{"id":318,"date":"2018-07-17T11:04:05","date_gmt":"2018-07-17T11:04:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/?p=318"},"modified":"2018-07-17T13:07:46","modified_gmt":"2018-07-17T13:07:46","slug":"creative-lead-generation-strategies-that-you-absolutely-need-to-try","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/creative-lead-generation-strategies-that-you-absolutely-need-to-try\/","title":{"rendered":"Creative Lead Generation Strategies That You Absolutely Need To Try"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A typical<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> lead generation process<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is pretty gruelling. From getting an email list together to sending out cold emails and waiting for responses, the traditional tactics just don\u2019t seem to work for making people talk to your business or even try doing so. That\u2019s why we put together a list of creative <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lead generation strategies<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that have worked wonders for businesses and are definitely worth giving a shot! <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Creative <\/b><b>lead generation strategies<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While there are plenty of ways to generate more leads for your business, we go by one rule to ensure that no effort goes wasted &#8211; add value to your prospects. Here are some strategies that will give creative twist to your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lead generation process<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and still deliver the best of results! <\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><b>1. Hack your search engine optimization with customer reviews<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It goes without saying that search engines still remain the top most source for businesses to generate more leads. No matter what industry or niche you are in, SEO needs to play a core part in all your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lead generation strategies<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While you\u2019re optimizing your website with the right set of keywords, pushing out content on regular basis and working on link building, here\u2019s the hack that you have been missing out on &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.nextinymarketing.com\/how-important-are-reviews-for-your-local-google-ranking\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">customer reviews<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now review platforms have a strong presence on the search engines as they get indexed regularly. This makes them a great platform for you to get your business noticed by the right people. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To begin with this SEO hack, you might need to reach out to your existing customers and encourage them to drop reviews for your product\/ service. This won\u2019t just get your brand noticed on the channels, but also serve as a social proof to all the other consumers who are looking for similar solutions and haven\u2019t discovered what you offer yet. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take for instance the first thing you do when looking for a product. You ask for a few recommendations from friends and then go online to check their reviews! <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Takeaway:<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The more positive customer reviews you have, the greater are the number of leads you generate. \u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h3><b>2. Share success stories from the industry <\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The one thing that is definitely going to add more value to your prospects, is sharing secret hacks that have proven to work in their industry. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lead generation strategies<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that keep the prospect\u2019s interest in mind have proven to work 10X better than those that don\u2019t! <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It might take you a little more time to dive deeper and find such success stories, but they can actually make for great posts that can be a part of your lead generation strategies for a long time &#8211; both organic, and paid. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take for instance, this case study on Intercom\u2019s success. Since everyone is already aware of what Intercom does and looks up to the product in many ways, this one piece of content got Sumo 221 social media shares in no time. And the number of people who subscribed to their blog or signed up for a free trial by the end of the post, still increasing in number. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-319\" src=\"http:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Screen-Shot-2018-07-17-at-3.53.11-PM-300x115.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"665\" height=\"255\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Screen-Shot-2018-07-17-at-3.53.11-PM-300x115.png 300w, https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Screen-Shot-2018-07-17-at-3.53.11-PM.png 669w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 665px) 100vw, 665px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>3. Make use of video content <\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s a lot of content being shared on the internet. Right from social media posts to even the blogs that businesses are publishing every day, a typical internet user has a lot to consume and is often looking for formats that can make it quicker for them to get the information they are seeking. Now, what\u2019s better than visual content in this scenario? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using videos in your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lead generation strategies<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, can lead to a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/neilpatel.com\/blog\/product-videos-conversion\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">144% increase in the number of leads you generate online<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But then again, you can\u2019t get away with just about anything. These videos need to be able to add more value to your prospects and help them make an informed decision about something or offer a solution they have been looking for. If you stick to just promotional videos, you\u2019ll lose their attention in just a few seconds. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-&gt; Make videos around common challenges of your target audience <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-&gt; Create product how-tos and guides <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-&gt; Share expert interviews <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-&gt; Record whiteboard sessions to address common industry concerns (a great example is the Moz Whiteboard series)<br \/>\n<\/span><b><\/b><\/p>\n<h3><b>4. Create a quiz for your prospects <\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you reach out to your prospects with a proposition of helping them understand more about themselves, they\u2019ll be more interested in interacting with you. It\u2019s pretty much similar to how Buzzfeed is able to engage you with their quizzes; just that these will lead your prospects to valuable insights and actionables. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Create a quiz that lets your website visitors easily participate in a subject that they have been doing their research on. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, if your business offers a solution for content marketers, offer a quiz that lets product marketers see how much they know about inbound marketing. The quiz could cover different aspects of content marketing, like best practices, metrics and more, that lead the participant to understanding how effective their current strategies are. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Quizzes have now become a part of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lead generation strategies<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for many businesses. The strategy has seen a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/robpowellbizblog.com\/quizzes-for-lead-generation\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">50% conversion rate<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for many businesses. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-&gt; Establish a rapport with the prospect before presenting the quiz <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-&gt; Be extremely relevant about what the quiz has to offer <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-&gt; Focus on how you design the quiz <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-&gt; Ensure it is easy and quick for a prospect to complete the quiz <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-&gt; Solve a problem for one person to encourage more participation <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>-&gt; <\/strong>Tip more results towards a positive insight (feel good factor always works) <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-&gt; Make result sharing really easy and worthwhile<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s an interesting video from the conversion expert, Neil Patel, on using quizzes in a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lead generation process<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/4k2vzhgGxfE\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/4k2vzhgGxfE<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h3><b>5. Address the most difficult challenge <\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As of today, almost every business has set aside resources for content marketing. They are doing their best to create content for possibly everything that their target market could be looking for. