Start doing Multi-Channel Lead Generation Properly

Remember Lord of the Rings? The Volcano that Frodo had to reach to destroy the evil ring and save everyone? (bear with me here) It may shock you, but the Volcano Wasteland known as Mordor, was not a popular tourist destination, why? Well, because you had to walk there! Before you say “I’m pretty sure it was the whole volcano wasteland thing” there is literally an active Volcano (Mt Aso) in Japan that brings in a significant number of tourists every year by car, bus, ferry, or plane (even without the orcs.) So, what am I getting at? If people have a way that makes sense for them to get where they want to go, THEY WILL GO, even a volcano…

Lead generation is the same (yes I am aware of how ridiculous this sounds), but if you want to maximise leads, your website cannot exist as an island. It requires a diverse marketing mix of channels to take advantage of every way a person might want to connect or learn about your business. It could be when they are in store, flicking through social media, on your website, by text or in their email inbox.

So, what should be your focus?

Choosing the most appropriate channels for your customer based on their needs, with the objective being to make researching, evaluating, and purchasing your products as easy as possible for them.

Now to the good part, which channels are the typically the most effective at generating leads?

Blogs

Did you know? – That companies who blog 6 to 8 times a month can double their lead volume (According to a recent HubSpot Benchmarking report.)

Blogs have become a critical Lead Generation tactic because they allow you the flexibility and Freedom to create and tailor content for your customers based on their pain points or interests.

Regular fresh content also provides a great boost to SEO which is critical to getting More Visitors to your site.

When creating offers to go with your blog posts, make sure that the lead magnet you are offering is relevant to your posts content.
For example, you could offer an eBook that provides more information on the topic at hand.

Email Marketing

Me from 5 years ago “I thought the whole point of Lead Generation was to get their email address.”

Me now “Email is a great Lead Generation Channel if you follow some key things.”

• Firstly, always go with an opt-in strategy. You may see the number of subscriptions drop but the quality of connections you will build will be much better, your open rates and CTR’s will thank you.
• Lead with Value: Lead Gen is about creating value in exchange for information. In email this needs to be dialed up to 11 because giving promotes giving. High Value offers will be more likely shared with friends and colleagues.
• Don’t forget to give people the necessary Tools for sharing. Add social Media Sharing buttons or a “Forward to a friend Link.”

Social Media

There is no media like earned media. Get more leads by building your Social Following:

• Embrace the one-to-one relationship! Get to know your customers by talking and more importantly listening. Looking at your comments is a great way to answer questions or to generate ideas for content that will address pain points specific to your audience. By doing this you’ll get customers thinking “I feel like this was written just for me” because well, it was!
• Social Media is a two-way street. Companies that use social media purely to blast messages about themselves fail to understand what keeps people engaged. Again, creating value for your customers is how you keep a loyal following. Post something that does not relate to your company but is still aligned with the interests of your consumers. By building an ongoing relationship you increase the chances of a repeat sale a share or a referral.
• Old resources can still convert. Breathe new life into older content by repurposing it for Social Media in the form of infographics, images or posts and link it back to your website to the original offer.

Organic Search

Promoting offers in all your channels is crucial for Lead Generation AND it is just as important to make it easy for Customers find your Landing Pages organically through search engines. Apply SEO practices to your landing pages by doing the following:

• Choose a Primary Keyword on Each Landing Page and optimize the page for that word. Don’t oversaturate your page with too many keywords as this will actually dilute the content of your page i.e. Search Engines will not have a clear understanding of your pages content.
• The Headline and Sub-headline should be your priority because Search engines prioritize this.
• Do include keywords in the body of your content but use these sparingly and only if they are relevant to the situation.
• Use keywords in the filename of your images and your alt tag.
• Your URL is another place to include keywords.

Your Offers themselves

You can always include additional CTAs in your existing Offers. Include links to other eBooks and guides that your customer may find helpful, this is a way to provide more value and establish yourself as more of a though leader. The additional offer may not be entirely relevant to the reader but maybe to someone they know.

To fully comprehend and make the most impact to your Lead Generation efforts it is important to view your multi-channel Matrix, NOT as way to get more leads but to provide More Value. If the value is there and apparent, then not only will more leads flow but better-quality ones too as you will have given the prospects the absolute best impression possible for your business. One that will start a conversation instead of killing it.

This was just a taste, if you want 30 of our Greatest Lead Generation Tips that will Change the way you Generate Leads, Download our Free eBook. Start doing things the right way and click below to download!