5 Lead Generation Methods You're Probably Missing Out
Jul 21, 2016
Jul 21, 2016
10 min read
10 min read
Table of contents
As marketers it is our job to find lead generation tactics and test them in the field that will both bring us more qualified leads and deliver value for our readers, customers and visitors. Leads could be generated either by giving the potential customers something in exchange for an opt-in to our service, or by simply delivering a better experience or by more accurate ad targeting.
While we of course apply many proven lead generation tactics in our daily work, but we also try to get creative and test the waters on ideas that generate in our heads at random times. Keeping this in mind, we have compiled the list of some tactics that have been experimented by many marketers across the globe but are still not known to many that these exist. Hope you try them for yourself to analyze whether they work out for you or not:
Exit-intent Popups
Sometimes you can see that the analytics are screaming at your face that people are leaving from the landing page itself. The clear reason that comes into notice is that as soon as visitors click on the website link they are immediately smacked in the face with a popup before they can even check what the website is all about. This gives them a frustrating experience and can “sometimes” turn them off of your website. However, what if you don’t get any popup when you visit the website but as soon as you are ready to leave the website, then you are offered something of value? Bang on! Now this makes the visitor think twice before leaving, depending on what is offered.
There are many tools across the internet, but the one that we recommend is OptinMonster. For example, WP Beginner wrote about how they increased their email subscriptions by 600% using OptinMonster.
SlideShare
Slideshare is a visual community of visual presentations that could be in the format of a PDF, KeyNote, Powerpoint or an OpenDocument. These slides can be publicly or privately shared on the platform and by the way it was one of the awesome organic lead generation opportunities platform. This is one content marketing way that many do not know of but users who submit high quality slides on a topic that command viewer’s attention reap the rewards.
Note: Slideshare Pro allows for analytics, email lead generation, video uploads, etc. but as of now the product is still under changes internally and is not allowing new memberships, but yes the free version of SlideShare is worthwhile and can be a huge opportunity to take advantage of.
Udemy
Online Education is booming, and while many people are reaping the benefits of providing online courses in various marketplaces such as Udemy, Edx, Coursera, there are scores of other marketers who are actually teaching classes for free simply to get traction from the target audience. The another most attracting aspect of this strategy is that you can message your audience at any time with updates, which effectively gives you the same access an email opt-in does.
Bronson Taylor from Growth Hacker Tv executed this strategy for himself as he posted GHTV episodes for free, which acted both as a free trial and a communication stream between him and over 5000 interested individuals.
Gated Video Content
Ungated video content is the one that is freely available to the public or any visitor who wishes to view it. While, a gated content is the one that is not so stringently restricted but requires just an email subscription, free membership, submitting contact information, etc. to view the content.
B2B marketers do know the benefits of offering ebooks, whitepapers, etc. for an email, but few are taking advantage of other forms of content offering, such as video content.
For example Neil Patel does this for QuickSprout University, where he displays all of the amazing content that he had available in short, bite-sized videos, but upon clicking on them, you’re directed to sign up.
Old Content Is Still Gold
Content Marketers generally make this mistake and probably is there biggest one if they believe old content is not useful anymore. To make it new again, there are so many things you can do to improve its design, add some more content, update the post with more blogs, and create a proper distribution strategy for it.
In addition to improving upon the content itself, you should take time to identify your most top performing or have performed, pieces of content and add relevant CTAs at the bottom.
Have a look at how this has been executed by HubSpot to take advantage of their organic traffic.
Conclusion
The article concludes on the same note where we started that marketers do find new ideas and test waters with them. Sometimes the best ways are the most simple of all and do not require technical hacks, APIs, coding or any other kind of crazy methodology.
