Unfortunately, it happens. Especially to small businesses. You are working hard on your marketing efforts, but still lose leads. What can you do? Here are some real-world, expert-endorsed marketing solutions to help you get, retain, and convert leads.
Update your Website
First, if you have a website, great, because according to statistics a staggering 50% of small businesses don’t even have a site at all. (Fox Business). And many don’t list appropriate contact or business information. In today’s business environment, every company—regardless of size—needs a proper website to remain competitive. With a few small changes, you can create a stellar site that helps convert browsers to buyers, and then you can start looking at other ways to keep leads.
Start by answering these questions and then work to make the necessary changes:
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When did you create/update your website?
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Is it converting visitors to contacts or buyers (conversion rate)?
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Are visitors finding the information they are seeking?
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What is my SEO ranking? How can I improve SEO?
The Email Enigma
The two most common reasons that email leads are not working are these: you are emailing the wrong audience or you are emailing the wrong offer. First, make sure you are implementing proper strategies to collect leads in the first place—it has to be more than a contact form; a strong CTA can make all the difference. Then, use your database to make sure that you are sending the most appropriate message to the leads with the most potential.
Whenever you collect an email address or contact information, be sure it is immediately added to your database and begin building a relationship with that person. A simple follow-up email can make a huge difference in your conversion rate. As a matter of fact, according to MarketingCharts, emailing a new contact within 20 minutes boosts conversion rates by 49 percent; however, they also note that many prospects never even receive an email.
Getting in touch with a new contact is one of the simplest and most effective marketing solutions you can implement. So, collect email addresses, follow up quickly, then continue to build a relationship with appropriate messages and offers.
Be Responsive
If a prospect contacts your business with a question or for information, what happens next? If you answered “nothing” or “I’m not sure” then you could be in trouble. Follow up needs to happen quickly—preferably the same day, preferably the same hour. Not following up on leads? Well, your competitors are. Not getting the sale? Well, guess who is? Your competitors. According to research from Inside Sales, customers are more likely to buy from the businesses that follow up first. There is an entire psychology behind the idea of buying from “the first responder”—sort of a marketing survival of the fittest. This applies to email inquiries, phone calls, voicemails, and web form submissions—all of them must be responded to quickly and professionally. Don’t squander this opportunity to close a sale.
Build a Relationship
As we mentioned above, building a relationship—via email contact, follow-ups, exclusive offers—with your audience is crucial to converting leads. Implementing customer relationship management (CRM) is an effective way to keep you on track. CRM is a way for you to manage and analyze customer data and interactions, across all marketing channels (web, email, phone, chat, etc.). The main goal of CRM is to drive sales growth through relationship building and assistance. And it can help you prioritize where prospects are in the buying lifecycle and what type of approach is best to use with them.
So, here you have five solid marketing solutions to help you keep your leads. Remember, the best way to move forward is to take a realistic look at where you are now and seek areas of improvement. Change does not happen overnight, but if you implement strategic solutions, you will retain more leads and boost sales.
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