9 Key Lead Generation Strategies for Startups and Entrepreneurs
It's all about capturing leads and leading them to the cash counter.
So you've just started your new gig as a business owner, a.k.a entrepreneur. You have studied the demand for the product or service, possess product knowledge, and are ready to make your first sale.
Now is the time to hunt for your ideal customers, handhold and introduce your product to them as a solution to their problems; and get them to buy it. And… hope to keep them coming back.
But where and how do you find your prospects? Through leads of course.
What is a lead?
A lead is any path that leads prospective customers to your storefront(online or offline). That's the first step though. Leads will have to be funneled into your business till they reach the end of the funnel which marks a sale — a seal of their trust in your brand.
Qualifying the lead is more important than generating leads. Consumers are tired of being sold to every day. And as a business owner or a marketer, it's your responsibility to offer the right products to the right people.
Many businesses waste time, effort, and money to please everyone and end up pleasing no one.
Here are some proven ways to generate, qualify, nurture and move your ideal prospects to the bottom of the sales funnel.
1. Useful Lead Magnet
Suppose a prospective client lands on your website, you don't want them to leave empty-handed. You want them to check out your offerings and if you're lucky even make a purchase.
In order to convert your website browsers to buyers, you can try any of these effective and legit ways to build more leads for your business.
- Discounts. Offer an initial 50% (or what suits you) discount for new buyers. People are suckers for discounts. Make the deal juicier by offering a luscious initial discount.
- A Freebie. Prepare a free report, e-book, checklist, whitepaper, or specialized resource library users can download them for opt-ins, which means providing their name and email address, so you can contact them again.
- Multiple CTAs. On a sales page, a minimum of three calls to action (CTAs) is necessary. One after the intro, one after the product benefits are listed and one at the end after the testimonials.
Also, a pop-up window near the exit with a final teaser triggering a FOMO (fear of missing out) if possible. - Have a fixed publishing routine even as a business. Build those blogs and case studies, post on Linkedin or Twitter often to connect with prospects often.
Publish every day or twice a week or 5 times a day, but have a plan.
Make sure that the lead magnet is worth their contact info. Ideally, a $20 or $30 worth freebie is what marketing gurus recommend.
2. Newsletter
Soon after the visitor shares their e-mail address, you will need to keep connecting with the user through emails at scheduled times every week or every day, or monthly at least. That's where the newsletter steps in.
Initially, newsletters will have to be more of free but value-packed info, gently nudging the reader to take out the credit card for the premium stuff.
- For every dollar spent, email marketing returns $36 according to one research.
- The frequent emails with personal stories and tips for getting better at whatever you’re selling warm up your audience and serve to whet their appetite.
- You build familiarity and likeability with your prospects by sharing small tips in the email.
Slowly but surely conversions increase depending on your email frequency and the usefulness of the content you share in the routine emails.
3. Chatbot
Chatbots are known to boost conversions. For certain products, it's a better alternative to FAQs as this seems more interactive. Chatbots are finding their space in both B2B and B2C industries.
- Chatbots save human effort and the cost of hiring a Level 1 chat support team.
- For starters, you just need to come up with a conversation script and set it up with easy drag and drop templates in a WordPress or similar interface.
- There are many chatbot feature providers but enter ai, the chatbots are getting more creative.
Gartner forecasted that by 2020, more than 85% of customer interactions will be handled without human-to-human contact.
4. Social Media Following
Every business needs social media accounts to build a presence in the online world. New businesses are already spending a ton of money to get assistance from social media influencers in the initial stages.
- By increasing the follower count, it is easier and quicker to announce new products and services online.
- Use of the right imagery, visuals, GIFs, infographics, and videos can do wonders to an online post.
- Optimize posts on your blog, Linkedin, FB page, Medium, Tweets, or IG to include a CTA or direct to a sales page.
Social media presence and interaction with people who engage with your brand also establishes credibility. Having an active social media presence is a non-negotiable for success in the market that's soon going virtual forever.
5. Free Trial
A free trial is one of the best ways to get prospects to try to use your product. Remember when storefronts or supermarkets would offer a sample of some product as a promo?
- It's more like getting your foot in the door of prospective customers and winning over them eventually.
