Lead Acquisition

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Successful Lead Acquisition for Small Businesses

Successful lead acquisition is a constant challenge for small businesses. It is also an area that, is done successfully, can greatly increase your company’s revenue. Not only does it provide the potential for immediate sales, better lead acquisition increase the size of your customer and prospect database – which is fruitful ground for future sales.

Lead Generation Techniques

So how does one go about acquiring leads – or more appropriately, more, qualified leads? There are a number of proven Lead Generation Techniques, we’ll highlight a few of them here:

Lead Acquisition Tip #1 – Your Network

Not just your personal network, but your corporate network. And not just for new client acquisition, but for successful lead acquisition ideas. Talk to non-competitive business owners and share ideas, what’s working, what’s not? But make sure you have data to back up what you claim, after all, you are tracking your marketing metrics, right?

Lead Acquisition Tip #2 – Offline Marketing

OK, offline marketing is an old school lead generation technique, but it can still work. Common offline lead generation techniques include:

• Print advertising
• Direct mail
• Direct Response Television (DRTV)
• Card Deck Mailings
• FSI’s (Free Standing Inserts)
• Billing Statement Inserts (cable company, credit cards, etc)
• Valpak
• Radio Advertising
• Trade Shows
• Referral Programs
• And more

Unfortunately, many offline marketing lead generation methods can be expensive to test – so negotiate rates intelligently. Of course, if a particular marketing channel generates leads, you should be willing to invest more in that medium. By negotiating a test you can afford (and it can create adequate response to make a roll out decision), you create a potential win-win for you and the company with which you are adverting.

Lead Acquisition Tip #3 – Online Marketing

First you need a website. Secondly, your website should have a contact us form. And finally, you need to generate traffic to your website. This can be done in a variety of ways explained in more detail on this page: online marketing lead generation. But a quick list (by no means fully comprehensive) would include:

• SEO – Search Engine Optimization
• PPC – Pay Per Click Marketing
• Social Media
• Email Marketing
• Banner Ads, Internet Advertising
• Referral/Affiliate Programs
• Google AdSense
• And many more

Lead Acquisition Tactics

The above lists represents successful lead generation techniques from a tactical perspective, but to optimize your lead acquisition techniques, you should consider the following.

Analytics

A must if you are generating leads through online marketing efforts. A good analytics program, and someone who can correctly interpret the data will help to target and refine your lead generation techniques.

Conversion Tracking – CRM Marketing

CRM Marketing creates a closed loop marketing system – so you can track your marketing metrics all the way through the business cycle. This way, you know which lead acquisition tactics are yielding positive ROI. CRM systems will also greatly enhance your sales lead follow up.

Branding

Establishing and reinforcing your brand should be an integral part of your lead generation techniques. Since repetition (frequency) plays a role in effective lead generation, developing brand recognition will only improve your lead acquisition efforts.

Messaging

Make your offer simple with a clear call to action. Clearly communicate your value proposition to the prospect. And don’t hype it up with a bunch of sales jargon. Also, don’t make your marketing message about you – think of yourself as the prospect and communicate from that perspective (easy to say, sometimes harder to do).

Lead Acquisition Recap

Successful Lead Acquisition is largely a function of your business model, as well as your own creativity and ability to test and track results. There are a number of lead generation techniques at your disposal but the best lead acquisition for your company is the one that is scalable and produces positive ROI.

Contact Marketing Practicality to improve your lead generation techniques.