Starting up a small business can be difficult. One of the major hurdles is getting customers to trust your product and be confident about what you are selling. This is difficult to achieve given the issues related to affording the cost of targeting your ideal customer and getting them to spend their hard-earned money with your business.
One of the most important things to start with is lead generation. There are many different leads that small businesses are able to try in order to target their ideal client. In order to learn more about how to target the ideal lead to your business.
10 Intelligent Ways to Generate More Leads to Your Small Business
Use a Digital Marketing Agency
Working with a digital marketing agency is a great way for a small business to generate leads. There are many different digital marketing agencies on the market, and it is important to carefully research these digital marketing agencies to see what results they have had with prior clients. If you are able to research and look up client testimonials, then you will be able to decide which digital marketing agency will be the ideal fit for your small business.
Related: Unlocking the Secrets to Lead Generation: A Beginner’s Comprehensive Guide
Incentive-Based Referral System
Having an incentive-based referral system is an excellent way to generate business. It is important to find incentives that your customers will respond to and then pick those incentives to further develop your company’s sales. An example of an incentive program would be a percentage discount if the customer refers to a certain number of individuals.
On social media, by inviting followers to tag a friend, it will also help your exposure and provide your existing customers with a benefit for referring to their contacts. Consider working with micro-influencers on this part that have smaller amounts of followers so people will actually be influenced by their post, which will increase your overall sales.
Related: How to Get More Followers on Instagram: 19 Tips to Grow Your Real Audience
Invest in a Modern Website
Having a modern website is essential these days in order to be competitive in the marketplace. It is important that you invest in having a modern website designed so that you are able to have the best possible presentation of your small business. By designing a contact form, potential clients will be able to get in touch with you with ease, which has the potential to increase your sales substantially. If you are selling products or services, integrating an eCommerce store onto your website is a great way to generate additional revenue without having to go to selling at traditional points of sale.
Understand SEO
SEO is an important way to increase your sales because it brings more unique visitors to your site. Learning how to use SEO keywords is important when trying to attract the most possible visitors to your site. SEO keywords will help you to show up in search engines and have more organic growth, which has the potential to grow your existing client base and increase your sales.
Social Media Lead Generation
Social media lead generation is another great way to attract new customers to your business. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram have a way to invest in paid advertisements to reach more customers. LinkedIn also has a way to pay to advertise to target leads in a particular niche that your small business is focusing on. Through using hashtags, you will be able to reach an entirely unique net of customers that you would have never accessed otherwise.
Be sure to hire a firm to work with when you are attempting to hire for social media lead generation. By doing so, you will be able to benefit from their experience and not spend countless hours wasting your time on social media lead generation strategies that do not work. Working with seasoned professionals is absolutely the way to go since there is a great deal changing in the social media landscape and it is important to stay on top of recent developments to be sure that you are benefiting the most you possibly can from your social media lead generation strategy.
Business Newsletter
Having a business newsletter that is sent in the form of an email newsletter is a valuable tool for you to consider. Be sure that you shop carefully for companies that manage your email content management. If you are able to do so, you will be able to create a custom template that is ideal for your branding. Make sure to send your business newsletter regularly, but to also include an unsubscribe button so that you are not subject to any legal violations.
Create White Papers for Downloading
If you have a great deal of expertise in a particular subject matter, creating white papers is an excellent way to further connect with customers. White papers can be downloaded by your customers, which is a fantastic way to spike their interest and make them trust your expertise. Many companies use these white papers to teach their customers something new or to answer a common question that people are searching for on the internet. Try to release at least one white paper per month to continually keep attracting your target customers to want to learn more from you.
Add a Live Chat to Your Website
It is one thing to get your target customers to your site. It is quite another to get them to purchase something. Having a live chat will enable your sales team to answer questions that a customer may be doubting about your product or service. Making this investment will lead to additional sales in the future because you have the ability to capture that customer while they are still interested in what your company has to offer. Even though installing a live chat may seem complicated, it is one of the best possible investments that you can make for your company.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer Marketing is something that has exploded recently. There are many potential websites to collaborate with when it comes to influencer marketing and it is possible to hire influencers to post on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and Twitter.
The most important aspect to focus on is to decide what kind of influencer you would like to market your product. Each influencer has its own niche of followers that you can use as a tool to promote your business. An example of this is if you are a writing company, to find authors that are influencers.
If you are a fashion company, finding influencers that have a large following in the fashion space are an excellent choice to further reach your target audience and generate sales. Before hiring any influencer, make sure to look at their engagement score. It is quite easy to purchase followers now and you need to be sure that an influencer has a genuine interaction with their followers.
For example, if you see an influencer with 100,000 followers and only 100 likes per photograph, they may not be your ideal fit to increase sales. Make sure to study these metrics carefully before deciding to hire an influencer to market your products on their various platforms.
Pin Images on Pinterest to Show How to Use Your Product in New Ways
Pinning images on Pinterest with your products being practically used is a great way to have customers visualize how your products will improve their quality of life. Even if you offer services, pinning different benefits of your services can be attractive to customers and make them better understand your offerings. If you do not understand Pinterest, it is best to hire an expert to manage your number of followers and your pin engagements. If you do so, you will be able to have an increase in your brand’s awareness and your overall sales.
Final Remarks
Generating leads for a small business can be very challenging. It is important that small businesses consider their vision carefully before they decide to start looking for customers. The cost of generating leads can be quite expensive and there is a lot of waste that small businesses make when they shouldn’t at the beginning.
When a small business is first starting out, cash is essential. Finding the right ways to generate leads is something that is essential for the business’ organic and successful growth. Be sure to realistically assess who the ideal customer for your small business is and then consider which mediums that target customer will likely engage with. Once you narrow down these mediums, you will be able to ascertain which ones are the best to invest in when your cash flow is still tight.
As you have marginal success, then you should consider widening your lead generation reach to take your business to the next level. Remember that lead generation is something that needs to be gradual in order to be effective. So long as you grow your leads steadily, you will build customer loyalty that will result in a long-term relationship with your customers, which will also benefit your both short and long-term sales objectives.
