If you work in a sales team, you probably already know what the term lead generation means. Simply put, it’s the process of generating consumer interest or inquiry into the products or services of a business. As part of the sales team, you should focus on creating a relationship with the leads that you’ve generated, so that when they are ready to purchase, your company is the one they think about first.
There are many different types of digital lead generation strategies and you need to pick a combination of which will suit your business best:
Cold CallingThis is a flexible lead generation method and is universally available, however it is also expensive and the recipient’s details you have might not answer the phone. Here are a few tips for cold calling:
• Do research: You should do extensive research on your prospects to find out how what you’re selling could help them personally or in their work life. People respond to very specific benefits, not vague general product descriptions.
• Write a script: This will help guide you through your sales call in an eloquent way. Remember to include a professional greeting and ensure that you introduce yourself and your company. Set out reminders such as the features and benefits of your product/service, pricing and other information such as offering them a free trial.
• Focus on goals: Make small talk if it is necessary but remember that your goal is to generate leads and turn these leads in to customers.
Online AdvertisingThis can consist of various elements, such as graphical banners on sites with content related to what you’re offering, or even sponsored listings on a related website. A major player in the online advertising space is Google’s Adwords platform, where you bid on certain keyword phrases in order for your ad to appear on Google’s search results pages. The big difference between Google Adwords and banner advertising in terms of lead generation cost is that you only pay when someone clicks on your paid advert.
Social Media Engagement A social media strategy may cost less than traditional advertising in terms of generating leads, but it can be difficult to predict and control. Different elements of a social media strategy may include:
• Facebook is better suited to B2C companies. It helps you to increase brand awareness through a company Facebook page, and generate more leads by targeting people through Facebook advertising. Through Facebook’s ad platform, you can target by location, demographics, interests, behaviours and connections.
• Twitter is a microblogging network of real-time posts that are limited to 140 characters or less. Twitter can help you generate leads by creating a business profile and then testing out the advertising function.
• LinkedIn is a lead generation strategy better suited for B2B companies as it is a career/work related social network. You can also do sponsored updates in order to raise brand awareness, build relationships and drive quality reach.
Email MarketingEvery email sent to a potential or current lead could be considered email marketing. This form of marketing is very inexpensive and has a fast turn around and results, however you have limited creative options and limited address availability. In addition, you need explicit permission from your database in order to communicate with them. Before you can do email marketing, you need to grow your leads list. You can do this by:
• Create a compelling sign up form on your website, blog or social media pages
• Promoting an online contest
• Encouraging your current email subscribers to share and forward your emails
• Offering an awesome free gift to subscribers
With BluWave’s CRM Management software, we help you manage your leads once they’ve been generated. The software enables you to see all new leads from your website in your BluWave dashboard as they arrive, at which point they can be automatically transferred to the CRM database for further processing. Want to know more?
Read more about our CRM software, or contact us today.
