Brand and Capture

Social Media Is Changing Lead Generation Tactics

Social media is changing the way businesses generate sales leads. Social media promotes contacts with potential customers at a much earlier stage than more traditional lead generation tools. Initial contacts may have less to do with the product or service you sell than with the fact that a site visitor's friend shared a humorous YouTube video or an interesting blog post on your website or re-tweeted a Twitter entry you sent out. Because of the interconnectivity and cross-site pollination promoted by social media, businesses can expect to see more of these embryonic customers visiting their websites.

Nurturing these early contacts with customers who do not have a current need for your services or products requires a different marketing approach than typical lead generation techniques. The trick is to snare the interest of these embryonic customers with a combination of helpful and interesting information, bizarre facts, humor and provocative videos. Rather than generating formal leads, the goal at this stage of contact is to encourage these future potential customers to keep returning to your website or Facebook page in the hopes that they will eventually develop a need for your services. The goal is to begin nurturing a relationship on which you can begin to build. The most effective way to do this without scaring off these early prospects is by offering access to quality information on your website or Facebook page without requiring access registration. At this stage of the game, occasional visitors are apt to go elsewhere to avoid sharing personal information. As these prospects return to your site for additional information, they will gradually become more comfortable and be willing to share their contact information.

Social media marketing can help you nurture these initial contacts into qualified leads and qualified leads into eventual sales. Using social media interaction to engage these embryonic customers not only plants the seeds of customer loyalty, it allows you to collect information that can be used to refine Internet content and better target this future customer pool. Social media allow businesses to interact and converse with potential customers on a personal level. The information gleaned from those contacts can be used to increase the relevancy of customer interactions. Combining this information with other web analytics like email click-throughs, web downloads and page visits can help you refine and target marketing efforts and gradually nurture early contacts into sales.

What are your experiences with generating leads and customers via social media?

Need some help with your social media marketing? We can help.

Photo Credit: Patrick Q

Is Your Lead Conversion Glass Half Empty or Half Full?

The biggest frustration many of our clients have is that their sales leads have dwindled within the past year. Their marketing efforts aren't producing enough good qualified leads, so why bother? Some are even doing inbound marketing with all that entails - blogging, social media, seo, landing pages, the works. Still, the leads aren't rolling in yet. What's the problem? In many cases the root cause is simple - there isn't any real incentive for a visitor to sign up and become a lead.

Why Isn't My Offer Attractive Enough to Convert Leads?

1. It's just a discount for something really expensive. If it's for a meal out on the town, sure, discounts work great. Do any of us buy cars because there's a $1500 cash back discount?
2. It requires me to talk to you. Doesn't work. Give me something useful to read about your widget and how it saves peoples lives or lifestyles. Show me great examples of how my neighbors are making money or having fun using it.
3. It's boring. Yeah, I know we all love spec sheets and sales brochures. Come on, you can do better than that. Show me something I haven't seen. Something creative. And don't just do a rap video about your product - that's been done.
4. I don't speak techno. The perfect wrong approach is to cram a ton of detailed info into a download with lots of techno jargon, abbreviations and buzzwords. Into the trash bucket.

OK Then What Does Work?

1. Something With Tangible Value. You might argue that free coffee mugs and T shirts are useless, but a lot of people would disagree with you. Creativity goes a long way here. If you're a computer company, give away a computer. If you're a restaurant, a free meal. Travel company... You get the idea.
2. Not Easy to Get Elsewhere. Give away your secrets to business success or recipes or travel tips. Find out what people want to know and give it to them in a well-crafted download. Don't make it a big advertisement, but it can still be branded.
   
3. Make it Timely - for example create a list of the best gifts guys like just before Christmas.
4. Make it Entertaining. No rap videos for products - I said that already! Do something personal and invite people into your business home. An example might be a walking tour through your business (if that's interesting), or interviews with your employees about how they perceive your industry and clients. Or do the same thing with your clients. The people who may well want to become your clients want to know about you in advance.

The Cornerstone of Your Lead Generation Strategy

Build your lead generation strategy around your offers, not your tools. You hear the word "compelling" used in many marketing blogs for good reason. Think about what compels you to fill out a form and click the submit button. Then create an offer that would work on you, people like you, and people you want as customers.

What offers work best for your lead generation strategy?
 

