5 Additional Ways to Generate Leads for Your Business on a Budget

We all know keeping your existing customers satisfied is important, but so is bringing new buyers on board.

Generating leads is a fundamental process for every business, though it’s not always easy to do when money’s tight and your options seem limited. Every cent counts, and you have to plan your strategies carefully to maximize value.

While implementing social selling and the effective use of LinkedIn are powerful ways to accomplish your lead-generation goal – that’s what we can help you with here at Social Sales Link – you can add several other tools to your top-of-funnel efforts.

Looking for inspiration? Here are five powerful ideas to get you started.

1.Use Incentives to Expand your List of Subscribers

A core element of lead generation is gathering email addresses. Once you have these, you can start sending marketing messages and newsletters designed to drive traffic to your site.

Still, actually pulling those addresses in can seem like a pretty daunting challenge at times. Make it easier by ensuring your website is as engaging as possible: strong visuals, intuitive navigation and responsive design all have a massive impact on the customer experience.

Secondly, don’t be coy with your attempts to capture leads — hit prospects with a pop-up inviting them to submit their email address with immediate value, such as:

1. A sizable discount on their first purchase;
2. A free gift like an ebook or access to a tool they can actually benefit from;
3. An exclusive offer(s) they’ll receive.

2. Make it Easy for Prospects to Find the Answers they Need

We all know the frustration of unresponsive customer support teams. You’re on hold for minutes at a time, waiting for someone to pick up. You’re sending email after email without getting a single one back. It’s a nightmare.

Don’t let your company be one of those neglectful ones. Always be accessible for any visitor who could become a valuable customer.

Offer support through multiple channels — telephone, live chat, social media, email, even text messaging — and streamline your response processes to minimize waiting times.

Live chat software is a powerful choice: not only does it provide direct, free contact with one of your helpful agents, it gives you access to insightful data to help understand your customer-base better.

Though live chat, email and telephone service can all fit into your budget comfortably, round-the-clock support might be beyond your reach. Try virtual agents and an FAQ section to help visitors get the assistance they want out of hours.

3. Embrace an Automated Approach

You must market your business to grab new prospects and drive them to your site — but that all takes time and energy. Two things you might not have in abundance when running a business!

The solution? Try automated marketing.

You can integrate several practical tools into your everyday operations to save much-needed time and resources. Rather than carving hours from your own or employees’ schedules to fit marketing in, automating the work will distribute emails to everyone who submitted their addresses.

Making your messages personalized and compelling enough will cause them to click through to your landing page, which has to be so exquisite they don’t dare hit that ‘back’ button. Tools let you send follow-up emails too, to maintain interest without actually harassing recipients.

Look into affiliate software as well, so you can track sign-ups and take advantage of a simple, cost-effective marketing channel. This can be a worthwhile addition to your advertising strategy and help you keep track of valuable data.

Make the Most of Social Media’s Potential

Not using social media to communicate with people? You’re missing out.

Roughly 59 percent of Americans believe social media has made customer service more accessible, and getting questions answered or problems resolved is a lot easier.

For people using these networks (and others) to chat with friends and browse their personalized news feeds multiple times each day anyway, simply dropping a message on a business’s page is a welcome convenience.

You must be responsive, though: answer questions and work to resolve issues as soon as you can. Host competitions requesting users like and share posts, so your brand will appear on more feeds — even those who may never discover you on their own.

Take advantage of paid ads too. In-depth options allow you great targeting flexibility, so you can reach out to the right people you’re looking for.

Get Creative with Content: Making Blogs and Videos

Blogs and videos are terrific ways to market your business. On the one hand, writing regular blog posts ensures a consistent supply of fresh content on your site and affords you a simple way to add diverse keywords. Both perks can help improve your SEO performance at a steady rate.

Blog posts which are well-written and offer real value are more likely to be shared with others, particularly over social networks. Include social media buttons so impressed readers can share posts with minimal effort.

Start producing videos for your YouTube channel too, and you could see considerable benefits. Those using video for marketing achieve 66 percent more qualified leads on an annual basis, and 76.5 percent of small-business owners see results with video marketing.

Make your blogs and videos as dynamic, entertaining and user-friendly as possible. You can do both on a budget: try to source untapped local talent or see if any employees have skills in either area. Alternatively, investigate working with freelancers offering competitive rates.

Time for Even More Leads

Especially when combined with LinkedIn/social selling, these five lead generation strategies are effective, straightforward and accessible to businesses on various budgets. You’ll generate more leads and acquire new customers over time, all without burning through your finances too quickly.

As you build your brand and up your marketing game, you’ll find generating leads easier — hopefully increasing revenue enough to help you afford even more lead-generation opportunities down the road.

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