Lead generation is something you’ve probably heard about before – it’s one of the first things anyone with a marketing hat on will mention…
But does lead generation really work in digital marketing?
Lead generation is step one on the journey to success for any business. The issue for many is that without an efficient system for managing the leads that you generate; you can land yourself in pretty big trouble pretty quickly. By that, I mean that you’re setting yourself up for a fall before you’ve even got going.
Lead generation is a generic term that encompasses a variety of techniques in marketing, but the point remains that generating new leads is essential to keep your business moving forwards and growing.
There might be times when you don’t need to do much proactive lead generation but the reality is that at one point or another, inbound leads will dry up. Whether it’s because your sector has natural peaks and troughs, there’s a change in the economic situation or because of external factors, there will come a time when you need to create effective lead generation to keep moving forwards.
It’s something we explore in the Sales Circuit as we build a lead bank at the very end – because the sales circuit is, well, a circuit. Which means that there’s no end or beginning once you’ve started for the first time – it simply repeats through the 10 stages and back again and again.
Turning On Tap For Lead Generation
Nothing starts until you get that first click.
Or that first demo or that first sale. The point is that until you get going, you’ve not really begun. But the obvious point I’m going to make here is that you need leads to get someone to click.
Everything starts somewhere, and whether it’s through referrals, building a list, or developing relationships, you’ve got to turn on the tap to generate leads.
That relationship only develops as you make them feel welcome, nurture them and then when the time is right, make them a sales offer.
In truth, the sales cycle can start anywhere. In this case, success depends wholly on whether you keep the various processes turning and feeding into each other – and, if they’re not, then it’ll depend on whether you make the necessary changes to ensure that they do.
That’s where the real magic starts.
I’m not talking about Dynamo, David Blaine, or David Copperfield, though – there’s no card tricks, rabbits in hats or unfathomable acts of trickery here.
Once you’ve got your lead generation machine set up and things are ticking along, you can move on to the next stage…
Fine-tuning and amplifying your system.
Before that, you’ve got to fill your sales pipeline so everything’s ready to go and that’s precisely what lead generation does for you.
Does Lead Generation Really Work?
Step five of the Sales Circuit talks about leaks and regular checks to make sure the system is capturing and actioning data properly.
Now, if you’ve got a process in place that handles this, then you can devote your time SOLELY to the job of increasing the number of leads – amplifying.
If you’d invented a machine that could turn a £5 note into a £20 note, what would you be doing all day?
Hint, it’s not to find as many five-pound notes as you can – as simple as that may seem…
- I’d hire someone to borrow £5 notes on the premise that the lender will be paid £6 in return, and then pay the collector £2 per collection
- I’d then pay someone £1 per go to fill the machine and hire a third employee for the same amount to collect the £20 notes and deliver them to my ‘next project’ account
If you’re wondering what on earth I’m on about, bear with me…
Because the point is that once you’ve set up your fully automated Sales Circuit, your job is simply to find a way to fill it with as many leads as possible.
The idea is simple – get the process right and then scale it up.
Now, you do still need to monitor the system to make sure that if there’s any glitches, errors, or meltdowns, you’re on hand to plug the gaps and get everything back online again.
Or you might realise there’s a better way of doing things if you change a few things around – but you won’t know until you’ve got things up and running.
And as a business looks to grow, the biggest thing you need to watch is overloading capacity.
If you’ve not paid enough attention to cashflow or if demand is slowing down delivery and service quality so much that customers are being neglected or let down, then you’ve got a problem,
Should I Be Split Testing My Lead Generation?
Split testing isn’t a new concept.
I’m not claiming to have reinvented the wheel but what I am saying is that using all of these systems in tandem to create a well-oiled and effective sales circuit can be pivotal to the future success of your business.
Split testing is where you try different marketing approaches on the same body of leads to work out which is more effective in converting sales.
More sales equals more revenue, which results in more profit and helps your business grow – it’s a simple equation and one that always looks easier on paper than in reality. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth the effort!
Let’s say you’ve got 1000 leads sitting in a database, and you’ve created a new piece of marketing that you want to send them.
The marketing department loves it – they created it so they’re bound to.
But only the lead base will tell you if what you’ve created works and until you’ve got that data and tested it, you won’t know.
So, you’ve got two options:
- Send out 1000 letters to the leads in your database and hope the work’s as good as your marketing team thinks it is
- OR you can test it first…
There’s more than one way to cook an egg, but for simplicity’s sake, let’s stick to the basic idea of split testing…
You select two groups of 50 leads randomly from the database and call one Set A and the other Set B.
Get your marketing team to make some tweaks to the marketing content, or even come up with a second idea if you can.
Then you’ve got the opportunity to test the two versions of your marketing with your Set A and Set B lead groups, each with a different ‘claim’ code so you can track and measure the results.
After that, it’s a case of measuring which performs better and deciding how to proceed.
But don’t get too caught up in the split testing process.
It’s easy to think ‘well if we try doing that but to this group…’ – but you’ll never send anything out if you keep searching for perfection.
The key takeaway from ANY marketing is that it’s better to get something out now and tweak it as you go rather than delaying sending anything out in the quest for better.
Good enough is good enough. Nothing has to be perfect as long as it’s effective enough to get results.
But Where Do I Begin?
Getting customers and keeping them is at the heart of any business and as we’ve discussed, lead generation is a key part of that.
But knowing where to actually begin is another question entirely. But there are plenty of things you can do, including profiling, creating social content, networking, and getting referrals and testimonials from those that already love what you do.
- Profiling – When you begin your journey to identify your best customers and the ones that’ll benefit the most, there is A LOT of guesswork involved. As you build your client base, the picture becomes clearer, and you know who is a good customer and who might be a bit of a burden. Then you’ll eventually have enough data to actually profile who your best customers are. Take a look at your top 20% of clients and amalgamate all of their characteristics, and you should have a pretty good profile already.
- Social content – We live in an online world. And that means advertising, communication, and feedback are all highly social and shareable. Quite simply, if you put yourself out there more, then more people will find you. Of course, it has to be of good quality AND relevant. Remember, everything you put on social media reflects your brand, so it needs to be strategically planned with a central message. The key here is quality first, volume second.
- Referrals and testimonials – The best source of new leads come from the people that already love what you do. Yep, that’s your current customers! Nothing is stronger for winning new business than referrals.
- Networking – Getting out there and meeting people should always be on your mind. In most areas in the UK there are strong business networking communities, from the Federation of Small Businesses to local Chambers of Commerce, and independent networking groups, there are plenty out there. It might not work for everyone, but it’s always worth a try.
All of this is geared towards creating a sales circuit that works for you, generates results, grows your business, and hopefully, as much of it as possible can be automated. Then you’ve got the time to focus on the big picture stuff.
Once you’ve done that, it’s time to take stock, see what you’ve done, finetune your sales circuit and lead generation, and amplify everything to take you to the next level.