Getting customers is really hard. You need to find them and nurture to the point they are ready to cross the line and do the do. And need to do that over and over again.
This makes defining and refining lead generation strategy one of the hardest elements of the entire marketing operation. While other fields might be bigger in scope and more demanding, lead generation requires close attention and sharp mind all the time in order to retain a high level of efficiency.
In a way, lead generation is like piloting the aircraft. Much of the moving parts are automated and monitored and yet you still need a human hand to steer the wheel because there are way too many nuances that are beyond the reach of automated solutions.
In this article, we will discuss how to improve your lead generation strategy and show the most important points.
9 tips for effective lead generation strategy
1 Determine Your Needs
The first and foremost thing you need to do upon considering the lead generation strategy is to determine your needs.
Despite this sounding quite obvious, there is a lot of undercurrent going on that requires attention.
What are the needs in lead generation? It is a combination of things you need to secure for smooth operation and things you want to achieve through those actions. One is dependent on the other.
According to the experts from The App Solutions, the easiest way of determining and detailing the needs of the strategy is by applying the top-down approach starting with an overarching goal and determining its consisting elements and required actions.
In this form, there are several levels of needs that all contribute to the one big uber-need also known as “get conversions”.
The key thing to keep in mind is that the goals and needs must be measurable. This factor is critical in a successful accomplishment of the goals and the satisfaction of the needs.
2 Work out the value proposition
The value proposition is one of those things that firmly lays in the “make it or break it” category.
There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution to determining the right way of formulating the value proposition. It all goes case-by-case and because of that figuring out the right way of expressing value proposition and subsequently presenting it – is a considerable challenge.
However, there are several things you need to keep in mind:
- “Value” is the key element of the message. You need to determine how to clearly channel its worth and the benefits it brings to a target audience segment or a specific potential lead.
- The layout of the benefits must be resonating with the interests, needs, and goals of the target audience segment. In order to do that, you need to work determine distinct buyer’s personas, do the background checks and figure out the key characteristics including needs and goals. Then you can easily reiterate your value proposition accordingly.
- The presentation of the value proposition must contain the right amount of technical detail to transmit the sense that the company is knowing what they are talking about and they know what the customer needs. This can be achieved through sleek descriptions of the methodologies and general breakdowns of the frameworks and workflows.
3 Back Value Proposition with the Relevant Content
The value proposition is the nucleus of lead generation. But it is not the only thing that makes the pendulum swing.
The other element of the effective lead generation is the stuff surrounds value proposition – also known as content.
Why so? Content is the way of presenting the value proposition from the different standpoints. Since you have numerous target audience segments with different goals and needs – you need to cover them all in one way or another.
For example, this whole thing can be presented through the content like:
- Exploratory article;
- Speculative opinionated columns;
- Explanatory showcases;
- Case Studies breaking down some issue and presenting a plausible solution;
- Run through the challenges surrounding the technology or business venture.
This kind of stuff will back up the value proposition from the multiple perspectives and cover different needs and goals of target audience segments.
As a result, you will get a convincing presentation of the company as a legitimate and competent entity.
4 Build your Lead Magnets
The thing with Lead Generation is that is it requires a solid infrastructure in order to achieve desirable results.
The key element of this infrastructure is so-called lead magnets – elements of the presentation that attracts the target audience and convince them to engage further.
Lead Magnets include:
- the company’s website,
- its accompanying blog content,
- landing pages,
- calls to action throughout the website,
- contact forms,
- newsletters,
- social media output,
- value-added content
- personalized content that surfaces in a closer interaction and so on.
All this stuff must
- revolve around the value proposition
- Maintain a consistent presentation of the expertise and competence
- resonate with the target audiences needs and goals in a way to engage them and turn into leads.
In addition to that, it must be visible from the search engine algorithm perspective and optimized according to the relevant requirements (read more about it at point 9).
5 Try different things – maximize what’s working
The world is not standing still. So needs to be your lead generation strategy. People are attracted to different things and change their preferences over time – your lead generation is no different.
This means:
- even the most thought-through lead generation strategy that is bringing in dozens upon dozens of leads today is not meant to last.
That’s the fact of life and you have to deal with it.
The thing with lead generation strategy is that it requires room for constant transformation. It can’t be set in stone – it needs to be fluid. Just like Bruce Lee taught.
How to do that? Trying different and new things may certainly help.
The key is to be cautious about the staying power of your approaches while trying to find the new ones that work. This means a lot of throwing things against the wall and looking at what will stick, but once in a while, you will strike gold.
This method creates a constant turnaround of lead generation approaches that secures a gradual upgrade of the strategy and its adaptation to the current state of things.
