Leads. Prospects. Customers.
Many businesses worry about where their customers are going to come from, but don’t have proper methods to even get their leads. After all, people aren’t simply going to “find” you.
To make it easier to source people who would be interested in your product, we’ve come up with 11 proven lead generation techniques.
1) Affiliate Marketing
We all know people buy from people they trust, admire, like and have good feelings towards.
Affiliate marketing saves you time by getting people who already have an audience who trust them to sell your products for a percentage of the return.
This helps you by getting your brand seen by new demographics and consumer bases without having to put so much time and effort into by building a direct relationship yourself.
2) Reactivating Old Customers
The old “keeping old customers is easier than acquiring new ones” adage has been proven time and again for good reason.
Getting the attention of people who have bought from you before can be thought of as tapping your old friend on the shoulder. Think “we miss you” or “we haven’t heard from you in a while”. This will spark interest in what your business has been doing lately as well as making the sales funnel shorter.
3) Newsletters/Email
Keeping your communication channels open and encouraging dialogue with your customers is as easy as sending a bi-weekly update.
As well as promoting your offerings, newsletters and regular emails can provide useful content to add value to what you’re already doing.
A good newsletter will keep people up to date, amused and/or informed, and will add to the perception and positioning of you as an expert in your field. Speaking of experts…
4) Become an expert or authority on a subject
Becoming an expert in your field is as easy as a few high-quality pieces of content, whether they be interviews, articles, articles or videos.
These should be geared towards helping people whether or not they end up as your customer (sneaky hint: sometimes your reputation is a lead generation tool in itself!).
5) Public Advocacy
What do Apple fans, vegans and Crossfitters all have in common besides being good-looking?
All three of them are hardcore believers, always talking (at-length) about their brand and what it means to them. This could be YOUR brand getting all of this treatment.
Wherever you go, you should speak highly of your company and what you do for people, as well as how your customers have been positively affected by your company.
Obviously, you shouldn’t do this at the wrong time (people don’t like the person who comes off as bragging, “sales-y” or self-centered), but it is an invaluable tool to get leads interested in what you’ve got going on.
6) Networking Events (Attend or Launch)
The internet is an invaluable tool for getting things done but you might have more success with a more personal touch.
Attending a networking event in your industry gives you a firsthand look at how other professionals do business as well as allowing you to see the “playing field”; little insights gained from a 5-minute conversation can completely change the direction of your business.
Not interested in attending events because the people are boring or don’t give back? Throwing your own might be the solution.
With the ball in your court, you can raise awareness for your next projects, meet potential clients and investors as well as widen your influence in your sector all for the price of some drinks and snacks!
7) Social Media Outreach
Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn… the list of social networking websites, apps and services increases daily.
Social media platforms are excellent ad and direct marketing channels that can be harnessed for your campaigns as well as for doing things like question and answer sessions, FAQs, and overall community feedback.
8) Webinars
There’s no better way to get your point across than to show people how you can help them than by teaching something valuable.
Webinars have been used by everyone from virtual teaching courses to multi-million dollar businesses, and they never fail to generate further inquiries.
9) Video
“Show, don’t tell”. People believe things when they see them in action (how do you think all those late-night infomercials made millions?).
Making and producing video content for your next product gives consumers a way to see how it works and can turn doubters into advocates once they see it in action.
10) Media Coverage
Reporters are always getting beat over the head with new PR pitches. However, if you can contact a reporter who specializes in your field and is looking for new you may have found a resource for lead generation that will pay out dividends.
11) Direct Marketing
This is the great-grandparent of them all. Direct Marketing (DM) doesn’t care how to reach customers as long as it gets to them.
Think of DM as having a one-to-one conversation… with more than one person at a time.
Pre-internet this meant mail-order advertising, flyers, and buying magazine ad space. In the Information Age this also branches out to text messaging, emails, phone calls, faxing and any other method of communication seen fit.
Stickers on a laptop? Direct marketing.
1-800-JUNK sending you a text message? Direct marketing.
Your friends telling you that a popular store is having a sale? Direct marketing.
Using any of these 11 ways will generate leads for you if they’re applied correctly.
For the experimentalists, try combining methods in new ways to see if you’re getting desired results.
These tried-and-tested ways of reaching your desired customer base have been passed on from generation to generation because they work well, effectively and give a good return on investment.
Try any of them and let us know how they go for you!