November 4, 2016
In an era where the customer is spoilt for choice, thanks to the world wide web and digitalisation; catching the interest of your customer is no longer the primary goal of business houses worldwide. Today, interest has to be created and for this lead generation plays a massive role. Lead generation has been a buzzword for quite some time and marketers have realised that, gone are the days where you need to wait for your customer to initiate the first move. So, what exactly is lead generation, you may ask?
To put it quite simply; lead generation is the initiation of consumer interest or inquiry into products or services of a business. Traditionally, some of the popular methods of lead generation have been through telephone calls, advertisements and events. The advent of the internet has created more opportunities, and the focus is now on creating leads through digital mediums. This has many advantages; cost-effective being one of them.
There are many lead generation techniques in the digital world, a few of the leading ones are:
1. SEO: SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is a popular method of generating leads. SEO helps in ensuring that your website is ranked higher on a search engine when a visitor searches online for your services. The process involves usage of certain keywords and phrases that visitors are likely to use while searching for your business/services. If done in the right way, this can turn out to be extremely useful for business houses/ service providers trying to reach out to their target audience.
2. Social Media: The impact of social media in our daily lives is no secret. Popular social media websites like Facebook and Twitter have a loyal following amongst its users, and thus, it makes perfect sense to generate leads through this medium. You can use your official company page on Facebook or Twitter to provide information about your services – potential customers can have a look and can be induced into making a purchase.
3. E-mail Marketing: E-mail marketing is one of the oldest techniques in online lead generation. It is also one of the most effective tools to generate leads and thus, has survived the test of time in the ever-changing world of digital marketing.
4. Link Building: The evolution of link building in the last few years has been remarkable. Growing at a rapid pace, today, link building is considered an important tool for online lead generation techniques, to increase the credibility of your website. If there are no links which get directed towards your web page, one can assume that the content on offer is not credible enough.
5. Pay-per-Click (PPC): This is a paid form of advertising, yet a very effective one when it comes to conversion in lead generation. Since PPC uses a targeted audience, one that is sure of what it wants, the chances of increasing the sales go higher when compared to some other techniques that may not be so effective as the audience is not targeted.
6. Local Listings: Local listings help in targeting potential customers in specific local areas where businesses operate. Local listing websites like Google Places and Yellow Pages online are some of the popular websites for local listings that can be successfully used in online lead generation.
7. Blogs: The power of a good blog can never be measured. Easily, one of the most effective ways in passing across the right message across your target audience. A good blog not only helps in creating awareness of your business but also helps in spreading information about your industry.
8. PR: Online PR (press releases) help you in spreading information regarding your company. When someone views it and finds it relevant, they can then reference it. This passes the message across to a larger audience and thus, helps the company website in its google search rankings.
The latest trend in online lead generation Is LIVE CHAT. Live chat gives a unique opportunity to provide instant customer delight. It also gives potential customers, as well as existing customers answers to their queries in real-time. This, of course, has numerous advantages as it helps convert live chats into leads. At CommVersion, up to 40% of all live chats convert into qualified leads. In an age where competition is extremely fierce, every single lead counts and live chat provides the perfect solution to generate leads.