What Is Quality Content? How Google Recognizes & Rewards Them
Rand Fishkin coined the term "10x" in one of his Whiteboard Friday videos, and soon, the already abuzz digital marketing world had a benchmark for what makes content stand out of the crowd. An exceptionally well-written piece of content recognized for the quality and service it provides is termed as a 10x content. But what do we mean when we say content needs to have quality? What are the elements that define quality content? It can be a tricky question to answer. After all, quality is subjective, and everyone has a different way of viewing and analyzing a piece of content. But there are specific parameters, identifying and working on which will be beneficial in developing quality content. And with Smartinsights statistical data revealing the enormous quantity at which content is being produced in a minute, no content creator and marketer can afford to overlook them. Quality content should be based on proper research based on what the target audience is looking for, currently in the industry. It should address and resolve the concern of the prospective customers; There is no room for language, spelling, or grammar mistakes. A quality content follows a consistent style guide, has catchy yet concise heading and subheadings. A content that does not deter from its topic, no matter the length, would keep its readers engaged. Focused content is quality content. The content should encourage people to engage with the business, leading them to take the desired action. A content with facts, statistics, and data adds to the credibility by reassuring people into believing the effectiveness of your products or services. High-quality content is available in a format preferred by the audience, whether it is long-form posts, videos, or images. This will vary with the platform it is being published on. Talking about the platform, good quality content is optimized, not just for search engines but social media as well- attractive, recent, shareable. While imbibing the characteristics mentioned above, you can produce quality content. The gravity of the impact it creates ultimately boils down to whether or not it is searchable on the prominent search engines like Google. With 93% of online experiences starting with a search engine, it should not come as a shock to you that your prospective consumers rely heavily on the search engines to find the products and the services they need. Do you want high organic traffic? For that, you need to have a good search engine ranking, which a quality content can assure you. But this is possible only when you understand how the particular search engines recognize quality content. We are going to focus on what Google defines as high-quality content. (a) Google sends you the most traffic; (b) Google has been consistently dominating 90% of the search market. With the latest Penguin and Panda update, it is clear that Google aims only to deliver high-quality content to the seekers. Google now has all it's ranking algorithms focused on indexing, crawling, and ranking quality content from every possible rabbit hole on the internet. With the goal to further enhance the quality of the search engine, this update's foundation is a calculation or filter which determines whether the content is of high quality of low-quality. The low-quality content is then rearranged to be pushed further back to the SERP's. The formula or Panda Filter, as it is commonly called, look for signals to identify and differentiate between the varying degree of content quality. So, what makes Google's quality content? For Google, EAT defines the quality of content. What is EAT, you ask? E-A-T stands for Expertise-Authority-Trust. Let's elaborate on them: Expertise You know how, for any business-related trouble, there are certain leaders or digital gurus whose advice you trust for its results? You need to be that for the products and services your area offering and in that industry. You are aiming at a high rank in the search engine results; you need to put out such content that establishes you as an expert in the particular field. What will define your online expertise? Your credentials, the author's biography, time visitors spent on each page, shares, etc. Authority How does one establish their authority online? Your well-crafted content pieces should focus only on niche topics and have informational keywords. Backlinks from reputable websites, reviews, awards make for a benchmark that establish authoritativeness. Trust: You need to be the first name that strikes their mind when they are looking for a reliable source of information. A well-researched and adequately quoted content will make it credible. Your content and the website should make people trust it and feel comfortable sharing their personal data, aka high grade of security. They should feel confident enough to invest in your products or services. Indicators of trustworthiness are testimonials, signs of community, social media presence, website security, etc. While the aforementioned forms the foundation of high-quality content per Google standards, it's webmaster guidelines clearly lays down the difference between low and high-quality content. High-quality content would have: Authentic information backed by research and data- adding value for the readers; Images and videos in abundance- to enhance the presentation; No spelling, factual or stylistic errors; Search Intent- were they created for ranking or to resolve customer's queries? Well-researched and engaging information- Making it shareable, or worth bookmarking; Comprehensive information- does it leave out anything of importance?; Sensitivity- can it enrage users for leaving negative comments?; A low-quality content, on the other hand, would: Serve no purpose with their inadequate or no website information; Be stuffed with the keyword for the sake of SEO; Have deceptive designs or doorway pages with plagiarized or automatically generated content; Have inadequate website information and little to no sub-content; Have hidden texts or links Be a website that lacks maintenance and updates; So, how to develop high-quality content? Know and understand your audience; Focus on search intent; Go for a new approach; Conduct thorough research; Answer the latest questions with abundant information Your content needs validation, for which it needs to be shared, for which it needs to be read, for which it needs disability, which only quality content gets. Your SEO-centered content lacking quality might be coming in the way of your goal of achieving higher search engine ranking. Enhance the value of your website by creating high-quality content, because while the SEO strategies keep evolving, high-quality content will always command the marketing world. ...
