The Profit Pillar of Six: Lead Generation (6 Pt Series)

Lead generation is the cornerstone sector of the Profit Pillar of Six.  A lead is a potential customer in your businesses target market whom is most likely to be interested in the products or services your business provides. Without any  out leads, there can be no lead capturing, nurturing, converting, conversions, or metrics to analyze!

An effective Lead Generation system will take advantage of the two most common forms of using traffic to generate leads: Organic and Paid.

Lead Generation via Organic Traffic

Organic traffic is the use of free methods to bring visitors and eyes to your business.  Organic traffic is “free” in the sense of there not being an actual purchase for the viewership. However these are the leads you typically generate through the use of offering valuable content. Organic traffic is typically generated through the use of content marketing, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), partnerships, and sometimes the luck in  being in the right place at the right time.

SEO is the most understood and used method of lead generation through organic traffic. A simpler way to define it is to say that a potential customer performed an online search for certain keywords associated with the goods and services your business provides. SEO is a great way to benefit from free search engine traffic to generate leads. Key tactics to ensure your business eats from the search engine pie is to first claim your free google listing, have a well optimized page with keyword rich text, and of course provide meaningful value to your target audience.

Pros and cons of Lead Generation through Organic Traffic:

Pro’s:

-They are free leads. You did not have to pay any extra money to help them find you.

-It establishes Trust. SEO is Intent Based Marketing. People by nature are more likely to trust their own decisions.

-You know that that need and/or want your product or services, since they were actively seeking you out.

Con’s:

-Oftentimes the wait can be long. SEO is a long term game. It may be months before your business begins showing up in search engines.

-It is difficult to predict. Keyword and competitor analysis plays a big part in good SEO but there is no real way to count on this or track it. People can be fickle.

Lead Generation via Paid Traffic

Obviously are leads attracted through out of pocket methods is paid traffic . Commonly used methods for paid traffic include PPC or pay per click such as Google adwords, social media marketing such as Facebook advertising, and  effective low cost remarketing campaigns using display networks and retargeting ads. The nature of your business will determine the type of paid traffic is most advantageous to your marketing plan.

While paying for lead generation should yield high traffic there are still pros and cons to it.

Pros and cons of Lead Generation through Paid Traffic:

Pro’s:

-Most paid advertisers will allow you to laser target your key demographic by age range, interest and gender.

-Works quickly and efficiently. Opposed to Organic traffic. You won’t have to wait as long for your first sale or between sales.

-Easy to track as most platforms will allow you to see information from impressions, clicks, and conversions.

Con’s:

-Can be expensive depending on how much advertising you do

-Managing many different campaigns can be time consuming

-If not performed correctly, paid traffic can yield no leads or any analytics to measure.

Lead Generation….

Your business should use both organic and paid lead generation to get the best traffic through your sales funnel. In an ideal world we would not need to pay for lead generation but we are working in a very competitive environment. This means you have to stand out and give potential clients a reason to be interested in your business instead of your competition.

Just a Taste

Stay tuned for the 2nd Sector in the Profit Pillar of Six Series, Lead Capture…..[edit]