In any industry, traditional lead generation methods can only go so far. The days of scraping together lists and sending cold emails are over. Buyers of today want digestible content that adds value to their lives. Offer this, and leads will come to you!
We’ve put together 10 great ways to generate leads by going the extra mile in the interest of your prospects, offering valuable information that will attract them to you, rather than forcing their hand.
1) Provide quality insights & success secrets from industry leaders
A great way to offer that bit extra is to reach out to thought leaders in your industry.
Try to get an interview from them in their area of expertise, get insightful quotes, lessons, actionable takeaways, or even set up an ‘ask me anything’ (AMA).
This proves to potential customers that you’re dedicated to delivering the best advice, and substantiates your position as a great source of expert information for your audience.
2) Make engaging help videos, offering solutions to real problems
Think big! Go beyond the problems of existing customers, and own the space around your product/services.
A great help video can offer real solutions to real problems that your potential customers are facing, and presents them in a format that’s entertaining and easy to remember.
Think big! Go beyond the problems of existing customers, and own the space around your product/services. Offer insight that resonates with anyone interested in a broader issue will help make you the go-to place for answers.
If they learn something useful from you once, they’re more likely do it again, and again, increasing the likelihood of them eventually becoming a costumer.
3) Quiz your audience
A quiz can be a creative way to learn more about your visitors, offering insight in exchange for valuable information.
Getting this bargain right, means you offer the result of the quiz in return for a new lead.
The quiz should provide valuable information in a unique and interactive way. Then, when visitors fill out a lead information form, they exchange specific information about themselves for the result of the quiz, which should be something insightful for the participant.
4) Provide best practices for a challenging tactic
Compiling the best practices for a certain area can be a very effective way to generate leads as people look to get started in that field.
A comprehensive list of best practices from a variety of experts can offer extremely good value for readers tackling a complicated subject, whether that’s a complicated marketing strategy or insight into content production.
In exchange for the insider tips you’re providing, you can receive lead insight or contact information that will help you keep leads engaged with your brand.
5) Show what’s working for you
People love and respond to honesty.
Within your lead generation efforts, you can harness this by being transparent about what you’re doing. Create content that explains your successes, or offer insight into where you went wrong and how others can avoid the same fate.
Be an insightful resource, and offer analysis into how your various strategies have evolved, or how they grew stagnant, explaining what you learned from it. Other businesses in the same position can gain a lot of inspiration from posts like this, and will be encouraged to work with you.
Ultimately, it shows that you’re a dynamic company, with good intentions, and leads will steadily get behind you.
6) Offer the right kind of depth
These days, verifiable in depth answers are increasingly hard to come by.
You should aim to fill this space. Take the time to create in-depth, step-by-step content that answers important question for your prospects. But remember, depth is not synonymous with length. The answers need to be engaging, hitting all the right points. This doesn’t mean long.
The companies providing the best answers come out on top. Think about it, when you research a topic with the intention of making a purchase, you’ll probably end up buying from the company you most identify with and trust.
You need to fill that space for your prospects.
7) Create a list of useful tools
Every company will take the time to brag about the tools they use, but if you go the extra mile to inform your audience about all the great tools they could be using, it shows that your priority is helping them, not base self-promotion.
Of course, you still get something in return. In doing this, you’re attracting the kind of audience that is looking for solutions like the ones you offer. This is a great way to generate leads for your business.
The driving force here is simple. If the reader gets something they find useful, they’re likely to return to your blog and potentially subscribe to stay updated with all the valuable content you’re offering.
8) Provide real world examples of success
This technique goes beyond offering best practises, it is a demonstration of those best practices in effect with real examples.
Effective examples to learn from can be an extremely valuable source, but can also be very difficult to find.
Offering clear examples from successes in your industry is an excellent way to bring prospects to you, where they can opt-in to everything you are offering.
9) Host a giveaway
When done right, giveaways can be an extremely effective way to generate leads.
But you need to be careful, sometimes giveaways can lead to a ton of junk leads that will serve only to waste your time. To be effective, they need to be approached logically, relate closely to your products or services, and offer something that your prospects actually want.
Giveaways tend to generate leads via email subscriptions and social media engagement and are a quick way to grow email lists and subscriber rates meaning increased traction for more targeted content in the future.
Whether people win or lose, they’re a great way to engage people with your brand as people will return in hopes of a future win.
10) Offer a free trial
Everyone loves a free trial. Especially if it doesn’t require the user to enter their payment information.
Essentially, free trials are a great way to get a prospect’s foot halfway in the door. It demonstrates the potential of your services, and once they’re hooked in, even to the point of relying on it, they’re far more likely to want to continue using it, even at a price.
Here they are again. 10 great ways to generate leads with added value content…
- Industry insights
- Help videos
- Quizzes
- Best practices
- What works for you
- In-depth answers
- List useful tools
- Real world examples
- Giveaways
- Free trials