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How to Create a Converting Home Page For Your DTC Brand
Step into the bustling world of the internet, where landing pages eagerly await your arrival, beckoning you to embark on a captivating digital journey. With each click and maneuver, these virtual gateways open up a realm of possibilities, serving as the vital bridge between curiosity and conversion. Whether you stumble upon them through ads or deliberately click on call-to-action buttons, landing pages hold power to transform casual visitors into engaged leads and loyal customers. In the dynamic landscape of Direct-to-Consumer marketing, the art of crafting a compelling landing page becomes a crucial linchpin of success. Prepare to unlock the secrets to an irresistible virtual storefront as we delve into the prerequisites for your DTC business's landing page, unraveling the transformative path to creating a home page that captivates hearts, captivates minds, and ultimately converts your audience into ardent supporters of your brand. What is Landing Page Optimisation? Landing page optimization is a strategic endeavor aimed at refining and enhancing every aspect of your landing page with the goal of increasing conversions. Rather than relying on mere intuition or guesswork, this process revolves around leveraging data and anecdotal evidence to make informed decisions.What makes landing page optimization even more exciting is the ability to gather valuable insights before your page even goes live. By engaging with your audience through surveys or other means, you gain a deeper understanding of their expectations and preferences. Armed with this knowledge, you can fine-tune your landing page to align with their needs and desires, maximizing its impact.Recognizing that creating the perfect landing page doesn't happen overnight is important. Instead, you launch the page and closely monitor its performance, analyzing the data and observing the conversion rate. This iterative approach allows you to make necessary tweaks and improvements based on real-time feedback, continuously refining the page to achieve optimal results. Why do you need Landing Page Optimisation? A more effective approach to landing page optimization involves identifying specific problems that contribute to low conversion rates. One valuable tool for this is a heat map, which shows user engagement patterns and highlights areas that need improvement. By analyzing the heat map, you can gather data-driven insights to inform your optimization efforts. By focusing on specific pain points and utilizing tools like heat maps, you can adopt a more methodical and informed approach to landing page optimization. Instead of relying on guesswork, you can leverage tangible data to make strategic changes that have the potential to significantly improve your conversion rates. However, heat maps are not the only visual data reports that can help. A scroll map reveals where visitors scroll past or disengage, while a confetti map shows where they click. This visualization allows you to understand where visitors click and what elements attract their attention. Overlay reports and list reports provide additional insights, showcasing click percentages on different page elements and presenting numerical data on individual clicks, respectively.By utilizing these various visual data reports, you can gain a comprehensive understanding of visitor behavior and identify areas for improvement on your landing page. Armed with this information, you can make informed decisions to optimize your page elements, improve user experience, and increase conversion rates. How to Optimize Your Landing Page? Conversion rates heavily depend on your landing page, and this is not a mystery. This process commences from the moment you embark on designing the page and continues even after its launch.Landing pages, like product prototypes, require multiple iterations to achieve the desired outcome. They must resonate with the target audience, capture attention, inspire action, and meet expectations. To optimize a landing page, an iterative approach is necessary. This involves testing, analyzing, and refining based on real-world data and user feedback. By leveraging insights from analytics, user behavior tracking, and feedback mechanisms, informed decisions can be made to enhance the landing page's performance over time. Let’s briefly explain how you can build a landing page that wins! 1. Know What You Are Offering Renowned marketing expert Joe Chernov once aptly stated, "Good marketing makes the company look smart, but great marketing makes the customer feel smart." This quote underscores a powerful principle that can be applied to your landing pages to significantly boost conversion rates.When crafting your optimization strategy, it is essential to consider how you can create a customer experience that elicits positive emotions. You want your visitors to feel not only smart but also appreciated, inspired, and excited throughout their journey on your landing page.To achieve this, focus on empowering your customers with knowledge and value. Provide them with clear and concise information that educates and guides their decision-making process. Highlight the unique benefits and features of your product or service that make them feel confident and intelligent for choosing your brand.Additionally, demonstrate genuine appreciation for their interest and engagement. Personalize the experience by addressing their specific needs and preferences. Show empathy and understanding by addressing potential pain points and offering solutions that resonate with them.Inspire and ignite excitement by presenting compelling visuals, engaging copy, and persuasive calls to action. Create a sense of anticipation and show how your product or service can transform their lives or solve their problems. 