This is going to be a fun one, I can feel it! So, what is lead generation? This is what I’ll be discussing with you today!
What is lead generation?
First of all, what is lead generation? It’s the act of identifying and cultivating relationships with potential clients/customers for a business’ products or services. What does that mean? Basically you’re networking with potential clients/customers in order to groom them to later invest in you in some way, shape or form. If you ask me, lead generation is just another form of networking. Check out my post on the topic here
What are some of the benefits of generating leads for your business?
1. Business Opportunities
The biggest benefit is, obviously, business opportunities. When your potential buyer knows you, then they’re more likely to come to you when they need your services. If they’ve seen your personality as professional, then they’re more likely to trust you over anyone else. Not only that but you could also come across a non-competing business that you could partner up with to work together.
2. Cuts down (or eliminates completely) on cold-emailing/messaging
Because you’ve already spoken to these people, there’s no longer a need to ‘cold message/email’ them when you’re ready to pitch your offer because as I said before, they’ve already spoken and learned enough about you to trust you with their purchases.
3. Customer Reviews
Once you’ve warmed up your new lead and turned them into paying customers, you can now ask them for a review/testimonial, otherwise known as ‘social proof’. This is much easier to do when you’ve built a mutually satisfying relationship with your client.
4. Expanding your network
This brings me to my next point which is, you get to expand your network when you create warm leads. They may not buy right away but you will definitely stay in their mind when they are ready. Another point is, even if they never buy from you, there is a higher chance of them referring someone else. This also allows you to get to know your leads and network. With a little bit of research, you learn whether your original ideal client is the only type of client you should be targeting. You can rethink your content to match other markets as well who could benefit from it and therefore, grow your network.
5. Builds Loyalty
You build loyalty by having your audience/target market know, trust and liking you. You accomplish this by networking with them and essentially turning them into leads.
What are some of the challenges of lead generation?
Strategy
Coming up with a strategy that actually works for you and your business is the hardest part of lead generation. Why? Because what works for me, may not necessarily work for you. Lead generation is all about testing and re-evaluating what your next move will be, enhance what works to make it work better, and removing what doesn’t.
Networking with the right people
Once you’ve got a strategy that works for you and your company in place, the next step is actually finding the people that you want to turn into leads. You need to come up with the right questions, the right things to say and the right type of conversation to turn someone random into a lead and then further down the line, a customer. This is where the ICA comes in. What is an ICA? ICA stands for Ideal Client Avatar. You may have heard this term in different words such as ideal customer, buyer persona, customer profile or ideal client or something along these lines. Basically an ICA is the ideal person that you’re selling to.
Why do you need to know your ICA? Well, because you won’t speak the same way to a 60 year old woman as you would a 14 year old boy. Sure, they may both use your products (unlikely but you never know) but your messaging will be different. In most cases, when your target is male, the message is a little bit rougher as a pose to woman where the message comes out much more gentler and soft.
Responding
Once you’ve got your ideal client hooked, you need to figure out how, when and where to respond. This means that you need to respond to their enquiries ASAP whether you are physically available or not.
A couple of ways to do this are things like chatbots, auto-responders, live q&a’s with your audience, following up on emails, dm’s, comments in a timely manner, etc…
Content
It’s a massive challenge to constantly be able to come up with new content ideas that will entertain, while educating your audience. If you don’t believe me, then sit down and come up with 25 relevant and interesting content while still educating/entertaining your audience. You may be able to do it but it’s really difficult to do for the average person, that’s why pre-made content calendars are so popular.
These are just SOME of the challenges with lead generation, however, as listed above, the benefits of the practice outweigh the cons (and it’s also necessary if you want your business to grow and also earn an income.
Now, what are some ways you can generate leads?
Email marketing
This is done through lead magnets, otherwise known as freebies. You could use anything for your freebie to attract potential clients and customers, as long as it represents the product/service you’re wanting to sell. It could be as simple as a checklist to as elaborate as an entire Ebook.
Social media
There’s nothing that will get you more leads than showing yourself on social media. I used to think (and hope for) the opposite of this because, as a muslim, I’m not really comfortable showing myself off to the entire world. This isn’t to say that muslims don’t show themselves because they absolutely do and they are absolutely thriving all over the place (MashAllah) but as far as I am concerned, I’ve always been more of the ‘face to face interaction’ type of person. However, moving to Mozambique has shown some challenges to my version of ‘social norm’ where I’ve had to get visible in ways I’ve never been. In the beginning, I would talk to my mentors hoping to find a different opinion but everyone said the same thing — show yourself on social media, show your expertise, people are much more likely to trust someone they have seen over someone who is just a faceless caption.
So in the beginning, I came on live wearing a niqab (face veil) and then bit by bit, when I began getting to know my audience, I began getting more comfortable. I’m now doing weekly lives in my exclusive facebook group where I elaborate on the topics I write about here in my blog. You can come and join me here.
The reason I’m sharing this with you is to show you that it is possible for you to be visible in some way, shape or form on social media. And it needs to go beyond just your posts. Even if you just use your voice and hide your face, it is still possible. Take baby steps but just get on. Show yourself, show your knowledge to the world because people won’t trust what they don’t know and if you are a service provider then you are what they need to know in order to buy from you.
Answering questions
This brings me to my next point, which is answering people’s questions. I know this seems obvious but it’s one of the best ways to generate leads for your business. Why? Because you’re showcasing your knowledge. You’re solving your ideal client’s problem! What better way is there to generate new leads. Not only do you answer the person asking the question but also gaining the trust of others who see you by displaying what you know in a public forum.
In conclusion, if you’re looking to generate more leads for your business, then everything that you do online should be done with purpose. If you’d like to learn more about lead generation and other ways that you can find your people in this great big digital world, then come join me in my exclusive Facebook group here where I come on live and tell you more about the week’s blog post (this week will be about lead generation (obvs.))
If I was able to help you in any way, shape or form, or if you have any additional suggestions, please leave them in the comments below letting me and everyone else know your thoughts!.
And if you liked this, then check out any of my previous posts or my latest one about different types of money making activities, click here.
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