25 Best Lead Generation Strategies For Manufacturers, In Order Of Effectiveness

25 Best Lead Generation Strategies For Manufacturers, In Order Of Effectiveness

We put together a list of the 25 best lead generation strategies for manufacturing companies, ranked in order of effectiveness, to provide a comprehensive guide for those eager to elevate their business in this fiercely competitive market.

In the dynamic and challenging world of manufacturing, the race to secure new business and foster lasting relationships is more competitive than ever. As technology continues to revolutionize industries, manufacturing companies are not just battling on the production floor but also in the digital arena, vying for the attention of potential clients and partners.

The age-old methods of lead generation, while still holding value, are now complemented by a plethora of innovative strategies tailored to the unique challenges and opportunities of the manufacturing sector. From the bustling floors of trade shows to the intricate algorithms of search engine optimization, the quest for leads has become a multifaceted endeavor, demanding a blend of traditional outreach and cutting-edge digital tactics.

Here’s a list of the 25 best lead generation strategies for manufacturing companies, ordered in terms of general effectiveness based on industry trends and best practices:

  1. Trade Shows & Industry Events: Attend and exhibit at industry-specific events to showcase products and meet potential leads in person.
  2. B2B Content Marketing: Create technical whitepapers, case studies, and articles that address industry challenges and solutions.
  3. Referral Programs: Encourage existing clients to refer potential leads in exchange for incentives.
  4. Email Marketing: Send targeted email campaigns showcasing new products, innovations, and company news.
  5. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Optimize the company website for industry-specific keywords to attract organic traffic.
  6. Product Demonstrations: Offer live or virtual product demos to showcase the capabilities and benefits of your manufacturing solutions.
  7. Networking: Build relationships with industry peers, suppliers, and distributors to generate referrals.
  8. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising: Run targeted ads on platforms like Google Ads to drive traffic to product pages or landing pages.
  9. Industry Directories & Listings: Ensure your company is listed in industry-specific directories and online platforms.
  10. Cold Outreach: Use targeted email or phone campaigns to reach potential leads, focusing on how your solutions can address their challenges.
  11. Webinars: Host webinars on industry trends, challenges, and your solutions.
  12. Social Media Marketing: Engage with potential leads on platforms like LinkedIn, which is particularly effective for B2B industries.
  13. Retargeting Campaigns: Target website visitors who didn’t convert initially, reminding them of your offerings.
  14. Customer Testimonials & Case Studies: Showcase success stories to build trust and credibility.
  15. Affiliate & Partner Programs: Collaborate with complementary businesses to co-promote products or services.
  16. Video Marketing: Create videos showcasing manufacturing processes, product features, and client testimonials.
  17. Local SEO: Optimize for local searches if you serve specific regions or want to target local businesses.
  18. Interactive Content: Develop product configurators, calculators, or interactive demos to engage potential leads.
  19. Chatbots & Live Chat: Implement real-time chat options on your website to answer queries instantly.
  20. Direct Mail: Send personalized catalogs, brochures, or product samples to potential leads.
  21. Influencer Partnerships: Collaborate with industry experts or influencers to tap into their audience.
  22. Online Workshops: Organize workshops addressing industry challenges and how your products offer solutions.
  23. Community & Forum Engagement: Participate in industry-specific forums and online communities.
  24. QR Codes: Use QR codes in offline advertising or at trade shows to direct potential leads to online resources.
  25. Voice Search Optimization: Optimize content for voice search, especially for mobile users on the go.

It’s important to note that while this order is based on general industry trends and best practices, the actual effectiveness can vary based on the specific nature of the manufacturing company, its target audience, and other factors. It’s always recommended to test, measure, and adjust strategies based on the unique needs and results of each company.

Also checkout “Our Top 40 Marketing Tactics For Manufacturers

Effective Online Marketing Strategies for Manufacturers

Effective Online Marketing Strategies for Manufacturers

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Manufacturers and distributors have very different marketing strategy challenges than B2C companies. Ultimately, your goal is to convince other businesses to work with you and marketing efforts fail if you cannot accomplish this goal.

The time have changed and using the internet to contact more companies and grow your business has never been easier. If you’re looking for modern, reliable, and cost-effective manufacturer marketing strategies, look no further.

The following industrial marketing solutions have been compiled to help you reach more potential partners online. Even if you don’t have much experience with digital marketing, you can follow these steps written in plain English.

Let me explain to you why internet marketing is so successful for manufacturers and other B2B businesses.

The Internet made it easier for retailers to conduct research on potential distributors and their products. Within seconds, they were able to view detailed photos or specs, read reviews, and view customer feedback from a larger number of companies and products.

Due to this change in preference, your marketing must adapt as well. You’re likely missing most of your potential customers if you don’t use the Internet to reach them. Fortunately, you can use this to your advantage. The ROI is much, much easier to track with online marketing than with traditional marketing methods.

