A strategy for lead generation needs to take a holistic approach to be successful. It’s not about throwing up some Google Ads or social posts and hoping to get a bunch of new clients from them (we’ve all been there!).
The word ‘holistic’ might make you think that you have to do everything, from social media and paid ads to email marketing and blogging. Take it from me – you do NOT have to use every channel to create a successful lead generation strategy.
Think about what you want to accomplish, then decide on the right strategy to achieve that goal. For some businesses, that might mean focusing on one marketing channel. For others, it might mean utilizing a few. Whatever you decide, your custom strategy for lead generation should be working toward your business goals and meeting your target audience where they prefer to interact with your business, not just checking a box to complete a task!
Is your head spinning yet? Don’t worry – I will walk you through an easy way to create a lead generation strategy tailored to your unique business needs.
Understand Your Ideal Customer
First, you need to know who you’re talking to! Knowing your ideal customer on a deep, intimate level helps you understand their:
- Challenges/pain points
- Demographics
- Behaviors
- Most used platforms
- Buying patterns and decision-making process
- Business and personal goals/desires
- Objections
Read this blog to learn how to create buyer personas for your ideal clients. Once you understand them, you can write copy, design graphics, and show up on the platforms that resonate most with them.
Identify Your Goals
What do you want to accomplish from your lead generation strategy? I’m guessing you want to generate and convert more leads! But what exactly does that look like? Could it be:
- Increasing subscribers on your email list
- Getting more contact form submissions
- Reducing the cost-per-lead on paid ads
- Generating more high-quality leads
- Increasing freebie downloads
- Shorten the sales cycle
- Earning more website traffic from search engines
Different businesses have different goals, and varying definitions of success. Your unique business goals influence the strategy for lead generation. Consider how your goals align with your customer personas and how they prefer to interact with your business.
Choose the Right Marketing Channels
People tend to skip right to marketing themselves on various channels, but knowing your audience and goals first is important to the success of your lead generation strategy!
There are two main ways to bring in new leads:
- Inbound Marketing: Inbound marketing focuses on attracting and nurturing leads to your business. Strategies include content marketing, SEO, social media, and email marketing.
- Outbound Marketing: Outbound marketing involves actively seeking out new customers. This could include cold pitching, LinkedIn outreach, or paid advertising.
I tend to use a mix of both when I create a lead generation strategy for small businesses, but leaning into one or the other is a great way to get started. With so many platforms available to you, it can be hard to choose the right ones! Start by aligning channels with your target audience’s preferences. If your audience is primarily female business owners, maybe try marketing on Pinterest since their demographic is over 70% female. Or if your audience is readers, long-form blog posts could be the way to go.
Remember, this is not about what you want to do; it’s about meeting your audience where they are online and making a genuine connection with them.
Consider the Buyer’s Journey
The marketing channels you use for your lead generation strategy should align with where your customers are on the buyer’s journey. Social media typically hits people when they are in the awareness stage. They are just getting to know your business, what you offer, and what makes you different from competitors.
In the consideration stage, leads will interact with your content via blog posts, YouTube videos, or social media engagement. They are starting to consider you as an expert and a resource for information, but they may not be sold on your offers yet.
In the decision stage, a lead may be on your email list. They have chosen to learn more about your expertise by downloading a freebie or signing up for a webinar. This is when you can start to sell your services a little more and hopefully convert these hot leads into loyal customers.
Understanding how to use a platform for certain stages in the buyer’s journey will help you create relevant and engaging content.
Create Content
It’s time to start creating content for your audience! Here, you can start getting creative with your lead generation strategy. Try a mix of content, like long-form video or written content, short-form videos, audio-only content, etc. See what your audience responds to, and go with that!
I encourage you to leverage efficient workflows and automation when creating content. It can take a lot of time and energy to create content all the time. I like to batch my work so that while I’m in a creative mindset, I can plan a few weeks of content at a time. Use automation to schedule social media posts, blogs, emails, and videos so you can feel at ease knowing your content is reaching your audience at a consistent cadence, without needing your hands on it every day
Test and Refine
Always test and tweak your strategy for lead generation, especially if it isn’t working as expected. I like to A/B test emails to learn more about what my audience wants to see from my business. Give yourself a few months to get accurate data, then tweak as needed. You should refine your lead generation strategy every quarter until you find a system that works for your business.
What’s Your Custom Strategy for Lead Generation?
Hopefully, by now, you should have a starting place! By viewing your lead generation strategy holistically, you can see the entire customer journey, from their first interaction with your brand to becoming a customer. That’s what it takes to have a successful marketing strategy.
And if that feels overwhelming, that’s why I’m here! As a fractional CMO, I help businesses with the overall strategy for lead generation and implementation. I test and refine it until it’s perfect for your business. Let’s hop on a discovery call to discuss how a fractional CMO can help your business grow and flourish.
