There’s no better time than right now to analyze and consider your current lead generating strategies. Why? Because one of the most frequent calls that we get from businesses is about why their website isn’t generating any leads.

They have a website, a blog, they’ve optimized their website to the best of their ability, and even more confusingly, they do get traffic! But… no one’s buying. No one’s signing up for newsletters. No one’s doing ANYTHING when they get there. What gives?

Be sure to check out our FREE eBook “25 Simple Ways to Generate More Customers.”

You Gotta Have a Plan!

I’m going to push aside the fact that most businesses that do their own search engine optimization (SEO) and have no experience doing so really don’t optimize efficiently (that’s a whole other article!) and instead focus on a company’s actual business plan.

Let’s dig down to the basic marketing strategies and focus a bit less on just “inbound” marketing for a second. I’ve written a bit about getting to know your customer and creating buyer profiles and personas recently, and I can’t help but stress that again here. Businesses often get so wrapped up in their own ideas about what they can give to their customers that they forget to think about what their customers want and need. That should be your focus: what does a visitor want and need from you when they come to your blog or website?

For more on starting a blog for your business, be sure to check out our FREE eBook, “How to Start a Business Blog.”

Walk a Mile In Their Shoes

Next is working on your value proposition. What’s in it for the person visiting your site? If you think that someone’s going to visit your website and just sign up for your newsletter, you’re living in a dream world. You have to offer them something. What do they get out of it? And no, e-mailing or sending out social media blasts about how awesome your product is isn’t enough. You need to actually offer a solution to a problem, and one of the best ways to do this is through an effective calls-to-action.

Now here’s where a lot of businesses need a tune-up. Their calls-to-action stink. Either their CTAs are too explosive and “IN YOUR FACE” or they’re too basic and boring. Throwing some one-liner at the bottom of a landing page that says, “Click here for your free newsletter” isn’t exactly convincing anyone to sign up. On the flip side, being overly salesy and pushy with your CTAs will only either:

  1. Scare you visitors
  2. Disgust them to the point that they click that “x” in the upper right hand corner of their browser faster than you can imagine

Make An Offer They Can’t Refuse

So what’s a good CTA? An offer. Presenting valuable and quality materials for free to you visitors on the web. Giving your customers a chance to either “win” or “get ahead” in some way. Remember to see through the eyes of your customer and always ask yourself from the customer’s perspective, “What’s in it for me?” Free resources are a great way to keep people on your site and checking out your products and services, as the free resources may offer a solution (or at least a partial solution) to their problem.

Final Thoughts

What I get from a lot of companies at this point is, “But I have a lot of free stuff on my site! What more could they want?” If this sounds like you, then you just aren’t presenting the resources and materials well enough.

The goal of offering these freebies is to acquire customers. In order to do this, you have to work those CTAs that will lead your customers to landing pages or to an area where they can sign up for a free newsletter or free temporary membership, or, a “member’s only” area of your website.

Your number one goal at this point in the game is to get contact information. You want their name and e-mail address at the very least. Depending on your company and niche, you may want to get more details, like a phone number or address. But your visitors have to give you something for their free access to your site or for a contest entry. And if your visitor sees that they’ll benefit from giving you their e-mail address, they’ll be handing it over without a second thought.

Key Takeaways

  • Think about what your customers want and need from you.
  • Create CTA messages that will speak out to them.
  • Persuade them with free offers to provide their contact information so that a connection is established and you can continue to “nurture” them to the point that they become customers.

Need Help?

If lead generation is something you are interested in but are having trouble getting started, contact us today to schedule your free marketing analysis!