Getting your small business in front of potential customers is an important part of generating profit. High quality leads are more likely to convert to sales. Small business lead generation can feel like an uphill battle, especially if you don’t have a plan.
Let’s take a look at some of the most effective strategies for generating small business leads.
Small Business Lead Generation: What You Need to Know
Small business lead generation involves deploying various strategies to build interest in products or services. Lead generation is the act of attempting to attract people interested in what you have to offer in the hopes that they will eventually become customers.
Successful small business lead generation relies on taking different actions designed to drive quality traffic to your website or get likely buyers in your door. Lead generation should be approached with intention, based on your objectives.
Consider your ideal customer and target your small business lead generation strategies to what is likely to appeal to them. Then, research where they get their information and how they make their choices so you understand how to best reach them with an enticing proposition.
11 Cost-Effective Lead Generation Strategies for Small Businesses
Small business lead generation begins by creating a presence in the path of would-be leads and giving them a reason to visit your website.
Participate in Local Events
Local events can provide a way to encourage people to visit your website or even your brick-and-mortar storefront if you have one. Even if you don’t have a brick-and-mortar store, local events can still be a good way to generate leads. Many online entrepreneurs neglect their own backyard and there are plenty of quality leads right where you live.
Consider the following local events:
- Speak at local business events.
- Join the Chamber of Commerce and actively participate.
- Participate in expos and give attendees a reason to engage.
- Host a local in-person workshop.
Host Online Events
Drive potential website traffic and generate leads by offering free online events. Your online events don’t even need to be 100% live all the time. It’s possible to use different tools to create play-on-demand webinars that get leads into your funnel.
- Host a webinar about an important topic that is of interest to your audience.
- Livestream on social media, discussing how you solve a problem or providing other useful information.
- Offer AMAs (ask me anything) related to your expertise.
Basic Local SEO
Focus on basic local SEO to generate leads in your area. By claiming your business locally, you can drive more website traffic by appearing more prominently in search results.
- Claim your free Google My Business directory listing and optimize it.
- Perform basic search engine optimization (SEO) across your website’s pages with descriptive title tags.
- Optimize each page with a compelling meta-description to inspire click-throughs from search engine results.
- Claim local business listings on online business directories, such as Yelp, Merchant Circle, Citysearch, and other local directories.
- Encourage customers to post reviews about your business. When asked, the majority of satisfied customers oblige.
Publish a Blog
A blog can be a good lead generation strategy, bringing people to your website and getting them into your sales funnel.
- A blog can feature articles, videos, podcasts, infographics, galleries, or any combination. The point is to create content that answers customers’ questions.
- Learn and apply SEO techniques to improve your search rankings.
- Offer a lead magnet that encourages people to sign up for further communication from your business.
Email Marketing
Build your email list with help from other lead generation strategies. When you host a webinar or offer a freebie on your blog, collect email addresses. Then, make sure you offer regular reasons for people to open those emails, whether to get a deal or learn something new.
- The traffic you generate with email marketing comes with a caveat: It’s sent to people that have already been to your site and opted into your list (unless you built an email list offline).
- Capitalize on email and generate traffic to your website by giving subscribers strong reasons to return.
- Send newsletters and meaningful emails that inform recipients of helpful content you’ve published on your site.
Guest Post on Relevant Websites
If you want to reach a wider audience and connect with those in other networks, guest posting can be one way to drive more traffic to your website and generate more leads.
- Offer your expertise, for free, to online publishers in the form of guest posts.
- Where possible, include links to useful resources on your website in your articles.
- Apply this strategy to local print publications, remembering to mention your website.
Use Social Media
While not a platform you control, you can reach a wide audience and generate leads by joining social media and sharing useful and entertaining information.
- Identify the social media channels your customers prefer.
- Share content — homemade or curated — as often as possible on your profiles.
- Promote your social media channels everywhere possible.
- Interact with prospects in an informative and helpful manner.
- Follow influential people in your industry and try to build mutually beneficial relationships.
Paid Search Ads
Even if it costs money, using paid search ads can still be cost-effective. If you execute the strategy well, a little bit of outlay can result in better leads.
