A key factor to success is working with the right clients and making sure your company is right for the goals they are trying to accomplish. When your company is able to help clients meet their business goals and create a long-lasting partnership, it’s a win-win situation for both parties. Although this is the end goal, it can sometimes seem hard to attract the prospects that are going to be the best fit. Have you ever thought to yourself, "Why aren't the right people seeing my content?" Fortunately, with inbound marketing, there are ways to improve this. Here are some steps you can follow to start attracting more qualified leads:
Define “Qualified”
Before you set up a strategy to reach more qualified leads, you must take a step back and sit down with your marketing and sales team to ensure everyone is on the same page as to what exactly defines a qualified lead. You should base this on previous metrics and stats and think about the things that make a lead a good fit for your services. What qualities do they possess that will make your future relationship successful? Once you have those qualities mapped out, you can begin to target your strategy to attract more of these qualified leads.
Content Offers for the Niche Audience
Creating content offers for specific niche audiences can be a great way to capture more qualified leads that are looking for more education on these particular topics. Keep in mind that these niche topics should align with your services and with the aspects that make a lead more qualified than others (as previously defined by your marketing and sales teams). Creating this type of content will mostly likely generate fewer leads overall, because it will pertain to a smaller audience with some background understanding on the subject matter, but by targeting people with specific needs, this type of content has the potential to find the leads that are looking for your particular products or services. Make sure when you are creating content that you are covering all stages of the buyer’s journey, but experiment with providing more narrowly-focused pieces of content to attract those leads that are going to really click with your business.
Personalized Messaging
When someone is interested in your content, you can take note of what they are reading/viewing and provide them with more specific content. If someone has downloaded an eBook on a particular topic, then make sure when you do a webinar that relates to that topic, they receive an invite. You already know that at one point in time they were interested in this topic, so why not offer them some more education and tips in that same area? If you have two services that typically go hand-in-hand, this is also a good opportunity to send related content to a lead. But don’t spam them with unsolicited emails; make sure that anyone you send content via email has opted-in first.
Although creating personalized emails for leads can be time consuming, putting that personal touch on your communications with leads can create a much stronger relationship. Many companies may not have the ability to do this for all of their leads, but picking and choosing some leads to individually follow-up with is a great way to start the conversation. If you have to choose particular leads, make sure you base your selections on the criteria you have defined above.
Create a Relationship
Although sending personalized emails and catering your messaging to each lead’s particular goals can be a great way to provide them with information about your products and services, there are some things you simply cannot know about a person without talking to them. It is important to make sure that your leads know you are willing to have a conversation with them about their goals without pushing a sale on them. This conversation is important to be sure that your company and theirs are a good fit. A lot of leads do not want to talk to you because they don’t want to be sold to. If you can demonstrate that you understand their needs and want to help them solve their problems, you can form a relationship based on mutual respect rather than just trying to get them to make a purchase. Keep this in mind as you work on attracting qualified leads.
With all the information available on the web, it can seem difficult for the right companies and clients to find each other, but if you follow these steps, you can begin to form the right kinds of relationships with the clients that best fit your business. Do you have any questions about how you can make sure you are reaching qualified leads, or tips of your own on forming these relationships? Please let us know in the comments below.
