People are always trying to do more with less. And with the economic context the way it is, that couldn’t be more true than it is right now. At the same time, companies can’t just stop generating leads, recruiting new strategic partners, and selling product. So how do you generate more leads with less resources?
Here are 5 of the best lead generation strategies and tips for improving your outreach…
Tip #1 – Focus on what your customers need
This may not sound like a lead generation strategy, but when you provide even more value to your customers they become brand champions. Think about it—have you ever loved a company’s products SO MUCH that you had to tell everyone you knew about it? The same is true for software solution sales. There is no better method out there than word of mouth marketing. Getting a recommendation from a trusted colleague or friend carries more weight than any piece of content you have; and the way to make that happen is by providing the most amount of value to your customers so that they literally fall in love with your product. This is what it means to be customer-centric; putting your customers at the center of everything you do, whether that be around product development or marketing. When you focus on what your customers really need, your product becomes a must have instead of a nice to have. That’s a great place to be when there’s a downturn in the economy, so keeping this as your focus is always a good idea.
Tip #2 – Make your emails interesting
I cannot tell you how many boring emails I get every single day from random people I don’t know trying to sell me low-level garbage. That may sound harsh, but it’s true. What’s obvious in all of them is that their principal objective is to get me to respond; they don’t seem to be concerned at all with the value they are providing to me. So, if you want your emails to be opened, think about crafting highly tailored messages that resonate with your audience. Create subject lines that are interesting and intriguing for your specific buyer personas. Again, put your prospects at the center of your message by highlighting the “what’s in it for me,” (i.e. the value behind your value proposition). Also, keep them on point by focusing on one subject per message. If you have 3 things you want to highlight, it’s better to create 3 messages around those three topics. You don’t have to write a novel, but you do need to provide value in the message. I have been getting a ton of emails that just say, “I’d love to have 10 minutes of your time to present our solution. When would you be available?” But why would I agree to a meeting (even if it is only for 10 minutes, which I highly doubt) if I have no idea what the meeting would be about? And then if each subsequent message just says, “I’m following up about my previous message” (that I didn’t respond to), why would that make any difference? If you want to improve your conversion rates, focus on the quality of your email messages and what MORE you can give to your prospects and customers alike. Then package that in a fun, inspiring, or insightful message so that people engage within in the manner it was intended.
Tip #3 – Spend your time on the social channels that work
Some marketers spread themselves thin on social media because they think they have to be everywhere. They create Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and YouTube channels when their buyers may not engaging with their brand on any of those platforms. Narrowing the focus to the channels that work helps save you time and effort, rather than trying to be all things to all people. For B2B software marketers, it may be more effective only to focus on LinkedIn, creating a content calendar full of diverse, highly valuable assets, rather than trying to grow a following on Instagram. Of course, only you can decide what is most effective for your business, but when you are looking to maximize efficiency, it’s better to do more with less; in other words, do more posts on less channels.
Tip #4 – Build the traffic that you own
Paid advertising can be great, and it can also be one giant black hole, sucking the life out of your budget. The problem with B2B software sales is that sales cycles are usually long and complex; no one is buying your product like they would a book off of Amazon. So paid ads do not always have the impact you desire. However, building out your list of opted-in contacts is critical for you to create email marketing campaigns which help educate and nurture prospects over time. Let’s face it: You could have the greatest email cadence on earth but if you are only sending it to a handful of people, the impact will be limited at best. Building the traffic that you own means that you are growing your list of email subscribers so that you can further segment; segmentation allows for hyper-tailoring of messages (by job function, company size, industry vertical…) This will ensure vast improvements to your email conversation rates and website traffic.
Tip #5– SEO and ranking for keywords
Content marketing is a non-negligible part of any lead generation initiative. Writing content around keywords is not always easy, but it is a fundamental part of organic SEO. Having valuable content, both gated (meaning you capture an email address in order to give the reader access to it) and ungated (meaning it is open to anyone to view online), that contains you most important keywords will help people searching for such phrases to find you. Creating domain authority by having backlinks leading to your website will also organically improve your ranking in search engines. The more people that are able to find you, the less work you will need to do on the outbound side to find them. So while the effort takes time and it’s not a short-term strategy, it is a highly valuable one that should not be neglected.
Conclusion
Lead generation is such an important part of developing your business because the more leads you have, the more chance you have of converting sales. Don’t forget that cold calling and telemarketing outreach is also an important part of the process that should not be ignored.
If you are looking for other tips and strategies to help you design your next marketing campaign, go ahead and book your free session to Ask Me Anything!
