A great deal about the way we do business has changed over the last 25 years. This is because the world has become more reliant on technology. As a result, companies have to adjust the way they generate leads. Marketers have to keep up with what their customers want. While the old methods do still deliver results, it's essential to know the best strategies to connect with the buyers of today.
One of the fundamental changes is that potential customers have a much better ability to research purchases than at any time in the past. And, they make full use of that ability before ever getting in touch with you. Because of that, you need to develop a robust digital marketing strategy that not only informs potential leads but demonstrates value to them as well.
With that in mind, let’s look at some of the most effective strategies your Small-to-Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) can use to generate traffic, convert visitors into leads, and then transform those leads into paying customers.
Become a leader in your industry through content marketing.
One of the best ways to assert yourself as an authority in your field (and therefore one of the first things you should do as part of your digital marketing strategy) is by producing related content that visitors find both useful and informative. By establishing yourself as an expert on subject matter related to your product or service, buyers will be more likely to engage with you.
One of the mistakes many businesses make is building their digital marketing strategy around the idea of selling their product or service rather than helping the visitor get what they’re looking for. By producing content like articles, reviews, and guides that addresses their pain points, potential customers will be more likely to want to hear you talk about how you can help them.
Take advantage of social media.
All of these platforms offer paid advertising. It's important to remember that you're not just running ads here, you're trying to engage people and build an audience. Build a page for your business, and design your advertising with the idea to gain followers you can then speak directly to.
Make sure your site is optimized for local SEO.
The first thing most people usually do when they're looking to make a purchase is a Google search. You want to be one of the first things they see when they do. Of course, if it was that easy then everybody would do it, so how can you increase your odds of landing higher up in the search results?
In recent years, the answer is to put a focus on optimizing your site for local SEO. Google is constantly changing how their search algorithms work. One of the most significant changes they've made in recent years has been to put a much greater emphasis on returning local results. Consumers are far more likely to visit businesses within five miles of their home. The advent of mobile devices means search results also need to adjust depending on where the person is at that moment.
Update your email marketing strategy.
Email marketing campaigns are a tried-and-true method of generating leads for a reason: they work, and still do to this day, even with all the new approaches in other areas. That said, it is important to adapt them for the modern-day. One of the ways you can do this is through segmentation of your email list so you can tailor communications to specific subgroups in your list of leads.
Automation is one of the most popular and effective ways to conduct an email marketing campaign. Many of the most successful marketers integrate their email campaigns with their CRM to create automated workflows for both outgoing communications as well as processing incoming leads.
Conclusion
We've just scratched the surface of ways you can leverage digital marketing to generate leads. The strategies outlined above are a great starting point for lead generation, improving your company's internal communication, and increasing your company’s bottom line.