How Startups Can Generate Low Cost Leads
It’s the age old problem of business: How can my company or startup generate leads to bring in new clients without breaking the bank? If you’re a startup founder, or a marketing manager, we’re positive you’ve asked this question many times, and we’re sure you have the same problem many other startup founders have also. You’re on a shoestring budget, and running a major advertising campaign won’t work for you. Luckily, companies have solved this problem before, and if you follow these three tips below you’ll have a starting point for your lead generation machine.
1. Build a Social Media & Blog Presence
Having a solid social media presence from Facebook fans to Twitter followers is a great way to generate leads. There are a couple ways to build your online sphere of influence. First, start doing massive amounts of keyword research which follows the search queries your customers ask, and create a list of the top 30-40 searches you can find. You’ll need this because one way to build trust with potential customers is by creating a blog where you answer these questions with in-depth analysis. Doing this will leverage your company as the authority figures in the space.
Second, create infographics which visually explain the search queries you researched, which is also a great idea for generating B2B leads. The brain processes visual content 60,000 times faster than text, and in a fast paced world this means quicker understanding by your audience.
Third, set up Google Alerts, which notifes you anytime a person online is asking questions related to your startups field of expertise. You can then go and manually answer questions with a comment or post. This is a hidden growth hacker tactic which will improve your website’s SEO presence with the amount of backlinks you build over time. In addition to this, answer questions on Quora. You’ll not believe the amazing response you’ll receive by providing well thought out answers to a person’s problem.
2. Retarget, Retarget, Retarget
If you don’t know what this is then you need to learn about it right now. It’s slowly becoming the most effective advertising method on the internet to generate leads. Retargeting works by keeping track of people who visit your site and displaying your retargeting ads to them as they visit other sites online. It converts window-shoppers into buyers. Generally, 2% of shoppers convert on the first visit to an online store. Retargeting brings back the other 98%.
Here’s a quick way to make the most of your retargeted ads. First, segment your website visitors by preference. Next, create customized ads for each group of people. Finally, and most importantly, put the ads up in a positive way which means don’t stalk your website visitors. Only show the ad up to 12 times in a 30 day period. People can get intimidated if you immediately follow them around constantly blasting them with advertisements for something they just viewed.
3. Partner with Affiliates & Joint Venture Partners
Affiliate marketing, sometimes known as performance marketing, can be one of the most effective tools for promotion on the internet. An affiliate program lets you use a talented and savvy sales force that’s only paid when they sell a product. You decide how much the commissions will be for those sales, and your company only pays out when you get paid. This does mean you’ll not receive the full profit on your sales because you’ll need to deduct the commision from your payout, but it also means you’re not spending any money on advertising because there are other smart people willing to promote your startup!
Working in tandem with another entrepreneur is another strategy which can be used to leverage low cost leads. A joint venture (JV) is when two firms/people unite to achieve a marketplace goal that neither could achieve alone. This works best when you partner with a company/person in a similar but non-competitive marketplace. Your JV partner would ideally be targeting or have customers who are identical to the ones you’re looking to market to. It’s a low cost strategy which will quickly boost both of your reputations.
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