It’s not a secret that the Internet is exploded with demands and offers of lead generation services. That’s why everyone who is a little bit aware of Internet marketing or just heard something about it, proudly call themselves lead management specialists. They guarantee customers 100 % success and infinite flow of new clients. It sounds appealing to customers and they hire these “lead managers” with no questions.
The results are often sad. You’ve invested money and got nothing. It doesn’t mean that lead generation is ineffective. In all likelihood, you or your lead specialist broke the lead generation commandants, what is a grave mistake.
Today, we’ll look at the most common lead generation mistakes, the ways of preventing possible loss of investments and puzzle out how to hire a good lead manager.
What Is Lead Generation
Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Nevertheless, some customers (or even lead specialists) don’t fully understand who are leads and what is lead generation. As a result, you won’t fulfill your expectations. The final is one. You’re disappointed with the data you got and your lead specialist can’t understand you because everything was done right.
In this case, both parties made a mistake. A customer didn’t ask about the concept of lead generation and specialist didn’t explain it as he wasn’t asked to do it.
Solution: You should inquire about all the information you need about this technique, convey small research to define all the pros and cons.
Do not be deceived by some canny service providers or specialists who will try to make money on your unawareness. A proficient specialist is interested in long-term relationships. A pro should explain to you who are leads, how to cultivate them and work with your potential buyers. It’s important to sort out that lead is a potential buyer who is just interested in your service. It doesn’t mean he will purchase your product; a lead is still only a potential buyer.
The cooperation will be successful only if both parties have mutual awareness and interest.
Define Your Main Goal
Before implementing lead generation to your business you should clearly understand your goal. This point also can cause bewilderment. “How can I not know for what?”. It is easier to achieve your goal when it’s specific: to boost sales, attract new clients, gain brand awareness, stand out of competitors etc.
Solution: To make lead generation process more efficient choose one goal instead of hundreds. It’ll help you to develop a proper marketing strategy and select the necessary tools to embody it.
Find Your Second Half
Lead generation is similar to dating. If one of the partners has messed up, it can ruin the desire to maintain relationships, even if they were an ideal one.
A handy work with leads is beneficial for everyone: you get new clients and revenue, your lead specialist gets a well-paid sustainable work and motivation to work harder.
Such harmony is possible when two conditions are observed:
• Lead manager is proficient
• A common sense of both parties
If one of the terms is violated, “lead idyll” takes a turn for the worse, you lose investments, waste time and efforts. It forms a false image of lead generation as you think it isn’t effective.
Solution: look at one another better.
It’s better to hire an experienced proficient specialist, who proved his skills and have a good reputation. Don’t try to save money on lead generation. A piece of advice for lead managers: explore the company you’re going to work with, examine demands for its products and services, analyze the target audience. Sign contract only after accomplishing these steps. It’s great if you’ve created Buyer Persona and Customer Journey Map, it’ll help you and your specialist a lot.
Create a Landing Page Correctly
It often happens when users see the banner, click on it and going nowhere. Nowhere is your site’s home page.
You need a certain landing page to sell a certain product or service. Remember, one page for one product. A landing page shouldn’t contain 1000 of goods. Your goal isn’t to make a potential buyer to dither between products but to make a simple choice: to leave contacts or not. I mean “Yes” or “No”, not “maybe yellow…although, green is also pretty”.
The landing page should contain only one product, its overview, pros, reviews etc. Every word, picture or sign should discard all the reservations of customers and encourage them to buy, place an order, leave contacts etc.
Solution: even if you have a marvelous website you need a landing page. Keep mind, one page — one product!
Don’t Ignore Leads
It’s the most wide-spread mistake which influences the efficiency of lead generation. You should remember that leads are just interested in your products or services, they are not ready to purchase something yet. That’s why you should serve them to come to the final decision. Your aim not only to sell them something but make them do it again.
Solution: cultivate leads as fast as possible but not at the expense of quality.
If you have no opportunity to make a phone call (it’s a night e.g.), email them confirmation of the application or order. If you can call a lead, do it in a polite way: find out if it’s convenient for a client to talk, clarify if the customer left an application form etc. Answer client’s questions if there are some or ask for them if you weren’t asked. If a potential buyer confirms his actions on your website, you should serve the client properly: deliver goods, provide additional services. Discounts and small gifts are also good tactics to win a client.
Don’t Copy Competitors
Copying competitors’ isn’t so effective how it may seem. Don’t use someone else’s landing pages, advertising texts and platforms. Why? Are you sure that it’s their secret to success? Maybe their sales department works better than yours or they provide faster responses or they have robotic couriers. You never know, you never know.
Solution: If something works well for competitors it doesn’t mean that it’ll work for you. Don’t waste your time for competitors analysis and copying them. One day they can accuse you of picking and stealing. Just take time to plan a solid lead generation strategy and improve it through trial and error.
Choose the Right Product to Sell
It often happens that your sales fail because people don’t need your product or the very few are interested in it.
Solution: Wisely choose the product you want to place on your landing page. It must be demand-driven.
It’s obvious that some products have strong demand and others — a smaller one. Anyway, it must be solid. Look through and count Internet requests on a certain product, search the social networks.
Afterward, think over and make your clients a juicy offer. Don’t do it in this way: “Buy our collar, get Labrador for free”. It’d be better to offer solid discounts, gifts, sets and kits, something that helps to save money etc.
Create a Flywheel
As I said before, your aim isn’t to sell one toothbrush. It’s more important to motivate customers to buy your toothbrushes constantly. Make them suffer without your toothbrushes (not literally), make them share their experience with their relatives, friends and colleagues. Maybe later, you’ll able to sell them a dentist’s chair to put it in a backyard (I don’t know what to do with it, but it’ll be a success for you).
Solution: It isn’t even solid to get instant one-moment revenue. Don’t forget about your clients, when you’ve served them. Use CRM systems to track the data, process it and turn your random clients into loyal.
Don’t Forget About Mobile Users
Imagine a closed door of a gift shop in the city center on Christmas Eve. Isn’t it frustrating? It’s the same situation when you haven’t got a mobile version of your store. Mobile users prevail PC users, you should take care of them.
Solution: adapt your landing page for mobile users. Be sure that customers will see the lead form on the screen, is it possible to fill it with a touchscreen, is your call-to-action button big enough to press it with a finger. By the way, contact us if your Magento store needs mobile optimization.
Test. Test. Test.
No leads? No sales? — Test, analyze, improve.
No leads? No sales? — Test, analyze, improve.
No leads? No sales? — Test, analyze, improve.
You have leads and growing sales. — Test, analyze, improve.
Solutions: You should constantly work hard and improve your advertising campaigns for better efficiency. The Internet is full of clients but there is no ceiling. If you’ll make a solid lead generation strategy, you’ll get what you want.
Don’t stagnate: change texts, colors, pictures, videos, titles, think of discounts/bonuses/gifts, create useful content, communicate with them for pleasure etc.
It’s important to track conversion data: the number of rejections, time spent visiting your site, where traffic comes from etc. You can look it up in Google Analytics.
Let’s conclude everything in three words. Test, track, improve.
These are the most common lead generation mistakes. Try not to violate them and your business will thrive and flourish.
