Lead generation is essential to any business, having a steady flow of potential customers can make all the difference to the outcome of your goals, whether it be finding higher paying clients or selling your ideas. You might provide an amazing service or package but if nobody is ever offered then how are they to know about it? This where lead generation or offering yourself is clearly important.
To generate a steady flow of quality leads, you need to know some of the most effective techniques. Hiring the services of call center agencies to generate leads for your business is quite common, but if you prefer to do it in-house, here are some techniques that can help generate leads for your business and increase your reach to customers and clients.
Business referrals
Referrals from businesses that operate in the same or similar domain is a smart way to generate leads. This technique involves making sales between businesses, often referred to as Busines 2 Business (B2B). Depending on the industry which you work in, business referrals will differ so think about the relationships and workflows involved in daily operation.
A good place to start is your local business directory as it will have a good list of businesses to browse. For example, a company offering print and stationery items may be interested in hearing about your graphic design services.
Cold Calling / Telemarketing
Many call centers provide telemarketing services, which also are helpful in lead generation. One of their methods is called cold calling, which involves randomly calling prospects and passing on information to them about the products and services of your business. When planned properly and executed continuously, cold calling can be effective in generating leads through the large number of contacts made.
You can also use a more personalized approach by picking up the phone and calling folks yourself. It helps to know who your target market is and where to find them. Start by writing a small script that explains what you offer and ask if they are interested. You will have the oppourtunity to talk directly to your market and will likely have a higher hit rate.
SEO strategies
Search engine optimization or SEO is an indispensable aspect of lead generation to a business. It is a controlled and cost effective method that involves creating the website’s content, choosing appropriate keywords so that a company’s website goes up the search engine rankings and becomes more accessible to users. Choice of keywords is of particular importance here as it defines the target market to which a business is going to cater to.
Many large companies have their own SEO team to handle this task, while many others outsource the job to firms that specifically provide SEO services or hire a freelancer to perform SEO.
Mass mailing
Another effective medium for generating leads is email blasts. It is one of the cheapest ways of generating leads but can be quite a tricky one. Mass mailing is done by sending emails to a built or purchased list of addresses and if it reaches a prospective customer, you are in with a chance of getting a new customer. Keep in mind with this method you are competing with potentially hundreds of other messages, so it is important that yours is clear and gets to the point.
Always check the legality of sending mass messages or spam laws in your country. For example, in Australia sending unsolicited email is only considered an offence if performed by a robot or from a predefined list, in other words sending individual emails by hand is perfectly legal.
Blogging
Blogging is a great method by which you can generate leads online. You can write blog articles that are specific to the nature of your business. This will significantly drive traffic towards your website and your service. People will often seek out a specialist in a given area and will value your willingness to share your knowledge with the world.
If you make sure your contact details or call to action is clearly shown on your blog and is easy to find, this will translate into more leads.
Social bookmarking
With innumerable social networking sites rising up, they are also being exploited increasingly by many companies to generate leads to their company. You can also make use of these for your business. All you need to do is register at a well known social networking site and create a page for your company, adding information that is most alluring to most users.
Lead generation is a consistent, low cost method of advertising your business and selling yourself through the internet. The results can be significantly rewarding but it is important that you consistently keep following up the leads and changing your approach as online markets are dynamic and change constantly. Without follow up on a lead all the effort you invested can turn futile.
