If you want to create more leads and grow your business, you need a marketing strategy. The trouble is there are so many to choose from, so which strategy is best for your business? Every business is unique, and you need to find the strategies and infrastructure that work for you.
That said, there are plenty of industry practices that any business can benefit from; these include signing up to online directories and networking on social media channels. This article gives you an overview of some of the most common strategies for you to choose from.
Network in your industry
Networking is always important in B2B industries; you need to connect with new prospects – but it goes further than that. Building a successful business is as much about building relationships as it is about creating leads and winning contracts. So don’t simply rely on online content.
There might be a tone of information on your website about how you operate and the services you have, but that doesn’t mean you can sit back and put your feet up. If you have a new lead or prospect, don’t waste any opportunity to connect with them in person through video or phone.
Let’s say you have a lead who has a question about your product or service; instead of simply answering their question on the email, why not jump on a quick video call to run them through the features. This helps to strengthen existing relationships and reputation moving forward.
Create a list of target contacts
If you want to grow your business, you need a lead generation database. These come in different forms; some of them are directories, some are email lists, and some are dedicated software such as Growlabs. These strategies allow you to contact prospects with an offer.
However, there are inefficiencies in this strategy; for one thing, the leads you target might be outdated, you might already have them in your database, or they might not be suitable for your domain. That’s one reason to invest in a software solution that lets you program variables.
Lead generation software such as Growlabs helps you target relevant leads that improve your acquisition numbers. If you’re interested in targeting relevant leads who have a need for your product or service, choose a software solution to increase email lists and improve databases.
Reach out to new customers
Cold calling has always had its place in lead generation strategies, but even in the old days, cold calls were still personalized. Studies show that personalized calls receive better engagement and higher conversion rates. Fast forward decades, and things haven’t changed.
Technology might have developed, but it still pays to personalize your outreach program. When a B2B customer sees they are valued, it improves the potential for a partnership. The trouble is you probably have too many B2B customer leads to create personalized emails for all of them.
The solution? Use a merge tag! These are sometimes called substitution strings or personalization codes. A merge tag is a piece of code that allows you to insert user data from your mailing list into emails to personalize them – it lets you replace names and signatures.
Strengthen existing relationships
Cold calling is one strategy for generating new leads, but according to data, it’s the least effective. Even businesses with some interest in what you have to offer might not be willing to engage with you if they have never heard of your business before – so what’s the answer?
Warm calling is the practice of selling to customers that have heard of you before or have a place on your email list. Contacting these customers is easiest because they have more time for you, and there are higher levels of trust. Use strategies to prepare the ground for warm calls.
If you don’t want to contact your leads cold, then send them a preparatory email to inform them of your brand and product. You could also contact them through social media to gauge their interest or target them with ads. This strategy leads to better engagement and quality leads.
Lean on marketing automation
Email lists are a vital resource for your business; they provide you with a customer base that knows who you are and has expressed some interest in what you have to offer. Still, email lists can be difficult to organize and to make the most use of; that’s why you need automation tools.
Marketing automation takes the mundane tasks out of your working week and frees up some time for you to focus on other aspects of your business. Not only that, marketing automation tools help you target the right customers, with the right product, at the right time; here’s how.
When you integrate a marketing automation tool such as ActiveCampaign, you can segment your email lists according to the customer’s conversion criteria. So if your customers signed up for the newsletter, they might also be interested in seasonal offers, improving your results.
Optimize your website
The quality of your website is not only important for search engine visibility; it’s also important for customers and user experiences. When a website is not user-friendly or on-brand, it leaves a poor impression on potential leads. Conversely, an adequate website supports your business.
Optimizing your website means making it accessible to customers, so consider creating a chat facility that allows your contacts to dialogue with you in real-time. Even if you have a knowledge base to direct them to, a chat facility is another customer touchpoint to nurture relationships.
But if you’re serious about optimizing your website for results, then consider software such as Hotjar. Hotjar is a software solution that allows you to create heatmaps of your webpages that show customer behavior onsite – you can then use this data to target specific areas of the site.
Upgrade your email signatures
Email signatures are crucial to support the professionalism of your business. However, you are contacting your leads; you need to make sure your email signature is clear and on-brand. This is usually done on email platforms but gets better results with a free email signature generator.
An email signature generator gives you additional features and more control over your professional email signature. Instead of relying on the standard templates on conventional email platforms, you can use more creative templates and fonts to make your email stand out.
A professional email signature is important for your brand identity; however, it’s also an opportunity to direct customers to promotions and discounts you are currently offering. After you have optimized your email signature, consider embedding a link in it to increase your traffic.
Join social media groups
Linkedin is the number one social media platform for networking and building business relationships, but it is not the only one. Although social media channels such as Facebook and Instagram are known more for social interactions, they also have groups and chats for business.
If you want to reach and engage more leads, then source some relevant social media groups across platforms and join them. Social media groups are an excellent place to participate in industry-relevant discussions and generate warm leads that are more familiar with your brand.
Social media allow you to build your brand quickly with free content and advertising. It’s very easy to stay active on a social media platform and get more brand recognition. When customers recognize your brand and style, they will be much more responsive when you contact them.
List your company on directories
Online business directories are free to join and useful for gaining new leads and improving your search engine ranking. A company directory listing can be claimed by your business, meaning that your company goes into the catalog of companies that are suitable for customer needs.
When you are listed as a director, it means that customers and leads can find your business or service in a convenient location, which increases your traffic without any additional effort or investment. Remember, this strategy is completely free of charge; you only have to sign up.
Some of the common online directories you can join include Google My Business, Bing Places, Yahoo Business Listings, Facebook, Yell.com, Whitepages, and Touch Local. Along with these, you can find more focused directories that focus on your particular industry, product, or service.
Improve your organic traffic
Consider that 68% of internet users begin their internet journey with a search engine, 53% of users find their way to websites through organic SERPs, and 93% of users arrive through Google Maps, Google Search, or Google Images. So you need to focus on organic results if you want to drive traffic to your website without creating a marketing budget for internet ads.
The good news is there are plenty of straightforward ways to improve your organic search results. Start by optimizing your website, use on-page SEO strategies to focus the theme of your webpages, and streamline your website by removing some of the heavier content like video. Remember to use long-tail keywords in your content to compete without the cost.
