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Lead Generation: Ultimate guide to generating business leads
Unleash the Power of Lead Generation: Your Ultimate Guide to Generating Business Leads!
Lead generation is fundamental and should be a part of every business’ growth strategy. Whether you’re launching a brand-new business or want to refresh your existing approach, lead generation should form part of your plan.
Today, lead gen is much more than picking up a phone and cold-calling potential customers. As digital technology continues to evolve and grow, the way in which companies generate high-quality leads has also developed.
Nowadays, lead generation features a sales funnel and a host of different marketing techniques and strategies – it’s a complex task but when done correctly, achieves fantastic results for businesses.
In this article, we’ll explore the lead generation process, lead generation marketing and we’ll also look at how you can apply this within your own company.
An introduction to lead generation
To begin, let’s first explore what we mean by lead generation. In simple terms, it is the process of attracting new customers to your business.
In order to survive and thrive in today’s climate, businesses need a steady stream of new customers and new business enquiries, and a comprehensive lead generation strategy is the best way to do this.
When we say ‘lead’ we mean someone who shows an interest in your company, its products and services. Nine times out of ten they’ll be looking for a way to get in touch to find out more information about what it would be like to work with your company. With a great lead generation strategy in place, they’re more likely to become a qualified lead.
While traditional lead generation involved approaching people in the hope that they would be interested in buying your products or services, today that isn’t the case. This is because digital marketing tools offer specialist insight and help to build a better picture of potential customers. Therefore, companies can create a strategy that appeals to their interests helping to increase the chance of them becoming a customer.
Lead generation is all about converting people, with an existing interest in your brand and products, into leads which can then be passed directly onto your sales team.
In order to achieve the best results with any lead generation strategy, a clear plan and purpose must be identified before it can be successfully executed.
The lead generation process
The lead generation process first and foremost is all about understanding your potential customers. The secret to success with business lead generation is understanding these key things.
Define your purpose
When developing a lead generation process, it’s best to start by understanding what you want to achieve with the strategy. For instance, are you promoting a special offer to drive engagement? Or maybe you’re trying to convert a customer from a competing company?
Identify your audience
Depending on who you’re looking to target, you’ll need to tailor your message and content. Are you a fabricator selling to PVC installers in the South East? Perhaps you’re a glass company looking to target architects or a home improvement business looking to reach consumers in Manchester?
Plan how to target them
Once you know your purpose and who you’re targeting, you’ll have a better understanding of how to reach them and which marketing channels to use.
For instance, for those looking to target a slightly older audience, magazines, TV and radio would be the most suitable marketing methods. But for younger audiences, social media and digital marketing techniques are best.
Execute your strategy
With a robust plan in place, you’ll be able to successfully reach the right people, at the right time, through the right marketing channels.
Although you can generate leads through any marketing source, some channels are much more suited to lead generation than others. Here’s an overview of some of the marketing techniques we’d recommend home improvement businesses explore.
Social Media
Posting regular content which encourages your followers to take action is simple to do on social media.
Sharing promotions across all of your social channels (like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) including a clear call to action and link to a bespoke website page is an easy win for many companies.
Email Marketing
If you have access to a relevant, accurate and up-to-date prospect data list, email marketing is a fantastic way to directly reach your target audience.
Drafting a well-designed e-shot including engaging content that offers something new to the reader will encourage them to click on the links listed in the email which will then take them through to your website.
Website Blogs
Content marketing is another fantastic tactic. In fact, writing a website blog that has been optimised for search engine results (SEO) and offers useful information to potential leads is a great way to guide prospects to a dedicated landing page.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Pay-per-click advertising is a fantastic way to put your brand directly in front of your target audience and to drive traffic to your website.
PPC places your brand at the top of search engine results and so an eye-catching PPC campaign design will not only help to widen your customer base but will also generate immediate results for your company.
Lead generation with traditional marketing techniques
Although digital lead generation tactics generate impressive outcomes, don’t forget that some success can also come from offline techniques like attending events and exhibitions, public relations as well as word-of-mouth referrals and third-party reviews and recommendations.
The more traditional marketing techniques are still incredibly effective and are always included in some of the most powerful lead generation strategies.
In fact, those that directly reach the audience always get great results. Whether you create a well-designed e-shot that gets sent straight to the prospect’s inbox or design a bespoke flyer that’s posted through their letterbox, both methods are incredibly mighty.
Success with these direct marketing techniques not only comes from creating engaging content but also relies heavily on the contact list used, and to get the best results it must be reliable and up-to-date.
Who can help with lead generation marketing?
When it comes implementing a lead generation strategy across your organisation, why not partner with a specialist marketing agency who can guide and support you throughout the whole process?
Working with a full-service marketing agency with experience across a range of sectors including construction, home improvement, glazing, building products and property marketing means they’ll have the knowledge and expertise to create and implement your lead gen marketing strategy.
At Purplex, we have experience working with hundreds of clients developing robust marketing plans which generate a steady stream of leads.
Get in touch today and work with our team of specialist marketers to successfully target your potential customers and convert them into new leads.
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