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Irrespective of the industry or niche you are in, it is obvious that your target market is shared with at least 10 other businesses, and each one of you is going to do their best at gaining this audience\u2019s attention. That\u2019s where the importance of standing out comes in. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You could follow the same old approach of addressing your audience with generic content around your industry, or you could first analyse and see what\u2019s not covered before. Take stock of what concerns and challenges your competitors have already addressed, and what your audience is still looking for. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pick out the most difficult challenge and create an actionable piece content around it. You will not just be the only one to rank as solution for that concern, but also establish a rapport with your audience as someone who knows what they are doing. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>6. Share your own secret hacks<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Want to establish your authority, and at the same time also generate leads? Become someone who is willing to share their success secrets with the target market. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, if you have successfully nailed getting more traffic to your website, create an in-depth blog around it that shares the tactics that you made use of. Better still, add actual screenshots of analytics wherever possible. Here\u2019s how Buffer used this approach:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-320\" src=\"http:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Screen-Shot-2018-07-17-at-3.53.41-PM-300x173.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"634\" height=\"366\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Screen-Shot-2018-07-17-at-3.53.41-PM-300x173.png 300w, https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Screen-Shot-2018-07-17-at-3.53.41-PM.png 625w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 634px) 100vw, 634px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just look at the number of comments and shared that they received on this post. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While you\u2019re giving this information without expecting to generate a lead, it makes the reader trust you more for receiving such content pieces even in the future &#8211; and that makes them convert on your lead generation call-to-action. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>7. Offer a downloadable <\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A downloadable, also known as a content upgrade is basically a content piece that dives deeper into a topic that is valuable to your target market. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, when you\u2019re publishing blogs on your website, you\u2019re building awareness around your brand and how you know the industry you\u2019re addressing. But sometimes, that\u2019s not enough &#8211; particularly because everybody else is doing the same. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But when you add an actionable, downloaded content piece that adds more value to this blog, your reader becomes more likely to convert. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, when Intercom hit success, they knew that a lot of their audience &#8211; startups, were looking for a way to incorporate the same strategies that they made use of. So they launched their book, \u2018Intercom on Marketing\u2019 &#8211; the rest, you already know! <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, their series of books are a part of their <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lead generation strategies<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> across all channels. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-321\" src=\"http:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Screen-Shot-2018-07-17-at-3.54.03-PM-300x136.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"618\" height=\"280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Screen-Shot-2018-07-17-at-3.54.03-PM-300x136.png 300w, https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Screen-Shot-2018-07-17-at-3.54.03-PM.png 575w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 618px) 100vw, 618px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Depending on the resources available to you, you can alternatively create downloadable checklists or worksheets too. The idea is to create a content upgrade that is as close as possible to what your target market is looking for, and can make use of actively. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>8. Create an email course <\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similar to content upgrades or downloadables, email courses are becoming a popular lead generation tactic. For a busy professionals particularly, getting quick actionables or information in their inbox on a day-to-day basis, is any day better than having to read an entire ebook. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This approach works well in <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lead generation strategies<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that revolve around covering an in-depth topic and adding value to the target market.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, Buffer has an interesting social media course on emails. It spans over 25 days and they send across one strategy every day. It gives their subscribers enough time to understand the one strategy, implement and test it, before they are presented with the next one. Check the course out, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/buffer.com\/email-courses\/actionable-social-media-strategies\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-322\" src=\"http:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Screen-Shot-2018-07-17-at-3.54.18-PM-300x167.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"648\" height=\"361\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Screen-Shot-2018-07-17-at-3.54.18-PM-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Screen-Shot-2018-07-17-at-3.54.18-PM.png 660w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 648px) 100vw, 648px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><b>9. Host an interesting giveaway <\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another one of the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lead generation strategies<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that can work like magic, is hosting an interesting giveaway. However, they also increase the chances of you getting junk leads that don\u2019t fit into any one of your customer personas or segments. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s why you need to ensure that the giveaway is offering something that is extremely relevant to only your target market. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, if you\u2019re a marketing automation company. You can host a simple giveaway asking marketers to share their experience with marketing automation on their social media profiles. The one that gets the most engagement, is the one who gets to win about 3 months of free use of your tool! <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>10. Offer a free trial or a personalized demo <\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A typical internet consumer always tends to be skeptical about interacting with a product or even subscribing to its basic plan. And that is totally understandable. Instead of losing such a consumer, why not incorporate their behaviour in your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lead generation strategies<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, offer a free trial or a personalized demo to this website visitor. It gives them a chance to get their concerns addressed by you during the demo or simply try out your product before a bigger commitment. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are innumerable <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lead generation strategies<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that you could make use of today. But the baseline for success still remains \u2018adding more value to your target market.\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lead generation process<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to work effectively, you need to understand who your target audience is, what they are looking for, what exactly can you offer them and how, and what the best way for converting them is. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What other interesting lead generation strategies have you seen or used for your business? We\u2019d love to hear about them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/request-demo.php\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-328\" src=\"http:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/call-to-action-1-300x64.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"830\" height=\"177\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/call-to-action-1-300x64.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/call-to-action-1-768x163.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/call-to-action-1.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A typical lead generation process is pretty gruelling. From getting an email list together to sending out cold emails and waiting for responses, the traditional tactics just don\u2019t seem to work for making people talk to your business or even try doing so. That\u2019s why we put together a list of creative lead generation strategies &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/creative-lead-generation-strategies-that-you-absolutely-need-to-try\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Creative Lead Generation Strategies That You Absolutely Need To Try&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,3,14,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-channel-marketing","category-digital-marketing","category-inbound-marketing","category-lead-management"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":329,"href":"https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318\/revisions\/329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.salespanda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}