Lead Generation – How to Grow Your Business Quickly

In order to increase revenues and profits, your company must increase its client base. To do this, the lead generation must be at the forefront of your marketing strategy. In this article, we take you through all the ins-and-outs of this strategy: what it is, how to turn those leads into clients, and various strategies your business can use.

So What Exactly is a Lead and Why Are They Important?

A lead is any contact that can be a potential future client or customer; sometimes they are referred to as a ‘prospect’. Simply put, it is a person, or a business, that has displayed an interest in your business but has yet to actually buy a product or service.

While anyone can simply chat with potential future clients, it takes a precise marketing strategy and an effective sales pitch to turn those potentials into actuals. Therefore, it is important to remember that it’s one thing to get a prospect to walk through the door or click on your website, and it is a completely different thing to get that prospect to actually pay for your product/service.

The key is to understand your target audience and then work with them so they turn into paying clients. In order to turn those leads into clients, you need to know which of the three (3) main categories each falls into Cold, Warm, and Hot.

Proper storytelling involves explaining the history, the wins and losses over the years, and the passion within the individuals behind the brand. By doing this, your brand will be more likely to evoke an emotional response from the market, leading to more people wanting to both invest in your company and share your company’s messaging. 

The key to building your messaging is to stay away from just spewing facts and actually wrap those facts up in a memorable experience for the audience. In fact, it’s been said that we are 22 times more likely to remember facts when they are delivered in a story – exemplifying why it is important to articulate your messaging in this fashion.

Your company’s mission statement should be the first avenue you use to tell the public about your brand’s core values and what you stand for. It’s a simple statement, usually one or two sentences, that will quickly grab and keep the attention of prospects. From there, you should include video marketing in your strategy, as it is one of the most effective methods for brands to tell their stories.

Hot Lead

This is the individual that is heating up your timeline, reacting and commenting on your posts, and shows a great interest in purchasing your product/service. The simplest way to determine if someone falls within this category is to apply the well-known BANT method: Budget, Authority, Need, and Time Frame

I’ve Classified My Leads, Now How Do I Convert Them to Clients?

Now that you have classified your prospects into cold, warm, and hot, it’s important to provide further support to meet their needs and transform them into clients.

This will involve further sub-classification; specifically of the leads who have engaged with your firm and are showing genuine interest in making a purchase. Each of the following phases of the conversion process has specific qualities and steps required to move from Information Qualified to Marketing Qualified, and eventually, to the Sales Qualified Lead.

Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)

Someone who falls into this category is the web page visitor who frequents your social media and website, downloads additional information on your products/services, and regularly engages with your marketing content.

At this stage, there needs to be more of a gentle push for these leads to turn into clients; your marketing team should be taking care of this. The conversion to the next phase can be achieved by offering free trials, product demos, coupons, free consultations, and free estimates.

The key at this stage is to directly prove that your product/service is needed and is able to satisfy those needs.

Sales Qualified Lead (SQL)

At this point, the prospect is in the final phase of the conversion process. An individual in this phase is considered to be at the final decision stage; they are ready to buy your product/service and now it is your job to seal the deal.

During this phase, your marketing team should have transferred this prospect to the sales team and the sales team should be in discussions with them. The prospect knows what they need, has the funds for it, the authority to say ‘yes’, so now all the sales team has to do is answer any specific questions, and guide this prospect through the buying process.

An important piece of this phase is the follow-up. Once SQL has purchased your business’s product/service, your team should directly follow-up with the client to ensure that their needs are met and that they are satisfied. This will close out the process, increase the likelihood of that client making future purchases, and increase the chances of them referring their friends and family to your business – now that is how you turn one prospect into many!

Strategies to Generate Leads and Convert Them into Clients

Now that your firm knows how to classify and usher prospective clients through the process from interest to buying, we can talk about some effective strategies to make the conversion process smoother.

These days, usually the first point of true contact with potential leads is on your social media and website. Therefore, it is important to regularly review your landing page, make sure all information is up-to-date, it is SEO compliant, and that it connects with your social media pages. The key here is to make sure that your messaging is consistent across all channels.

Once your homepage is updated, the next step is to directly link your content on your website. Use hyperlinks in the messaging on your homepage that will take your visitors to any webinar or videos you have so those potential clients can engage and learn more about what your business offers.

Another strategy to employ is engagement with your social media followers. This can involve putting regular polls in your Instagram Stories, asking questions from your Facebook page, or hosting giveaways through all your social channels. By utilizing social media and leveraging its reach, your firm will be able to connect with a larger audience and grow your business quicker.

For more information on lead generation and how it can help your business grow, please contact Dangerous Mind Advertising and we would be happy to help you reach your business goals.