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If you’re going to generate sales, you need leads, whether you’re a service provider or a retail store. However, not all leads convert into customers. Some leads have a better chance of turning into paying customers than others. Generating leads will cost your company money, so you need an effective strategy that focusses on maximizing the amount of high quality leads you to generate.
Create One Or More Buyer Personas
Create one or more buyer personas so you know exactly who you want to target, and where you will be most successful in targeting them.
A buyer persona is an in-depth profile of a fictional customer who represents your real ones. It identifies their challenges, motivations, demographic details, and habits. This allows you to create content that fits their needs. When you know who your target customer is and where they are online, you can focus on the platforms where they are and the right content that they would seek out.
Target Quality Leads
Smart lead generation should be about quality over quantity. Not everybody will be interested in what your business has to offer, so instead, focus your effort on those who are most likely to buy and with the most potential to be of value long-term. Read here to learn about creating an effective strategy for quality lead generation online.
Lead Scoring
Rank your prospects according to how likely they are to convert. Leads are usually not just hot or cold, but will instead be on a sliding scale of enthusiasm. Some people will be ready to sign up or spend immediately, whereas others will be mid or long-term prospects. Others will never purchase from you. Set criteria for grading your leads by their position in the sales funnel. You can then design a content plan that is designed to nurture leads through to their first purchase and into becoming a loyal customer.
Use Social Media
Social media is a great way to attract new leads. There are a lot of ways to use social media to increase your brand awareness and reputation. Share content, information, and special offers in order to drive traffic to your website. Engage with leads directly through your social media channels, which lets you answer questions in a fast and effective way. Put your efforts into the platforms that are most used by your buyer personas, and remember the platforms that have intuitive paid advertising services to increase your profile even more.
Use CTAs and Contact Forms
You will generate more leads if you make it clear what you want people to do and make it easy for them to do it. Make your call-to-action (CTA) prominent on every email, landing page, and blog post. Your CTA should be straightforward and uncluttered. Don’t put more than one CTA on a page as it will water down your messages.
Put a prominent contact form and CTA button on every page on your website. For mobile layouts, this should be at the top. Keep your CTA buttons away from other links and icons so they’re easy to spot and use on smaller touch screens.
