How to Generate Leads
Generating leads is core to a successful business. The problem many businesses face is that they either do not generate leads from their websites, or organize the leads they do get effectively. Whether you're running a start-up or established business, you should always be looking to find new customers and retain old ones -- even online.
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Instructions
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Require registration on your website, but make it free. Registration is the number one way you can retain leads. A customer will need to provide basic information about himself to register to access certain areas of your website.
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Include a sign-up form. You should have some kind of incentive for the person to enter in personal demographic details, such as the promise of discounts in the future.
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Include a customer survey. This can be independent of a sign-up form or in conjunction with it. Don't make this too much of a headache; people will bow out after the twentieth question. Gather enough information to effectively target your leads in the briefest survey possible.
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Send targeted emails only. Don't send out emails indiscriminately, offering the same promotions to your entire customer base. Send targeted emails to leads who have expressed interest in that particular product in the past, via a Web survey or past purchases. If you send out too many emails, the person will become irritated and hit "Unsubscribe." Target each marketing campaign to a specific demographic.
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Give incentives for referrals. If someone refers a client to the site, give the referrer a bonus or discount. The new registrant can receive the same discount if she refers someone else. This markets your product via word of mouth to people who are actually interested in purchasing it.
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Buy lead lists. If your business is just starting out, it can take a while for the above tactics to start working. Buying lead lists can be effective. Make sure the list service has generated leads specifically for your type of business in the past; otherwise, you will be wasting your money.
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Tips & Warnings
A blog is a good lead generator, especially if a reader has to register to make a comment. Each commenter should be added to your lead database.
White papers can also be used to generate leads. Include informative articles that the browser will need to register to read the whole thing. This means you have to really grab a reader in the first two or three paragraphs that are visible.
Keep track of all your lead information: email, home address, telephone number, past purchases, date of registration and so on. Very often the problem with leads is how they are organized, not how they are generated.
The same rules apply even if you run only a brick and mortar store. Every time something is ordered or purchased, retain the customer's information.
Be careful of some services that sell lead lists; the lists can be useless. Make sure you purchase lead lists from a reputable marketing firm.
References
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