If your ROI isn’t exactly where you want it to be, you might need to come up with new lead-generation strategies to hit your quota.
Whether you’re mainly using your website to generate new leads or even outbound, you might need some fresh ideas to get those sales flowing.
This article will outline some different lead-generation strategies and how you can implement these methods in your marketing strategies.
(If you would like to work with a lead gen agency where you can expect 1 qualified sales lead per day, hop on a free 15 minute strategy session with us. We would love to help you hit your sales goals.)
1. Linkedin Outreach
When people think of Linkedin, they might just envision a platform that people use to find jobs.
But did you know that Linkedin, when used correctly, can be used as a lead generation machine?
On average we are receiving a 39% positive reply rate from our outreach, and an average connection request rate of 49%.
And on average we are generating a minimum of 1 qualified sales lead per day for our clients.
Linkedin outreach is a gold mine for sales teams when used the right way.
If you haven’t tried Linkedin yet for generating high-quality leads, you really should.
Imagine having 800 prospects on your list and according to our average positive reply rate of 39%, this means you will get 312 positive replies from people on your list.
That means that 312 prospects would actually want to hop on a sales call with you.
Linkedin outreach isn’t hard, you just have to do it the right way and that means:
- Building a super refined list of your ideal target audience based on current buying data.
- Filter that list in your Linkedin Sales Navigator account by your 2nd-degree network and recently posted.
- Write ULTRA personalized outreach messages that aren’t salesy.
- Follow up consistently, between 3 and 5 times
- Use a low-commitment CTA
Generating leads this way requires a lot of research, but when you put in the time, the chances of reaching out to prospects who actually want what you’re selling will be so much greater.
And when you use ultra-personalized messages as opposed to the usual sales spam, it will capture your prospect’s attention.
Meaning that they will reply.
Here’s how to do it:
Build a prospect list based on current customers buying data
Have a look at who has purchased from your business within the last 6 months. Ask yourself, what do all these companies have in common?
- Are they all in a specific industry? Saas? Wellness? Seo? Marketing?
- Are they located in the same area? In the USA? Or Africa?
- Do they have a specific number of employees? 10-2- or more than 100?
- Are they using certain tools? Like the HubSpot CRM tool?
- Is it always the same “job titles” or decision-makers who buy from you? Is it the founder? Manager or CFO?
- Have these companies recently been funded?
- Are they all startups?
Look for patterns.
Once you see patterns between buyers it will be easier to build a look-alike list of prospects and reach out to them on Linkedin.
Here are some extra resources that go into detail on how to build prospecting lists and which tools to use if you’re interested in this way of generating leads.
Write ultra-personalized messages
Once again… It comes down to research.
Before you send a message to a prospect on Linkedin, have a look at their Linkedin profile, or Google their name.
Is there anything about them that you can mention in your message?
For example, if they recently launched a killer webinar, and you found value in it, be specific and mention it in your message.
Or did they write a blog that resonated with you? Compliment them on it.
Perhaps they mentioned how they are struggling with a particular aspect of their business on social media, and your company solves the pain point.
Ask them how are they dealing with the issue?
Or maybe you know the same people. Mention that commonality.
This method is known as CCQ.
Find something to compliment the prospect on, mention a commonality, or ask them a question.
Use a custom intro sentence where you write something just for the prospect.
Next, follow up and use a low-commitment call to action
Follow-up every 3 days until the prospect replies. But only follow up 3-6 times. Use a cta that is easy for the prospect to respond to. Don’t ask them to watch a one-hour webinar, or hop on an hour’s demo.
Keep it simple.
Here are some examples:
- Let’s hop on a quick call next week.
- How’s your schedule next week Friday?
- Should I lease with your P.A to set up a quick call?
- Send over your calendar link and I will book a time slot.
- Just reply yes if this works for you.
Read some of our case studies to see in detail how we generated leads for our clients in:
2. Cold Emailing
Cold emailing is still an effective way to generate leads.
If you apply the same tactics that we use for Linkedin outreach, you will get similar results from cold emailing as well. The same lead gen process applies.
- Build a prospecting list
- Have email addresses verified
- Research prospects
- Write personalized emails
- Follow up with a low commitment cta.
If your prospect list is perfect and your emails are personalized, people will reply.
According to Klenty.com 8 out of 10 buyers prefer to be contacted via email as opposed to cold calls.
The average email reply rate though is 8.5%.
This is less than Linkedin outreach, and one of the reasons why we prefer Linkedin to generate leads.
BUT….
You should use email to supplement your lead generation process.
For example, if a prospect doesn’t reply to you on Linkedin, you could always find their contact information and reach out via email or SMS.
In fact, cold email helped Dan Martel start million-dollar companies. He’s the founder of Clarity. fm, a company into which Marc Cuban invested $1,6 million.
This was the cold email he sent to some of the top businessmen in the world.
7 businessmen replied back.