Vacuum cleaners and water purifiers were once offered to homes for a 1-week free trial. Users could return or just pay for them. More often consumers bought them. - Same with website builders, SEO tools, and other software products online. You have a free trial offer and an offer to upgrade.
I’ve used Grammarly’s free version and upgraded to Pro after using the free feature for a year - The product does the job of the best salesman. Period.
Legendary copywriter Claude Hopkins in his copywriting classic “Scientific Advertising’’ swears that giving away samples is more powerful and cheaper than hiring an Ad agency to market your goods.
6. Host an Event
Hosting a webinar or a masterclass is one of the sought-after methods course creator-gurus use to influence prospects to sign up for their signature course. It’s also popular in finance companies and crypto startups to invite investors to the fold, through a recorded webinar.
- Video webinars and masterclasses are also a much-in-demand medium for people who don’t want to read a lot of text. Videos feel more compelling for the general audience.
- Attendees get a taste of what they are likely buying into and this helps in faster decision making.
- You can enhance the webinar by offering a free handbook, or an early bird discount for new prospects.
Using celebs and influencers to endorse the new business is un-arguably a winning combination.
More YouTubers are springing up by the hour. The number of YouTube channels earning $10,000 USD or more per year grew by 50%, year over year.
7. Paid Promos and Ads
Targeted Ads are more effective than generic Ads but Google Ads are often ignored by browsers. However, there are several PPC campaigns on popular websites with a decent click-through rate (CTR).
- With paid promos, you can have access to a niche audience who are interested in the specific kind of products and services you offer.
- You can target all of your competitor's customers who are the best prospects for your new venture.
- FB Ads, Twitter Ads, Google Ads are typical promos that can be featured on websites your prospects frequent.
The copywriting of a paid promo ought to be top-notch to win over new customers who must be enthralled with new benefits compared to what they are using. Talk results and numbers if you have them.
8. Referral or Affiliate programs
Referral programs and affiliate programs are a big thing for many freelance entrepreneurs and businesses big and small.
- Many influencers love promoting products and services they love. So you could take advantage of that and create a referral bonus or an affiliate program rewarding anyone who brings you more sales.
- Micro-influencers with a decent follower range of 5000 are much more affordable than a typical Ad spend.
- You get access to a niche-specific audience, which is otherwise hard to gather in one place.
Many times it pays off to reward people to spread your brand name by word of mouth rather than spend thousands of dollars on Ads. For ardent followers, a referral from someone they trust is equal to the credibility that no Ad can achieve.
9. Appear in a Podcast
Podcasts appeal to everyone these days. People are getting utterly busy to just sit and watch 10 minutes of video to learn about something or read a long blog post. So it makes sense to pitch for podcasts in your niche and start talking.
- Podcasts are informal chat sessions, but have higher potential and reach because people listen to podcasts while they are at a gym working out, or driving, or even during household chores; mostly when they are more relaxed and they are more ready to soak in information.
- The podcast host’s assistant would put up details about you and your business in the show notes and you will certainly gain some traction if your podcast resonated with the audience.
- Podcasts can help you become a household name (or at least a familiar name) in your area of business. You're showing off a side of personality in the podcast. It helps in building much-needed trust and likeability too.
James Clear of “The Atomic Habits” Fame and Donald Miller of “Building a Story Brand” concept was introduced to me through some podcasts I tune in to regularly. And I’m now their fan.
When you get featured in a relevant podcast with a dedicated listener base with perked-up ears, imagine what can happen?
To summarize:
- Build strong lead magnets.
- Send a value-packed newsletter to subscribers.
- Leverage Chatbots.
- Don't miss out on building social media following.
- Offer free trials.
- Showcase your chops by a webinar.
- Paid Promos and Ads to maximize earnings.
- Chalk out referral and affiliate programs to spread the word.
- Talk your way into business — Be a podcast star.
And then there is SEO, retargeting your audience, testing results, and changing your strategy according to your test results.
The most important part of running a business is having an orgasmic time doing what you’re doing. Else it just doesn’t seem worthy enough to spend those decades working your a$$ off.
Do share the strategies that have worked for you in the comments.
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