Increasingly, marketing is being pigeon-holed as a “magic wand” style of business activity…an action which must prompt an instant reaction! Whilst this may not fully jive with Newton’s third law of motion, there are clearly blurred lines between the creation of desirable sunshine and the magic needed to create these bright rays… which is worthy of examination.
In the past year, the following types of comments have been provided by clients; bemoaning their investment in marketing…
- “We’ve spent a lot of money refreshing our brand and website and haven’t seen the deluge of clients we expected?”
- “Our recent google ads campaign has not really worked, we get 2 or 3 calls a day, but so far no one has booked in for an appointment”
- “We recently revamped all the copy on our website, by getting a wordsmith to include all the keywords people search on for in our industry, so far we still don’t appear on the first page of a google search!”
- “Our recent video posting on facebook has received nearly 500 views – but to date this hasn’t increased sales?”
Clearly any marketing spend must generate a return on investment, however, the above activities are almost always a response to “the latest shiny thing” or “The bandwagon jump” and the upfront management of expectations is a critical ingredient of this mix.
A more structured approach to increased revenue, lies through the concept of lead generation. For this there are no “rabbits that will mysteriously appear out of a hat” nor other “Magical or Mystical” considerations…just a strategic approach based on “the business vision” and from this… sunshine will emerge.
So here are a dozen guidelines for your consideration which applies some “scientific” strategic thinking to the “art” of lead generation…
- Lead generation is not a one-off event but a process which needs consistent refinement and optimisation depending on the needs and requirements of your sales team
- Think carefully about the phrase “It’s a Numbers’ game?” – this may have been a marketing yardstick 10 years ago, but the new Zeitgeist suggests that quality will always prevail over quantity
- Remember of course that the quality of these leads will only be as good as the website or source used to provide them!
- The ability to present professional promotional messages, explain high-level concepts and present triumphant business stories makes online video an essential tool for lead generation.
- Make your CRM work for you, familiarise yourself with the metrics, ensure it is frequently updated and above all accurate. Mine the data regularly to research and view insightful information to ensure a steady stream of leads are generated to follow up and keep your sales pipeline full.
- Make sure you have a realistic and robust budget that allows lead generation activities to flourish
- Always be prepared to offer free advice, people are happy to give up information but the value of what is on offer must outweigh what they are giving up! You are after all, reading this article and hopefully finding some diamond needles amongst the golden haystacks of marketing advice!
- When creating a lead generation magnet always ensure the information you create targets your market and demographic! more specifically if you can …… “THINK NICHE!”
- According to the US Content Marketing Institute “91% of B2B content marketers say lead generation is the biggest goal of their content marketing.”
- Make sure your brand image and messaging are clear and replicable across your website, marketing collateral, sales packages and all the social media platforms that best represent your business.
- Never lose site of the power and importance of your network and networking.
- A blog on your website is to provide information not to sell yourself!
Hopefully, this will start you on the path to illuminated lead generation and manage your marketing expectations. Please remember that there is no “could it be magic?” simply good process, organisation, and hard work.
No magic wands were harmed in the creation of this blog and apologies for the late mention of the cheery ballad from Barry Manilow (it was to fulfil a bet!)
