With so many tasks, challenges, and opportunities facing you and your business every day, it’s easy to overlook strategies that can help you build a stronger foundation and grow your business. One of these is lead generation – an essential tool that increases your revenue and creates a steady pipeline of new customers.
Although lead generation has traditionally been considered a business-to-business (B2B) tactic, an effective lead generation strategy is useful for just about any type of business.
In this overview, you’ll learn all about lead generation – what it is (and isn’t) and how small businesses like yours can benefit. You’ll also get seven lead generation strategies to help you create a plan that’s cost-effective and easy to tailor to your goals and business.
What is lead generation?
Lead generation refers to the steps your business takes to proactively develop a specific and select group of potential clients. This differs from general marketing, in which you cast a much wider net to help you establish and build brand recognition. When you’re working on lead generation, break your leads into two categories: inbound leads and outbound leads. Here’s more detail on each:
- Inbound leads: These are leads that come to you through more indirect means. They’re generated primarily through your business’s website, blog, podcasts, videos, and other content-based strategies focused on educating and supporting your target customers. With inbound leads, a potential client discovers your content and contacts you.
- Outbound leads: Outbound leads are those potential customers that you engage through a more direct activity. They could hear from you through an email campaign or a direct-mail piece, or something as personalized as a phone call.
Here’s an example: Let’s say that you’re the owner of Lunchtime Catering Company, a catering business focused on serving corporate clients. As part of your overall marketing strategy, you advertise in your local newspaper. You also create digital ads that are targeted to your geographic service area as part of your digital marketing strategy. And, you have a website and a blog about topics of interest to your target corporate clients.
All of these actions can help build brand awareness and potentially attract new clients who contact you after experiencing your marketing and advertising campaign. These are your inbound leads.
Now, let’s say that you also develop a list of the “Top 30” corporate clients in your area that you’d love to have as regular customers. You create a very strategic and targeted outreach plan to introduce them to your services, including offering to do a tasting at their corporate offices. Clearly, this isn’t something that you’d advertise in your local newspaper – instead, this is a very specific and cultivated example of outbound lead generation with a goal of generating a handful of positive (and profitable) responses.
In either scenario, your lead generation efforts are working to gain the attention of your primary target audiences.
How your small business can benefit from lead generation
While most small businesses use marketing tactics that drive inbound leads, far fewer take the extra step to generate outbound leads. Ideally, your business’s growth strategy will include both. Each tactic offers different benefits that help you build your brand and business.
Here are a few ways that your business can benefit:
- In today’s business climate – which is both highly competitive and less loyalty-driven than in the past – lead generation is fundamental for growth and sustainability. It helps you continuously cultivate a core client base as the primary source of business revenue.
- A lead generation strategy helps you determine how much to spend on different types of leads, in terms of time and cash. Let’s use the previous example: if you know that gaining 10 regular customers from your “Top 30” list will get your business to a break-even point and every client beyond that builds profitability, then you can focus your marketing time and dollars accordingly.
- It can build a competitive advantage. Most businesses focus on marketing strategies that generate inbound leads – such as maintaining a website, digital advertising, and a social-media presence – and this should be a part of your overall plan, too. But far fewer focus on proactive outbound lead generation, so implementing this step can help you gain an edge over your competitors when it’s time for your target clients to act.
What are the potential challenges with lead generation?
Before exploring time-tested lead generation strategies, it’s important to be aware of potential challenges. Knowing these in advance helps you create the best action plan for your business’s specific budget, goals, and opportunities.
- Success builds over time. Although you may gain some customers from initial outreach, lead generation is most effective when it’s used as part of a comprehensive and ongoing strategy. The aim is to continuously build a group of clients that represent your core revenue base. Strategies like content marketing and email campaigns are all about playing the long game, too. A potential client can join your email list and receive your regular updates, but may not take further action for months or years.
- Losing leads and clients is normal. For a number of reasons, sometimes you’ll lose clients. That’s why, even if you experience short-term success with your lead generation strategy, long-range goals and plans are essential. Having a steady pipeline of leads from your lead generation strategy will supplement any that you lose along the way.
