Lead Generation Ideas?

[tombuckland]

Hi,

I'm looking to generate some more high quality leads for the business, but finding outreach difficult mainly due to the nature of my business type. Anyway, what lead gen ideas have you guys had success with?

Cheers,
Tom.

 

[RedEvo]

Have you looked at inbound? http://www.hubspot.com/inbound-marketing

d

 

[ethical PR]

Tom

As a marketing professional you'll know what works well for one business - won't necessarily work well for another.

Go back to your marketing plan - what activities have worked well for you and which ones less so. Invest more in the ones that work well and look at how you can work with your customer database to generate more work.

You might also look at how you are branding your business - you call yourself an SEO business but on your website you say you also offer design and build websites.

In a crowded market place - it will be important for you to have a clear brand and for people to understand what you offer and what sets you apart from your many competitors.

The most logical marketing channel for you to use to develop your leads would be SEO - alongside investing in channels to build your reputation such as PR, media, online marketing etc.

 

[hawts]

Tom

As a marketing professional you'll know what works well for one business - won't necessarily work well for another.

Go back to your marketing plan - what activities have worked well for you and which ones less so. Invest more in the ones that work well and look at how you can work with your customer database to generate more work.

You might also look at how you are branding your business - you call yourself an SEO business but on your website you say you also offer design and build websites.

In a crowded market place - it will be important for you to have a clear brand and for people to understand what you offer and what sets you apart from your many competitors.

The most logical marketing channel for you to use to develop your leads would be SEO - alongside investing in channels to build your reputation such as PR, media, online marketing etc.

A very good starting point is your existing customer database. I have just done this myself after chasing business that doesn't accurately represent my target audience. Knowing exactly who you want to target first by assessing your existing clientele will give you a good head start in terms of channels you should be marketing through.

Have you considered a member-get-member scheme? I created our MgM scheme for our business 3 years ago and it is and continues to be a major driver of business. Worth considering. You need to figure out an incentive for both new and existing customers that still leaves margin to be made after the cost of acquisition, i.e. the total cost of the incentive.

 

[Raul Picart]

I agree with RedEvo, especially if your business is HQ SEO (presumption based on the signature) - inbound marketing would work well. You just have to do some ground work in terms of identifying who you want to target and what problems they may be facing that you could help solve for them i.e. new website with no keywords ranking, etc.

Not only that, but the fact that you're a SEO business you should be using inbound / content marketing - it will give prospective clients that reassurance that you talk the talk and walk the walk with your own business.

Furthermore, referrals always work wonders. Use your existing professional network (LinkedIn) and put the word out. Tell them you're offering 10% (or anything you want once you've looked at the numbers) commission for any client that they refer to you. A client signs 6-month or 1 year contract and you pay the referrer 10% of the entire thing.

Suddenly, everyone you know is a salesman for your company. And the people they refer have a lot more trust for you because you're not some strange guy cold calling them or sending out spam emails.

 

[stevebrownlie]

The truth is that if you run a marketing agency it's kinda tough to get totally 'cold' clients (except through referrals and networking which are always gold) unless they found you online... this year almost everyone we signed up found us... one way or another. We don't use SEO for ourselves much though so it doesn't have to be they found you that way.

It's like you're telling them 'oh I can get you all this magic work through SEO for your business' when you ring but they're secretly thinking 'why is he phoning me then?'.

The only exception we make is for industries where the demographic tends to be say 60 year old business owner, works out with his/her hands all day... or industries where the PA manages their online presence (or marketing asst) so their Twitter, LinkedIn, procurement searches... etc are all handled by someone else and we want to directly reach the decision maker. So about 10-15% of our new business is from any kind of outbound effort like that.

 

[ethical PR]

Hey Steve. Does Palladous have a UK website/presence. Could only see the US one from your link?

 

[tombuckland]

Sure all makes sense and some good ideas.

Inbound marketing is generally where we get most of our leads from, and its growing (all be it slowly) I was looking for something that I could do personally, or create that would add as a lead generation stream. Paid ads is an obvious one but wouldn't mind some more ideas.

 

[Raul Picart]

Sure all makes sense and some good ideas.

Inbound marketing is generally where we get most of our leads from, and its growing (all be it slowly) I was looking for something that I could do personally, or create that would add as a lead generation stream. Paid ads is an obvious one but wouldn't mind some more ideas.

Have you thought about doing anything with some of the local Chambers of Commerce? Seeing if you can jump on to some sort of event or conference being hosted where you could have a slot all about SEO? Or are there any conferences in the area that you could do the same? Hell...maybe be the leader and start a conference of your own...host an event for small business owners in a hotel conference room, send out invites, etc.

 

[RedEvo]

That's worked for us.

d

 

[Nochexman]

...finding outreach difficult mainly due to the nature of my business type...

Just curious - why is outreach difficult because your's is an SEO company?

 

[jamie1867]

I couldn't recommend an outbound/inbound SMS campaign highly enough. We work with SME's and Corporate companies to gain highly targeting leads.

 

[hawts]

Quite a few suggestions for networking here. It sounds good and I've heard it does work...eventually. Be prepared to spend a good amount of time networking before you get anything. Also, one tip I got was to help others before you even try to get across what services you offer. It's all about relationships and if you impress people and they take to you it will massively increase your chance of them giving you some business or even referring you some business. I met a nice lady at a networking event a few months back and I've helped her out already. Yet to see anything in return but I know how Karma works!

 

[stevebrownlie]

Hey Steve. Does Palladous have a UK website/presence. Could only see the US one from your link?

@ethical-pr I only have that one website for the company... mainly because it spells out our name, though we do work with US clients often.