Moreover, because online marketing costs are relatively low, manufacturers or distributors are able to experiment more freely, with little or no risk to their business.

With a wide range of options, you can try things and fail without worrying about losing a great deal of money or damaging your reputation. Actually, testing is not only recommended, it’s an important part of the overall strategy as you will soon see.

Here are ways to you can use online marketing to reach more potential customers

Let’s talk about some of the tactics you should try now that you know why digital channels are so beneficial for manufacturer marketing strategies. Here are some of the best marketing strategies we’ve used to reach more potential customers at the lowest cost possible for manufacturers and distributors.

1. Make your website rank for the right keywords

Taking steps to ensure that your manufacturer or distributor website can be found easily by potential customers – and outranks your competitors – should be the first step in your marketing strategy. In search engine optimization – also known as SEO – this is accomplished.

Here’s a quick explanation for those unfamiliar with SEO. When someone types in a keyword related to your business into a search engine, SEO is one of several methods to make your website more likely to show up and rank highly. Choosing the right keywords to target is key.

The easiest way to get started with SEO is to brainstorm words or phrases potential customers would associate with your business. It can be as simple as a phrase or a single word. If you manufacture hardwood flooring, for instance, you might consider everything from “hardwood flooring” to “how to choose hardwood flooring”.

IMPORTANT – DON’T DO THIS…

This is where we see other marketing companies giving bad advice. Let’s stay with the “hardwood flooring” example. If you manufacture hardwood flooring, and try to rank # 1 in Google, you will be in direct competition with every large retailer like Home Depot and Lowes. It will cost a fortune and it won’t help with sales unless you sell directly to consumers.

It is extremely important to understand search intent. Google is all about providing the best results for the assumed intent of keyword search. If someone searches for “hardwood flooring”, Google assumes someone is looking to buy hardwood flooring and wants to see choices. Sure enough, if you do search “hardwood flooring”, all the top results will be from flooring retailers.

As a manufacturer, you should focus on optimizing your site to rank for site search terms that retailers and distributors would use to find your products. Target keywords like “hardwood flooring manufacturer” and “what is the best hardwood flooring”, “wholesale hardwood flooring”.

Take time to brainstorm terms for your industry, and then create content that is optimized to rank high for those terms. We won’t go into an SEO tutorial here but once you understand keyword intent, you can move forward with a successful SEO strategy.

2. Advertise using pay-per-click

Manufacturers also use advertising as one of their top marketing strategies, but not the kind of advertising you’d expect. A pay-per-click ad is one that appears on search engines results pages (SERPs) and other websites.

Manufacturers or distributors can achieve very high returns on investment with PPC ads, which are generally inexpensive. You only pay for them when they are clicked – not when they are viewed – and they contain just a sentence or two of copy with a link to your website. Even if people don’t click on your ad, you are still getting brand exposure for free.

The use of PPC ads, which allow you to control the amount of money you spend to appear in search engine results, can be a tremendous benefit to your brand if you are not ranking highly in search engines. The reports are a huge benefit because they will detail what people are actually searching for and you can do a lot of testing to find out what works best for your company.

Results from PPC are instantaneous, which is one of the major benefits. You can start sending targeted traffic to your website and attract qualified leads as soon as you click to go live with your ads. You will be able to generate leads quickly without exhausting your budget.

3. Find out what converts on your website

We mentioned earlier that online marketing gives you room to try out different methods and to fail if necessary. The conversion rate optimization method, also known as CRO, encourages testing and failure with the goal of increasing conversions and ultimately revenue for your company.

CRO is based on a very simple premise where you test changes on your website and discover what changes provide more conversions. Whether your successful conversion is measured as a phone call or request for quote, a simple change of wording like  “Contact Us” to “Get Started” or “Learn More” on a button can sometimes be the answer to significantly boosting your conversion rate. You can try different Headings, images, color schemes etc. The challenge is not to implement this permanently and risk losing all your leads if your gut feeling turns out to be incorrect. With CRO, you can test ideas without losing all your leads.

A/B testing is a method that is implemented to show version “A” of your landing page to one group of website visitors. Then a “B” version of the page is set up to show a different group of visitors. Once the winner is discovered you stick with that page. An experiment can be made safer this way since a drop in conversions in the “B” version immediately causes the test to be dropped. If you make a substantial leap, you can reap immediate benefits and more profit!

4. Develop engaging media and content that ranks well

When retailers search online for products to carry in their stores, they may be seeking photos, videos, or more detailed information than what they might get from a basic summary. Create engaging content and ensure that it ranks highly in search results to capitalize on this desire – and attract more potential B2B customers to your content.

Links to websites are no longer the only result in search engine results. In addition to receiving search results for any query, the searcher can also receive videos, images, locations, and shopping results. Good engaging content that you can get ranked is likely to attract visitors to your website where they can learn more about your products.