The most effective method of trying new things and gradually implementing them into the lead generation strategy is A/B testing.
Speaking of which…
6 Apply A/B Testing
A/B testing is one of the cornerstones of the successful development of the lead generation strategy. It is one of the integral elements of “trying something new” mindset.
Basically, A/B testing is a set of practices used to explore behavioral aspects and find the most optimal layouts and scenarios for the particular cause.
Traditionally, A/B testing is used to explore how your customers are behaving in a certain scenario within a set of specific options and determine the most effective approach to a specific audience segment. It is used on landing pages, contact forms, newsletters, blog posts and other critical players of the lead generation game.
As such, A/B is one of your closest friends.
How to pull it off? Depending on the field of testing – you need to develop several distinct options to choose from or to act in. Then you need to try them out on different audience segments.
Overall, you can test the following things:
- Opt-in elements
- Layout scheme and color sequencing
- Body text
- Time of sending
After a while, you will gather enough results to understand which elements are the most effective for the cause.
It is important to keep in mind that A/B testing should be performed once in a while in order to keep things from getting stale.
7 Monitor Metrics
The other critical element in developing an effective lead generation strategy is thorough metrics monitoring. The thing is – you need to know how are you performing in order to understand whether or not you are on the right track.
The catch is that lead generation is a rather messy and deeply unstructured process that occurs here and there and everywhere. You may have the clue what are you doing, but in order to keep things intact, you need to have an activity log and some application to merge results from different channels.
Why metrics matters? It is the source of intelligence for you. It is an indication of customer behavior. With it, you can see
- whether or not your strategy is working,
- whether it is cost-effective,
- experiment with new approaches,
- perform split tests,
- discover patterns and trends in the lead behavior and so on.
The key metrics include:
- Marketing Qualified Leads – not ready to go through but eager to go along
- Sales Funnel Conversions – the status of the lead (traditional stage split is “awareness – consideration – decision”. However, there can be further elaborations depending on the lead classification)
- Sales Qualified Leads – those go through and up to something.
Another important thing is the time for monitoring. Daily checks are a must and so are weekly and monthly. However, there are also special days, such as holidays and social events when things can get hot. These periods also need some special attention.
8 Maintain Visibility
The visibility of the company and its representatives is one of the most important anchors for the incoming lead. Sure, the value proposition is the thing that makes an actual difference, but everything surrounding it affects the quality of engagement and strengthens the chances of going ahead.
Long story short:
- if the thing looks legit and offers something reasonably engaging – that might be something worth trying.
What is visibility for lead generation? Just like anywhere else – it is all about the presence, its consistency, tenaciousness, and legitimacy.
What you need to keep in mind is that:
- every actor in the lead generating operation must maintain a credible presence in order to make the right kind of impression on the potential lead.
This means:
- the profiles should be clear cut and corresponding with the company’s vision and mission and the value proposition must be channeled throughout the presentation like a sneak mantra.
At the same time, your website or other channels must maintain a presentation that shows the legitimacy and the expertise in correspondence with the clearly defined value proposition. Think about it as a chorus. Every element adds to the harmony.
9 Apply SEO
It might seem odd to add Search Engine Optimization to the Lead Generation party, but in reality, these two are walking hand in hand and rubbing cheek to cheek in the Viennese Waltz.
The thing is:
- maintaining visibility is not just posting the right stuff, it is posting the right stuff the right way. Search results are shortcuts to the target audience segments.
However, the search engine algorithms don’t care whether you are a real deal or a Barbie doll enthusiast. Search engine algorithms have certain requirements that enable showcasing in the search results. And you need to follow them if you want to get into the spotlight.
Search Engine Optimization secures a steady stream of organic traffic and lets you make the most of it. Keywords, link profile, link spread, the semantic stuff – all that contributes to the search ranking visibility of the particular piece.
- Because of that, you need to find relevant keywords and present relevant information within the set of keywords. It is important to note, that SEO optimization is a neverending strategic effort.
In order to get consistent results and secure high ranking – you need to keep up with the things all the time and adapt accordingly. The more high ranking content you have – the better authority you have and so you get faster indexing and a higher level of overall visibility.
This results in more people stumbling upon or finding your company and subsequently more people converting and turning into lead.
Conclusion
Lead Generation is one of those parts of the marketing operation that requires patience and thorough approach in order to make it work and get results.
These tips can help you to figure out the groundwork and be cautious about the possible challenge on the way to the lead generation.
Original post: How to Improve Your Lead Generation Strategy: 9 effective tips
* This article was originally published here