He mentions that when you start writing cold emails, just keep it short. 3 sentences max.
Here are some common cold email mistakes to avoid when trying it out for the first time.
3. Email subscription lists
Having prospects sign up for your weekly or monthly email is also a great way to generate sales leads.
Not only can you reach out to highly engaged readers in person, but it also allows your business to “pop up” in front of them regularly.
An example is of a subscriber who signed up to our email; 6 months later he received one of our emails in his inbox, and he reached out to us because he was ready to use our services.
Being reminded about SalesBread on a monthly basis, helped him remember us when he was ready to hire a lead generation agency.
It’s pretty simple getting prospects to sign up. Simply use a pop-up that offers the readers something of value in return for their email address.
You could offer them:
- A free guide
- A free ebook
- Free templates, tips and tricks
- A discount voucher when they sign up for your email list
Below are some examples:
Our opt-in pop-up when new users visit our blogs.
If a user subscribes to our list they will receive a free Linkedin cheat sheet with 100 connection invite templates, 50 follow-up messages and 106 CTAs.
Another example is from Upworthy.
They used the idea of cats and wrote a creative opt-in piece.
You can be creative, funny, or even cheeky. Some people mention things like “No, I’m not interested in killer sales strategies that guarantee results,” when they exit the opt-in.
You can slowly build your subscriber list and based on data view who is the most engaged with your list.
You can then create a special list just for your best subscribers and either offer them something specific… Like a free course.
Or even reach out to them personally. (Like we would do via Linkedin or email.)
It might just be the right time for them to buy your product or service.
The trick is to send valuable, helpful emails that remind subscribers of your company regularly.
4. Social media marketing
Depending on which kind of industry you’re in, social media platforms like:
- Tik Tok
These are great platforms for increasing brand awareness in a fun, visual way.
By posting relevant content regularly, you create brand authority and keep reminding your ideal customers about your business.
Below are some benefits of social media marketing.
Not only can these platforms build relationships, but they can help bring in more qualified leads.
Have a look at the infographic posted by Hubspot.
If you’re selling products, Instagram offers the highest ROI when products are sold in the app.
The infographic below shares which platforms work best for specific audiences.
Social media marketing doesn’t have to be super complicated.
Some businesses suggest taking your blog articles from content marketing and just repurposing the information for social media platforms.
Check out some examples of social media marketing:
Vivaia offers eco-friendly footwear.
They have a direct link to their shop in their bio, and they also offer help through direct messaging.
This makes it easy for their customer base to reach out to them, and shop at their stores.
Beautiful visual imagery and quick Reels, make the brand stand out.
Think of Emily in Paris when it comes to using Instagram.
Twitter allows professionals to create targeted ads specifically for their audience.
They offer various forms of ads; from images to videos, to carousel ads.
You can target your ideal audience in the following ways:
Here are some examples of Twitter ads that popped up on my feed:
5. Content Marketing
Content marketing is used by many companies to get their sites on page 1 of Google.
Stats show that 75% of people will never scroll past page one of Google. So if you aren’t ranking for high-intent keywords, your ideal buyers won’t find you on Google.
Here are some stats on SEO and why it’s so important to have a content marketing strategy.
And think about it…
Nowadays, if you’re looking for any kind of service, you Google it, check out some reviews and decide whether or not to reach out to the company.
When you have a valuable content marketing strategy, along with search engine optimization, you can get more leads in your sales funnel.
An important thing to remember though is that content marketing like any form of inbound can take time.
For example, 2 years ago Salesbread started with a content marketing strategy.
We were only getting 200 visitors a month to our site.
Two years later, we are now getting close to 12 000 visitors each month.
Below you can see how traffic has increased over the past 2 years.
And our marketing strategy was just consistent.
We researched high-intent keywords, so that the right leads would come to our site, (increasing conversion rates) and posted relevant content every week.
Our long-form content is there to help our readers with their b2b lead generation strategies and educate them on how to use Linkedin for outreach.
Our articles are pretty in-depth and this helps readers know that we are an authority on the topic of lead gen.
This, in turn, allows readers to develop trust in our company, and hopefully, it moves them to reach out to us when they are ready to hire a lead generation partner.
6. Podcasting
Did you know that the USA has the highest number of podcast listeners in the world?
So if you haven’t tried using podcasting yet, perhaps it’s worth a shot.
We use podcasts (here it is) for lead generation.
Each episode gets about 1.5k listeners.
It generates fewer leads than inbound… but they convert at 4X the rate.
So in terms of ROI — it’s been a great source of leads for SalesBread during the past 5 years.
Before you begin a podcast you have to do a bit of research. Once again, if you want more sales, you have to figure out who your ideal target audience is.
Ask yourself the following questions about your ideal target audience
(P.S: You can figure out some of this information by looking at your existing customers🙂
- How old are they?
- Where do they live?
- What do they do for work?
- What forms of media do they enjoy?
- Do they already listen to any podcasts?
