While the conversion of leads into customers is often made the focus of ‘successful’ digital marketing, it’s lead generation where many businesses struggle. With more than two thirds of consumers now researching purchases online in advance of making them, there is real value for any organisation to add to the process via digital marketing. The end result is not just a better experience for the consumer, and driving more traffic to your business’ website but also the creation of qualified leads. So how can you be more effective when it comes to lead generation?

Make sure you’re working with Local SEO

Optimising your website for local search is increasingly important in the context of lead generation. For any bricks and mortar store the local community can be a rich source of business, especially as 72% of consumers who carry out a local search go on to visit a store within five miles of the searched location. If you want to ensure your website is optimised for local search it’s important to check that there is consistency between website contact details and those in listings on sites like Yelp, and that your website Title Tag includes a location. Pursuing reviews on third party platforms can also be incredibly effective.

Invest in social ads

Before you can be truly effective in terms of lead generation via social media you need to cultivate a strong following. Start by identifying the right platform for your business – many organisations opt for Facebook because paid ads on the platform are easy to use and cheap to set up. You’ll then need to work on building an engaged and responsive audience with good quality content and plenty of interaction.

Upgrade your investment in content

Creating high quality content is one of the most powerful ways to generate leads, especially if you’re able to use this to establish thought leadership. On average, almost half of B2B buyers will engage with at least three pieces of content before contacting a sales rep so the higher the volume of good quality content that you have out there the better the chances of positive lead generation. Key questions for an effective content strategy include where might you be able to establish yourself as an expert or a specialist? What particular issues or pain points could you tackle via content to win customers? And how can you promote the content that you create?

Don’t forget about email marketing

Email marketing has longevity and remains one of the most effective forms of lead generation today. This can be significantly increased by applying automation so that you’re automatically contacting, and collecting data from, leads that can then be nurtured. Segmented targeting can make your email marketing more specific and effective, and synching it with a CRM can lead to better quality lead nurturing that produces impressive results.

There are many ways to generate leads for your business with the tools of digital marketing – if you’d like to find out more about this process contact one of our team.