If you’re in sales, you know just how essential lead generation is to your company’s success. Finding lead generation tips that work, however, can be difficult. There are plenty of lead generation services available that claim they’ll transform your business.
These lead generation companies rely on the fact that you won’t be able to do your own lead gen. In some cases, hiring them is a good move. In others, generating your own free leads will be a much better business move.
Are you unsure of where to begin when it comes to generating free leads? Keep reading to learn more.
5 Common Ways To Generate Leads Online
There have always been numerous ways to generate leads. With the advent of digital marketing, online lead generation has grown as a practice.
Narrowing down which lead generation practices will work for you is challenging. We’re going to cover five of the most common ways to generate leads online.
Content Creation and Marketing
There’s a good chance you’ve heard the phrase “content is king” before, and it remains true. If you want to promote your brand, content creation is the way to go.
When you create high-quality content, you’re providing value to current and potential customers. By doing so, you’re building the level of trust customers have in your brand. You’re also establishing your brand’s voice as an authoritative one on the topic you’re discussing.
Content marketing is a form of inbound lead generation. That means the content attracts visitors who become sales leads. With outbound lead generation, you reach out to a potential sales lead rather than the other way around.
Email Marketing
Love it or hate it, everyone has strong opinions about email marketing. Is it an outdated waste of time? Should it be the foundation of your lead generation marketing strategy? It depends on who you ask.
At Selling Revolution, we’re in favor of email marketing. It’s fast, easy and a great way to start connecting with leads. You don’t need any technical skills to send an email, and most people have at least one address. We still believe in the power of email leads.
Email marketing is most effective when you use a single call to action. Faced with too many steps or choices, many people opt to do nothing at all.
Social Media Platforms
Many people have social media accounts. However, the audience you’re able to reach tends to be more specific. You can use social media platforms for both B2C and B2B lead generation.
The mistake many companies make when leveraging social media platforms is using them solely for promotional purposes. Social media users already see advertisements and sponsored posts. They don’t want that same content from the accounts they follow.
As with other types of content creation, you need to provide value to your viewers. Many brands choose to do so through humor, but there are other options as well.
Because of the variation between platforms, social media management requires dedication and skill. When done correctly, however, you can build a large following for your brand.
Creating Webinars
Webinars are the digital version of a conference or trade show. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, webinars are valuable tools for fostering connections.
Once again, you’re offering potential customers value. In exchange, you receive their attention and often the contact information they list when registering.
If you have a well-known, popular speaker as a guest for your webinar, you can increase your audience.
Display Advertisements
Display advertisements can be digital or physical. Either way, they’re meant to be eye-catching. Generally, they’re devoted to either solving a problem or providing something of value, like a discount code.
There are a few critical points to keep in mind when creating and implementing display ads online. The first is that the websites you host them on need to be both reputable and relevant. It won’t do you any good to advertise on a site where everyone thinks the ads are scams. Likewise, if you’re not promoting something relevant to the site visitors’ interests, they won’t click through.
As with all aspects of marketing, sales and advertisements, having a clear call to action is essential.
15 Ways To Generate FREE Leads That Works Online and Offline
What’s better than lead generation? Generating free leads, of course. We’re here to help you find them. While you can buy leads through companies like Instant Success Leads, not everyone has the budget for that at first.
Check out the following 15 ways to generate free leads. Excitingly, these methods work both online and offline. You can adapt them to fit your needs.
Appear in Online Directories
The days of physical yellow pages are gone, but directories still matter. In particular, having your business listed in Google My Business is useful. When a potential customer searches for a service, your listing is more likely to come up.
Online directories are especially helpful in capturing B2B leads.
Appearing in reputable online directories is also a way to get backlinks to boost your business’s SEO.
It’s free to register in many online directories, so you can only benefit from doing so.
Issue a Press Release
Issue a Press ReleasePress releases are another tool you can use to generate free leads. You might think they’re a tool of the past, but that isn’t the case.
When you have a new product or service, news media outlets are a great way to share information. You can put the press release online or in a physical paper, giving it a broad reach.
Always include a call-to-action in your press release. Inviting readers to connect with you on social media is one option. Asking them to join your email mailing list is another. Both possibilities lead to good results.
Use a Well-Designed Landing Page
Landing pages are also called lead capture pages. Generally, a landing page is different from your home page. It’s what comes up in response to a search query.
Let’s say you’re looking for information about sales strategy coaching. You type in your search and see our services page. You like what you see, so you click on it.
