For any business, finding potential customers is a must. Luckily with the internet and millions of online communities, the world is opening up new avenues for lead generation. In a previous post, we at Strikepoint Media emphasized the importance of having a customer avatar (See: Customer Avatar: Use This Tool To Hook Your Ideal Clients Every Time). Say you have your customer avatar; where do you find these people now? While it is true that many social media and advertising channels provide a platform for lead generation, the truth is that the sheer number of outlets and ways of lead generation can get overwhelming. What is the best choice for your specific business and your ideal customer? We rounded up 6 overlooked digital marketing tips and 3 unconventional tips you can try to attract more leads for your business.

Send Emails

When we think of lead generation, we often think of how to get new customers or new leads. However, you can always re-initiate contact with your existing email list. Email them updates on a new product or service. Better yet, you can toss in a special promo just for them! Another way to utilize your email lists is to send them regular newsletters. These newsletters can include various things like news, updates, tips, or anything you can relate to your service or product. Since most people have highly cluttered emails, try to make your subject line stand out as much as possible or make sure to have an attention-grabbing headline. That way, your customers will be drawn to your email amidst a sea of email marketing. Make sure to always include or lead with a specific call to action in all of your emails for higher chances of conversion. If you want to know more about email marketing, content writer and strategist Jacob McMillen published a guide to email copywriting. 

For a more comprehensive guide to email marketing, check out Strikepoint Media’s Ultimate Guide to Email Deliverability, where we provide step-by-step insights and best practices that you can do today. 

Create Content

More than half of the world’s population is using social media. You need to take people’s engagement on these platforms to your advantage. There is a reason behind small businesses scaling due to a very active presence on social media. Your advertising is essentially free! It’s also one of the reasons why influencer brands do very well unless, of course, their products don’t deliver as promised. 

Some ways you can use social media to your advantage are:

• You can provide short videos on how your products work, hacks to utilize all your product’s features, and many others. 
• You can also provide tips related to your product or service. 
• You can even find satisfied clients and ask them to show how they use your product or how it changed their lives.
• Blogging can also be a great way to reach your audience. You can link these blog posts to your LinkedIn posts or other social media profiles. 

If you do utilize popular social media platforms such as Instagram, Tiktok, or Youtube, try to get to know your specific audience on each platform to cater to them better. You might need minor changes on videos you’ve posted on Youtube to make them more appropriate for Tiktok and vice versa. You also need to remember to leverage hashtags. They are great tools to reach a specific audience or to make your posts more discoverable and drive more engagement.

Bonus: Did you know Strikepoint Media has a YouTube channel? We’ve posted videos on different tools for marketing, building high-performing websites, the science of scaling, and so much more. 

Visit Strikepont Media on YouTube for weekly videos on digital marketing tips, tricks, and tactics to help you scale your business online. 

Make the most of LinkedIn

LinkedIn’s main advantage is the different kind of audience you can attract. LinkedIn is technically a social media platform, but we’ve decided to make it a tip all on its own. In terms of social media platforms, LinkedIn would probably not come to mind first. However, did you know four out of 5 LinkedIn members drive business decisions? Creating content and being active on LinkedIn can help develop connections for your business to reach a bigger or more targeted audience. There are several ways of taking advantage of the marketing potential LinkedIn offers. 

First, you need to make sure your LinkedIn profile stands out. Make a descriptive summary of who you are and what you offer, which can also potentially help you pop up in search results. People who come across your other posts can also visit your profile to know more about you.

Another way is to reach out to your target audience by messaging them directly. This is the most straightforward marketing strategy you can do on LinkedIn but can also pose challenges such as standing out and not coming off as spammy.  You must carefully choose people you directly contact by ensuring their profile suggests a need or use for your product or service. If you think you can provide something that could benefit them, message them directly. 

If you want to reach a bigger audience, you can also create content on LinkedIn. Publish short blog-type posts with relevant hashtags and share other resources you think might be helpful or related to your product. Initiate discussions, but tag people you know will respond and won’t leave you high and dry. You can even reach out to fellow marketers and organize a mutually beneficial system of one posting and the others engaging with the post. For more quick reminders on LinkedIn content creation, check out Career Higher’s key tips for LinkedIn content creation. 

Create more touch-points

It’s essential that your customers are able to reach you in case of questions about your service or product. Being present on all social media platforms available and having your own website is already a great start. However, it would also be very beneficial for you to invest in live chat for your website users. This way, you or someone from your team is always available to answer questions. 

While constantly having open communication lines with existing and potential clients is ideal, it can be challenging to maintain (and expensive too!) Another way for your customers to engage with you is to embed a scheduler on your website. Strikepoint Media’s scheduler of choice is Calend.ly. These schedulers would allow you to plot schedules most convenient for you, and clients can choose a time that also works best for them. The point of creating these communication lines is so you can build a more authentic and personalized relationship with your clients. You can talk to them directly about what you offer, and they can also express what they need and see if you can cater to them. 