Here are some content suggestions and ideas for manufacturers:

  1. Are there any products you would like a video of in action? Host the video on YouTube (with a link to your website in the description) with a keyword-rich title and description.
  2. The images on your website should have relevant keywords in their filenames and alt text explaining what is in the image. This can increase the chances of them ranking high in Google Image search for those keywords and lead viewers to your website when they click on it.
  3. Provide answers to customer questions in your content, like blog posts and videos. Having answers to these questions are likely to rank well on search engines, causing potential customers to read them, then peruse your website for more information. Answer questions on Quora.
  4. Repurpose existing content. Content repurposing is very effective when you take good quality content and repurpose its structure and message to get more use from your valuable information. You might turn a video into blog posts or slide presentations. Create downloadable cheat sheets or ebooks and use them to build an email list.
  5. Use surveys to find out what people think about your products and gain insights so you can make improvements to existing products or get ideas for new ones.

5. Establish a strong social media presence

Social media marketing can be slow to take off among B2B companies. For manufacturers, however, social media marketing is a very effective tool. Create a social media profile and your manufacturing company will be exposed to decision-makers and engage with potential clients.

Manufacturers can increase their brand recognition and make meaningful connections through social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

As well as sharing product photos, setting up competitions, and creating brand ambassadors, social media can be used for many other things.

YouTube can be a great marketing tool for B2B companies. It’s an excellent opportunity to showcase products and distribute informative content using video.

Social media can also be utilized by manufacturers during product development to get feedback and ideas.

Your marketing strategy can be adjusted based on customer feedback using social media listening tools. Additionally, product forums can be used to discover what customers think about your product.

6. Make it easy to contact you

Last but not least, we suggest making it extremely easy for potential clients to get in touch with you. A simple way to achieve this is to have your phone number prominently displayed on your website, add a dedicated contact form, or utilize social media.  Here are some examples of excellent industrial websites.

It may seem obvious but some sites make customers has make it a hassle just to find the contact email or phone number. Take a look at your website and make sure it is very easy to get in touch with your company.

If you want people to call, keep the phone number visible at all times while they are on your website.

You will get more leads. Also, being active on social media can increase your chances of getting in touch with them, as many will reach out to you with questions there so be prepared with answers.

Would you like help with your  manufacturer marketing strategy?

Manufacturers often find it challenging to develop and implement marketing plans in-house. Every need is different, and every method must be just right. If you’re struggling to balance your marketing efforts with the demands of running your business, we can help!

We have been working with manufacturing businesses since 2000. Every business is unique and we have the experience to look at the big picture, figure out ways to reach your ideal customers and build a strategy to meet your goals.

Interested in having us build a customized marketing strategy for your company?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][modal_popup_box toppadding=”15″ btnsize=”20″ btnradius=”20″ titlealign=”center” titletext=”Book a Strategy Call” titlesize=”27″ titleline=”4″ contentpad=”30″ contentpad2=”30″ btn_icon=”far fa-arrow-alt-circle-right” btntext=”Book a Strategy Call” btnclr=”#ffffff” hoverclr=”#ffffff” btnbg=”#36b1de” hoverbg=”#1e73be” titleclr=”#ffffff” titlebg=”#36b1de” bgclr=”#ffffff”]

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    Also check out our post on “The Power of B2B Marketing Automation – How does it work?

    8 Tips To Develop A Marketing Strategy That Will Get Your Business Noticed

    8 Tips To Develop A Marketing Strategy That Will Get Your Business Noticed

    Have you ever been wondering how businesses get so much attention every single day? You see them out there marketing their businesses, and all of a sudden, you start seeing their ad after ad on social media, at work, and everywhere else. So how do they get so many eyeballs on their marketing every day?

    The answer is simple — they know how to develop a marketing strategy that will get them noticed. In this article, you are going to learn how to develop a marketing strategy that will get your business noticed.

    Whether you are a business owner, an entrepreneur, or just getting started and  looking to get your foot into the door of business, this information is for you. It’s important that your company has a marketing strategy in place, no matter what size of business currently is.

    The reason for this is because a marketing strategy will help you convert your prospects into customers, and potential customers into long-term customers. In other words, a marketing strategy will help you get your business out to the people who will be most interested in it.

    Let’s look at what’s involved in developing an effective marketing strategy.

    An Effective Marketing Strategy is Important for any Business

    A marketing strategy is essential for any business when it comes to getting their business out there. The problem with this is that many people think they can get by without one. They might believe that they have a great product, service, or idea and all they need to do is advertise it publicly and people will find them.

    Well, the truth is that’s not true at all. When someone thinks in this way, they are setting themselves up for failure because there are millions of other businesses doing the same thing, which means no one will notice them.

    Define Your Audience

    When developing a marketing strategy, it is imperative that you first define your audience. Your marketing strategy should be tailored to them and their needs. If you are an author, for instance, your target audience may be people who enjoy reading.