In addition to the information you were looking for, you’ll see a button that invites you to book a call. When you do, you become a lead.
Other websites take advantage of pop-ups to offer something free in exchange for your email address.
If you think the page you landed on looks trustworthy and informative, you’re more likely to become a lead.
Market to Your Current Customers
When we talk about lead generation, free or otherwise, we often leave current customers out of the conversation.
That’s a mistake.
Whenever you have a new product or service, your current customers need to know about it. If they liked one service you provided, they’d likely appreciate others.
You can also let them know when you’re having a sale or promotion. They’re already familiar with your company and what you offer. The initial resistance you need to overcome to convert them should be lower.
Use Videos and Webinars to Become an Authority
Let’s return to the idea of providing value. Producing educational videos and webinars can make your brand more authoritative. Video content has become more prevalent in recent years.
Whether you’re making how-to videos or hosting webinars on relevant issues in your industry, leads will flock to you.
Videos and webinars build your brand’s reputation as trustworthy and reliable.
Publish Educational Blog Posts
If you lack the time or budget to produce a video, a blog post is the next best thing. It’s generally a good idea to maintain a blog anyway. Blog posts are a way to attract marketing leads and define your brand.
Updating your blog frequently has the added benefit of increasing awareness of your brand.
Additionally, blog posts can contribute to SEO. They can help you develop several ranking factors like linking and providing fresh content.
Take Advantage of Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization, more commonly known as SEO, is critical for generating free leads. SEO helps your website rank higher on a search engine results page.
When was the last time you searched for something online and ended up on Google’s second page? It’s probably been a while.
You want your website at the top of the first page. If it isn’t, potential leads may never find it. You’ll lose out on a lot of business.
LeadsOnline is an example of a well-optimized website. They found their niche, have high-quality backlinks and make good use of keywords.
Make use of Social Media Platforms
You can reach different audiences on different social media platforms. Your Facebook leads will look different from your LinkedIn leads. That’s good.
Social media platforms let you target different subsets of your audience more effectively. They’re also a low-effort way for leads to interact with your brand. Pressing the “follow” button is even easier than subscribing to an email mailing list.
You and your leads can also use most social media platforms for free. The number of people you can reach isn’t limited by who is willing to pay to see your content.
Optimize Your Web Design
It’s essential to focus on aesthetics and accessibility when designing your website. However, web design extends further.
Optimized web design goes beyond even the layout of your landing pages. Every aspect of your website needs to have a purpose. Ideally, each of the individual pieces will work in concert to help you convert business leads.
Your website is a critical component of your sales funnel.
Increase Your Sales Funnel Size
Increase the size of your sales funnels. Fishing metaphors for sales and marketing activities are almost cliche at this point, but they still work.
Think about it this way: the wider you cast your net, the more you’re likely to catch. However, you’re not going to catch fish if you’re not casting in the water.
In short, you need to balance reach with relevance when expanding your sales funnel.
Create Backlinks
Backlinks are a vital part of SEO. Search engines view them as a sign of authority, quality and relevance. Unfortunately, they can be challenging to create. Whether or not a website chooses to link back to your content is mostly out of your control.
The best way to tempt other sites into linking to yours is by creating informative, accessible content. Create something other people and companies want to share.
Submit a Guest Post
One way to jumpstart your backlinking efforts is to submit a guest post on someone else’s blog. The post links back to your website, and then you have a new backlink.
Guest posting can also help you expand your reach. You will want to work with a company or individual whose activities relate to yours. That way, their audience is more likely to appreciate your content. Search engines should also view the backlink as higher quality.
Ideally, guest posts can help you reach qualified leads.
Begin a Referral Program
People love free stuff, so why not start a referral program? If someone loves the service your company provides, have them refer a friend or coworker. Give both the referrer and the referee a small reward.
Start a Podcast
Start a PodcastIf it seems like everyone is starting a podcast, you’d be right. Podcasts are big right now, and creating one can help you find that lead you’re looking for.
They’re also a fantastic way to provide value to listeners interested in what you do.
Ask for a Review
No matter what your company says about itself, consumers will trust each other far more. That’s why it’s crucial to seek out reviews from past and current customers.
Positive reviews and word-of-mouth can draw new customers as well as any lead generation agency.
Conclusion
Lead generation is too important to ignore, but it can be overwhelming at first. That’s where we come in.
Selling Revolution is here to help you develop all parts of your sales strategy. We want to help your company thrive, and that means revolutionizing how you sell. Book a call with us today to get started.