Prefer getting straight to the point?

Join our weekly "Consulting content round-up" newsletter to get a succinct, straight to the point email with the most relevant information to help you scale your consultancy.

5 creative ways to generate more sales leads

Image630

Increasing sales leads is a key goal for every marketer. More leads mean more sales and more revenue. If the standard ways of generating leads aren’t getting you the results you’d hoped for, here are five other methods you might not have tried.

It’s a competitive environment out there. If you’re wondering how to generate more sales leads for your business, you’re alone.

It’s a topic that’s been covered again and again and the standard advice is to do the following:

This is all good advice and, if you’re not doing these things already, you should prioritise them first.

But for those looking to go beyond the basics and gain the competitive edge, here are five lesser-used tactics for generating sales leads.

Branded objects

With the internet being so important to how we do business nowadays, it's easy to ignore the value of offline, physical tactics.

It's been around for years but there's still enormous value in creating branded goodies such as:

  • Pens
  • Stationery
  • Mugs

It might seem old fashioned but these are the kinds of things people use every day. This means whoever is using these products is seeing your brand on a daily basis, cementing it firmly in their mind.

But if you really want to see results, get creative with your branded objects.

A previous company I worked for gave out branded portable USB chargers at trade shows and events.

physical-objects-generate-more-sales-leads

They cost around £4 each but are a high value, useful, and unique giveaway.

Whilst this wouldn't be a profitable move for a high volume, low margin B2C, the company giving these away was a highly specialist B2B. If just 1% of people who took these chargers went on to become customers, it would provide phenomenal ROI.

Public speaking

Public speaking is a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your field.

And experts have prospects coming to them for business - they don't need to cold call or force customers to buy.

Identify industry shows and events and pitch your idea to them along with your credentials. It can be difficult to secure these engagements but the more of them you do and the more accomplished you become, the more people will want you to speak at theirs.

Like with all early stage inbound marketing tactics, it's better to be educational in tone rather than salesy.

Take your experience and knowledge and condense it into a short but powerful presentation and you're guaranteed to impress prospects. What's more, you can record the presentation for a highly valuable and shareable item of video content.

Social media groups

For many marketers, their social media strategy is just to create a page and share content.

Whilst this is certainly better than nothing, you're not taking full advantage of social media if you're not regularly participating in groups related to your niche.

generate-more-sales-leads-by-participating-in-social-media-groups

Like public speaking, participating in groups by contributing valuable insights and knowledge is a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your field. And experts have leads flocking to them.

And if a group doesn't exist for your particular niche, create one!

Comment on related blogs

A similar tactic that is massively underutilised is commenting on popular industry blogs. Like groups, you'll be getting your name in front of a highly qualified niche - the kind of people who'll buy your product.

Like contributing to a group on social media, be sure to add value with your comments. Don't push your product or be salesy.

Read the blog article and offer useful, relevant insights in response. If possible, link it to an example in your own company.

Most blogs allow you to include your website with your name so if people see you're knowledgeable about the topic and are able to add value, they'll check your site out. And, of course, more qualified traffic means more potential leads. 

It's not likely to generate enormous volumes of traffic but, for the time it takes, it's worth it.

Snail mail

Snail mail - sending stuff in the post - is still a great way to generate leads.

82% of direct mail is opened. Compared to email, as seen in a previous blog post, this is a much higher open rate.

Of course, it costs more than email, so it's best to target this tactic at only the most qualified prospects.

However, if you genuinely can add value to the prospect's business, a well-worded letter explaining this will almost certainly provide positive ROI.

generate-more-sales-leads-with-direct-mail

For example, let's say you're a B2B service provider. You identify 1500 prospects with an average Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) of £50,000. What sort or ROI can you expect from a direct mail campaign?

At current prices, a second class stamp costs 55p. Of course, there are additional costs such as paper, envelopes, etc. plus the time it takes to compile each letter. With that in mind, let's say the cost of sending each averages £1 each.

Of the 1500 prospects, 82% won't open it. Of these, let's say just 1% are interested and become leads.

That leaves you with 12 (12.3 to be exact!) new leads. If 10% of your leads go on to become customers, you've got at least one new customer!

With an average CLV of £50,000, your direct mail campaign will have generated approximately 485% ROI. Not bad!

If you really want to maximise the lead generation potential of each item of post, get creative with what you send. Whether it's a free sample, branded gifts, or just a package full of awesome stuff, don't forget about good old fashioned snail mail to generate leads!

Our inbound marketing services are designed to generate qualified sales leads, converting strangers into customers. Get in touch on 01202 788333 or marketing@lexisclick.com to arrange a free consultation.

Get the latest marketing tips, tricks and hacks delivered straight to your inbox - subscribe below!


  

 

Prefer getting straight to the point?

Join our weekly "Consulting content round-up" newsletter to get a succinct, straight to the point email with the most relevant information to help you scale your consultancy.