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Generating leads is an essential element of running any business. This is especially true for smaller companies, with leads being a key force driving sales and, eventually, profitability.
When done correctly, lead generation can translate directly into business growth. Ideally, it can create loyal customers, who can in turn spread the word about your company.
Lead generation is the process of recognizing potential interest in your goods and services and converting this interest into a sale. It starts with visibility, credibility, and trust. With these three elements in place, potential clients can become customers, in turn helping drive revenue and growth.
Leads are customers who are at the very top of the sales funnel: people who may be aware of a company’s goods and services but have not yet made a purchase. They are different to prospects, who have been qualified and are therefore highly likely to buy. A goal for most businesses typically is to generate leads, turn them into prospects, and consequently increase sales revenue.
Generating leads may seem difficult, especially for businesses just entering the marketplace. However, there are plenty of tried-and-tested processes and strategies for creating leads. A few include:
Many new businesses have difficulty identifying their target customers. This can be because they wish to avoid outlining their ideal customer for fear of narrowing their exposure and sales potential.
However, without knowing your target audience, it can be difficult to generate exposure as a brand. While narrowing down reach to a specific customer type might seem counterintuitive, identifying your ideal buyer is the crucial first step in generating leads.
To identify target customers, it’s best practice to create a customer persona and conduct audience research. To create an ideal persona, you can brainstorm about the most common type of customer your business serves.
Audience research can take many forms, but some effective strategies for small businesses include customer questionnaires or social media research. This data can then be used to help build an ideal customer persona.
Once your ideal customer is identified, the next step is to create compelling content that appeals to them and holds their attention. Note, however, that it is best practice to create a strategy and stick to it, rather than firing out content randomly.
Content marketing can take many forms, such as blog posts, videos, infographics, and more. If this is catered to appeal to a target audience, it can be a highly-effective way of engaging leads, encouraging them down the funnel, and potentially converting them into sales.
Over the last two decades, social media has become one of the main ways businesses engage with customers, identify their target audience, and conduct audience research. It is also an affordable and effective way of generating leads.
A social media presence across the main platforms – Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, among others – can be effective. Depending on the nature of your business, social platforms will resonate with some target audiences more than others.
Lead generation on social platforms may seem daunting, but there are some effective ways to reach out. Social media optimization may include:
A clear CTA makes it easier for potential customers to understand what they need to do next. When compelling content has been created or social media channels optimized, the next step is to eliminate uncertainty. When a CTA is clear, engaging, and well located, the customer is much more likely to follow through and act. In addition, when using SEO to build traffic to a site, a CTA plays a vital role in improving conversion rates.
It’s best practice for effective calls to action to be placed prominently on all your website’s landing pages. They can take several forms, but common CTAs include prompt buttons that take users through to the next stage of the sales funnel. It is not just the words of a CTA that compel customers to act – there is also a strong visual element. Choose colors that catch the eye and place the CTA ‘above the fold’ on the website page. If customers need to scroll to see a CTA, then it is substantially more likely they will miss it.
Effective CTAs typically use action-oriented language that creates a sense of urgency and avoid ambiguous language.
A landing page is a web page that serves as a visitor’s entry point to your site, and they present an opportunity to elicit a response from potential customers. This could be making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. Landing pages can also help businesses capture leads.
Once social media and other marketing channels are optimized to drive people to your website, the focus turns to landing pages and their ability to convert interest into results.
High-converting landing pages can include the following elements:
They may also include specific landing page features, such as lead capture forms or subscription buttons.
Email marketing can be a highly effective way for businesses to create and nurture leads and drive conversions. It presents an opportunity to engage with customers in a more personalized way, in the process of building trust and credibility. Some potential benefits of using email marketing campaigns for lead nurturing can include:
To make an email marketing campaign work, you’ll need to build up an email list. This can be done by making signing up easy and accessible, offering discounts and giveaways, and creating engaging CTAs on landing pages and social media platforms.
Lead magnets are special deals or assets that are offered to customers in exchange for their contact details, usually an email address. These can take several forms, including discount codes, invitations to webinars, eBooks, or other resources.
Once you have captured this information, you can then use it to nurture leads through content that builds the brand or enhances their reputation. Good lead magnet ideas should ideally grab a customer’s attention and encourage them to engage with the business. The more this happens, the more data can be gathered. Ideally, lead magnets should:
Partnerships and collaborations can be beneficial in terms of generating leads for a business. They can help expand reach, while leveraging the credibility and trust of partners. In turn, this can help you access new resources. There are also associated benefits for the partner organization, such as access to potential new markets and cost-effective marketing.
Cross-promotion can also help a business access new networks and audiences, presenting the opportunity to grow revenue in previously untapped areas. It can also allow you to access knowledge and expertise or build trust with potential customers through positive brand associations. Of course, any partnership or collaboration should be mutually beneficial, with each company being able to offer their partner similar or equally valuable advantages.
There are several different types of partnerships available to businesses, including:
It is important to track and analyze your lead generation efforts. Without an accurate assessment of conversion rates and performance tracking, it is very difficult to know which areas of lead generation are working and which are not.
There are several lead generation metrics used to monitor and assess efficacy. These include:
By understanding and tracking these metrics, a business can gain a better understanding of its lead generation performance.
PayPal can help you stay on top of lead generation analysis and drive growth.
To learn more about how PayPal can help you reach new customers and grow your business, check out 10 daily habits to help drive success.
In partnership with three expert business owners, the PayPal Bootcamp includes practical checklists and a short video loaded with tips to help take your business to the next level.
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