How to generate more leads part 3 – digital marketing
So far in this series of how to get more leads, we have looked at some simple tweaks to improve your website’s potential and how to get more traffic to your website. Now we will look at digital marketing strategies that go beyond your immediate website. Remember this is not a step by step guide but rather a collection of ideas that you can hopefully implement to help grow your business.
Webinars
These can be difficult to implement and will require a great deal of prior preparation and planning but can be highly rewarding from a lead generation stand point.
Webinars serve as a great way to demonstrate your knowledge and skill set, while providing real value to your audience. Plus, most major webinar software providers offer you the function to record your webinar, which means you have great content you can share again and again.
To get the most from them simply request some basic contact information. As a minimum, those interested will give you accurate data because you will need to email them the confirmation and access instructions.
Pros:
- Thought leadership
- Accurate information from prospects
- Long-term marketing value
Cons:
- Large amount of preparation
- Some technical support required
- Need to actively follow up to get the most out of it
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is sometimes scorned at and over the years has received a lot of negative press. Yet here we are talking about doing your research, understanding where your audience is, and finding a way to reach them – not forcing traffic/downloads/data capture etc. on an unsuspecting victim.
There are many reputable networks and websites out there and with careful management it can be a very profitable channel. It won’t suit everyone but the rewards are there.
Pros:
- Increased reach
- Active promotion by third parties
- Brand awareness
Cons:
- Reduced control on placement
- Negative perceptions
- Referral fees
Build partnerships
Find ways to build mutually beneficial partnerships, where you and a partner cross promote each other’s services or, even supply guest blogs.
Essentially, there are many potential partnership channels:
- Content/blogging
- Social media
- Lead referral
- Sponsorship
Guest blogging has received a lot of negative publicity in recent times and Google has added this tactic to the naughty list. However, there is a fundamental difference between spamming content via a blogging network, and supplying content to another site that delivers value and adds meaning to that blog.
As with all partnerships, the agreement must be mutually beneficial to not only your partner and you, but also each party’s customers/clients/users/readers.
Pros:
- Long-term potential
- Stronger leads
- Cost-effective
Cons:
- Can be difficult to manage
- Finding a partnership can be hard
- Costs can be high on big networks
Ebooks and downloads
We mentioned this previously in part 1 but we’ll touch on it again because offering anything free like an ebook is a great way to deliver something of value to your audience. Also, with correct branding, calls to action, and contact details it can deliver new opportunities as it is shared among colleagues.
Web analytics
Analytics and the way you record data is critical to everything you do, especially integration and accuracy.
So let’s start with integration. In principle it’s rather simple. Essentially, you need to ensure that every campaign is specifically tracked and every possible goal and touch point is recorded. This is what analytics does right? Well yes, but you still need to ensure that you are managing the relevant integrations. A common example is setting up a Google AdWords campaign without linking it to your analytics package which is fairly straight forward if you use Google Analytics.
Most analytics packages will offer you a way to customise URLs so they can pull in relevant data. For example, the URL builder tool from Google will allow you to track specific campaigns or anything you wish.
So say you start advertising on LinkedIn to drive traffic to your site – this paid traffic will naturally default to “direct” and end up being lost, whereas a URL tool allows you to identify this traffic and correctly attribute any goals that are triggered. “Insert screen shot below of tool in use”
Essentially, your digital activity boils down to five simple points:
- Educate
- Reach
- Nurture
- Integrate
- Analyse
Always consider how your activity and product will benefit your audience. Use these ideas to engage your audience and educate them. Ensure that everything is integrated properly with each channel and tool and then analyse the data to identify what has worked and what hasn’t – just as importantly: consider why.
Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5 – Part 6
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Tags: digital marketing, Lead Generation, Marketing, marketing strategy