Talking About Lead Generation
Generating leads can be one of the toughest tasks for a business. It seems everywhere you look, new marketing ideas promise endless streams of leads, an outlet of limitless potential. It’s evident that too many businesses focus their attention towards getting people to opt-in, but where does it go from there?
Believe us, we know, finding a new lead is something, but turning those leads into reliable, educated and long-term clients is where your focus needs to be. So how do you use your lead lists to generate business?
Utilizing Your List
Using your list is an ongoing process. Some people think it’s just about sending out an email or two. In reality it’s about engaging your leads, providing calls to action, building a relationship and tracking results to understand what really works for you. The first area of your attention should be the need to demonstrate value.
You’ve Got to Give to Get
Adding value is an encompassing term, value can be defined in so many different ways. One place to start is by giving something away. Whether it be your services, a discount, special offers, contests, or even advice — people love free stuff and that’s one thing that will never change! Try to run various offers so you can track responses for the future. Think of creative enticing options that potential leads can’t refuse. These giveaways don’t even have to be directly relevant to your industry, the important thing to think about is get people to remember you.
Value
Once you’ve given them something, you’re liable to have their attention. This is where adding value continues. One of the best ways to do this is by providing your leads with expertise. Position yourself as an expert and establish your voice as one of authority within your market. Ultimately, you are trying to create a relationship where prospects look to you as both a friend and expert to advise them on your product or service.
Be an Honest Friend and Expert
This can be done by sending leads information about your industry and using tools such as eBooks to provide them with valuable resources. Try and create as much useful and timely content as possible to share your knowledge with your leads. Tell them what you know and become their personal, reliable expert.
Of course, this should be accompanied with a call to action that educates and informs leads about the benefits of your products and services. Remember, it’s vital to be honest with your leads, this demonstrates to them a level of trust and contributes to your expertise and relationship.
Test, Test, Test
Another thing to think about when using your list is setting up A/B testing for your email campaigns. You send out the same list every month and expect different results. Setting up tracking on different email campaigns can inform you on what works and what doesn’t. We can almost guarantee that some emails will outperform others tremendously and it takes awhile to find the right tactic for your industry. Learn how to serve your customers better and improve your processes.
In Conclusion
Speak to the needs of your audience and build their trust. Your prospects’ buying cycle may take weeks or even months, so be patient and know that each piece of effective communication will bring you one step closer to converting that person from a lead into a customer.
Thank you for providing this information. It truly takes substantial development in order to accomplish the goals with your list. Building and catering to your audience is much a part of process as well, and I believe that you have successfully touched upon this subject.
I totally agree here that the real work and adventure starts after the opt-in. It really is an adventure. Collecting emails is one thing, but building a relationship doesn’t happen instantly. You need to provide value and show you are there to share your expertise.
I myself am into Internet Marketing and promote various online opportunities. Getting leads is a first and very important step, but it’s just one in a big chain of steps. Building trust and demonstrating that you’re an expert in your field takes time and often some trial and error (finding out what works for your particular industry and target audience) but it’s well worth it.
This is very helpful information for those of us just beginning our journey into internet marketing. You’ve mentioned tracking a couple of times here. Is this something that comes with your email software, or are you utilizing outside sources?