As small businesses boom, an unfortunate specter looms in their wake. For all the excitement and joy that they bring, small businesses are a risk. About a third of all small businesses fail to thrive and ultimately shut down within two years of starting. One of the biggest reasons for this is a failure to find proper leads.
What is Lead Generation Marketing?
Lead generation marketing is a method by which businesses find leads. By encouraging users to express interest in a product, businesses can easily find potential customers. Moreover, these users typically express their interest by submitting information, such as a phone number, email address, or form.
Today, with the power of social media, lead generation is easier than ever.
Why Are Leads So Important?
The primary purpose of a lead is to find a potential customer. For you, the information or interest you garner from a lead is potential profit. Every lead is a person who is looking for your product or service and is willing to pay for it!
As far as the sales funnel is concerned, a lead is perched firmly on the funnel’s edge. While not all leads pan out, those that do need only a slight push to invest in your business. This makes them essential to all kinds of businesses, from direct selling to B2B.
How do I Generate Leads for My Business?
There are many ways to find leads. Traditionally, companies relied upon printed media, phone calls, and word-of-mouth referrals. However, with the advent of the internet, businesses have expanded their reach. Now, you can reach customers and generate leads across the country (and even the world!).
Online, lead generation falls into two extremely broad categories: paid and organic advertising. Each of these is exactly what it sounds like on the box. Paid advertisements cost money, while organic hits are generally free.
Organic Lead Generation
To generate organic hits for your business, you’ll need few resources and a good deal of creativity. The largest chunk of organic traffic still comes from search engines. This means that you’ll want to focus on making sure you have an amazing website and top-notch SEO.
However, with advancement comes change. Today’s digital marketing trends also rely on the power of social media and sharing. You want to create engaging, informational, and entertaining content. The end result of this data is that companies are investing more money than ever into developing a brand presence and identity through platforms like:
- Sponsored on-site blogs
- YouTube videos
- TikTok shorts
- Facebook posts
- Twitter feeds
By focusing energy on developing content that people want to share, companies find that their name becomes more and more recognizable. Moreover, thanks to the way algorithms work on social media platforms, more shares mean more visibility.
Paid Lead Generation
For all of these benefits, however, a business cannot rely on organic marketing alone for their lead generation. Paid traffic is just as important, if not more so, for freshly minted businesses. In addition to the powers of storytelling and inclusivity, marketing trends demand that brands rise above the din of their competition and stand out.
That’s where paid traffic and lead generation come in.
What is Paid Lead Generation?
While there are a few different forms of paid lead advertising, the most common is pay-per-click. This model works by displaying a pre-made, pre-written advertisement to a group you select. This group is ideally based on well-researched demographics, for example:
- A divorce firm may advertise to newly widowed adults between the ages of 20–60
- A trendy sneaker company will want to target fashion fans between the ages of 16–30
- A humorous clothing company may want to focus on boys between the ages of 14–20
Once these parameters are set, your chosen platform will target the right audience on its own. Your ad will also receive a relevant link, which will likely lead directly to your site. (Other options include linking to a form or being able to send an email from the ad.) For every click or view this ad receives, you pay a small amount of money.
How To Optimize Your Lead Generation
Obviously, paying for your leads is a gamble. Without the right research and study, you’ll likely end up with a whole lot of nothing! That’s where we come in. Nexlaunch’s advertising services are built to optimize your results and guarantee success. We do more than just research. We help you build, design, and streamline your marketing plan. In addition to our paid advertising services, we also offer assistance with website design, SEO, automated messaging bots, and more! If you’re ready to boost your lead generation into the stratosphere, then contact us today!