    This means that when creating your marketing campaign, you will want to use images of books and quotes from famous authors in order to attract these specific people. If your business is a construction company and the audience is made up of professionals in the construction industry, then you will want to place images of construction sites and building materials on your site in order to draw attention to those interested in this field.

    The point here is that the more specific you are with your defined audience, the better chance you have of getting their attention.

    Develop A Solid Content Marketing Strategy

    An important first step for long-term growth is to develop a content marketing strategy. In order to get your business noticed, you are going to have to create a lot of content that people will want to read and share. The best way to do this is by finding content that is relevant to the people in your target demographic and then providing even more valuable information on top of it.

    For example, if your business sells healthy kale chips, you could provide healthy recipes for dips other food items that are complementary to yours.  By taking the time and effort to put out valuable information, you will be able to draw in readers who are interested in what you have to say.

    Always Be Updating

    One great way to get people looking at your marketing is by updating it. This will show prospects that you are confident in what you have to offer, and that you are constantly trying new ways to keep them interested.

    For example, you might update your social media posts every day with new information about your products or services. Or, you may post a video of a new experience that is coming soon on your website. Whatever the case may be, updating your content often will get people talking about it.

    Always Be Consistent

    One of the biggest mistakes that a lot of businesses make with their marketing is that they are not consistent. You need to be consistent in your marketing if you want it to be effective. You need to put out content on a regular basis, whether it be once or twice per day.

    You also need to use social media daily and have ads running on Facebook and other sites on a regular basis as well. The more you do this, the better chance you have of building a following and gaining trust among your target audience. One of the best ways to stay consistent is by using an editorial calendar.

    An editorial calendar can help you plan ahead and know what you’re going to post when without having to think about it.

    Always Be Testing

    The first thing that you need to think about in your marketing strategy is how you are going to test what works and what doesn’t. In other words, you want to try different strategies to see which ones work better than others.

    For instance, if you are advertising on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, then you will want to test out different ads with different types of images and copy.

    If you are doing PPC advertising then this should be pretty easy for you because you can get results very quickly. Testing both Social advertising and PPC ads is great way for you to figure out what strategy will work best for your company.

    By running A/B tests and tracking the metrics like views and conversions you’ll be able to determine what method will give you the best ROI. Then you can optimize your campaigns over time so that they produce the the best ongoing results possible.

    You want to always be testing so that you can find the right formula that works best for your business — there is no one size fits all approach when it comes to marketing strategies!

    Always Be Watching For Trends

    One of the first things that you can do to develop a marketing strategy that will get you noticed is to always be watching for trends. You never know when something might explode, and if you are not paying attention when it does, then you could end up missing out on a lot of potential customers who would have been very interested in your business.

    For example, one way that people use social media is by following hashtags. When you post to Instagram use hashtags relevant to your business. If you sell custom furniture you might use hashtags like #customfurniture, #customcoffeetable, and #customchairs etc. If someone who follows these trends happens to come across your business and they see that your company offers custom chairs or custom coffee tables, they may end up contacting you and becoming a customer because they did not know that these products were available before and they live close enough to pick them up.

    Look For Opportunities

    Always look for opportunities to get noticed. For example, if you are the owner of a clothing boutique, the opportunity to get noticed could be as simple as placing your promotions in a high-traffic area whether it’s online or offline. This will ensure that people have an easier time finding your store.

    You also need to think about other ways to get noticed, such as creating pop-up shops or even sponsorship deals for events in your area. Look at that activities of other businesses related to yours and see if there are ways to work together to benefit each other. There are plenty of opportunities for you to get noticed, but it all starts with looking for them.

    Conclusion

    So you’ve got your business plan complete and now you are ready to develop a marketing strategy that will get you noticed. You may be wondering where to start and all the steps that need to be followed in order to create a successful marketing strategy. The 8 tips outlined above will help you develop a strategy that will get you noticed and establish your business as the go-to in your industry.

    10 Tips for Effective B2B Cold Email Campaigns

    10 Tips for Effective B2B Cold Email Campaigns

    The concept of cold email is incorrectly referred to as spam. In our experience, building an effective cold email strategy takes an in-depth understanding of the benefits of your product or service and knowing how to communicate the message so that it connects with the needs of your potential customers. Rather than merely sending hundreds of emails, set up a system that will allow you to customize the content. Here’s our top 10 tips for effective B2B cold email campaigns.

    1. Personalize your emails

    Your success rate will be much higher if you personalize the emails. Personalize the emails to your prospects by reading and understanding their preferences. Starting your email with their name, ie. “Dear Paul”, will grab the reader’s attention more often than “Dear Business Owner”. This will ensure that your emails get the attention of your potential customers. It will also show that you are interested in your prospects’ needs and can be of great help in generating higher open and click-through rates. By using this technique, you can increase your open and click-through rates by up to 50%.

    While this may sound like an obvious tip, cold emails often feel unprofessional and are still considered taboo in today’s marketplace. In addition to addressing your recipient by their first name, your email should also include your contact details, including your name, website, and telephone number. Providing contact information is the first step in a cold email campaign. By adding your name, you can create a personal connection with your recipients.

