Sales and marketing teams spend lots of time and resources on lead generation, from launching ad campaigns and speaking in conferences to hosting webinars and producing videos. The problem is, not all businesses have an unlimited budget or enough time to pursue every lead generation idea. You need something that yields results now. 

To help you out, we are offering 6 simple but effective lead generation tactics to optimize your efforts and attract qualified prospects.

1. Have a Plan

The first step is to have a solid lead generation plan to make sure you are not just shooting in the dark. Set some objectives for how you will reach out to prospective customers and what methods (social media, email, etc.) you will use. In addition, you should consider using a lead generation tool like Zoominfo or other Zoominfo alternatives. These tools assist by reducing the time-intensive efforts of manually collecting data and producing relevant content in order to generate leads. 

Being prepared will give you a significant advantage, especially when you are reaching out to new prospects on platforms like LinkedIn. You have to take some time to learn more about your prospects and come up with a plan before contacting them.

2. Leverage Social Media

Be sure to post regularly on social media. Think about which network is best for your lead generation efforts depending on your target audience. For instance, LinkedIn is the best platform for B2B businesses, whereas Instagram is great if you’re targeting a younger audience or if your products are highly visual. 

While using social platforms, you should try to attract a loyal following by sharing content that offers some sort of value to your potential clients. Social media connections are all about building relationships, so in order to generate leads, you need to establish communication and real, human interaction. Brands that only use social platforms to promote themselves are doing it all wrong. The objective is to interact and be helpful, which means sharing content that’s not related to your business, such as links to fun stuff you have found online or industry news.

Finally, bear in mind that achieving success on social media can also be very time-consuming. Automation tools can significantly reduce this time and help you be more productive. So if, for instance, you decide to use Instagram, using automation will assist in speeding up and streamlining your workflow by helping you queue up and schedule Instagram posts in advance.

Also Read: 10 Successful Ways to Create Facebook Posts for Lead Generation

3. Create Great Content

Did you know that 55% of marketers consider blog content creation to be their top inbound marketing priority? And for a good reason: marketers who prioritize blogging efforts are 13 times more likely to see positive ROI. According to HubSpot, brands that blog 6-8 times per month tend to double their lead volume. This proves that blogging is a very effective lead generation tactic.

Blogging on a regular basis is an excellent way to keep your site fresh while at the same time building your visibility in search engines. It’s also a great way to build brand trust, nurture leads, and establish your authority as an industry expert. 

You should also consider creating gated content. Gated content is online material users can only access after they fill out a lead capture form. This strategy is effective because it gives the users something valuable for free while at the same time attracting high-quality leads. Gated content assets include ebooks, white papers, reports, guides, online tools, worksheets, courses, etc. 

4. Use Email marketing

If you thought email marketing was dead, you couldn’t be more wrong. Nearly 80% of B2B marketers credit email as the most effective channel for lead gen efforts.

Build a list of potential customers in your niche and then make sure you stay on top of their minds with email marketing. In addition, research your prospects thoroughly so that you can send them personalized emails.

Also, ensure that you have an opt-in strategy. The first step to an effective email lead generation strategy is to have happy subscribers that enjoy getting emails from you.

Besides using it to initiate conversation, you can also use email as a follow-up tool to stay in touch with prospects, leads, and clients. 

5. Take Advantage of Live Chat

You might already be aware that live chat is a great way to improve your customer service, but did you know that it can also help with lead generation? 

You can use live chat support to engage visitors on your site and identify leads. It’s also an easy method of getting customer contact details as many live chats usually ask for the details before connecting the customer to an agent. This form should ideally collect the customer’s name, and email address, and most importantly, the customer should be able to easily enter their details. This can help you with the follow-ups and you can include them in your lead generation efforts.

6. Consider Influencer Marketing

One of the best things about influencer marketing is that it‘s quite affordable. Studies have shown that nearly 85% of micro-influencers charge less than $250 per post on Instagram. 

Consider collaborating with influencers and get them to review your products. When their audience sees them endorsing your brand, they might decide to make a purchase from you. You can ask the influencer to write a review of your products and include a CTA that will link to your landing page where users can leave their information.

Influencers don’t have to be limited to social media. They could also be journalists for reputable publications or bloggers with a solid fan-following base. The point is to find influencers in your niche who write regularly and have high engagement levels on their posts. 

Final Thoughts

It goes without saying that you don’t have to try all of the above-listed lead generation tactics. No two companies are the same and while some of these tactics may work wonders for your business, others might not be so effective. Evaluate each one carefully in the context of your resources, budget, and marketing goals and start experimenting. Good luck!