If you are a small to mid-size business operator, someone has already talked to you about lead generation services. Probably more than once already this year. It’s a top trending topic, and there’s incredible reason for it – lead generation services get results. It’s true. Today’s world of online marketing is slippery and complicated. It’s involved. It takes a lot to get going and it takes a lot to make a success. If you know how to get people to a business website and turn them into customer’s, you unlock the key to any business’ success. And that’s exactly what the best lead generation services do.
Lead Generation Is Not Old Marketing with a New Name
We didn’t used to talk about everyone as a potential “lead.” In sales and marketing, we used to think of a “lead” as already someone who’s name was in our database, someone who we’d been referred to us. People who walked in the door at brick-and-mortar locations weren’t really “leads” in the same sense. Drive-by traffic could be captured, of course, but it didn’t usually take the amount of work and follow-up that a true “lead” could take.
The internet has changed all that. And while the past 20 years have seen online marketers stumble through the updates and try to outsmart consumers – the truth has come out shinier than ever – consumers are too smart to be outwitted at every turn. They know what they want, and now they have more options than ever to find exactly what they’re looking for.
Take what you already know about offline marketing and apply it to online marketing. It is different, but there is a lot of overlap. Then, consider that lead generation services are the experts in the online realm.
Everyone is a Lead
Today, all you have to do to connect with potential clients is put up a website, right? Of course not. You know about social media strategies; you have heard of search engine optimization. A lead generation strategy puts together all of your online presence into a coordinated system of getting people to your website, getting your products and services noticed not only by a huge number of people, but a huge number of interested people. It involves advertising, online reviews and reputation management, and content production on your site as well.
In today’s world of online branding, you have to think of anyone who lands on your website as a potential lead, and a top-notch online marketing team should help you capture those leads that are highly relevant and funnel them into different channels. The entire goal is to lead them along from being a casual interest to spending money. Getting them on the site is only the first step.
Turning Leads into Customers
If you’re talking with a lead generation services team about how their services translate into dollars made for your company, the bottom line will come down to turning to leads into paying customers.
One thing to consider is the timeline: It can take a business up to two years of contact online to earn a lead’s trust enough to turn them into a paying customer. However, once that trust is earned, the turnover rate is much lower. Informed, educated, engaged leads who have followed your company on social media and kept your name in their consciousness for a long time are more likely to stick with you after their initial purpose.
Engagement Makes Customers
Part of your lead generation strategy is focused on getting people who search for terms related to your business to find your website. Part of your lead generation strategy is to place ads in front of people who are actively looking to buy what you’re selling. Part of your strategy is to get people to engage with you by subscribing to a newsletter, following you on social media, or downloading or signing up for a free trial.
The first step toward making a sale is engagement, and online this can take a number of different forms. Each form carries its own weight and shows a different level of significance, depending on your product and the industry you’re in. Because the online world is a mixture of different elements of strategy, it can be especially helpful to hire lead generation services to handle the setup and teach you how it operates.