    2. Grab Their Attention

    Write an attention-grabbing subject line. This is crucial because it is the first impression that will determine whether or not your prospect reads your email or not. It is also the best way to avoid being marked as spam if your email is too long. Moreover, a CTA is essential in cold emails because it tells the reader that you have done your research and follow industry trends. It is important to use a personalized subject line and close the message with a compelling call to action.

    To increase your open rates, you should focus on the subject line. A good subject line should include the name of the person to whom you are sending the email. It will be more likely to generate a response from the recipient if they know the person. This will improve the chances of your email being opened. This is the reason why A/B testing is so important. If you want to improve your open rates, you must test your message against each other.

    3. Strong Cold Email Copy

    Besides a well-written subject line, the content in your email must be relevant to the audience. Your emails copy must be of high quality. Good email copy increases open rates, click-through rates and generates leads or sales. Moreover, it should be short and simple. Moreover, it should not be rambling and confusing. Unless you’ve written a good subject line, you’ll lose the interest of the recipient. If you’re targeting a B2B audience, personalizing your email campaign will make you stand out from the crowd. Here are some proven cold email templates to help write effective emails that get results.

    It is important to keep in mind that the best emails are those that are targeted and that are tailored to the subscriber. By segmenting your subscribers, you can increase your revenue significantly! If you’re trying to boost your sales through email, you’ll need to create a campaign that focuses on the interests of your readers.

    4. Implement A/B Testing

    Effective email copy that boosts conversions is what email lead generation specialists strive for and A/B testing is always an important part of the process. Test different subject lines, different versions of the main message etc.

    Choose the right software to make this process as easy as possible. Some of the best apps we recommend for cold email are: Hunter Campaigns, SmartReach, Woodpecker, Reply, and Snov. At Oceanone we have our own proprietary software that is no extra cost when you hire us to create an manage your campaigns. Lear more about our email marketing services.

    5. Cold Email Lists

    Generate mailing lists of contacts within your target audience and communicate with them in a strategic way. Try to get mailing lists that include the recipient’s name.

    6. Monitoring

    Monitor the progress of your cold email campaign and analyze the results weekly once it has been launched.

    7. Do it Right and Cold Email Really Works

    One cold email campaign can generate more leads than any other form of lead generation when implemented properly.

    8. Write Engaging Emails

    Write cold emails that will engage your prospects without irritating them in any way. Ask questions, provide statistics, give them useful information, links to tools and offer solutions to their problems. There are a lot of possibilities. You need to spend some time brainstorming and get to the core of what information your audience will appreciate.

    9. Follow up

    In most cases we stop sending to the same cold email recipient if they haven’t responded after 4 emails.

    The most effective email campaigns can make your business stand out from the rest. For example, a social media discussion can be useful for creating a sense of community among your subscribers. Providing your email with information is one of the best ways to stay on top of your competition and gain market share. As the world of commerce continues to evolve, you must also keep your customers’ attention by providing them with useful information. An effective email campaign will provide more value to your company.

    10. Use a Single Call-To-Action (CTA)

    A well-crafted email has a single goal: to engage the reader. A CTA can be as simple as an offer, or as complex as a customized form. The most effective emails will have a single action. This should be the same for all recipients. If you’re selling to a B2B audience, a CTA will vary depending on the buyer’s journey stage. Regardless of the goal, email should always contain a clear instruction for your audience.

    To ensure the success of your email marketing efforts, keep these things in mind.

    Expert Cold Email Services

    As one of the top digital strategy agencies we have mastered the art of cold emailing by developing a variety of lead generation techniques with cold email marketing strategies. Contact us for a free consultation.

    See How Easily You Can Boost Website Conversion Rate

    See How Easily You Can Boost Website Conversion Rate

    Website conversion rate is a challenge that most website owners struggle with. This length of this most may seem contrary to the the title that promises to explain how to “Easily Boost Website Conversion Rate.”

    However, I promise that despite the length of the post, the actual implementation of the suggested methods are very quick and simple to do. Most of the content goes into depth explaining why it works.

    Are you getting enough visitors to your website, but not enough leads?

    If you are getting leads, are you having trouble with converting them to actual sales?

    If you answered “yes” to these questions, then the problem is “Conversions” an in particular, the Website Conversion Rate.

    On Average, 98% of the visitors to a website don’t contact the business and the visitor moves on and never returns.

    When your website is getting good traffic volume but visitors are leaving without a trace it can be quite frustrating and baffling.

    Attracting website visitors is one thing but convincing them to convert to a lead or sale is a much different challenge. 

    Many marketers and business owners are puzzled by the disparity between the number of visitors they managed to drive to the website and how many converted to leads or sales.