- Explore the advertising options offered by Google Ads.
- Refine your tactics to reduce pay-per-click costs and improve ROI.
- Consider Microsoft advertising, which runs on Bing and Yahoo! Search.
Social Media Ads
Don’t forget that social media ads can also be effective at getting your brand in front of a target audience and encouraging them to take action.
- Facebook advertising is easy and offers a very low cost of entry. You can get started for $5 per day.
- Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and YouTube all offer online advertising programs you can experiment with to generate leads.
Native Advertising
Native advertising on another site can help you reach audiences looking for specific content. Your ads have the look and feel of the site they’re on and can generate quality leads.
- Native advertising includes millions of publishers. Reach more people with a modest investment.
- Learn how to run programmatic ads on discovery networks such as Taboola.
- Examine the potential of collaborating with publishers to create sponsored ads and content.
Build a Referral Network
Referrals are among the best ways to get high-quality leads. When a trusted person recommends you, there’s a better chance that they’ll convert from a lead to a sale.
- Identify practical marketing projects (like co-hosted events, co-created content or social media partnerships) that justify reaching out to experts to make connections, build relationships and create content.
- Consider projects based on interviews, case studies and various types of collaboration.
- Invite respected authorities to guest blog on your website.
- Rather than ask for reciprocation, simply support your supporters.
Ideas to Transform Visitors Into Leads
Traffic to your website means nothing if it doesn’t foster conversion. Define your objective, whether that’s getting subscribers, making a sale or attending a workshop. Here are some ideas for transforming website visitors into leads.
- Offer a deal: When a first-time visitor arrives at a landing page to shop for a product or a service, promoting a coupon or discount program is often the way to make a sale.
- Offer a sample: If you have a product, offer a sample. For memberships or subscriptions, offer a free trial.
- Provide free information: Some of the best lead generators offer useful or actionable information. Ebooks, case studies, mini-courses, buying guides and research reports can show leads your value and potentially convert them to sales.
- Personalized advice: If you’re known for information, you can provide value and show leads how you can help them. A one-time or initial consultation, short online chat or providing calculators can be a way to tailor information to potential leads.
- Contests: Use giveaways, contests and quizzes on your site to get information about visitors and add them to your funnel.
- Social proof: Add testimonials and media mentions to your website. Include positive reviews and awards you have won. This shows you’re trustworthy.
The key is to make it easy for visitors to take an action that turns them into leads and then eventually converts a sale.
Why Small Businesses Should Focus on Lead Quality
Small businesses should focus on lead quality because those leads are more likely to convert to sales. High-quality leads are those targeted to an audience likely primed to take action and interested in what you have to offer.
When generating leads, focus on strategies aimed at those likely to reach an audience looking for what you have to offer. High quality leads offer a better potential for conversion than quantity. So, even if you get a lot of leads, they might be more difficult and costly to convert.
How to Measure the Success of Your Lead Generation Efforts
You need to measure what you’re doing to get the most out of your lead generation efforts. Here are some steps you can take to see what’s working:
- Set up a Google Analytics account and gather data from it regularly. Your goal is to identify who visits, where they come from, what pages they consume and how they behave.
- Use this information to inform your promotional and content strategies.
- Do more of what’s driving traffic and less of what isn’t. Of course, you’ll also want to factor in what drives conversion.
- Use tracking links to see where your referrals come from so you can gauge which offers and websites are more likely to convert.
Key Takeaways
Lead generation is how you get visitors to your business. The best strategies are based around your objectives, as well as understanding who you serve and where they get their information. If you can create a market strategy around where your best leads will be, you have a better chance of converting them into sales.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is it worth it to pay for leads?
It can be worth it to pay for high quality leads in some cases. However, before paying for leads it might make sense to try other, less expensive strategies before paying for leads.
How do I get leads in my area?
Look into referrals and word of mouth in your network. You can also get leads by attending local business events.
Can I generate leads myself?
Yes, it’s possible to generate leads for yourself, using effective strategies of networking offline, as well as creating social media and online content that gets people into your funnel.