- Budget constraints require creativity, not cuts. When funds are tight or the economy is uncertain, many small businesses cut marketing expenses first, including lead generation strategies. Instead of making a cut, brainstorm with your staff and mentors about cost-effective ways to generate productive leads. And if you need a boost of capital to make your high-ROI strategies happen, talk to your bank and other potential lenders about your options.
Top 7 strategies for cost-effective lead generation
Lead generation can set your business up for greater stability today and for long-term success for years to come. Try these top strategies and let this information inspire you to come up with stellar ideas tailored to your clients and goals.
- Narrow your primary prospects. While several marketing tactics cast a wide net to help you build brand recognition, to reach your dream target customer, you have to know who you’re trying to reach. This gives you a bulls-eye sense of where to focus your lead generation resources.
Example: Instead of “corporate clients near us,” Lunchtime Catering Company focuses on “Corporate clients located within three miles of our downtown location that have 10-40 employees and that offer weekly luncheons for their employees.” - Optimize your website to serve your target clients first. Although potential clients may view your social media profiles, websites continue to be the primary digital channel for new clients to learn more about your business and take action. Ensure that key information is easy to find (including your location, phone number, and/or email). You should also include keywords throughout your website that are relevant to your target clients to increase your chances of showing up in their online searches.
Example: Lunchtime Catering Company’s home page highlights points that are important to their target clients – their service area, menu favorites, and the fact that they setup and clean up as well as provide food and beverages. They also highlight that many of the luncheon packages can be ordered up to just two hours before delivery. A bit of additional research can help you determine keywords to include to further hone your content for search engine success. - Consider a direct-mail campaign for target clients. For many businesses, direct mail is still an effective customer engagement tool. It’s particularly helpful when you’ve already built some brand recognition with the audience you’re trying to reach.
Example: Lunchtime Catering Company sends a customized packet to each of the 30 target clients that includes a hand-written note, customized menu samples, price lists, a business card, and a coupon for 10% off the first order. This approach is personalized, shows that you’ve done some research, and that you’re dedicated to earning their business. - Host events (both virtual and in-person): Depending on your business and clients, hosting events can be a great way to introduce people to your offerings. You can create networking events that give your clients opportunities to build theirs or host educational events that provide value to your audience. They’ll get something beneficial from your event, and you’ll get the opportunity to build brand awareness and your lead pipeline.
Example: Lunchtime Catering Company invites key people from the 30 target clients to a series of onsite tastings to introduce their offerings and engage potential clients with their high level of service. - Leverage marketing technology and data: Free tools like Google Analytics can give you insight into how your target clients engage or why you may be missing them. You can also use AI to help you get started creating your website content, draft emails, and more (just remember to always have a human check the work!). You can enlist your team’s help with these tasks or consider outsourcing some of the work. There are also free and low-cost software programs that can help to create, manage, and evaluate content and more.
Example: Lunchtime Catering Company wants to learn more about the effectiveness of its website and digital ads, but they don’t have the time to learn Google Analytics. After a quick search on Fiverr, they find a freelance marketing specialist who can help for a reasonable fee. Then, they find a freelance content creator to improve all of their digital channels. - Budget for paid targeted social/digital ads: Digital ads can be an effective way to reach target clients. If you don’t have someone on your team who’s created or managed ad campaigns, you can work with a freelance consultant for a reasonable fee.
Example: Through sites like Fiverr, Lunchtime Catering Company finds freelancers who can create a digital ad campaign based on the information provided about its target clientele. Then, you and your team can monitor engagement and sales conversion and revise ads/placement as needed. - Explore referral incentives: A solid referral can be invaluable! If it’s relevant to your business, develop an incentive program and ask existing clients to help your business grow by referring new clients. Then, as you serve and celebrate new clients, you can reward and thank your existing customers, too.
Example: Lunchtime Catering Company creates a referral reward program that offers existing clients a “thank you” coffee break for their staff for every new client that’s referred through them.
Pursuit can help you make your lead generation strategy a reality
Pursuit helps small business owners get the financing you need to grow your business, including implementing your marketing plans and lead generation strategy.
We have more than 15 small business loans and a line of credit available and we’re here to support your success. Contact us today to learn more.