    You have to figure out why your traffic is not converting

    It’s possible you’re not providing them with the offers they really want, or perhaps you’re overloading them with too much information all at once. Your lead generation efforts can be thwarted by annoying popups, distracting visuals, unclear calls to action, and weak value propositions.

    In this post, we’ll explore why your lead generation efforts are failing – and ways to regain some of the 98% of visitors who don’t convert.

    There are many things you can do to improve your Website Conversion Rate but this article is focused on easy ways to boost your Website Conversion Rate and trying out a few small changes can make a big difference and that’s what this post is all about.

    What do you consider a conversion?

    Before you can improve your conversions of course you need to decide what a conversion is for you and then measure it. Use Google Analytics to track conversions. In most case a conversion is a lead or a sale and tracking the thank you page for the either of those is the most common transactions to measure.

    Think like a customer

    You need to step back and visit your website from your visitors perspective. First think about what your ideal customer would be looking for. Does your site easily provide the information they would want? Do you have too many distractions or elements that could cause confusion? These are just a few of the many questions you might ask.

    Look for bottlenecks in the User Experience

    One way to find out how your visitors are interacting with your website is to install Hotjar which will provide you with video captures of the activity from each visitor. It will show you if visitors are experiencing confusion or decision making problems and at what point they just leave the site. It can be quite enlightening.

    Why are your visitors leaving without converting?

    Optimizing a user’s experience (UX) is at the heart of lead generation. Your website should immerse people from the moment they arrive, keep them browsing for as long as possible, and convert them with a compelling offer.

    Don’t be greedy.

    They will get annoyed if you constantly flash popups at them. Just because someone stumbled across your site by chance does not mean they’re ready to convert.

    You may know what I’m talking about if you’ve seen a site that appears like this:

    Conversion Rate Optimization - CRO

    Multiple pop-ups will confuse the customer, and they aren’t sure where to look.

    Design your website in a way that is neither distracting nor annoying. Think about the kind of offer that will persuade users to convert.

    It’s possible that the lead magnets you’re offering such as an ebook or audio file are not desired by your users. Perhaps a discount code or free toolkit would be more appealing to them. Conduct A/B tests to see which causes more visitors to convert.

    Keep in mind other aspects of the user experience, too:

    • Make visitors fill out as few form fields as possible.
    • Make sure you don’t use more than one call-to-action on the same page.
    • Landing pages should be free of distracting elements, such as navigation bars.
    • Don’t ask for anything in return until you’ve provided value.

    It may help you avoid mistakes if you know what to avoid, but what can you do?

    Focus on providing an amazing user experience

    A lot of people misunderstand user experience (UX).

    Creating a website that looks good is often all marketers think about. That’s part of it, but a visually appealing screen won’t make any significant impact on lead generation.

    In UX, you should take into account the whole flow of your website. When visitors arrive at your site, what does the journey look like? Where are they looking for information? Which information do they expect to find?

    You need to think about your conversion funnel. When a visitor lands on a blog post about how to choose a vacuum cleaner, they’re not ready to buy a vacuum cleaner yet – they’re at the top of the funnel.

    A detailed comparison checklist might make a good lead magnet. Your blog post should contain the CTA, as well as an exit intent popup with the same offer.

    You are dealing with someone at the bottom of the funnel if you receive a visitor from a Facebook post about a vacuum cleaner discount. Streamline the checkout process to ensure that they convert. Using exit popups as they leave is another way to steer them back.

    Exit popups can grow your lead generation 5x

    Pop-up exits are extremely useful, but they can also backfire horribly. If a pop-up isn’t timed right, it won’t help generate leads.

    This is why targeting pop-ups on specific pages on your website is so important. Consider your conversion funnel again.

    Typically, exit popups look like this:

    Conversion Rate Optimization - CRO

    Visitors to your website will see an exit popup when they attempt to click away and leave. You’re saying, “Wait a minute!”. Before you leave…

    You must complete that sentence.

    If your most popular product is on sale, you could offer a discount, or perhaps you could offer a free download that offers some benefit to the visitor.

    Ideas for brainstorming:

    • Hold on! This $10 off coupon is available before you leave.
    • Just a moment! You might want to check out our free guide on [topic] before you go.
    • Hold on a second! Get monthly discounts by joining our email list before you leave!

    It isn’t necessary to say, “Hold on!” idea. Just make sure the visitor knows you are offering something of value if they want to stay.

    As long as the user experience is enhanced with genuine value, exit popups can increase your lead generation by five times or more.

    Yet, exit popups frequently fail due to their lack of visual appeal and genuine value.

    Take a moment to consider this. You’re shopping at a retail store, yes a real store. There may be something specific you are looking for, or you may just be browsing.

    However many things you see, nothing stands out enough for you to want to stay, so you leave.

    There’s a sales associate who flags you down and asks, “Hey, wanna look around for a bit?” You might find something you like!

    That’s probably going to make you walk a little faster to the exit

    How about if that same sales associate got your attention and said, “Hey, we’re running a half-off sale on [what you want/need].” “I can show you if you’re interested.”