Lead Conversion is Both an Art and a Science

Let's say we're getting ready to hire someone to jumpstart our lead conversions. What skills and talents does this person need? Should we find a data cruncher or someone who can talk you into surrendering your wallet? Should we blend in some designer skills and season it with some SEO? Maybe all of these ought to go on our job description. After all, lead conversion is both an art and a science.

The Art

Think about what we're trying to do here. We're trying to convince someone who couldn't care less about your products or services to sign up for something, maybe even buy something. No small feat, even for a well-known brand. We'll need someone with a functioning right brain to:

1. Understand what the customers want. You'll need to get inside their heads and hearts for this one. Must love dogs - that kind of thing.
2. Come up with an offer that will appeal to them. Sure, you can give away snuggies and magnets 'til the cows come home, but how does that keep your visitors coming back for more and opening their wallets?
3. Design a great landing page that converts every time. Yes, these challenges get tougher. Your page has got to grab them every time and convince them within seconds that if they don't sign up now, surely the sky will fall.
4. Follow up and close the deal. No, people don't like snake oil salesmen anymore.You have to find the right mix of lead nurturing e-mails, phone calls and face-to-face meetings to get it done. It helps if you have a personality and maybe you learned a few manners in 2nd grade too.

The Science

Ok, good for you. You closed a sale using your artsy-fartsy side. Is that it? Sorry dude, your job is to replicate that over and over, and it helps to understand what worked and what didn't. For that we'll need to crunch some numbers.

1. Campaign statistics - what worked best and why? Were there unique circumstances associated with the campaign or can you lather, rinse and repeat?
2. Channel statistics - what's the best pipeline or combo or channels? Was it radio and billboards or blogs and social media, or all of the above?
3. Demographics - who bought your stuff and why? Was it 65 year-olds living in Miami or teens from Schenectady?
4. Focus groups - did you run some formal testing to see what would work? How do your results compare to the actual campaign?
5. Analysis - somebody's got to go present this to the CMO and either blush with pride or duck and cover. What can you do better, assuming you have a second chance?  What's the plan for steadily increasing lead conversions (as you promised during the interview).

Now you're a bonafide lead converter, since you married your art and science into one righteous skillset. Of course you had some serious help, like the inbound marketing software, but we'll give you credit. After all, what's a grand piano without its Vladimir Horowitz?

5 Tips for an Effective Lead Nurturing Campaign

One of the most effective ways to convert leads into customers is creating a  lead nurturing campaign. Basically, you're following up after a visitor signs up for one of your offers on a landing page. More often than not they have signed up for a free download or event, and you still want to convert them into a paying customer for one of your products or services. Here are 5 tips for building an effective lead nurturing campaign and getting results.

1.  Set up three lead nurturing e-mails to automatically go out to a lead the day he/she signs up, two or three days following that and five to ten days thereafter. Make sure you include an opt-out link in your e-mails.
2. Design your e-mails to be attractive but not cluttered. Make sure your brand is well displayed in a header banner along with the topic of the e-mail. Make sure any graphics or links use the full url path to your website. Keep it short and to the point.
   
3. In each e-mail offer them something new but related to the original lead capture offer. For example, if they downloaded a whitepaper from the original landing page, invite them to a webinar on the same subject. Don't assume that they will be interested in something entirely different.
4. Mix it up. In ensuing e-mails offer them new opportunities to learn more about your products or services, but don't make it too "salesy". Instead, you're offering them a chance to learn something new and valuable. Most of all, you're trying to engage them in a conversation - that's when you can build a relationship and ultimately sell them your wares.
5. Just because they don't click through on your lead nurturing campaign, don't assume your visitors are not interested. If they haven't opted out, they're probably still willing to receive your information. Include them in monthly e-mail newsletters and announcements. Things change, budgets change. Your rejection today can be your best customer tomorrow.
   

Finally, one of the very best ways to convert is to talk to your leads. If they leave a phone number, chances are they want to talk. If they don't, you can probably find it on their website. In either case, your strategy is to listen, find out how you can help. Don't be a salesman. Be a resource.

Lead Nurturing Your Way Into Their Hearts

Lead nurturing is a lot like dating. OK, it's been 20 years for me, but I think I remember a little about dating.

