It’s not easy being green.
I am guessing that when Kermit The Frog said those immortal words he wasn’t really considering March 17, the day when it is, in fact, very easy to be green. Almost expected, really.
Without green beer, green rivers, and green clothing-clad parades this day would be nothing more than an excuse to drink a lot of Shamrock Shakes from McDonalds (not that I really needed one) as a way to pay tribute to Saint Patrick.
Although, it turns out that Saint Patrick wasn’t even Irish; he was British. Who knew?
But all that green has me thinking about how to make a little more green for your business through lead generation, and, despite the idea behind this leprechaun holiday, getting leads has nothing to do with luck. It has to do with strategy.
Why Should You Generate Leads?
Leads are not actual sales, so they don’t do my business any good, right? Wrong. Leads are where your business is most likely to get customers or clients. They are how you find sales.
Many companies devalue the importance of marketing in lieu of having a larger sales team, but that is a poorly thought out approach, as marketing is responsible for generating suitable leads. You need skilled marketers in place to capture the attention of your target audience and make them knowledgeable about your brand.
The marketing team can monitor the activity of each visitor to your company’s site (preferably through a form of marketing software) and determine how interested that lead is in and how good of a fit they are for your company. That is the information marketers can relay to sales teams to help them complete the sale.
While you are at it, define your sales funnel so that everyone in your sales and marketing teams are on the same page about where each lead stands and the progression they need to go through to become a sale.
How To Generate Leads
The key to generating leads is to be consistent and reliable with your inbound marketing techniques. If you have a blog that you want to be successful follow a reliable editorial calendar that will establish you as a reliable business that clients can trust. The same applies to social media; interact and post consistently valuable or entertaining content to gain likes and follows.
Decide on a voice and brand message for your business and apply it to all forms of communication you have with the public – and even any communication you have internally. Think through and plan your strategy, map it out in advance, and stick to it.
The most common problems with lead generation are an inadequate supply of staff, budget, time, and high-quality data to generate the best possible leads for your company. This comes down to a simple principle of 2+2=4 being applied to your sales and marketing teams.
If you are going to expect XYZ amount of sales from your sales team, then you need to donate an equal amount of time, money, and resources to your marketing team to generate high-quality leads. If you are putting all of your company’s resources into selling and only half as much into marketing, you can’t expect to increase you revenue.
Takeaway
Lead generation should be at the top of every new marketing campaign’s list of objectives. Developing a loyal audience overnight is like finding a four-leaf clover, so do the smart thing and generate as many leads as you can for your business to nurture and convert into sales.
Putting your time and effort into your marketing campaign to generate high-quality leads might just help you cross the rainbow to that lucky pot of gold by next March 17.
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!