    In that case, you might respond differently.

    In the digital world you have a visitor who has glanced around your website and decided to leave. This is your opportunity to pique their attention.

    Maybe your offer looks like this:

    Conversion Rate Optimization

    It’s not bad at all, is it? Your prospect may go back and purchase that product with those shiny new discounts if they were considering your product but found it too expensive.

    Furthermore, you’ll gain a valuable new subscriber to whom you can send other offers. That visitor that almost left without ever being seen again could turn into a repeat customer for years to come. You can show personalized messages to repeat visitors if you use a targeting feature like the pop-up software Hello Bar.

    Increase immersion by using interaction

    The importance of your website conversion rate in marketing cannot be overstated.

    Imagine the activity you engage in on social media, for example. You know you can build relationships and trust by replying to a comment someone leaves on your Facebook post.

    Visitors to your site may not always be willing to take the first step – and you can’t have hour-long conversations with everyone. Therefore, if you want to increase leads on your website, you should simulate conversations.

    Returning to the exit intent popup, let’s take a look. Visitor email addresses were exchanged for a 20% discount.

    Maybe it would be better to start the conversation with something a little friendlier. You can add questions to an exit intent using lead generation software like Hello Bar, for example, to warm up a visitor.

    As an example, you could ask a question about your particular niche or industry:

    Website Conversion Rate

    Do you love dogs? YES / NO

    This gives the visitor every chance to respond, “Yes.” Subsequently, it will be easier to receive the same response when you ask the next question.

    What works as an offer?

    As we mentioned, 98% of your visitors leave your site without engaging. That’s a huge number.

    This statistic was used with an exit popup on the Hello Bar website to encourage people to sign up for our email list. The number of signups increased by 450 in just one week.

    Using numbers allows you to show what your product is capable of, target your prospective clients’ pain points, and build trust with them.

    Consider the case of someone who sells weight loss products. Not only do you want to establish credibility, you also want to remind your site visitors of their goals.

    In an exit pop-up, you can use the following statistic:

    Conversion Rate Optimization - CRO

    This statistic will capture your visitor’s attention and spark their curiosity to know more..

    Many test have proven that the number of emails collected per day had increases greatly after deploying an exit intent popup. 

    Using exit popups isn’t the only way to snag leads who would otherwise bounce. Visitors won’t lose the signup page because the top bars stay on top of their screen.

    Put it to the test. A landing page catches your attention, then something else catches your eye. Then it is suddenly gone – and you are not going to waste time looking for it again.

    Consumers think that way, so make it easier for them to sign up.

    You can invite visitors to become leads by including a handy top bar to help the website conversion rate.

    Regardless of how many internal links your visitors follow, they can still sign up for your e-mail list without having to search for a signup form.

    Provide Multiple Communication Channels

    Many visitors want to contact businesses, but in their preferred way and time.

    Every user who visits your website is your potential customer, interested in your offer.

    By providing your website visitors an easy way to contact you either via phone call, SMS message, Appointment, Email, or other means, a lead can be converted into a sale.

    For this we have a great solution called “Lead Widget“. It’s a multi-choice contact widget that can go on every page of you website allowing visitors to reach you on their preferred platform. They can choose SMS, Email, Phone, Appointment Booking of Live Chat. For some businesses having that immediate contact is vital. In fact there is one right here in the bottom right corner of this page that says “Click to Connect”  Learn more about Lead Widget

    Boost Your Website Conversion Rate

    You can’t just build a landing page and cross your fingers for lead generation. You must use tools and strategies to convince people to take action.

    Top bars and exit popups are ideal strategies. Communicate with your consumers whether you’re online or not. Give discounts or give incentives to gain an edge. 

    Interested in trying these strategies yourself?

    You can try Lead Widget for 30 days for free. You can easily place it on your website and try it Free for 30 Days to see if it helps you get more leads on your website.

    There is never a single solution that works for everyone so you need to be prepared to test, test some more and test again. It’s what every successful marketer does. Be sure to track your results to determine what is working and what is not.

    When you find something that works, know that it won’t work forever. Website Conversion Rate Optimization is an ongoing process that needs fine tuning and adjustments along the way.

     

    Powerful Strategies for High Quality Online Lead Generation

    Powerful Strategies for High Quality Online Lead Generation

    Today’s digitally oriented age can present many marketing challenges for Online Lead Generation. It will take time and input from your side, but with effort and a little bit of know-how, you can achieve the Lead Generation results you are looking for.

    All the concepts of digital marketing are at your fingertips and by following these simple and easy ideas, you’ll be generating genuine, quality leads in no time.

    Online Lead Generation and the Importance of Digital Marketing

    The relevance of digital marketing in today’s global economy is becoming an undeniably powerful tool to promote your business and build your company’s following.

    Statistics from various institutions all point towards the same thing: by increasing your contact list and heightening your online presence, your company will grow steadily.

