Are you also struggling with lead generation?

There’s no need to worry as you are not alone in this journey. What’s even better are actually many things you can do to improve both the quality and quantity of your website leads.  

I’m sure you’ve read somewhere that the best way to ensure you’ll always get good leads consistently is by building a lead generation website and driving targeted traffic to that page. 

If you’ve read through the first part of our lead generation hacks series, then hopefully you’re able to gain some valuable insights into the 6 strategies I’ve talked about previously. 

This time I’m back with more online lead generation tactics. 5 more to be exact!

For this segment, we’re going to continue exploring more lead generation strategies that will win you massive leads. Ready? Let’s get going. 

1.  Create relevant quizzes

The power of quizzes existed since the 1990s to date. 

Before Buzzfeed and the digital transformation came into the picture, magazines were where people would go for quizzes. Fast forward to today, quizzes we see often see on social media are capable of working for lead generation. (Admit it, you’ve seen and taken those plastered all over Facebook)

What marketers these days don’t know is: Underestimating the power of quizzes to get leads. Yes, quizzes are one of the most underrated types of content every marketer should look into. 

You just need to know how to do it right. 

What we need to do is create content that is both “sensationalist” and actually drives targeted traffic and website leads into your marketing funnel. Just so you know, Buzzfeed gets over 200 million monthly visitors and in March 2017, its top 4 stories were all quiz-related. 

I know you’re still doubting if quizzes can really bring you the traffic, revenue, and lead you desire. The SEO Quiz built by the team from SEOPressor has shown positive results which have gathered 1,815 users in a span of 1 month.

Online quizzes have proven effective across a variety of industries and might just be the answer you are searching for. They are a great resource for starting a conversation with a prospect, capturing that lead, and continuing the conversation in follow-up emails.

Sure, there are plenty of quizzes that may ask you what type of cartoon character you best represent, but you can also tailor the quizzes to be both practical to your business needs. Just like how SEOPressor did. 

Quizzes are able to give different results based on the answer the user gives. This represents personalization and implementing that is a game-changer for you in marketing. Anything that draws your prospect in and gets them to take an action has a higher chance of conversion than forcing them into it. 

When designing an interactive quiz, here are some pointers you can take note on:

• Ask relevant questions
• Eye-Catching Design
• User & Mobile Friendly
• Short and Simple
• Educational, Intriguing
• Promote at the right places
• Offer something of value at the end of the quiz

By far, quizzes are still something of a novelty. If you’ve noticed, not many people are using them yet. Hence, they stand out from the other lead magnet techniques that people are not daring enough to breakthrough. Be different and take the leap!

2. Begin guest blogging efforts

Guest blogging or guest posting is a rather underused business strategy that’s sole purpose is to create high-quality content in order to be published on other sites. It is actually another one of the efficient and consistent ways to grow your list.

Why guest blog, you ask?

The answer is pretty simple. A good quality featured blog is able to gain wider exposure, gain SEO benefits, receive increased targeted traffic, build authority and develop relationships in your niche. The key is to make sure the content that is being created will offer readers some type of value.

However, before you reach out to anyone, you need to make sure your path is right to get yourself recognized by the blog owner. 

(i) Read their blog to get a feel of what they like to write about (and their writing style)

(ii) Make sure you read and understand the guidelines set by the website beforehand

(iii) Politely introduce yourself and include links to your professional profiles or works

(iv) Personalize your email and stand out with a unique pitch

(v) Pitch multiple ideas that align with their website’s pre-existing content and audience

(vi) See rule (ii). Seriously, they have guidelines for a reason. Follow them. 

Here’s an example of how it is done in real life:

Once you’ve gotten replies from the host and certain that your pitch is accepted, it’s time to start writing. Be sure to communicate with them about their requirements and when they expect you to turn in the guest post. Remember that it’s a good practice to submit it before the deadline.   

Write a damn good piece of content! They should be well written, researched, simple, formatted for easy skimming and includes lots of pictures (no stock photos!). 

Use BiQ Content Intelligence to help you draft, edit and optimize your content for perfection!

It provides you with the best content-driven strategies which are SEO-friendly. While you write in the block editor, you will also be getting interactive writing tips to aid you. 

You will be able to see BiQ’s Content Intelligence real-time text editor. At the same time, you’ll get your “content grade”, and keywords count that tells how relevant your article is. You’ll also quickly see if you’ve included enough keyword density. 

Give this awesome tool a try!

When you’re done with your write-up, make sure you proofread what you wrote at least twice. Then you’re down to the last step which is sending it over for submission. Don’t forget to thank the blog owner for the opportunity!

Now before you go reaching out to hosts everywhere, you should know what guest blogging is not. It is not a shortcut for you to grow your blog, neither is it a quiet route you should take to rank your website to #1. 

If you’ve done your work right, guest posting will open the doors to many opportunities in the future, trust me.

3. Send out newsletters 

In the age of social media and mobile web browsing, consumers still appreciate deliverables. They want to hold something in their virtual hands and feel as though they’ve received something of value. That’s how a company newsletter helps generate website leads.

In relation to other marketing tactics, email newsletters are easy to produce and send. Think about the time and resources it would take to plan an event, print a brochure, or create an advertisement for your business. 

Producing a newsletter only takes you one day at maximum with exciting content and designs plastered in your subscriber’s inbox. 

To entice them, offer a benefit when they sign up for your newsletters, such as discount codes, or exclusive tips from the industry. Make the sign-up benefit as unique as possible so your offer remains competitive. 

Here are a few things you can go about if you decide to use this strategy:

(i) Announce Your Newsletter

Yes, you may be offering a newsletter sign-up on your website. Now, what about potential customers who never visit that page? So think about the places where your target audience might congregate. 

