The golden ticket for small businesses is having and utilizing web based leads. These are people who willingly submitted contact information to your business through a form on your website (have we mentioned how all businesses need one?). The most awesome part about these types of leads is they are from people who are already interested in your product or service. So how can your business reap the benefits of generating web based leads?
- Have a website (and one with a contact form).
This certainly seems like a no brainer, but surprisingly there are businesses that do not have a website. Or they have one that is a landing page, in Adobe Flash (pretty, but a blind spot for search engines), has not been updated in many years, looks like spam, and/or its contact information is buried. If your business doesn’t have website, then go back to start. Get one. Distillery Web Design can help you. If you already have a website (that’s search engine optimized) then make sure the contact form is on the Home page, in addition to every page of your site. Contact forms can be formatted in a way for you to know what types of information the customer is wanting. They are your best tool (having a website is first) in gaining leads.
- Use Social Media.
The website is to educate and social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) is to create a conversation and sense of community. Your website and social media outlets work together. And, frankly, people expect for businesses to have both. Do you really want to hear, “What?! You don’t have a Facebook page?”. So get crackin’! Go out and gain likes and fans. Still not sure? Then read 26 Social Media Marketing Tips for Small Business or Contact Us
A cost effective way to get your business seen by potential customers in order to drive traffic to your site. Both Facebook Ads and Google AdWords have a PPC option.
- Clear Contact Form.
We touched on this under having a website, but it’s a must in order to gain email addresses. Make it easy, simple, and people will fill it out. Simplicity leads nicely to functionality. Be sure to add in a drop down list to help prioritize and categorize submissions.
- Call to Action.
Give customers a reason to fill out the form. Typically people who subscribe to a newsletter receive a benefit. For example, subscribers might get a heads up on a big sale or a special discount only for them.
- Praise and Pictures
Real people giving praise for your business will help drive others to purchase your services and products. Once customers are on the site and see you’re a reputable business, they are more likely to give out their contact information. The days of Anonymous and a gray profile box are over, so ask your happy customers to write a review for you, snap a picture (or link it to Facebook), and use their real names.
- Immediate Follow Up
If you only take one thing away from this post, then take this….the number one mistake business owners and sales people make is letting a web generated lead turn cold. They were right there and (cliche coming) you let them slip through your fingers. Having a contact form lends nicely to also having an automated response letting customers know someone will be contacting them in the next 24 hrs. There’s a great article by Kate Good talking about immediate follow up where she outlines 7 steps to help increase your sales.
Distillery Web Design and Marketing is a feature website builder, online marketer, and advertising specialty consulting group working with businesses in the Lebanon, Camdenton, Osage Beach, Springfield, and St. Robert areas of Missouri. Facebook, websites, online promotions, print media, radio promotions, online newsletters, graphic design and direct mail campaigns are our specialty. We know how to get the Internet, social networking and new media to work for you!