In order for your business to thrive, it needs customers. Nurturing relationships with potential sales contacts is the bread and butter of every successful marketing campaign. But, where do you find leads? On the Web you probably leverage social media and SEO to populate your contact lists. Well, you can already find everything you need to know about those platforms with a few Google searches.
What you really want to know about are the lead generation channels that not everyone is talking about. These avenues are not trade secrets – you see them every day. Still, you are likely passing right over them instead of using them as fuel delivery channels for your sales rocket.
4. Mobile Advertising
Paid search advertising is an extremely popular online lead generation solution. But, mobile advertising is becoming more and more important for business campaigns, and is all too often ignored. The 23% growth in mobile advertising is a tell-tale sign that you should be phasing mobile into your marketing strategy.
Facebook advertising and local mobile paid search are two popular options for integrating mobile into your campaigns. The creative control and pinpointed audience targeting are what make Facebook ads so appealing. Local business might benefit more from local mobile paid search. Try out each of these methods, and use them in combination with one another to fully enhance your mobile campaigns.
How to Optimize Facebook Advertising for Mobile Users
Mobile users on Facebook won’t be able to see ads in the right column of their browsers, so make sure that your campaigns will show up in a user’s newsfeed. Running a “page post ad” is the easiest way to ensure that mobile users see your message. This can be done by choosing “boost post” from your business Facebook page posts. Simply choose your target audience, your budget, and run the campaign.
How to Optimize Google Local Advertising for Mobile Viewers
When you set up a local advertising campaign with Google, you will want to make sure that your information is optimized for mobile viewers. Follow these best practices for the ultimate mobile experience with Google Advertising:
- Use mobile friendly ad extensions.
- Include mobile-preferred sitelinks.
- Put mobile-specific calls to action in your headline and description.
- Use display-friendly URL to indicate that your page is set up for mobile.
- Use mobile-specific ad sizes for the Google Display Network.
- Track your campaigns to make sure the ads are working.
3. Text Messaging
Though it is a very effective method of promotion for all types of business, text message marketing is ignored by many. The time-sensitive nature of SMS campaigns makes them an excellent option for contests, promotions, and events. And sharing opt-in instructions for text campaigns across different platforms is easy.
If you want to run a successful text message marketing campaign, pay attention to crafting your messages. It’s not a rocket science, just follow basic rules for writing effective SMS messages for marketing campaigns. Here is a brief checklist:
- Use call-to-action buttons to increase conversions.
- Leverage shortened URLs.
- Keep your message brief.
- Be specific with your data (dates, times, discounts, etc.).
- Speak professionally, avoid slang.
- Personalize your message with the recipient’s name.
- Target your message with list segmentation.
2. Pinterest Advertising
Advertising on Pinterest is a newer option for lead generation, hence somewhat untapped. The visual nature of Pinterest, and the fact that Pinterest leads are more likely to buy than those from any other social media platforms, indicates that you should at least look into it. This could be the big break you’ve been looking for.
Promoted pins are the same as regular pins on Pinterest, besides the fact that you can have them seen by more people. Like Facebook page post ads, you can take your favorite existing content, and pay to get it in front of more eyes. So, you don’t really need to know any “advertising secrets,” just how to create great pins.
Ask yourself, “What is my goal?” This should be the foundation of your Pinterest strategy. Are you looking to create awareness, intent, or action?
Pins for Awareness
Pins created with the intent to drive awareness should contain certain elements. Among these elements are a compelling image, text overlay, a detailed description, a vertical aspect ratio, novelty, and tasteful branding. Cinematic pins are the exception to the vertical aspect ratio – video pins have higher engagement when presented horizontally.
Pins for Engagement
Many of the same elements used in awareness-building pins are effective when driving engagement (compelling image, text overlay, a detailed description, a vertical aspect ratio). Additionally, lists and how-to pins work well when your goal is engagement. Showcasing an image of your product in a real-life environment is a great method to use here.
Pins for Clicks
When your goal is to get people to click through your pins, the above elements will all be helpful. In addition, you need to include a call-to-action. By instructing a viewer on what to do next, you provide what is needed for clicks through to your landing page/ web content. In the description of pins designed for clicks, include text like, “see this helpful resource,” or, “find out more.”
1. Gated Content
If you’re not using gated content yet, now is the time to try it. Limiting access to a video or mini-course until the viewer has provided you with their contact information is a great way to generate leads that are super-targeted for your niche. The idea is that if a contact finds your information intriguing, they may also find your products and services helpful.
How to Make Sure You’re Using Gated Content Correctly
For gating to work, your content has to be super-relevant to your products and services. Otherwise, you can simply increase your page’s bounce rate, and be unsuccessful in your lead funneling efforts.
Here are the steps to execute gated content successfully:
- Map content to the stages of your sales funnel.
- Identify where leads are in your sales funnel.
- Decide whether or not gating is appropriate at this time.
Gated content may be appropriate for your content if it has at least one of the following elements:
- It addresses product implementation.
- It answers a question that you generally hear when addressing sales prospects.
- It answers a question that you receive from current customers.
- The lead will benefit from having a direct conversation about it.
- It earns you the right to have a direct conversation with your contact about your products.
- A/B testing shows a stronger contact acquisition rate with gating vs without.
Though you’ve already seen these lead generation channels, you are likely to have overlooked them. Now that you know more about mobile advertising, text messaging, Pinterest advertising, and gated content, you can try these strategies in your lead funnel. What do you think about these sometimes ignored channels for gaining leads? Take some time to explore the above options, and tell us your findings in the comments.
At Insightly, we offer a CRM used by small and mid-sized businesses from a variety of verticals. Learn about Insightly’s features and plans on our pricing page or sign up for a free trial.
Alexa Lemzy is the customer service specialist and content manager at TextMagic. She writes about small business, mobile marketing tactics and customer service best practices. Reach out to her on Twitter.
