The Unicorn Market: How To Prepare For A Shift In Lead Generation
Over the last two years, we've had what you might call a unicorn market. The unicorn market is where leads were coming in so fast and the demand was so high that you actually had to let some leads go. But today, we’re seeing a slow down in the market and generating leads in this new market is more of a challenge. This means you’ll have to work a little harder at lead generation because no matter how good your product or service is, you won’t get very far without leads. But how do you find leads? And, how can you make sure they’re good?
Take A Data-Driven Approach
One way to get better leads is to take a data-driven approach. The importance of data and analytics in the decision-making process cannot be understated. It’s the difference between being predictive and reactive. Analyzing and acting on your data helps increase efficiency and allows you to make more informed strategic decisions regarding lead generation. It’s easy to assume that everything is going well with your sources if things look good on paper. But without knowing in advance that you aren’t getting enough of whatever that source has promised, you can find yourself in trouble a few weeks or a month down the road. To be predictive, you need to make sure you’re tracking the right metrics and getting the right data. This gives you the ability to shift your focus from one lead source to another before it becomes a problem. Then you’ll be able to be proactive and pivot in advance to go where you need to be right now.
Use CDP
Having the data is the first step in lead generation, but you’ll need more than that. One tool you can use to help you work with that data in a meaningful way is a customer data platform (CDP). CDPs allow you to gather customer data from different sources and combine it into an easily-accessible database. You can then pull a person’s social media activity or behavior on your website quickly and efficiently. This gives you the insights you need at your fingertips to help you build a solid lead generation process.
Hire Specialists
Many companies are now hiring specialists for lead generation. This takes the burden off the sales and other teams and allows them to better focus on their link in the chain. By having a dedicated person whose only responsibility is to find leads, they will be able to do a better job at it.
Taking advantage of influencers is another way to help generate leads. Although this was already a trend before COVID-19, it became exponentially more important during the pandemic. Influencers operate in their own niches and many have loyal followers. Tapping into their audiences can help you in lead generation since it can often be a cost-effective way to infiltrate the influencer’s niche because they already have influence there. A lot of influencers have their own analytics and data gathering, which can help you understand their niches better. A good influencer can be a great help in increasing both lead volume and quality.
Showcase Yourself On Social Media
Social media became a much larger source of lead generation during the pandemic, and it’s something you should be taking advantage of today. The key is to differentiate yourself from your competitors and personalize your content based on what your potential audience wants. This is what will get you the leads you’re looking for. Find out about your leads, their behaviors and areas of interest to better drill down on what will attract them to your product. By using artificial intelligence and machine learning, you can adopt strategies that will help you generate more leads and better personalize content for your intended audience.
Although AI and machine learning are great tools you can use on social media, you don’t want to ignore the human element in lead generation. Your AI algorithms might be great, but even the best system can only find so many quality leads. There’s only so much it can do without your team following up on those leads for you. Allow leads to ask questions and keep an open dialogue going with them as you steer them toward buying your product. The best thing your team can do with any lead is to listen. People will provide you with valuable information that will allow you to identify their wants and needs, which generates more leads in the future.
Create Email Marketing Campaigns
Email might seem a little boring, but it’s still a great tool that you should be using in today’s market to generate leads. And email has come a long way from traditional email marketing campaigns. Interactive and storytelling emails give you the opportunity to expand your reach and attract many more leads than traditional emails ever could. Interactive emails aren’t just a bunch of text that people have seen a million times before, interactive emails engage people the minute they open them. They have moving parts and colors and much more than plain text and a link. Studies show that interactive emails increase click-to-open rates by 73%. If they include videos, that number goes up to 300%. This is why interactive emails, especially with animation and video, can boost your lead generation significantly.
Storytelling emails appeal to people in a different way since most of us are drawn to a good story. As consumers, it’s no different. Storytelling emails go hand in hand with interactive emails because they give people context to the series of actions they are asked to perform. Context helps people feel more at ease and gives them more confidence in what they’re doing and the choices they’re making.
Use Ingage For Lead Generation
Your strategy for generating leads in this post-pandemic scenario should include word of mouth, data-driven strategies, email marketing, social media, AI, niche marketing and more. Finding creative ways to attract the right potential customers to your product involves a multi-pronged approach. However, what’s important is to listen to your audience and understand their needs. Then you’ll be able to create content that speaks to them, answers their questions, and solves their problems. If you don’t understand what your potential customers are looking for, you won’t be able to position yourself to implement effective lead generation, regardless of which strategy you employ. Not sure where to start? We’d love to help. Contact Ingage for a demo today.