not only can it generate leads but some of these sites will pay you for your blog article.
Blogging whether on your website or as a guest can help you become an authority in your niche. It gives greater exposure to your site and helps create quality backlinks, which Google loves.
In Conclusion
Look at these suggestions and decide which will give you the greater boost in lead generation. Be sure to document everything and use analytic software to determine what your audience likes and what they will just ignore. Remember just concentrate on a few of them to not become overwhelmed.
Now get ready to brainstorm and outline a new strategy. Make sure to refine that approach as you find out what the analytic tell you. Finally document what worked and what didn’t. By doing this, you can silence the crickets and begin generating the leads your business needs to succeed. If you need help, contact an online marketing agency. Pulley Media is an online marketing agency located in Miami, Florida. We are always here to help.
