WSI Blog

It's a competitive world out there, and businesses need new customers to survive.

Across Lancashire and the Northwest, the economy has been tough for the last 2 years.  As we move into Q2 2011, things might be looking better than they were, but there's no hiding from the fact many businesses have gone to the wall.  Some are still holding on for dear life, clinging to their reputation and hoping that repeat business from a few cherished few customers is enough to see them through.

But at the same time there have been huge success stories too.  Companies have invested wisely and diversified early.  Others have such unique products and services that there's a natural buffer zone against economic downturn.

We can see evidence of renewed investment and economic regeneration; Blackpool being a case in point.  Last week the famous North Pier was sold by the Council to the Sedgwick family, amidst promises of renewed vitality and investment.

So How Can Local Businesses Keep Their Pipelines Full And Their Phones Ringing?

97% of people use the internet when researching or buying.  That staggering statistic alone tells us that any business, regardless of size or industry, needs to be online.  But not just being online; it's having an internet strategy that puts their business in the right places at the right times.

Your website: must exude your business philosophy, be an accurate portrayal of your products & services, and be an engaging and compelling place for visitors to be.  Boring is easy - fun & captivating is not.

Search Engine Optimisation: your business is invisible if you aren't found for the most basic of Google searches. Think about the 5 most common ways your customers might describe what it is you sell.  Then do a Google search for each of them.  Where does your website appear?  That's SEO.

Pay Per Click: if you can't get to page 1 of Google 'naturally', then pay to be there.  And better still - choose the precise keywords and search terms you want your advert to appear for.  It isn't cheating - PPC is an entirely predictable, scientific method for bringing qualified visitors to your website.

Website Analytics: how is your website working for you?  How do your visitors interact with the site?  How many people find you every month?  But most importantly, does your website do a good job of converting a visitor into a customer?

Email Marketing: perhaps you're lucky enough to have a large customer database, people who have bought from you in the past.  But do you keep in touch with them?  Do you communicate with them with engaging, relevant material, to keep them coming back?

Social Media Marketing: Are your customers already using Social Networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Foursquare or LinkedIn?  Do you have a presence there, building up relationships and being seen as a responsive company who invests time and effort in its customer relations?

Mobile Marketing: and here's the new kid on the block. £49.8M was spent on mobile marketing in 2010, predicted to surge by 2014 to £285M.  We all carry iPhones and Blackberries, and we routinely access the internet on such devices.  Is your website mobile-ready, and are you exploiting the features and functionality of mobile to find and interact with your customers?

The internet continues to grow, but it also continues to fragment.  With more and more channels available for businesses to exploit, the options for lead generation for local businesses are significant.

But which ones will your company choose, and will it help you to fill your pipeline and generate more sales?

Lead Generation is the lifeblood of any business.  A failure to generate new leads on a consistent and predictable basis makes for a very difficult existence.

Many businesses are lucky enough to have a strong word of mouth reputation, where customers just come to them.  Others have to work much harder, investing heavily in advertising & marketing in order to get people to notice them.  Either way, every company needs to find new customers, and the effectiveness with which they do it reflects whether they see it as a science or black magic.

What is Lead Generation?

Lead Generation is the process of attracting visitors to your business, with the aim of converting them into sales.  Leads can be classed as 'cold' or 'warm' and it is usually far easier to convert a warm lead than a cold one, for obvious reasons.  A cold lead is little more than a phone call to a random stranger, whilst a warm lead has been qualified as expressing a need or desire for your products/services.

Digital Marketing as a Lead Generation Tool?

Wouldn't it be nice if you switched on your computer every morning to find a batch of fresh, new enquiries sitting in your inbox?  Well, effectively that's what a Digital Marketing strategy can achieve.  It can be driving qualified visitors to your website via a wide variety of channels, ensuring your website is working hard for while you're busy doing other things.

An integrated digital marketing plan can be the ultimate lead generation tool for any business, and by understanding precisely who your customers are and how your website can be best used to convert them, your customer pipeline should never go dry again.

A Digital Marketing strategy can include search engine optimisation, paid advertising, remarketing, social media marketing, mobile marketing and of course "fixed" assets such as websites and social media profiles.  On the internet, people are searching, comparing and communicating.  If your digital marketing strategy places your business in front of those people just at the relevant point in their buying cycle, then you will generate warm leads.

Doing it well and doing it consistently are the key to successful lead generation using digital marketing.