Overview
ImPOS was looking for a way to increase the number of inbound leads to their website. Their current strategy just did not work.
That was when ImPOS turned to Shout for help. We helped them revamp their organic and paid search traffic to drive consistent leads for their business.
While it sounds easy saying it now, the truth is inbound lead generation requires the right strategy and mix to work successfully.
Fortunately, below we discuss how you can use these strategies for your business.
5 Inbound Lead Generation Strategies
1. Drive Traffic
Every marketer knows they need traffic to generate leads. The challenge becomes how do we this in an effective manner in today’s ultra-competitive landscape.
After all, as we discuss in our Inbound Lead Generation for Ecommerce Sites article, 300 hours of content get uploaded to YouTube every minute.
The key to driving traffic therefore is not more, but better content. Do not try to out produce YouTube in the amount of content you create.
You will not win. However, if you target your content to a specific audience you can generate interest within a specific segment of the market.
That segment will be your base and drive your traffic and leads. Use Persona-Based Marketing to determine who will get the most use from your information.
Get key profile information about your target market. Items such as their age, sex, job, location, hobbies, where they hang out, and other demographics you can begin to see what your ideal prospect wants and needs from you.
By understanding the type of people who will benefit from your services, you can address the pain points in your traffic generation. This helps you target the people who need your services the most.
2. Create engaging content
One word you noticed we used in the previous point was content. We have all heard the statement that content is king online.
The truth is that content is not king. Boring content never rules the internet. It is only content that is interesting and relevant to users.
This goes back to the idea that we need to find a target market for traffic. As we stated in Turning Content into Leads, you can write the best article in the world. However, if it is written for the wrong audience, then it will fall on deaf ears.
Research topics in advance you believe your audience wants more information. Using tools like Buzz Sumo and Google Keyword Research Planner you can identify the number of social shares and keyword views for your topics.
This can help you understand how relevant and useful the information is to your audience.
Next, make sure your content fits in with your overall inbound lead generation cycle. Hubspot had a conversation recently about how a lot of inbound marketing content is directionless content.
The content does not help move the buyer through their journey to your services or answer their pain points.
Because over 75% of customers will not be ready to buy within 12-24 months, you need to have a long-term lead nurturing program in place to generate the leads you need for your business
3. Promote Your Content
Some people might find it shocking, but ‘Build it, and they will come’ rarely, if ever works.
You need to promote your content. This is where the traffic strategies like Social media, search engine optimization, search engine marketing, and other digital strategies come into play types of agile project management.
Now that you know where your target market hangs out online, you can begin to use that information to create your promoted content.
This content should lead users to check out your website to go to the next step in the buyers’ journey.
4. Call-to-actions
Ask for your prospect’s information to add them to your list. Maybe you can get them to buy a small eBook the first time on your website or sign up for a free white paper. The call-to-action (CTA) varies on a number of factors.
For example, B2B is very different from B2C CTAs. B2C sometimes are smaller, but have larger volume transactions. Comparatively, B2B often requires longer sales cycles with multiple decision-makers.
It is understandable how these leads require more relationship building before closing.
That is why in our article on 5 Advanced Content Strategies for Lead Generation, we discuss how companies with over 40 lead pages with free offers generates over 12 times the results compared to companies with 5 landing pages or less. The more CTAs you have, the more opportunities to improve your lead generation process.
5. Measure and Listen
The final step is to measure your results, so you can improve upon what you have done in the past.
Three simple ways to do this are through:
- A/B split tests– These tests help you determine what parts of your inbound marketing strategy work best for your audience.
- Social Listening tools- Social media is more than just a traffic driver. It also provides companies with a wealth of data to understand their market.
- Surveys- In the end, the simplest way to generate more leads is to ask your customers what they need most. The answers will confirm what you already know, shock you in other ways, and give you vast insights into their frame of thinking.
Final Thoughts
Driving leads to your business through inbound marketing takes work to do accurately. From driving the right traffic to your site, to creating engaging content, having dynamic CTAs, and measuring the results you need to put a lot of thought into the process.
If you need help putting together your inbound lead generation system, then contact a digital marketing company in Australia
for a free complimentary discovery session.
