Every marketer knows that driving traffic to a website is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many more things to get the sale you need, and one of them is generating leads. Lead generation is a crucial component of every business’s digital marketing strategy, and this is because leads often turn into customers if nurtured correctly.
But generating good leads isn’t a walk in the park. In fact, 61% of marketers consider getting leads as their biggest challenge. What might work for other businesses may not necessarily work with yours, so you need to ensure that your lead generation strategy is tailor-fit to your target market.
So, instead of giving you advice on how you can get the leads that can turn into sales, I will provide you with the common mistakes you should avoid to formulate the best lead generation approach for your business.
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1. There’s No One-Size-Fits-All Lead Generation Strategy
I can’t stress this enough. Don’t fall for the trap of trying the lead generation strategies that “work” on other businesses. While you may argue that these trends you’re following are used in the same industry, two businesses are never alike, even if you sell similar products. Your target market may be the same, but the actual customers you will attract will always be different.
At the same time, your marketing efforts will also be different. You will never have the same budget, the same people working on your strategy, or even the same unique selling point (USP). That’s why you need to accept that your approach to generating leads will most likely be different from others, and that’s okay.
But that doesn’t mean you have to completely ignore these tips you get from Google and other marketers. You can still apply some of them to your strategy, but be sure that you don’t wholly copy everything. Weed out those that have no use for your business, and employ best practices to add value to your overall lead generation approach.
As a marketer and business owner, this is where you come in. Because every business is unique, you need to be the leader and take control. To help figure this out, analyze every angle of your business to know which approach you can apply to your strategy.
2. Leads Aren’t Just Generated From Ads and Landing Pages; Take Advantage of Your Blog As Well
Did you know that B2B companies with a blog generate 67% more leads than those who don’t? Unfortunately, many marketers think leads are only generated from ads and landing pages.
Internet users are getting more protective of their information by the day. Many are skeptical about giving their information away from ads they click, even if it promises free access to a service or downloadable ebooks.
So how can you build trust and generate leads without scaring away your target customers? Through blogs.
Blogs allow you to give value to your audience by giving them the information they need to know more about your product, services, and company. This enables you to gain their trust and engage them while compelling them to take action, which in turn can generate the leads you need.
This means that every blog you post should have a call to action. Whether it’s a simple “book an appointment” or a free checklist for them to download, you need to include one in your article and make sure it’s cohesive to the topic you are discussing.
For example, if you’re talking about a software feature, your call to action should be a free trial. Your blog will do its job and entice the reader to try them at the very end. It’s simple and won’t cost you as much.
If someone is reading your blog, then they are already interested in your business or the topic you’re talking about. Take advantage of that. Don’t fall for the trap that leads only come from ads; blogs can also do that for you. It may be a slow process, but it can provide you with a highly engaged and targeted audience.
3. Don’t Cut Corners
If you’re just starting, it’s natural to consider buying leads, especially if you want to fill your sales funnel right away. Compared to organically generating leads, buying them is so much easier and won’t take much of your time and effort, even though it’s expensive. But you’re going to spend money on ads anyway, right? Why not take the quickest route possible and get more leads instantly?
The most important thing you need to understand is that the leads you buy have no idea about your business. These leads that are for sale often come from other sites, meaning they don’t sign up to receive anything from your company.
Imagine receiving an email from a business you have never heard of. That can be annoying, right? That is precisely what happens if you send messages to these leads. They’re unwanted and intrusive.
In addition, if these people receive an email from a website that they have never visited or heard of, your messages will likely be marked as spam. This can be detrimental to your digital marketing strategy since it will train email providers to filter emails from you.
Once many other users mark your email as spam, your domain will go on a blocklist which will be distributed to other email providers. Unfortunately, if you become part of this list, you will have difficulty removing your site from that. You don’t want that to happen.
If you’re thinking of cutting corners and boosting your sales funnel, my advice is not to do it. Always grow your list organically and try not to believe anything that promises instant returns. Do the work. It will be worth it.
4. Putting All Your Eggs in One Basket
One common mistake I see from new marketers is that they don’t diversify their lead source. While it’s true that your target audience may be more active in one social media channel than the other, it doesn’t mean that you have to ignore the rest. There’s nothing wrong with focusing heavily on one channel, but if all your efforts are only going to it, you’re letting go of many opportunities.
In fact, the average internet user will visit more than seven social media platforms in a month. So, if you think that your target market can only be targeted in one channel, you’re making a huge mistake.
If you want your lead generation strategy to be successful, source your leads from different channels. Use other social media platforms, search engines, websites, etc. You don’t have to tap all of them, just be strategic and do your research to find the top places where you can find your target customers.
Additionally, incorporating a robust lead scoring system can enhance the effectiveness of your lead generation strategy. By assigning values to various actions and interactions, you can prioritize and focus your efforts on leads that are more likely to convert, ensuring a more efficient allocation of resources and ultimately driving higher-quality prospects through your sales funnel.
5. Not Spending Time Structuring Your Forms to Your Needs
Your forms can make or break the success of your lead generation efforts. If you want your forms to be quick and easy to fill out, you might miss out on important information and require more time to pick out quality leads. On the other hand, if you want to get as many details as possible, you might scare your leads away.
So, is there a formula to find the perfect length?
Unfortunately, there’s none. However, you can find the right balance by spending time structuring your forms. The best way to do this is to ask what you need from your leads to turn them into your customers eventually. Do you think that your sales team needs more information than their name and email address? Or can you convert them by simply getting their email?
Another thing that you need to consider is what kind of leads do you want to have? If you’re okay with a limited amount of leads but can generate quality, ask every detail you need to make a sale. But if you believe that the more leads, the merrier, make it as easy as possible to answer.
Lastly, you need to work closely with your sales team when creating the form. They know what you need best regarding the information they need to close a sale. Don’t leave them out. They’re the ones who are turning the leads into sales.
6. Lead Generation Should Not Be a Numbers Game
Many marketers think that lead generation is just a numbers game. However, this is the most problematic mistake of all. I believe that it’s best to focus on quality leads than getting a lot, but none of them ever end up converting into a sale.
So how do you ensure that you are getting better leads? Simple. Communicate more with your sales team.
In general, a lead is someone who has shown interest in your product or services by signing up for a newsletter, downloading an ebook, or opting for a free trial. Undoubtedly, many people will sign up for a newsletter if you give them a discount for doing so or download an ebook if it contains something they need.
But it doesn’t make them quality leads.
So, you should ask your sales team about how they qualify leads and how lead distribution is handled. Understand the qualities they’re looking for in a lead and tailor-fit your efforts to generate leads like this. While you may be bound to get a conversion after getting hundreds of thousands of leads, it’s mostly a waste of time if you’re just in it for the numbers.
Coordinate with your sales team and create strategies that will allow you to get better and more qualified leads. This will bring in more sales than those in it for the free things you give.
Final Word: Don’t Be Afraid to Fail
While avoiding these mistakes can help you better plan your lead generation strategy, you may not always succeed with your first approach. Generating leads is a trial and error process, where every failure only leads to better and more improved strategies.
We always expect our plan to work on the first try, and that’s a great mindset. But you should understand that you will fail at some stage, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Failing forward is a part of every business and something the most successful companies have in common.
