Lead Generation Companies: Tips for Business Owners

Many Lead Generation Companies are stuck on using old methods for B2B and B2C lead generation that prove time and time again not to provide the ROI results that business owners are counting on.

Telemarketing and direct mail marketing used to be a preferred method for lead generation tactics, however these methods in today’s technologically savvy business landscape simply do not provide the results they once did.   The traditional lead generation strategy was to send a direct mail piece with an offer or other specific all to action.  Then follow up with another mailing and telephone calls to create interest and book appointments or gain the person’s email and other contact details so that they can further be marketed to.  This method of marketing can be referred to as “push marketing” or “outbound marketing”.

We have all be overexposed to marketing noise and these push marketing tactics are generally ignored unless there is a very specific immediate need for the service being offered.  And telemarketing calls are becoming more of a challenge with new no-call lists and telemarketing guidelines.  This is not to mention the fact that business people and consumers have been so inundated for years with telemarketing calls that they do everything possible to never speak with telemarketers.

3 Concepts Lead Generation Companies don’t want you to Know About

1. Lead generation companies get paid to lie 

Before I tick off a lot of business professionals, hold on a second.  I’m not calling all lead generation companies liars.  But I am saying that when you hire them to generate leads for your business, that is exactly what they will do.  It has been my personal experience and the experience of many clients and professionals I have worked with that a lead generator is only concerned with getting your foot in the door and often they will say almost anything to accomplish that goal.

The end result may be an appointment generated or a new subscriber to your drip-marketing list, however it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have an individual that is genuinely interested in the product or service you have to sell.

2. Buyers do their research on search engines

Quick research provides that 86% of consumers report that search engines are very important in their buying process.  And at least half of consumers use a combination of search and social media to assist in their purchasing decisions.

This information proves that consumers are no longer interested in your outbound marketing tactics.  When they are ready to buy they know exactly where to look for it.  Regardless of whether your business is selling B2B or B2C, the most successful lead generation tactics will begin with ensuring your business can be found on search engines.

3. The most successful lead generation starts with increasing your website traffic

According to Market Samurai, the number 1 website in the organic search results of Goolge will generate 42% of the available clicks for the page.   And the lower down the page you go the fewer clicks you will get.  Being anywhere besides page 1 means you will generally get no traffic at all.

The tried and tested, guaranteed method of increasing your website traffic is search engine optimization.  It does however take time and effort to effectively optimize a website to appear on the first page of the search engine results and there are no guarantees that you will rank for highly competitive keywords; at least not right away.  But with long-term sustained SEO efforts, even the most competitive keyword phrases are not impossible to get good results for.

Another method of generating traffic to your website that will provide immediate results for most businesses is Pay Per Click marketing.  This is the only sure way to gain a quick first page ranking for your target keywords on Google.  And you only pay if the person searching actually clicks on your ad.

A word of caution, if you want to manage your click costs and maximize your results, you should consider hiring a  PPC Management service.

How will more web traffic help your lead generation efforts?

This strategy of capturing people when they are searching for information on a particular topic and bringing them to your website is known as “inbound marketing”.  You are bringing interested patrons right to your doorstep via search engines and all you need to do is give them what they are looking for in order to generate more leads.  For more on how this method works, download our free checklist, 10 Steps to Capturing Better Sales Leads.