2.Keep the Important Stuff ‘Above the Fold’ The concept of "above the fold" originates from the world of newspapers, where the most captivating stories were strategically placed on the front page, above the traditional fold. The goal was to grab readers' attention with compelling headlines, enticing them to purchase the newspaper.Similarly, in the digital realm, you can apply the principle of "above the fold" to your landing pages. This refers to keeping crucial elements of your page visible and accessible without requiring users to scroll. With the widespread use of smartphones and tablets, it has become even more challenging to capture and retain users' attention.The good news is that you can leverage a scroll map to identify the average fold location on different devices. This visual representation enables you to determine where users typically reach before scrolling, allowing you to strategically position key elements. To optimize your landing page for maximum impact, focus on keeping essential elements above the fold. This includes your attention-grabbing headline, a concise and engaging body copy, and a prominent call-to-action (CTA). By ensuring these elements are immediately visible, you increase the likelihood of capturing users' attention and encouraging them to take the desired action. 3.Employ the Principle of Scarcity The psychological principle of scarcity is a powerful tool in marketing, and it can be effectively utilized on your landing pages to compel visitors to take immediate action. The concept is simple: when people perceive that something is limited in availability or time, they are more inclined to act promptly to avoid missing out.The use of phrases like "limited time" or "limited quantities" triggers a sense of urgency and creates a fear of missing out (FOMO) among your landing page visitors. This urgency motivates them to take action now rather than postponing or deliberating.Even large retail stores like Target recognize the power of scarcity. When you encountered the message "only 2 left" while checking availability for a product, it created a sense of urgency and prompted you to take immediate action to secure the item before it was sold out. This is a tangible example of how scarcity can drive consumer behavior.To leverage scarcity on your own website, consider activating limited-time discounts or offering exclusive lead magnets that won't be available again. By clearly communicating the time-sensitive nature or limited availability of your offer, you tap into the psychological trigger of scarcity.A countdown timer is an effective visual element that adds an extra layer of urgency. It visually showcases the remaining time your visitors have to act on the offer, further enhancing the sense of scarcity and prompting them to take immediate action. Inconsistencies may undermine their trust in your brand and deter them from taking the desired action. By ensuring visual consistency, you establish a cohesive narrative and reinforce the offer or value proposition presented in your ad. This creates a smoother transition for users and instills confidence that they are in the right place, reinforcing their decision to click on the ad and continue exploring your landing page. 4.On-Page SEO On Page SEO plays a significant role in driving traffic to landing pages, and it's crucial to optimize your pages to rank well for relevant keywords. Whether your landing page is your homepage or a specific page targeting industry-related keywords, appearing in search results is essential for visibility and attracting potential customers. When people search for your company's name, your homepage or designated landing page should ideally appear in the search results. This ensures that individuals seeking your brand can easily find the information they are looking for. Optimizing your landing page with your company name, relevant meta tags, and clear page titles can improve its visibility in search engine results.Additionally, you can rank for industry-related keywords to attract a broader audience interested in the products or services you offer. Tools like Ubersuggest can help you identify the best keywords to target for your landing page. Conduct thorough keyword research to understand the terms and phrases that your target audience is using to search for information related to your industry.Incorporate these keywords strategically throughout your landing page's elements, including headlines, body text, image alt text, and more. However, it's important to maintain a natural and reader-friendly flow. Avoid keyword stuffing, as search engines prioritize quality content that provides value to users. In Conclusion Creating a high-converting landing page for your DTC business requires a strategic approach encompassing various elements. By implementing best practices and leveraging data-driven optimization techniques, you can maximize your chances of capturing leads and driving conversions.From understanding the psychology of your audience to utilizing visual consistency and incorporating scarcity tactics, every aspect of your landing page should be carefully crafted to inspire action and make visitors feel valued and empowered.At Saffron Edge, we specialize in helping DTC businesses create compelling landing pages that drive results. Our team of digital marketing experts understands the intricacies of crafting high-converting pages and can assist you in optimizing your online presence. ...