First you try to get them interested with an impressive first date. For most of us it's lunch or dinner, a chance to get to know each other a bit without too much commitment. Inbound marketers do this by publishing a free whitepaper or webinar and inviting folks to sign up.

Then daters follow up with a phone call or two to show their interest and try to line up a second date. The second date needs to be different. If you did dinner the first time, try walking around the zoo or taking in a festival during the day. This shows your range in a more relaxed setting and adds more time for conversation. Inbound marketers can follow-up their first lead capture with an e-mail or phone call thanking their lead for signing up and inviting them to something else. If you gave away a free e-book at first, try a webinar or a tweet-up the second time. Your strategy is to move them closer to a real one-on-one discussion.

If you've made it to the third date, congratulations. Statistics show, by the third date you're in, so to speak. No, I'm not talking about sex. I'm talking about starting a relationship. Now you want to turn it around and give your date some options, get them more involved. During date #1 and #2 you should be listening a lot. Try to determine what floats their boat, and suggest that for date #3. Same with inbound marketing. Start a conversation and offer to help (not sell). Give away some of your precious time and expertise. Ask for their ideas and share common experiences in marketing.

The key to dating and sales is asking for the next date. Don't focus so much on the smooch at the door - focus on getting the next date. Give them something to look forward to and you'll win their hearts (and business) every time.

What are your favorite dating/lead nurturing tips?

Top Strategies for Landing Page Optimization

Landing pages are the turnstiles of your Internet presence. They don't necessarily collect money from your visitors, but they do something even more important. They collect commitments. When people sign up for your stuff, they commit themselves to your care, and they trust that you won't abuse the relationship. Like it or not, visitors now become leads, and it's up to you to nurture the relationship and help it grow into something more meaningful. Ideally, your visitors become loyal customers or at least loyal subscribers to your ideas and updates. That's a lot to ask from a single page. Here are my top tips for landing page optimization.

1. Offer your visitors something they want. Seems simple enough, but do you really know what they want? Try asking them. Best approach - get some of them together and buy them lunch. Ask them what you can do for them and what they would like to see offered on your website.
2. Keep it Simple and Social. Don't put Chapter 1 on the page, just tell them what your offer's about, why they will want it and how to get it. That's all.
3. No distractions. No menu items. No external links. Put one good graphic on the page that helps to explain the "what, why and how" of the offer.
4. Keep the form short. Name and e-mail is all you really need. You'll get the rest later. The more stuff you require, the faster they will bail out.
5. Keep it visible, i.e. above the fold in a typical web browser.
6. Don't assume it's perfect. Try different approaches, layouts, text and titles. Try different colors and graphics. Try publishing them in different places and at different times. Try different offers. Don't assume that people really want any of them. You'll find out. Make sure you track each landing page separately and analyze the results. Go with the approaches that work the best.
7. Build in some way to nurture leads when you get them. It could be as simple as responding via e-mail and asking to set up a call or an online chat. HubSpot has some nice built-in tools for lead nurturing. Here are some more lead nurturing tools available foir small businesses.
8. Celebrate your success! When you contact your leads thank them and let them know you appreciate their interest. Even if no business ever materializes, you now have a resource that can prove invaluable as you work your inbound marketing magic. 

What are your landing pages tips and success stories?

Lead Nurturing as Part of an Integrated Marketing Campaign

There's an interesting debate going on in LinkedIn Answers about the positioning of various lead nurturing software solutions. The marketing automation market leaders face off with each other in an unusual display of bravado. Let's try to boil this down to the primary issues and see how the players compare.

First let's define lead nurturing in the context of a marketing campaign. Lead generation is the process of attracting people to your venue (in the case of internet marketing, we're talking about your website) and convincing them to sign up for something, i.e. capture their contact information. Lead nurturing is what happens after that, the steps you go through to improve your lead's interest in your products and services and ultimately commit to a sale. More loosely defined, lead nurturing is an early form of customer relationship management (CRM), where you work on relationship-building and maintain constant contact with your customers to enhance retention and inside sales.