Host a Webinar/Event

The webinar industry is also one of the sectors that increased in recent years. It has been around since the 1990s, as per Engagez’s Short History of Webinars. The convenience of hosting an event online is notable while also allowing you to reach out to many people and offer value. On the side of your attendees, they get to learn while still being comfortable at home or wherever they are. This setup means no transportation needs, no booking of hotels, and all the hassle that comes with going to live events. Webinars are educational events that give you an opportunity to showcase what your company or a specific product can do. You can organize the webinar yourself or hire organizers to take some load off. You can give away free products or merchandise with your logo during the webinar through lead magnets. 

Bonus tip: Check out Secrets of Marketers’ recent podcast episode about The Ultimate Webinar Blueprint with Erin King to identify ways you can maximize the potential of your webinar. 

A lot of people still do prefer offline, face-to-face events. These events can lead to more personal engagements with fellow marketers or potential clients. You can also ask and answer questions in real-time. Your fellow attendees can also be valuable sources of information. In fact, Strikepoint Media is hosting the 4th ACS Fest, formerly ACS Live, a live event that aims to bring marketing professionals together and to learn the most cutting-edge marketing tools, tactics and strategies. The event will be held in February of 2023. You can learn more about the event at www.acsfest.com and sign up to receive updates here. 

Use Sales Intelligence Tools 

This tip is probably the most technical out of all these but bear with me here. Sales Intelligence Tools help you gather and analyze data on your website or social media accounts to know your customers better and the performance of specific content to make appropriate decisions. Using intelligence tools, you can identify conversion triggers, map the customer journey, how the customer navigates your website and many more. 

Google Analytics is a free tool that allows content creators or marketers to access various data. For example, you can view how many people have viewed or engaged with your content and how long they spent on specific posts. This data can help you decide on the type of content that engages your audience the most, the length of the content, and even which platform best reaches your audience. There are other intelligence tools out there such as Hotjar which allows you to view the behavior of your audience online which helps you improve user experience and design the best strategies to increase conversion. Their website offers a free and interactive live demo so you can check if it’s the right tool for you. 

However, you need to remember that these data points are only usable if you have clearly defined standards and business strategies in place. You can then get the data to work with your goals and strategies. 

Due to the ease of access to potential customers provided by the internet, we sometimes overlook more traditional but not less valuable tactics in lead generation., These tactics can be beneficial if your business’s online presence lags behind or you feel like you’ve hit a wall online.

Here are three must-try unconventional ways to attract more leads.

Contact List

Take advantage of your personal contacts! It’s free, and these are people you already know, which, hopefully, would make for a less awkward pitch. Start with family, maybe you can offer them your services or explain just what your company is about. You can talk to your friends too. And hey, if nothing comes of it, it’s at least some practice in delivering your pitch and persuasion. Just be careful not to be that cousin in marketing that everyone avoids. 

Now, we’re not saying blow up your entire contact list, spamming them with messages, but reach out to old friends who may benefit or someone who would at least provide you with honest feedback.

Another way to benefit from your contacts is to ask for referrals from your existing clients. They have experienced your service and could point you in the direction of leads. Who knows? You might even be able to score an introduction which could significantly increase your chances of actually making contact with these people. Hubspot outlines a 7-step referral collection strategy you can use.

Trade Shows

Trade shows are great events to network! You can not only talk to like-minded people and share marketing tips and strategies, but you can also meet new people. Make sure you set up an exhibit that fully showcases your business and what you have to offer. Try to accommodate people as much as possible and make sure you and your team can answer any questions that might arise. Active engagement of interested attendees is key. You and your team can even wear matching shirts or jackets with a witty print relating to your offerings which could be a great conversation starter. You can also give away some products, merchandise with your logo, or vouchers in exchange for contact information. 

Talk to new people

You shouldn’t be afraid to talk to a stranger about your business. Strike up a conversation with a stranger and talk to them about life in general. Always remember to not just to push your own agenda and actually listen to these people. If anything you can help with does come up, you can bring up your services or products and leave them your contact information. Or, you can leave with their contact information. 

Consistent lead generation is vital to a business. After all, finding and keeping your customers is what will keep your business going. Ideally, the leads you get will provide not only one-time buyers but also loyal customers who trust your brand, which turns into repeat purchases. In a world with highly curated profiles and impersonal transactions, we need to find ways to build more personalized relationships with our clients. 

Looking to attract more leads to your business? Strikepoint Media offers a free strategy session to discuss how we can help your business through digital marketing. Contact us today here.