(ii) Craft Relevant, Meaningful Content

What kind of newsletter are you aiming to tell your subscribers? Focus on meaningful content that will add some value to your readers’ day. Ideally, it should be educational and nurturing to build a loyal customer base. 

(iii) Stop Praising Yourself

Newsletters or any emails at all should always put the prospect at the center of everything. People want to be informed and most importantly fill in their issues that strike a chord. Instead of telling how good and competitive your brand is, provide your take on an issue that your prospects want to solve.

No matter what platform you use, integrating newsletters after they have signed up is crucial to gaining traction online. It’s not only about collecting as many leads as possible but about getting the correct type of leads so that you’ll get a strong email and lead list. 

4. Add a live chat feature

Live chat is integral to marketing these days. 

Incorporating it into your business is one of the most popular methods to date due to its prompt response. As we are living in a turbo-charged world, where keeping up with the fast-paced environment is needed, the ability to respond quickly is also a key feature when it comes to achieving superior customer service.

Those pre-drafted messages can be used in the right way to answer customers’ queries quickly that improves the response time. Gone are the days of sitting on an outdated live-chat platform, waiting for help, only to receive a message asking you to call them or visit their FAQs.

But the real beauty of chatbots and live widgets is they’re 100% automated. So once they have been set up, the technology will keep bringing in the leads no matter how much traffic you throw at them – no one is needed to operate them. 

The question is, does this technology really work in lead generation?

Well, according to research it turns out 69% of consumers prefer talking to chatbots for quick communication with brands, as opposed to calling them directly or sending them an email. Facebook is one of the major players that started this revolution by launching its own chatbots somewhere in mid-2016.  

What do these chatbots have in common? The most common characteristics are:

(i) Keep messages short and sweet – most messages should be in a conversational tone, yet short and easy to read.

(ii) Design with the end-user in mind – spend some time to understand what your users’ needs are and what they are looking for. 

Here’s how LSIGraph engages a bot to talk to its audience on social media. 

When you first interact with Charliebot, he starts off by letting you know that you’re talking to a chatbot.

He proceeds by asking users to choose between learning more about LSI, getting instant LSI keywords data, or contacting their support team.

The team from LSIGraph decided to take their LSI keywords data to another level by offering some simple information on messenger without the need to search for it elsewhere.

It’s a fairly simple and straightforward bot but it’s a definite way to reach new customers and grow your business. This is also becoming one of the best ways to nurture prospects and drive sales fast. 

If you’re not yet using chatbots for lead generation, then this is a good time to test them out.

Thankfully for new live-chat converts, there are tons of free lead generation live-chat platforms out there today. 

5. Use social media advertising

Social media is a must today. A social presence will help you establish your credibility in your audience’s eyes.

So, if you’ve decided to use social media as part of your lead generation strategy, you need to pick the right platforms. But with so many social sites available today, how can you choose the right social site to advertise?

Simple, just identify where your prospects are mostly hanging out – which platforms they prefer consuming your content. It might be Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. However it’s not about the numbers, but identifying where your buyer persona is, then proceed to choose the right channels for your business.

I will be talking to you briefly about Facebook’s lead generation ad as that’s what I’ve been doing for some time now. I personally really like the Facebook Lead Generation objective hence I chose this platform, to begin with.

Read from the leading light, the company itself, on how to run lead generation ads on Facebook.

It’s very simple to set up and can be extremely effective if you know what you’re doing. Here are some Facebook ad examples:

Lead ads make it easy for Facebook users. Prospects who see your lead ad will be presented with a form that they can fill out automatically. Here are the hoops that you’re asking people to jump through with a typical Facebook lead generation ad:

Ad > Click > Landing Page > Form Fill > Thank You Page > Lead Added

This is a classic example of a Facebook lead generation ad. When you click the button, it triggers a popup with your pre-filled information.

The biggest advantage of using these lead generation ads compared to other types of ads is a native signup flow, allowing people to click on an ad and sign up without leaving the social network.

Because contact information will be automatically populated from prospect’s profiles, it eliminates the pain point of having to fill up online forms from scratch. 

All in all, the benefits of social media can be defined in many ways. It can do much more for you than just generating leads or increasing your site’s traffic. The key benefits of social media lie in relationship building. Relationships build trust and trust builds sales.

What’s Next After Lead Generation?

First things first, congratulations on generating awesome website leads! 

Yes, you may have gone through tough times figuring that out but your work is far from over! Just because someone decides to download your ebooks or subscribed to your newsletter doesn’t mean they are ready to buy just yet. 

Sending a thank you email is the least you could do to make a good first impression. Just like when you meet a possible customer for the first time, you’d smile wide and introduce yourself, right?

Next, you’ll have to start building relationships with them by means of educating and provide solutions to their questions. Doing so will convert these subscribers to qualified leads and who knows, they might make larger purchases with you down the sales funnel.

Anyhow, I will be talking more on what are the things you can do after generating leads in my future blog posts so stay tuned for more of this! Back to the topic today, let’s recap the 11 lead generation hacks I’ve talked about thus far.

1. Create and update existing content regularly
2. Answer questions on Quora
3. Provide downloadable offers 
4. Utilize the art of email marketing
5. Make your website clear and easy to take action on
6. Offer free tools on your website
7. Create relevant quizzes
8. Begin guest blogging efforts
9. Send out newsletters 
10. Add a live chat feature
11. Use social media advertising

Take advantage of the fact that you can now do this in a way that mobile and desktop users alike will happily respond to and use the information you get to nurture relationships with your clients in the ways I’ve shown you.

Lead generation is no easy task, but these 11 lead generation hacks (Part 1 + 2) I’ve personally implemented throughout my journey as a marketer should make your job a bit easier.

Good luck with implementing the best lead generation strategy for your business. All that’s left to do is get started. They’re out there, go get them!