So the debate is about marketing automation, using software to make the process of lead generation, lead nurturing and CRM as easy and productive as possible. Here's a breakdown of the players and their solutions (this is not an exhaustive list, just the players in the LinkedIn debate):

1. Eloqua - an integrated marketing automation platform featuring lead generation, contact management, e-mail marketing, website forms and landing pages, event management, lead nurturing, crm integration and marketing analytics.
2. Marketo - a b2b marketing platform featuring lead generation, e-mail marketing, contact management, lead nurturing, lead scoring, crm integration and marketing analytics.
3. HubSpot - an inbound marketing platform featuring a website cms, blogging, landing page creation, keyword analysis, on-page seo, social media promotion, inbound link analysis, competitive seo analysis, lead tracking, lead nurturing, marketing analytics and crm integration.

As you can see, Eloqua and Marketo offer similar solutions, focusing primarily on e-mail marketing for lead generation and lead nurturing. HubSpot, on the other hand, offers a complete solution for content marketing, social media marketing, seo, lead tracking and nurturing and marketing analytics. The Eloqua CTO and Marketo VP argue that their solutions offer more in-depth lead nurturing, scoring and deeper analysis of leads than does HubSpot. HubSpot's lead nurturing is new and has not been market-tested as long as either Eloqua and Marketo. Clearly Eloqua and Marketo offer more tools for lead nurturing, but my concern is their lead generation strategy. While e-mail marketing has a place in any internet marketing campaign, I believe that inbound marketing is a better strategy for getting found online and capturing leads.

In the interest of fairness and transparency, we have already chosen HubSpot as our inbound marketing solution, and we are a Certified HubSpot Partner. We have no experience with either Eloqua or Marketo, so it's up to you to investigate the benefits of these HubSpot competitors. We chose HubSpot because it is as close to a complete Internet marketing solution as you can find on the market.

The tip of the HubSpot spear is inbound marketing - creating great content, social media marketing and lead capture using calls-to-action and landing pages. Lead nurturing, closed-loop marketing (crm integration) and marketing analytics then allow you to take your lead generation success and optimize conversions to sales. For us and for our clients, there's a tremendous benefit to combining all of these disciplines in one coherent and easy-to-use platform. With such a platform, sales and marketing people can actually use the software to achieve maximum results without intensive training or technical support. If anyone else does all this, please let me know.

Tune Up Your Lead Capture Engine

So you had 1000 new visitors to the website last night... How many of them are now fresh, promising leads? None? Not sure? It's time for a lead-capture tune-up.

I think it must be a hangover from the 90's Internet bubble that many business owners still think that getting on Google page #1 is the end of the rainbow. Get your web traffic up and your business will grow. I'm not bashing SEO mind you. Getting on page #1 is definitely a good thing because it can drive visitors to your site, but the question is, then what? What good does it do you to have a gazillion visitors and no new business? We've been over this before, but your Website needs to be tuned to capture leads and convert them to customers.

Step 1 - Strategy

Put yourself in your potential customers' shoes. What do you have to offer them that they really want? When they sign up, who will contact them? When will you contact them? How will you contact them and what will you say? Draw up your game plan and stick to it.

Step 2 - Communicate and Make Calls to Action

Make simple and attractive buttons or graphics that communicate the value of your offer and invite them to click through. Put these calls-to-action in prominent places on your site that can't be missed by the casual visitor.

Step 3 - Ice the Deal With a Landing Page

Each call-to-action should link to an effective landing page. Design the page to be simple and appealing to the eye. State the value of your offer and give them some more detail - what's in it for the visitor. Give them only one option, to click on your sign-up link. Minimize or hide all other options, including navigation menus. Make your sign-up button and headings action-oriented, like "Sign Me Up to Save $100". Don't make them think - tell them what to do.

Step 4 - Monitor New Leads and Respond Quickly

Don't let your new fish off the line. Make sure you have a lead nurturing program set up - i.e. set up a series of e-mails that follow-up on your prospect and contact them personally by e-mail or, ideally, by phone.

Step 5 - Follow Up and Close the Deal

Get a meeting set up, whatever you do. Get some one-on-one time and explain who you are, what you're selling and why they need to buy from you. There is no time to separate sales and marketing these days - they are one and the same, so market and sell in one breath.

Step 6 - Measure and Analyze

No person or strategy is perfect, so measure the leads and conversions to customers relative to your marketing content, calls-to-action, landing pages and follow-ups. What works best? Fine-tune your strategy to increase conversion rates and sales.

Now you've gotten your website up to speed. Now you can actually gain something from all that SEO juice. Go forth and prosper.

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