There’s no sales organization in existence that can thrive without a steady supply of leads coming in every day. Although you won’t be able to close every lead, they’re the first step in the sales cycle that will bring you closer to your next deal.
But truth be told, lead generation is tough. Companies who don’t understand how it works or simply want “fast results” often fall back on ineffective or outdated techniques. They scour the internet to cobble together lists or waste time sending half-hearted cold emails that will never be read. The good news: there are better ways to find quality leads, and it doesn’t have to cost you a fortune.
Lead Generation Ideas to Follow
If your lead generation river is running dry or you simply want to level up your sales organization for a record-breaking month, these six modern lead generation ideas will help you connect with people that actually want to buy from you.
1. Highlight Thought Leaders in Your Industry
If you’re struggling to prove your brand’s value, enlist the help of an expert in your industry. Interview them to uncover secrets about your industry or share their perspective that your target audience might be interested in. This proves you care about the quality and accuracy of the content you deliver and establishes you as a trusted source.
At the end of your interview, you can encourage others to reach out with questions or request to be your next special guest. You may also be able to tap into the expert’s audience by asking them to share the content on their own channels.
2. Create Case Studies
Case studies are digital gold for many companies. They carry a high value to others, and more than 55% of marketers rank them as the most effective form of content. A good case study can persuade your audience to take a specific action or, at the very least, feel a certain way. Learn how to write an effective case study and use its benefits to your advantage.
3. Solve Problems via Video Content
Many companies who are jumping on board the video marketing train are creating mindless, worthless video content in hopes of scoring some trendy SEO points. There’s nothing in it for the viewer (at least not much), which means it’s not really doing the company any favors, either.
To combat this, consider creating videos that solve real problems. Show your viewer how to do something or fix something so they can see you as a credible source. Treat your video as a lead magnet, ensuring the viewer gets valuable content while also giving you an easy way to connect with them.
4. Create a Quiz
Quizzes are super effective when it comes to lead generation because they’re highly interactive and give audiences something new and refreshing to engage with. People want to become more self-aware, which is why people are so drawn to quizzes in the first place (even if they’re silly):
Which kind of apple are you?
What’s your cleaning style?
What does your pizza topping choice say about your personality?
People eat it up, and you can capitalize on their magnetism by creating your own quizzes that lead to landing pages or opt-in forms.
5. Start an Affiliate or Incentive Program
It’s no secret that word of mouth is one of the most powerful forces in marketing. Studies show that word of mouth marketing drives $6 trillion in global sales each year, with more than 90% of consumers trusting recommendations from family members or friends.
It’s also good news for brands, as word of mouth marketing costs them little or nothing.
Many companies have built much of their success on word of mouth marketing by encouraging their users to spread the word on their behalf in exchange for an incentive per person they get to sign up. For example, Dropbox would offer its users more storage space for every lead they recruited. It wasn’t a big expense to the company to offer this incentive, and they ended up with a quality lead as a result.
Typically, leads generated by word of mouth marketing are of higher quality than any other type of lead. They’ve had the benefit of learning about your company from a real user, so you don’t have to work as hard to establish trust and brand rapport.
To boost your lead generation, consider offering an incentive to your customers for every person they refer. You can make contingencies, such as only offering the incentive for paying customers to ensure you get your money’s worth. In essence, other people are doing all the heavy lifting for you.
6. Use Lead Generation Software
One of the simplest lead generation ideas is simply to start using lead gen software to help you collect, track, and manage leads. You may be getting plenty of leads (or least plenty of opportunities to collect leads), but without an effective management system, you risk having your leads slip through the cracks before you’re able to work with them.
You spend enough time, money, and brainpower on generating leads, so don’t risk all that work with a poor management system. Lead generation tools like LeadSquared can help you make the most of every lead that comes your way by collecting leads from multiple online and offline channels, then scoring and qualifying each one to create solid opportunities for your sales team.
Try LeadSquared for free for 15 days and experience for yourself how we cut your lead leakage to zero!
