From visitor to customer: 7 lead generation strategies to transform your business

Before we jump into strategies for capturing leads, let's make sure we're on the same page about what a lead is. Simply put, a lead is a person who has expressed interest in your company in some way. You can think of anyone who has provided you with their contact information by some means — for example, signed up for your newsletter, attended a webinar, or downloaded a free guide. This person is now inside your sales funnel because they visited your website and agreed to be contacted by you.

So, what is lead generation?

Lead generation is just the process of putting people who are interested in your business into your sales funnel. A lead generation strategy is anything that gets someone to give their consent to contact them or target them.

Imagine you do the internal digital marketing for a real estate firm. Making a free, downloadable PDF guide about all the latest news in the real estate industry is one approach to creating leads. This content functions as a lead generation tool because those who wish to invest in real estate will be looking for resources online. What you ask for in return is their contact information. It's a means to provide value to people while also establishing them as leads in your sales funnel.

Now, let's look into some useful strategies for filling your sales pipeline up with prospective customers:

1. Create actionable lead magnets

Lead magnets are a great way to generate leads and are of great value to website visitors. The awareness stage is usually at the top of the funnel, so visitors may not even be aware of who you are. You should aim to leverage lead magnets like landing pages or downloadables to provide a solution to their problems rather than looking to pitch your product or service. Use gated resources and collect basic information only, like first name, last name, and email address.

2. Get creative with your lead capture forms

It doesn't matter how high-quality your content is—visitors can't get in touch with you without a way to provide their details. The main focus of a lead-capture form is to get visitors to submit their contact details in exchange for the content that you offer.

A simple form with a handful of questions isn't good enough. Scrap the old inquiry forms and get creative. Ask basic questions on your forms and make them interactive. Set certain conditions for the forms to pop up on your pages. You can set a specific time or an action taken by the user as the trigger for the form. It's important not to be intrusive while visitors scroll through your page.

3. Be active on social media

When it comes to lead generation, social media might not be the first thing that comes to mind, but it should be. Social media listening entails keeping an eye on your brand's social media accounts for comments from customers or direct mentions. It aids in building relationships with potential clients and customers at many junctures. Most importantly, it fosters a sense of belonging among supporters and advocates. You can conduct both organic and sponsored promotion on social media, and also promote content through forums, communities, or sponsored advertisements.

4. Attend industry events

The pandemic may have forced a major paradigm shift in offline events, but that doesn't mean it's the end of industry-level meetups and networking. 68% of event marketers reported that a hybrid solution which manages online and in-person events is the way forward for modern event strategies. No matter what happens in the business world, lead generation events should be a part of your strategy.

Here's an overview of an ideal event lead generation strategy:

• Decide which attendees will best fit your ideal customer profile(ICP).
• Create and launch an outreach campaign with an invitation to meet either online or at the event kiosk.
• Plan the meeting's schedule for the day, including reminders, meeting times, and venues.
• Give salespeople the opportunity to hold fruitful discovery meetings at the gathering.
• Schedule follow-ups and other actions for your event lead generating campaign participants.

5. Use email marketing

Email has withstood the test of time as one of the most reliable ways to generate and nurture leads. A list of email subscribers who are actively engaging with you is an asset. Once you've earned your readers' confidence, you may interact with them, solicit their feedback, entice them to check out your fresh content, and promote your products and services.

Many people provide their email addresses in exchange for a free resource, but not all of them are potential consumers. That's why it's important to have an email lead generation strategy for your business. Once you have more than 100 subscribers on your email list, you should maintain their interest. Send out valuable weekly newsletters. For the maximum conversion, improve your subject lines and calls to action in the emails. The process of expanding your mailing list and improving your open and click-through rates is ever-growing, and consistency is key.

6. Design an incentive-based referral system

Even today, word-of-mouth marketing is important, and technology has significantly altered the ways that consumers share information about the companies they love. Since they're now simpler than ever to track, client referral programs have in fact grown even more beneficial as a successful strategy for generating leads.

You can design a referral program with incentives to generate leads for your company. For instance, if you sell goods online, you may create unique referral codes for repeat customers which they can share with new customers. When a new customer makes a purchase, both get a discount on their next purchase. This way, both your loyal customers and prospective customers can benefit from referral discounts.

7. Optimize your content for SEO

By boosting brand awareness through organic website traffic, SEO can support your company's lead generation efforts. The more frequently your website appears on Google's front page, the simpler it will be for your target market to locate you and learn more about the products and services you offer. Publishing an active blog with optimized blog entries is one of the best strategies to leverage SEO and generate more leads. Blogs combine all the components for effective website SEO. You increase your brand's "authority" by providing fresh content, keywords, backlinks, photos, social media engagement, and other things. A small amount of SEO work can have a significant impact on how many people visit your website and locate material, even if your primary focus is on producing helpful content.

Wrapping up

Ultimately, there are many effective lead generation techniques out there, including the ones we've covered here. The ones that will be effective for your business are what matter, though. One strategy won't work for everyone, so don't be scared to try another if the first one doesn't work. The most effective lead generating techniques won't be the same for established companies and startups. Old tactics can still be effective, but for the best results, make sure to modernize them with a fresh twist. Although you should prepare to spend some money, lead generating strategies don't have to be pricey. Do your best to be inventive, because you never know what might work for your particular company.