Hey guys - I’m pretty new here but I’ve been following along as a non-member for some time. I’m curious to know what you guys are finding to be most effective to generate leads. Of course word of mouth is the BEST but you can’t always just rely on that. Thanks.
Yes, as you say word of mouth is best, but there are plenty of other methods. Some significant businesses get nearly all their clients from CraigsList. Others use social-media including LinkedIn, FaceBook or Youtube to generate leads. Another way to generate leads is to create a website with a squeeze-page (which captures contact details) and get targeted traffic to it (such as by using SEO, or buying traffic). Another approach is to buy leads. There are a variety of places you can buy leads for many types of business. Prices will vary according to the type of business (for example legal leads can be worth hundreds or even thousands per lead . . . for example mesothelioma leads are worth so much that the AdWords cost is sometimes over $1000 per click, and that's just a click, not a lead!). Hope that gives you some ideas Chris
I would recommend to invest in facebook ads or solo ads but there are other ways of generating leads as well,like using twitter and youtube ads. When it comes to buying solo ads make sure to research the vendor, because not all traffic is of high quality.
Facebook ads seem to be working for a lot of local business if you set the ads up. Also make sure you are listed in yelp, citysearch, google maps and so on. Attend local network meetings to help get your info out.
What vertical? I have been generating leads for over 16 years. However, I mainly generate leads for financial type offers. Insurance, education, debt, loans, credit, mortgage, assistance, discount offers, homeowner offers, etc... They all have mass appeal and fresh / targeted daily data can be obtained for them...which is why I generate leads for those type of verticals. I purchase or get rev-share 3rd party data, which is data that the users have given permission to receive messages from third parties. Then based on whatever the vertical is, I then send them a relevant PPL offer. So if I'm getting auto insurance data, I send then an auto insurance offer. If I'm getting education data, then I send an education offer, etc... Additional theses types of offers are fairly easy to cross promote. Which is key to monetizing the data to it's fullest extent. Outside of monetizing data, I would look at facebook ads. They have extensive targeting / retargeting capabilities.
There are many ways to generate leads. Which way to choose and which way will be more effective? It all depends on who is your target audience and what is your advertising goal. Please more informationa about your business...
Well I have to ask first, what are you promoting? A service, physical products, digital products, etc? That will help you to determine how to market your promotions to your target audience. I know this is an absurd comparison but I thought it would help to clarify; if you're promoting a digital product for insurance agencies you don't want to promote to a site that caters to expecting mothers, it's not congruent. Again, I know this is an absurd comparison but I think you get the point. Organic leads are the best, leads from Facebook posts, Twitter, Snapchat, etc. You can also try solo ads, but be very careful with this because there are a ton of hustlers out there who are more than happy to take your money and provide crappy traffic. I have used UDIMIM with good results. The thing I like about UDIMI is you can see the ratings and reviews on a host of traffic vendors, so you can at least see who is providing quality traffic and who is mostly providing traffic from BOTS and other crappy sources. If you're really serious about building your business, you can get access to a free program that I have used which can help greatly. Hopefully this helps, all the best to you and your endeavors!
Is there any advertising campaigns you find that work better than others. ex: mailers, bill boards, etc
Well one of the biggest keys of successful online marketing is test, test, test, and test! What technique I use for my promotions may not necessarily work for your promotions. The biggest keys are based upon what you're promoting which will determine your target audience. Also, other factors to consider are your budget (how much can you spend on your advertising), what is your time frame, and what is your level of expertise in driving traffic to your offer. But don't get overwhelmed, the best way to learn is to just get started. Don't be afraid of making mistakes, that's all a part of your testing. So..... one tool that I use which has proven to be successful in generating traffic, can be found here. But again, the most successful campaigns I have run centered around organic traffic (Facebook, YouTube, SnapChat, etc.) and paid traffic (e.g. Solo Ads, CPC, etc.) So not to be redundant but it's important to test a lot to see which technique works best for you. Hopefully this helps....
As for me, I generate leads through social media and email marketing. Try it! Maybe it'll work for you well too
Generating leads is not only limited to the particular method but as much as possible many mediums to have great reach for your target audience.
For us as digital agency with many clients you have a range of things that work, from an email campaign for a retail client to Google adwords and Display ads for tourism industry. It really is dependent on the industry and your clientele. Nothing is cut to fit everything.
If it's a local business you can try craigslist. You can try it even if it's an online business. I used to get all kinds of leads from there. It'll all depend on how you promote it. Don't spam their site, don't make it sound silly (like you can make $10000 this week!, etc.) just post a nice ad and you may end up getting a few leads from there.