Online lead generation is an Internet marketing term that refers to the generation of prospects and potential customers who are interested in your business’ products or services through the Internet. Leads can be generated for any number of reasons – to build an email list, for newsletter list acquisition, or to get access to a free or paid membership program.
Prospective customers will enter their name and email address into your lead generation option form on your website or landing page to receive more information on what you have to offer. Your offerings can include freebies like webinars, an e-book, training, consultations or video demonstration.
The Online Lead Generation Formula
Before we get into the sources of online leads, I want to share with you the formula for making money online:- Drive traffic (via content, ads, search engine optimization)
- Capture emails through a high converting lead capture page
- Build and develop relationships via regular email marketing & social engagement
- Add tons of value (support, give, serve way before asking for anything in return)
- Sell great products
- Rinse and Repeat as much as possible
Online Lead Generation Strategies
The Importance of A Lead Generation System
Generating quality leads online is useful for email list building and creating a database of customers you can follow up with on a continuous basis. The ultimate goal for generating leads online is to build relationships, improve sales and increase profits for your business by expanding your exposure and expertise through promotion and marketing.For affiliate marketers, network marketers and home based business owners, implementing effective online lead generation systems will allow for the automated process of building a pipeline of quality prospects through targeted marketing methods. Through the optimization of specific marketing and campaigns, leads can be directed to the next phase of the sales cycle and exposed to your product offerings.
What Are The Benefits of Online Lead Generation
Generating quality leads through an online lead generation system is more effective than cold calling, the 3 foot rule or other prospecting methods. Any prospective customer you capture through the Internet self-qualifies themselves as they flow through your sales funnel. Those that are interested, stay on your email list and buy when they are ready. Those that are not interested in your products or services, remove themselves from your marketing communications. This puts your business prospecting on automation. You save time, money, and energy which makes building a successful and profitable business easier.Throughout the sales process you are continuously giving value in the form of information, entertainment and education. When your prospects are educated before making purchases, they tend to be happier and you make more money. An informed customer understands exactly why they are spending their money and know what to expect because you have primed them through prior communication.
Online lead generation is a very efficient and low cost marketing strategy for receiving, qualifying and weeding out fresh leads which can ultimately result in a sale or partnership.
Strategies for Online Lead Generation
There are a number of ways to generated quality leads online. From attraction marketing to social media marketing, paid advertising to content marketing. One common feature of all the online lead generation strategies is that the goal is always to attract the ideal prospect, customer or client. Each online lead generation strategies aims to get someone’s attention. Online marketing methods include:1) Blogging and Content Creation
Publishing content via a blog, newsletter or information product, such as an ebook or free report, is a great way to add value and provide your prospects with solutions to the challenges they regularly face. If your blog posts offer value, your readers will readily provide their name and email address in exchange for receiving additional information from you in the future via an email newsletter or by attending a webinar. Providing free e-books, reports, or e-courses have a way of grabbing people’s attention. The more intriguing, compelling and results-driven your free offerings are, the more readers you’ll be able to convert to leads and subscribers through your online lead generation system.
2) Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization is a key marketing strategy for attracting leads online. By creating keyword rich, relevant content, search engines, such as Google, YouTube, Bing and Yahoo reward you with higher rankings which results in an increase in the amount of leads you will receive through organic web searches. The more visibility you get the more targeted traffic you will receive. Search engine optimization is not just used for blog content. Optimizing your videos, images and audio content can also result in a massive influx of new leads.
3) Online Lead Generation through Social Media Marketing & Networking
Social media is a powerful platform for generating HOT leads on the Internet. Social media marketing is a useful strategy to improve your online leads. By engaging with your audience, growing a social community and building relationships with the fans of your community, you can drive targeted traffic to your business. Popular social media networks include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and GooglePlus.
4) Lead Generation Websites and Landing Pages
Your website, particularly the landing page, is a great way to attract targeted traffic. The number of visitors you convert to leads will be determined by the the solutions you promise to deliver and the congruency of our offer. It is important to design your website and landing pages in a way that highlights the solution you will provide if a visitor were to opt in to your online lead generation system. To maximize your lead generation use attractive, high converting lead pages and opt in forms, strategically place them on every page of your website either at the bottom of your pages or on the sidebars. To increase conversions simply ask for their email address.
5) Creating Online Marketing Video Tutorials and Viral Videos
Video marketing is a powerful media for driving high quality, targeted leads online. Publish and share your videos to video-sharing sites such as YouTube, Vimeo, and DailyMotion. Your video should be information filled, useful and it should speak directly to the audience that can benefit from your products and services the most.
6) Paid Advertising and PPC (Pay per click)
Whether you are using Facebook PPC, YouTube PPC, Google Adwords or Bing PPC, this form of advanced online lead generation can be lucrative is you know how to properly implement the methods. PPC is a results driven online marketing strategy were you can control your ad budget, the volume of traffic and the flow of online leads to your landing page. A PPC ad lead generation system is also a great way to test future product offerings and marketing campaigns prior to committing a lot of time and money to building out the project. Running PPC ads can help you pinpoint the right marketing message, determine winning ads that convert and help improve the effectiveness of your marketing and sales strategies.
7) Solo Ads
If you want to build an email list in a hurry, solo ads are one of the best ways to build a list fast and generate online leads in record time. When you use solo ads, you purchase “ad space” on the mailing list of other successful marketers who hopefully have responsive, buying customers. Solo ads can be expensive and it is important to test high converting lead capture pages and ad copy that allow you to get the best return on your investment.
When it comes down to picking an online lead generation system that will work for you, the best advise if to test, test, and test some more. Determine how many leads you need to make a sale, how much money you are willing to spend (or not spend) to achieve your desired results and which marketing methods give you the best return on your time and effort. You should also consider the quality of the leads you attract alongside the conversion rate. Be willing to implement new online lead generation systems and try new combinations of strategies to improve your results.
It is EXTREMELY important to understand the difference between the time we spend generating leads online, versus the time we could spend leveraging an effective, automated lead generation system that allows us to work less and make more. The difference is similar to working on your business versus having your business work for you!
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