Your business is small. Your customer base doesn’t have to be.
In the Digital Era, small business owners across a range of industries have the opportunity to generate interest around their products or services and grow their market share with the simple click of a button. This is called lead generation, and it is crucial to the success of your business.
Research shows that the modern consumer views 5,000 ads in one day! At this rate, it can be hard for any business to cut through all the noise, let alone a small business that, more often than not, has access to limited resources. That’s why active lead generation is important for any and every budding enterprise. You have to ignite the spark of interest within your target market and navigate interested parties through the sales pipeline.
Every business has a unique lead generation process, even your direct competitors. You need to figure out which marketing and sales strategies work best for you. This may take some trial and error, but the end results are worth it. Here are some basic tips to get you started:
I bet, right now, you’re probably trying to figure out how the heck you’re going to manage a whole lead generation campaign by yourself in between your accounting, financing, sales, HR, and customer service duties. Don’t worry! We have a great list of tools to help you manage your lead generation needs without going grey from stress.
Outbound Lead Generation Tools: Even the best salespeople can sometimes dread reaching out to sell products and services to potential customers. Outbound lead generation may get a bad rep nowadays, but it can be extremely effective when done right.
Tools to try: Prospect.io, Hoovers, Salesforce, Pipedrive
Inbound Lead Generation Tools: Bringing people to you — that’s the key to success. But this can be difficult without proper website traction, active social media, and strong brand awareness. Increase your digital presence to effectively increase inbound leads.
Tools to try: Marketo, Quora, Hootsuite
Website Traffic Tools: People who are browsing your website are already interested in what you have to sell. Now, you just need to convert these visitors into customers.
Tools to try: Lead Forensics, Pingdom, Hotjar, Unbounce, Hello Bar
Email Marketing Tools: In today’s day and age, users are constantly checking their emails for work, school, or other important life events. Finding your way into their inbox (not junk folder) can help you bring tons of traffic to your website. Write attention-grabbing headlines, use bold images, and design for phones first for the most effective email marketing campaigns.
Tools to try: Mailchimp, Constant Contact, BuzzBuilder, Growbots
SEO Tools: When potential customers are searching nearby products and services, is your website the first link on Google or other search engines? If not, you need to improve your SEO as this is an important tool for generating organic and paid traffic to your website.
Tools to try: SEMRush, Yoast SEO Plugin, AHREFS, Google Search Console, Google Analytics
Paid Advertising Tools: Promotion is the age-old method of growing your customer base. Nowadays, you have the opportunity to advertise on tons of different platforms. Take a moment to determine which platforms your target audience is more likely to use, then get to promoting!
Tools to try: Google Ads, Facebook Ads Gallery, KeywordCompetitor
CRM Tools: Customer relationship management is essential to building long-term relationships with potential and existing customers, guiding prospects through the sales pipeline, and keeping track of your lead generation efforts. Increase your efficiency with effective CRM tools.
Tools to try: Hubspot, Active Campaign, BlueLeap
Here, you got only a small sample of lead generation tools to help you get started on building a unique toolbox of your own. But as you grow your lead generation skills, you will come across thousands of new tools. It can be difficult to riffle through them all and decide which to keep and which to toss. Use these tips to determine which lead generation tools will work best for you!
If you’re already juggling too many hats as a small business owner, and you’d rather leave the lead generation to trusted professionals with proven track records, 1SEO is here and happy to help!
About the Author:
Kejsi Prifti is a Senior Content Creator at 1SEO by day and a rom-com junkie by night. She can often be found singing off-key in her car, baking just about edible desserts, spending time with her cats, and generally marching to the beat of her own drum.
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