    The strategies are really all built around for methods. Visitors to your website, downloading your free products in exchange for their email, clicking on your ads and reading your newsletter or blog post.

    The fundamental thing that is happening with these processes is that you were building a relationship and build trust from this potential customer. Once you have shared your knowledge and expertise on the subject they’re interested in there’s a much higher likelihood that they will buy your product or service.

    When it’s done right, digital marketing is the way to online lead generation, and lead generation converts to company profits.

    How the current digital market is changing

    You don’t have to spend a ton of money but be prepared to invest some time to develop a good lead generation process. Many options exist outside of spending your entire marketing expenses or even your business’s whole budget.

    Statistics indicate that 18.5 per cent of leads are generated through online lead, while around 40% is generated directly. These statistics are changing, however, with a proven increase in digital attention from both a company-to-company industry as well as company-to-buyer.

    Implementing your best strategy for online lead generation in a competitive world

    The current fast-paced marketing industry with their low attention span doesn’t allow any company or business entity much time to make an impact on the minds of readers or potential future buyers.

    Step one is targeting your specific audience. Simple and understandable methods of market research can ensure that you reach the correct listeners. The ultimate goal is to achieve this through passive methods, meaning that your time, as important to you as it is, is not wasted.

    You put in the work once and see it pay off without any further effort on your behalf.

    How is this done?

    The effects of social media

    Being active on social media is the first big step. It may sound tedious, but a simple five minutes on each of your targeted platforms can make a major difference.

    Always be professional in your approach but be original and have ingenuities as well.

    Set aside a reasonable time to like, comment and post on each platform.

    Five to ten minutes will work perfectly, depending on you or your company’s schedule. Publishing new content, doing guest posts and promoting your site through affiliate links is a very good way to monetize passively as well as gain new customers.

    Professional help and consultation

    Getting a marketing company involved to promote your business is a good idea if you don’t the time or enough  staff to handle all the tasks.

    Many professionals can give you a relevant opinion on your company’s current status and will point out where you need improvement regarding your social presence. You may gain some insight into your current marketing trends as well as your customers.

    Free content and how it can bring in money

    Creating an online product may take time, but in the end, its share-ability and social media impact will always exceed your expectations, if the product is relevant and well thought out.

    Putting the time and effort into a “free” product is one of the best ways of generating repeat clients and, in turn, repeat revenue. Not only do you gain clients, but your analytics system, if you have one, can give you a more in-depth idea of who your target market is and how you can reach them. Apps, ebooks, videos, checklists and other digital resources all work well for this type of strategy.

    Newsletters and mailing lists

    Offering a way for potential customers to sign up to your newsletter is another essential way of getting them onboard. The catch is that your mailing list needs to have easy sign-up (perhaps a site pop-up) and needs to have relevant content that subscribers would want to read.

    Plan your material out beforehand and make sure the quality is impeccable. With these general pointers, you should be well on your way to creating an excellent online presence and building your client base through it. Never lose faith or hope in your own amateur marketing ability; the more you implement, the more you will discover what works for your specific market.

    PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Lead Generation

    All the tactics mentioned above are long-term methods for on-going lead generation. They may not produce immediate results but they will be effective for ongoing lead generation and meeting your long-term goals.

    When you need more immediate results, PPC leads are the way to go. Depending on where your audience is, this could mean Google Ads, Youtube Ads, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin or Pinterest and others. If people would generally search for the products or service that you offer, then Google Search ads are going to give you the best results.

    Google Search ads are the most expensive leads but also the highest quality because of buyer intent. Nobody searches for “Plumber in Chicago” unless they are looking to hire one. The buyer intent is very obvious unless they are just doing research of course. If they search for “how to fix a leaking faucet” they probably want to find out how to do it themselves and so there is not implied buyer intent but you don’t have to target that keyword.

    However, you might want to consider targeting a lower buyer intent keyword because they are much cheaper per click and it does provide brand exposure. These are the kind of decisions you will have to make according to your budget and overall marketing strategy.

    The amazing thing about PPC ads is that they are highly targeted and you can start getting results later today.

    The cost for search ads depends on your location and the amount of competition. Google ads typically cost between $1 and $2 per click, although some ads can cost over $50 if the competition is fierce. Law firms, Plastic surgeons and Roofing Contractors are among those businesses that can expect to pay a very high CPC. Their average sale is very high so it is worth it for them. Google Ads are placed based on both an advertiser’s bid and the quality of the advertisement. You’ll therefore be less likely to outbid your competition if your ad is better.

    Those are some online advertising basics but there is much more complexity to it. Understanding the platform that you choose, how to get the best ROI and writing great ad copy are some key factors in achieving successful results. That’s beyond the scope of this post and we will cover it in depth in future post. Meanwhile, if you would like to learn more about online advertising, this post from Hubspot is a great place to start. Also check out out our post about creating a marketing strategy.