I'm right here in sunny Leamington Spa.

 

[tombuckland]

Just curious - why is outreach difficult because your's is an SEO company?

Generally because business owners receive so much email spam from overseas companies they are already in a negative mindset when they hear the term "seo". Generally when marketing I try stay away from it as a result.
About 50% of our current clients say they had a bad experience with a company in the past....

 

[Career Guidance Charts]

In my opnion Social media outlets are best resources for get huge traffic. You have to active with these social profiles (FB ,Twitter ,Linkedin ,G+ etc) and also post informative or viral stuff daily.

 

[NickGrogan]

They are already in a negative mindset when they hear the term "seo"

If this is the case, why does the word SEO appear on your homepage 40 times and in your domain name?

Social media outlets are best resources for get huge traffic.

Any stats to back this up?

 

[geester]

Tom, why not use social media, such as Facebook to find customers? Alternatively, if you are looking for free, make a video get it online for different search terms and let them call you!

 

[tombuckland]

If this is the case, why does the word SEO appear on your homepage 40 times and in your domain name?

Because this is on-page. Completely different to lead generation. I'd rather rank #1 for the few people that do look for an seo company in my area and get a steady stream of leads that way. But what I'm talking about on this thread is lead gen ideas.

 

[tombuckland]

In my opnion Social media outlets are best resources for get huge traffic. You have to active with these social profiles (FB ,Twitter ,Linkedin ,G+ etc) and also post informative or viral stuff daily.

Bit of a generic answer. Linkedin aside, B2B marketing is not so good for social.

 

[SamWhittle]

build your brand online in the areas that your customers are looking, then try some advertising in those areas.

 

[threenine]

Bit of a generic answer. Linkedin aside, B2B marketing is not so good for social.

I find it somewhat Ironic that an SEO firm, would be asking for advice on how to generate inbound marketing.

Also that social is not good for B2B marketing!! What utter cods wallop!!

Business is conducted by humans, humans are social creatures. Marketing is all about addressing human needs and desires! In fact Social Marketing is more essential in B2B marketing. The first thing any business man needs to do to succeed is network! Networking is all about Human Interactions!

When you market your business to another business, it is not about 2 Legal Entities at Companies house getting to know each other. It's about a group of humans wanting to exchange products and services with other humans. The key here, is Human interaction! Social Media is about human interaction, not just about blasting a load of links to your website on your twitter feed!

 

[SamWhittle]

Social can be harder for lead generation in b2b in the sense that your conversion rate is lower. I agreed that is still essential for networking.

 

[Nochexman]

I'm looking to generate some more high quality leads for the business, but finding outreach difficult mainly due to the nature of my business type. Anyway, what lead gen ideas have you guys had success with?

What ideas did you end up employing Tom?

 

[Erno Horvath]

You do only SEO there are other firms that do PPC only (like us) probably you can contact PPC only agencies to work together, recommend each other to your customers.

I used linked, but it consumed too much time for me, I wouldn't call it a success, but I acquired a few clients and maybe my method will work for you better than for me.

Get a paid Linkedin account
So, search for a fairly competitive keyword.
Check the second page and harvest the domains
search for a relevant person at that company
write a few errors about their page that blocks them to be in the first page for that specific query
offer a consultation

You can buy so called inmails at a price of £6

So one mail should be:
£6 + about 20 mins of your time

But you can 'automate' the process with a junior.

 

[KatiePrice123]

I agree with making a video and upload the your tube under your business name. Google picks up videos and its something interesting for people to watch.

 

[adam2804]

Hi,

I've recently started a company to try and tackle some of the problems people have with B2B Lead Generation by creating a network of experienced telephone professionals that can systematically work through data and provide warm leads. The telephone is still considered the most popular and successful route for B2B lead generation. The website is at redhouse.work and you can go and create a quote, we've also launched some packages for businesses.

I absolutely hate cold calling and making phone calls, which is why I've created the company and a network of people that actually enjoy it as I think there are a lot of people like myself.

Anyway, I hope it helps.

Thanks,

Adam

 

[ethical PR]

I would recommend trying out LinkedIn combined with Lead Generator chrome extension tool which gives you personal emails to any person.

Why repeat your post - I'm sure he understood the first time you posted on the thread

Ooops I've now made it three.

 

[Ostrich2000]

Define your JV position in the chain, get clear on the short-term vs. long term LeadGen strategies? PPC? Maybe...but what happens when they get to the page? Address the issue of multiple touch points in selling. Doh...loads of things...why don't you PM me and we can jump up on Skype some time (if you wish that is).

 

[Nic - Attitude]

Hi Tom,

I'd definitely take a look at a couple of Inbound marketing agencies. Platforms like Hubspot (which is available through agencies) is perfect for lead generation, in fact it's pretty much it's sole purpose. As a marketing agency ourselves we get almost all of our business through inbound leads whereby people have given us their contact details etc to gain access to premium content - ebooks, blog posts, guides, etc... it really works.

Would love to have a chat about how we could help you?

Drop me a PM if you like.

 

[Dean Withey]

I couldn't recommend an outbound/inbound SMS campaign highly enough. We work with SME's and Corporate companies to gain highly targeting leads.

Ouch, SMS is going to cost a fortune. Would need to subsidise it with messaging applications to lower the cost.

 

[Ruben Åkenes]

Tom, one way of reaching prospects is through social media.

Identify where you "prospects" are hanging out online.
- LinkedIn
- Facebook
- Business forums
- Business chambers
- Association sites

Join social platforms where your ideal prospect hangs out, help them and if possible reach out.

As Mark Hunter use to say: Focus on the social, and not selling