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Top Seven Benefits Of Using Twitter As A Tool To Drive Traffic In 2021
Currently,Twitter is ranked at the 6th positionamong the most popular apps in the world. Twitter receives a massive amount of engagement, it receives almost500 million tweets per day!Digital marketers believe Twitter is a great place to build a community of customers and an excellent social media platform to market products. --> Source:Pexels--> Twitter advertising revenue went up to $899 million in the first quarter of 2021. That means it saw an enormous 32% hike in advertising revenue when compared to the previous year.According to Statista, as of April 2021, Twitter had 199 million daily active users. As per the statistics released by Twitter in the first quarter of 2021, the totalTwitter ad engagements also went up by 11% within a year.Hence, it is quite obvious why brands and businesses are so keen to market their products on this specific social media website. Here are some of the key benefits of using Twitter as a tool for marketing and driving traffic in 2021. 1. Connect directly via direct messaging Just like several other social media platforms, even Twitter has the provision of reaching out to accounts via private conversations. Two users can hold private discussions over Twitter like any other social media app. The only requirement to enable dialogue between two accounts is that they must follow each other. Due to this feature, marketers felt Twitter isn’t a great place to come in touch with celebrities or influencers. However, they think it’s a perfect place to engage customers and provide them with an authentic and personalized experience. Source:Pexels 2. Use engagement tags. The best way to deliver your tweets to a particular customer or an individual user on Twitter is by using the “@” feature. In this way, your tweet reaches directly to the recipient. Many businesses use the features to quote another brand, artist, influencer, etc., during a collaboration. Another great advantage of the “@” feature is that it allows users to receive tweets from people they might not even follow. The branched algorithm of Twitter enables users to witness tweets from multiple other users depending upon how their followers engage with other accounts. The network algorithm also allows the user to see similar types of content that they usually engage with. With such a feature, you can club your Twitter marketing services and end up getting a tremendous amount of engagement and reach. 3. You Can Post Multiple Times A Day! Unlike other social media platforms, Twitter is pretty friendly with brands and businesses posting a thread of tweets. Almost every Twitter Marketing Service Agency will recommend you to post fifteen tweets a day. Such freedom over the number of posts isn’t there on Instagram or Facebook. Since tweets feature for a short interval, Twitter’s algorithm is fine with multiple tweets. It keeps the continuous feed engaging and allows you to send regular updates. In this way, your brand or business can stay relevant among the audiences. Marketers that provide Twitter Marketing Services use this feature as an opportunity to create a mixed variety of content. The most successful Twitter marketers use Tweets to educate audiences about a specific product or service; they post images, polls, QnAs, etc., that keeps the consumers engaged. 4. Develop A Consistent Brand Voice With a flexible posting schedule, Twitter is a social media platform that can help your brand build its voice and personality. The tonality and texture of your tweets depend upon the kind of brand or business you own. The brands that sell pop-culture merchandise will have a sassy, more casual tone, whereas firms that deal with stocks or bonds shall use a more informative and formal style. Several fast-food companies have done campaigns that attract the youth; they talk about music, lifestyle, and more pop-culture stuff. Many media entertainment or production houses use a sarcastic tone to keep their audiences engaged daily. Humor is one of the most popular elements that businesses use to keep their audience hooked. With a consistent and unique brand voice, you can interact with potential customers who share your existing clients’ same interests. However, as a public brand or business, you must take care of old and problematic tweets as they can cause some severe backlash. Otherwise, you can use Twitter to display the kind of energy your brand radiates. 5. Twitter Advertising Is Cost-Effective So many companies are now looking for Twitter marketing services because advertising via Twitter is cheaper and more effective than many social media platforms. Most ads on Twitter cost a business something over a dollar! However, Twitter provides excellent scope for optimization. A Twitter Marketing Service Agency can help you create campaignsthat can maximize the impact of your ad. For that, you need to hire a team or a marketer who knows how to spend wisely and uses data-driven strategies to target your ads. You can perform A/B testing with your campaigns and customize them as per your preference. When it comes to optimization, Twitter is incredibly user-friendly! Source:Pexels 6. Influencer Marketing In today’s modern world, no one can underestimate the power of influencer marketing. Celebrities on Twitter are known for their trendy tweets, and they have a lot of engagement. Many marketers have created phenomenal influencer Marketing campaigns that have yielded a higher return on ad spend. However, there are too many influencers on Instagram, due to which there are too many products! Hence, you need to have a much fresher approach to influencer Marketing as Twitter has an enormous amount of potential to scale businesses. Twitter is also famous for having a high-purchase intent audience. Therefore, when consumers come across their favorite celebrity and an advertised product, they are more likely to purchase it. 7. Twitter Can Help You Drive Traffic To Your Website Nowadays, social media platforms act as a homepage for businesses. As we discussed above, Twitter is the perfect place to develop a unique voice for your brand. Many users visit and follow the Twitter accounts of their favorite brand. If they get to see a well-optimized Twitter profile of the brand, they are more likely to become your brand advocates. Many brands and businesses use Twitter as a medium to send traffic to their website. They also link their Twitter accounts on their website. In this way, when a consumer visits a website and finds a Twitter handle, they quickly check that out. If the brand can maintain a consistent identity across all channels, it helps them create their unique brand voice. Now you know the reason behind Twitter Marketing Services being so popular. If customers get to a well-optimized Twitter account, they are more likely to become your brand advocates. Due to this reason, several brands and businesses rely on Twitter Marketing. Twitter also provides some fantastic metrics and native analytics within the platform, such as demographics, lifestyle, behavior, and mobile footprint. These metrics are pretty helpful to know if your marketer is planning to launch a campaign. ...
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