Businesses, especially small businesses, often face challenges with acquiring customers and converting their visit to a sale. It can be a daunting task, but it is a fixable situation with the right knowledge and software. Here are some simple techniques and systems that you can use to make lead generation more efficient whether you run a B2C company or even face unique B2B lead generation challenges.
Organize and Optimize Lead Management
As with any element of business, it is essential that lead management be organized for your company to reach target customers. Without guidelines and an established lead management system, finding target customers and optimizing leads to reach them is considerably more difficult.
You can do this by keeping customer data in one place and analyzing it to create an effective strategy. While an example of a poor lead database has incomplete, fragmented information spread over many locations, a streamlined, effective lead database will be able to track a customer and their progression through the buying process.
By ensuring that you have a system established, you can track new leads efficiently and help to grow your business.
Getting Your Content in Front of the Right People
One of the biggest challenges that companies face when developing a lead generation strategy is narrowing down the target audience. One common mistake that many companies make is to use popular strategies from other companies. While it may work for them, sales strategies are never a “one size fits all” answer. Not every company is looking to sell to the same audience. Generating leads for an audience that is unlikely to use your product or services is a waste of time and money, so it’s essential to identify the right industries and ideal buyers before developing a sales strategy. By getting to know their interests, needs and habits, you can tailor your sales strategy.
Want to know the best ways to find your target audience? Check out Thrive Hive’s article ‘How to Identify Your Target Audience’!
Meet Lead Generation Challenges with Versatility
No single method works perfectly and, as new technologies become the norm for many people around the globe, older strategies may lead to fewer conversions. It is essential that methods such as content marketing and social media be utilized to reach your target audience. By using paid ads and encouraging social media shares, likes, and comments, you can capitalize on social media and improve your conversion rate.
Learn how to grow leads by not only observing how other businesses get leads, but also by exploring new techniques to generate conversions.
Keep In Touch with Leads
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to not reach out to past customers and potential new leads. Customers get busy and without a gentle nudge, they may forget to follow through with a purchase or service. That’s why it is essential to follow up with leads and make sure that customers know you are still there and prepared to offer them what they need.
Developing a systematic approach to follow-ups ensures that leads are contacted with enough regularity to remain their first choice over competitors, but without repeating the same content and sales methods, which could result in a loss.
CRM (customer relationship management) tools that allow employees to access and edit the lead database allow for consistent lead follow-up make it easier to monitor leads while being flexible enough to decide which leads need what attention.
Be Sure You Also…
Use innovative technology.
Your leads are using mobile phones, social media, and the Internet of Things to consume information and make purchases. You should be using new technologies to better manage an effective lead generation strategy as well.
Examples of CRM software include MailChimp and HubSpot. Both of these tools automate part or all of your lead strategy so that errors, such as forgetting to email a newsletter or make a tweet, are avoidable. Here is PCMag’s ‘The Best CRM Software of 2020’ list, which shows some of the best options businesses have to optimize their lead strategy!
Measure lead generation and successes.
It’s important to be aware of where leads are acquired and how, and to be familiar with their progression from the initial visit to when you convert them to a paying customer. By analyzing what works, how long it takes, and where those leads come from you can better determine what you can expect from lead generation as well as monitor trends and other key indicators with customers.
By measuring your lead generation success and monitoring the CRM pipeline, you can figure out what works and what doesn’t, and save money by cutting out ineffective advertising.
Keep Track of One-Offs
While a conversion is always good, when a customer is a one-time customer it’s time to take another look at your sales strategy. At times customers have a one-time need and no longer need your product or service, but returning customers are the key to success for your business. By adapting your selling strategy to show the benefits of continuing a relationship with your company you can ensure a relationship with that consumer.
In some cases it may be necessary to expand your products or services so that consumers can continue to work with you. For example, many car dealerships also offer services such as tire rotation, oil changes, and inspections to their customers. This establishes a long term relationship with someone who otherwise would have been a one-time customer.