Generating leads can very often be exhausting, frustrating, and ultimately fruitless. This is because companies often target the wrong people. If your efforts are reaching the wrong companies or employees that aren’t decision-makers, it can tank your conversion rates to nearly zero.
Traditional lead generation ideas are old news. Buyers today have all the power and information of the Internet at their fingertips. They’re informed, educated consumers, which means that they are savvy.
A good philosophy is to work smarter, not harder.
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Creating content, adding value, and generating contacts that are worthwhile, targeted, and evergreen will help to make lead generation more effective and profitable. You can be the company educating your consumers.
Create trust throughout the buying process and see where it can take you. Here are our top 7 creative lead generation ideas for today’s savvy consumers.
7 Lead Generation Ideas You Need to Try ASAP
1. Produce a product video.
If pictures are worth a thousand words, then a video must be worth a million. So it comes as no surprise that YouTube is the second largest search engine and third most visited site (after Google and Facebook).
In fact, YouTube logs more hours of video watched per day than Netflix and Facebook videos combined.
If your company isn’t tapping into the power of the video, then it’s leaving leads on the table. Creating a product video is a powerful way to engage, educate, and entertain prospects. Product videos have been shown to generate leads at a conversion rate of 33%.
2. Create an evergreen webinar.
Webinars are another great way to connect with leads. The power of a webinar is derived from its flexibility. Not only is it a live video, but it can also then be published on YouTube.
Not only can tap into social networks to crowdsource questions, but you can show your expertise by answering them. Webinars can be created for anything from a product video to a demonstration to a how-to to thought leadership.
A webinar is a great excuse to market to your email subscribers, ask for shares, and then capture new contact information.
Once the webinar is over, the resulting video is still a great piece of evergreen content you can host on your blog, YouTube page, or use as a reward for subscribing to your newsletter.
Webinars are one of the most powerful lead generation ideas you’ll find.
3. Give your ‘About Us’ page a spruce.
Your ‘About Us’ page isn’t just a space to talk about your journey as a company, but a place to generate leads. Prospects that are interested in potentially purchasing your product or service will go to your about page to learn about you.
You can use this space to define your unique value proposition. Why are you different and better than your competitors?
You can use this space to include a funny or memorable video that humanizes you while showing what you’re passionate about. You should be using this space as a call to action.
4. Automate outbound sales.
Let’s face it – no one loves cold emailing or cold calling. The fact of that matter is, most of that list isn’t interested in talking to you or doesn’t have a use for your service. But the problem isn’t outbound sales – it’s the list.
With software like Growbots, you can build targeted, streamlined lists of prospects that are your “right people”. You won’t be accidentally contacting employees with no power to say yes.
You won’t be reaching out to businesses that don’t have a need for your product. Growbots makes it easy to select target markets, create campaigns, automatically follow up, and analyze the results.
5. Volunteer or offer pro bono services.
When it comes to lead generation ideas, most companies don’t immediately go to volunteering. It might seem counterintuitive to donate your time and resources for hopes of profit in the future, can community outreach ever repay itself in spades.
Volunteering creates goodwill, helps your community, and helps you make a difference. This is a space where you can put your money where your mouth is, so to speak, and demonstrate you are the expert that you position yourself to be.
Whether you want to teach classes, volunteer for panels, speak at schools, offer mentorships, or something else that fits in with your business, volunteering is a great way to create trust that will drive “word of mouth” marketing.
6. Go to conferences, workshops, and seminars.
Boots-on-the-ground marketing can still be incredibly effective. Just like with volunteering, attending conferences, workshops, and seminars is a space for you to position yourself and company as a leader and expert in your field.
If you do this, be sure to capture contact information. Have a book where attendees can write down their information so that you can follow up later.
7. Ask current happy clients for referrals.
This is another great way to tap into the power of “word of mouth” marketing. People trust their friends and families, but sometimes they don’t think to talk about how great your product or service is. That is unless you ask them.
A great time to bring this up is in a follow-up contact. Ensure that they’re still satisfied with your product or service. Then ask if they know anyone else who might enjoy your services. It’s a small nudge, but it can make a huge difference.
Lead generation doesn’t need to be a headache. In fact, when you get down to the brass tacks, the best lead generation ideas are just ways for you to show your passion and excitement about your industry.
When you find ways to share your excitement, it draws people to you. These lead generation ideas are all about finding ways to reach your “right people” that are going to be excited too.
Once you’ve done that, the sales process is a breeze.
Do you have any lead generation ideas we didn’t mention? We’d love to hear them. Leave them in the comments below.
