Traditionally, businesses have not completely exploited internet marketing methodology. One of the most popular questions I'm asked is, "I'm trying to accelerate my lead sourcing, can internet marketing deliver the results I need?" The short answer is, absolutely, no question, totally, yup, unquestionably... yes!!
Smart organisations have adapted to and embraced critical changes in how potential clients research information, how search engines impact traffic and success, resulting in a "reboot" in how they approach lead generation.
Regardless of whether you are the owner, marketing director or sales person, when lead generation slows, it’s time to change your game-plan.
Let's take a look at 7 recent changes in lead sourcing:
We have witnessed the end of the "strangle hold" Marketing Directors have over marketing budget. For many years, sales teams have been restricted by marketing departments, using pretty visual but ineffectual marketing components.
The key resource in your marketing tool-kit is undoubtedly your website. Irrespective of where prospects start their research, they will ultimately land on your website and this is when the actual decision to engage or not is usually made. Great targeted content wins a dialogue.
Historically, marketing directors have concentrated on the following metrics to measure the performance of their lead sourcing; leads/mth, cost/lead, ave time on website and bounce rates. Focusing on these metrics alone will give you a general indication, but honing in on more specific lead generation metrics such as; Have your webinars on subject ABC been receiving satisfactory factory registration & attendances? How are the download figures compared to page visits of your eBook landing pages? Will help you fine tune your plan as you consider these numbers to boost your lead generation endeavours.
We have observed an elevated use and cost of PPC to drive franchise lead generation as Google continues to develop its search engine. PPC is playing a more significant role in exposure than ever before.
You know...!? Those annoying little online ads that pop up for products you recently searched for? Retargeting is the process of showing ads on popular websites to visitors who have previously visited your site but not entered contact details. This is a growing trend because any marketing that applies directly to what a customer is interested in is far more effective.
Social media lead generation is now more reliable than ever. But amazingly, many companies have abandoned social media to generate leads, just as it emerged like a butterfly from its cocoon to aid the connection and engagement process. If you are still sceptical, simply spend 30 minutes comparing your most successful competitor's Google social media stats with yours and you’ll be reviewing your social accounts before you can say LinkedIn.
Countless organisations have switched to email to deliver mid-funnel nurturing content. As you never actually know upfront what issues, problems or pain points your prospects experience as they move towards maturity, you need to nurture all of your leads with targeted email. Once your leads are ready to commit, they'll know your brand and will be more likely to call you, furnishing you the perfect opportunity to close the sale.
Stand back and analyse your marketing initiatives. Do you think you're genuinely providing prospects with what they are looking for or is your own marketing placing barriers in the way? Does your website tell your brand story and answer all your prospects questions in detail? Are you connecting and engaging where your prospects hang out? Is your nurturing process keeping your leads focused on your brand or are they being courted by your competitors? Maybe it's time to rethink your lead sourcing game-plan?