The market offers a myriad of ways to generate leads, although it is the marketers’ prerogative in choice depending on their business objectives and resources. However, it could be noted that most successful lead generation methods take on similar steps in the conversion of potential leads to customers.
This successful structure comprises generating brand awareness, developing strong customer relationship, product sampling and potential lead to customer conversion. The right flow of the stages in this lead generation process works to optimize lead generation efforts to enjoy high support and sales from converted customers.
1) Generating Brand Awareness
The first step of a successful lead generation strategy is to create brand awareness of the business. The market must be buzzing with hype on the brand to stir consumer interest as much as possible. This would draw the attention of consumers across the market to check out the brand and offerings.
There are many ways to generate brand awareness proactively. Networking with other related companies on social and PR events would synergize the massive crowd desired to be aware of the brand and business. Successful email marketing campaigns could be implemented with dynamic brand awareness contents could be deployed in stirring up market curiosity and interest on the brand and its benefits.
Even the social media networks could be roped in to boost brand awareness in the market amongst the millions of social media users, fans and followers available. Strategic marketing campaigns manipulating content marketing, blogs or article marketing are powerful tools in raising brand awareness quickly through quality content.
Marketers and business owners need to define their brand clearly before the market to attract targeted potential leads. Heads must turn and curiosity stirred towards the brand when enough buzz and hype is generated and directed to the brand or business in the market.
2) Developing Strong Customer Relationship
Once the market is abuzz with the brand, the onus is on the marketer or business owner to develop or build a strong customer relationship with every potential lead that has signed up or opted in as a business or brand subscriber. This is a crucial moment in engaging the potential lead for a period of time before a conversion to customer comes about; otherwise, the potential lead might opt out or be enticed by competitors.
Marketers and business owners must work extra hard to keep these potential leads as long as possible in their mailing list to be converted into customers for their brand and business as quickly as possible. Hence, research and effort must be expended with time to understand the potential lead as a potential customer by identifying their needs, purchasing power and behavior before recommending any goods or services.
A personalized welcome to the brand by the marketer is powerful in establishing good rapport with the potential lead that has taken the trouble and effort to sign into the mailing list of the business. Marketers and business owners need to stay connected with every potential lead regularly with useful and interesting mails that would benefit potential leads. Such engagements not only help marketers and business owners identify the special needs and preferences of the potential leads, but also build up important relations qualities such as trust, confidence and respect.
Marketers and business owners may need to indulge in different marketing options to identify the most effective channel in building the customer relation as modern consumers today prefer to deal with trusted brands than just cheap products.
3) Product Sampling
Product sampling may not necessarily be available for all brands and businesses depending on the nature of the business. However, discerning consumers today are wary of the substandard products and services in the market to steer clear from these regardless of the low and attractive prices.
Hence, product sampling is effective in convincing concerned consumers of the validity of the brand and business in the market besides the usefulness and effectiveness of the product on promotion. Discerning consumers today are opting for quality products that offer good value for their money with the rising inflation and living standards impacting many around the world.
Customers are more likely to make a purchase after sampling the product. This has led many companies to offer trial runs or trial periods on many products to convince customers of the value of their products. Small product samples are also popularly given out at public places such as the malls and hypermarkets where high traffic flows daily. These could even be executed through house-drops like flyers or given out in a creative freebie with purchase in promoting the new product while attached to a related product of the same brand or business.
4) Potential Lead to Customer Conversion
Finally, the end result must come through for the marketer or business owner with all their hard work in building up the lead generation process. A marketing campaign is only deemed successful if the potential leads generated are successfully converted into repeated purchasing customers. This would confirm the customers’ satisfaction with the products to remain loyal to the brand and business; otherwise, the consumer would opt out of the mailing list to a competitor.
High web traffic to the web business site is not considered a successful marketing campaign until the potential leads convert to customers. Constant engagement with the potential leads must be exercised to have marketers become familiar to consumers to be trusted in their product or service recommendation.
A high sales conversion rate is the more accurate measurement of a successful marketing strategy or campaign where potential leads are convinced of the brand and business quality to support through sales. Good conversions may also include an opting into the business as recruits like MLM programs to generate more sales and profits for the marketer.
Conclusion
The four stages of lead generation could be implemented successfully when the marketer or business owner understands the links or relations amongst them. Time and effort must be expended to experience the end results of drawing traffic to the website as loyal customers.