- What do they do in their spare time?
- What are their pain points?
- What do they wish they knew more about?
When you know exactly who your ideal listeners are, you can then figure out which podcasting platform they are on.
For example, if most of your listeners use Apple products, you should consider hosting your podcast on Apple Podcasts.
Create content that resonates with your audience, and if they reach out to you via email, engage with them.
Remember podcasting is a way to advertise your business, but also show off your knowledge.
You could even reach out to influencers, or high-profile individuals and interview them.
For example, SalesBread is co-host to The Quickmail podcast, and we have interviewed a few experts in the field of lead gen, like Dan Martel, and Ari Galper.
You can listen to the episode below:
7. Cold calling
Cold calling isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s still effective.
Have a look at some of the stats below:
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On average, 49% of buyers prefer that initial contact be made via cold call (Zippia).
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This statistic increases to 50% for buyers in professional services and 54% for technology buyers (Zippia).
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57% of C-level executives and VPs list cold calling as their preferred method of being contacted. (RAIN Group).
So, if you have tried some of the above strategies and they aren’t working out as well as you hoped, why not give cold calling a try?
The same principles would apply though.
Be sure to have a refined list of prospects, who are interested in what you’re selling and use a personalized script.
If you have a cold calling script in front of you, this will make it easier to handle objections, or any questions that the prospect might have.
8. Ask your current clients for referrals
If you have a great working relationship with your clients, and they are happy with your services, why not ask if they know of anyone who might benefit from your product/services.
Really, there is nothing better than when current clients sing your praises to other b2b companies.
If you provide a great service, your current clients will be more than happy to tell others about you, or suggest other businesses who might benefit. This strategy takes very little time, and might bring in quality sales in no time at all.
9. Lead Nurturing
Lead nurturing is a way to build relationships with potential customers by providing them with helpful information and engaging with them until they are ready to buy.
It could also just mean following up with leads consistentaly until they agree to a booked sales meeting, or following up again at a later stage.
Lead nurturing can increase sales by keeping your company in the minds of prospects, showing that you understand their needs, and building trust over time.
Some tips for nurturing leads include:
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Sending personalized emails
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Sharing helpful content like blog posts or videos,
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Following up with leads regularly
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Offering special promotions or discounts.
By staying connected and offering value, you can guide leads towards making a purchase.
10. Good old fashion networking
Networking is a great way to generate sales leads by connecting with people who might be interested in your products or services.
Through networking, you can build relationships with potential customers, exchange information, and gain referrals, which can lead to potential sales.
Networking opportunities can be found in various places, such as industry conferences, trade shows, business seminars, and local business meetups.
Online platforms like LinkedIn, industry forums, and social media groups also provide excellent networking opportunities. When you engage in these various events and platforms, you can meet potential customers, partners, and influencers who can help you grow your business.
11. Attend tradeshows
Tradeshows also provide excellent opportunities for meeting with potential leads. For example, if your company does furniture manufacturing, you might want to attend décor tradeshows. In this way you could meet interior designers, or even restaurants who might love what you’re offering.
By participating in trade shows, businesses can showcase their products or services, engage directly with individuals, and create a memorable brand presence.
These events allow for face-to-face interactions, making it easier to build relationships and trust with potential customers. Additionally, trade shows provide a platform to demonstrate product features, answer questions on the spot, and gather valuable feedback.
You can also easily collect contact information from visitors and follow up after the event; This can in turn lead to businesses expanding their customer base.
For more information on which tradeshows are happening in your area this year, be sure to have a look here:
12. Revisit lost opportunities
There’s a saying that timing is everything.
Just because a company isn’t currently interested in your offer, it doesn’t mean that they wont be 6 months down the line.
So revisit lost sales opportunities.
By doing this it can lead to more sales by giving businesses a second chance to convert prospects who previously showed interest but didn’t make a purchase.
These prospects may already be familiar with your company and offer, and they might have reconsidered their needs or circumstances since your last interaction.
By reaching out with new offers, updated information, or solutions to past objections, you can re-engage these potential customers.
This approach demonstrates persistence and dedication to meeting their needs.
If you can really show that you would love to solve their pain points and not just “be in it for the sale”, the likelihood of closing deals will be greater.
Additionally, analyzing why the sale was lost initially can provide valuable insights to refine your sales strategy and improve future conversions.
Below is another article that discusses other ways to generate sales leads which we haven’t mentioned in this article, like tradeshows, cold calling and webinars.
Outbound Sales Strategy – 12 Innovative Ways to Find New Leads
Generating more sales leads is about figuring out what works best for your business
Some companies have had amazing success generating more leads through Instagram, whereas other businesses have found more sales through Linkedin outreach, for example.
It’s all about trying different strategies out and seeing which form of marketing works best for your audience.
You don’t have to just use one form of marketing, mix it up, try out a few methods and even ask current customers what caught their attention.
Interested in learning more about Linkedin outreach for your business?