At least a couple of times, every week or so I’ve been asked the question- Do you have any quick strategies for generating leads and subscribers? There is really no simple answer to this question, that’s why I’ve just given tidbits away for fear that people will think just a few hooks will help them boosting lead and subscriber numbers. However, the real answer to this question truly boils down to a lot of hard work.
Also read: How to get more customers with some simple tricks
So here is a comprehensive write up of exactly what it takes to create more leads and subscribers. This write up is completely based on the ways I’ve tried and tested in the last few years.
1. Infographics to utilize the power of visual media
Nobody can deny the power of visual media in today’s world. Due to the high engagement rates, and sometimes even more than videos, good images and visual content have now become an important part of a brand’s overall marketing strategy. You know what infographics are, but you might have already counted out because of ineffective results. But, what if you could break through the noise and stand out from the rest of the online chatter? When your goal is to drive conversions in terms of generating leads and subscribers, the tips given below will definitely work in your favor.
- Use a visual storytelling medium to create the infographics that show the pre-climatic conflict and intrigue the audience to check out the rest of the story.
- Engage and direct readers to a certain course of action. Use infographics to direct users to landing pages where the user is asked for a subscription or contact details in a return for a promised content.
- To capitalize on the SEO value of infographics, create a page on your website dedicated solely to infographics so as to make them easily visible.
- Try to make your infographics easily visible by using options like list.ly and SlideShare. Also, use content sites such as Buzzfeed, Medium and Huffington post to get the word out.
- Make the CTA communication unforgettable by giving your visitor an alluring reason. This can be a video or a download awaiting them at the end of the form.
Remember, not to put out the infographic for free as well as also make sure that your communication is clear and understandable.
2. Optimized and targeted landing page that offers single outcome
To capture more targeted leads and subscribers through digital media, you don’t only need to have an influential, well optimized and highly targeted landing page. So, consider your landing page as the medium to convert your page visitors into leads and then into customers.
- According to the latest statistic, using video on landing pages can increase the conversion rate by 86%. And if done right videos keep us engaged and even inspires us to take action. With tools like GoAnimate, making videos are no longer complex.
- Don’t mention the phrase such as “we will never spam you” on a form. It has been tested that such phrases reduced conversions by 18%.
- Limit confusion by just giving a single CTA. Less CTA means less confusion and more leads or subscribers.
- Always opt for the right tools like Leadpages, Instapage and Unbounce. These are simple and hassle free landing page tools so as to prove you that sometimes the right way can be easy too.
Since landing pages are dedicated to offering single outcome, they are a good source of generating leads and subscribers in general, which even applies to acquiring more email addresses. In short, landing page lies at the central hub for better acquisition of leads and subscribers.
3. Influential marketing to reach a larger audience
Influential marketing is possibly one of the hugely popular buzzwords amongst all digital marketing strategies right now. If you can’t approach the big ones, go after micro influencers with 10k to 100k followers on social media. But, you could even achieve the better results by using only one big influencer. Make use of their influence and power to reach a larger audience.
- Create a list of micro influencers that are relevant to your niche. For a quick research, you can use the tools like Buzzsumo and Ninja Outreach.
- Contact them and ask for their support in regards to writing a product review, testimonial or participating in a product reveal.
- You can also follow them and start engaging with them on social media to nurture the relationship organically.
Even an influencer with fewer followers has that power that can help you a lot. It is actually their small audience which makes easy to keep the followers much more targeted and engaged.
4. Social media channels for engaging targeted audiences
It’s only social media that a vast majority of the audience will come across your business or service. But to make your social media strategy simple and profit-driven, shortlist the top three platforms where your targeted audience hangs the most or from where you can get the maximum traffic. And if you have a brand, which is visually oriented, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest are the social media platforms that can increase your brand penetration. To make it simpler for you, here is a breakdown of tips to reach out to more leads and subscribers.
Use trending hashtags on Twitter. The trending hashtags can lead to significant increase in retweets and total engagements. As per a research, with exposure to retweets, customers are more likely to have an intent to become a qualified lead. Like a few days ago, the hashtag #whatsappdown was trending, which got an amazing overall response. The screenshot below is the best example to help you compare the total engagements between a tweet with a trending hashtag and a normal tweet. This is sure to make you convince how hashtags can lift in purchase intent.
Answer questions on Quora. It is a hugely popular site that allows you to create a profile with backlinks to your site or landing page. Answering questions get you direct exposure to leads who need a solution.
- SlideShare with 70 million visitors is a great platform for generating leads and subscribers. You can link to a landing page, description and the profile in your presentation.
- By actively engaging on social, you can keep the tabs on conversation and potential conversion opportunities. Just make a list of people who are interested in your products or services and pay attention to what’s being said by them on Twitter. Use TweetBeep to set up Twitter alerts.
- Alike LinkedIn Groups, Google+ brings people with similar interests together. Which a good opportunity to become an influencer and drive leads and conversions.
5. Content marketing to distribute relevant and consistent content
Content Marketing is one of the effective lead and subscriber generation techniques, which has proven itself time and time again. Create a dynamic or smart content that actually talks to your subscribers. The more personal you are, more likely you will generate leads or subscribers which could later turn into your customers.
- Apply 80/20 rule for content creation and promotion. Spend only 20% of the time in creating the content and 80% of the time in promoting it.
- Review your site analytics to find the most popular posts and add a content upgrade to them. Create an option to download the posts in return for an email address.
- Your about page is a great place to have a compelling CTA. Break up copy into manageable chunks and include a solid value proposition in your headline.
- Blog consistently. Blogging with relevant CTA’s can actually help in generating leads and subscribers. The process is slow but effective.
Some Tools and Services for Generating Leads and Subscribers
6. Adwords
It is free to sign up for Adwords. It helps in the collection of interested leads by placing forms right inside of a search ad. Unlike landing page, it would not get you the same qualification as in AdWords, email addresses are placed in after a small snippet of text. Choose the keywords and phrases and then start advertising locally if you need to target some specific regions. And pay only when someone clicks on your and goes to your website or dedicated landing page.
Green Lotus Avenue increased its leads to over 200% by just sending the AdWords traffic to a dedicated landing page.
7. Pop-ups
As much as you hate to see pop-ups, but in many cases, pop-ups have been known to amplify opt-in rates. Don’t take my word for it, search on Google and you will find numerous tests and studies that reflect they do. So, if you also want to test this out on your site, ensure it creates a turnkey for individuals who will be downloading any content to simply click the tab subscribe. You can also improve the chances of subscription by providing your visitors with relevant content that would help to keep them on site longer.
8. Social Hubs
The life of your social media posts is very short. They just have a lifespan of 3-4 hours on an average. Thus, if you want to extend the life of your social media posts, consider embedding a social hub directly on your site. These hubs will help you tile your posts into a grid so that you can insert CTA’s within that grid. This way you can collect leads from that social content whilst giving a huge lift to your email subscribers list.
Quick Wrap Up
Smart marketers know where the real engagement begins and ends. But, remember that generating leads and subscribers to your business will take time. Marketing quality content, nurturing social media presence, diligently creating stunning visuals or videos and crafting solid marketing campaigns- all such tactics requires time and focus. You definitely have to move out of your comfort zone to achieve something great.
Real satisfaction is of course what we learn in the process of applying these proven strategies. If executed properly, these strategies will not only help you generate leads and subscribers but also the traffic, conversions and customers you seek.
Also read: 7 top marketing strategies to attract the prospects who can afford you
What are your best strategies for generating leads and subscribers? Share them in the comments.