Has organic traffic to your company’s website dropped dramatically in recent months? It’s well known that Google changes their search algorithms on a regular basis. Businesses constantly need to refresh their SEO (search engine optimization) efforts in order to help potential customers learn about their products and services. But recently, even with attentive SEO work, you may be noticing a drop-off in organic traffic to your site.

A significant loss in traffic to your site can result from many causes. New competitors may have set up shop in your area or field. Google’s recent algorithm updates may be hitting your site harder than others for reasons it’s difficult to discover. There may be other similar sites that are drawing away traffic because they create more original content than you have time to produce.

If you’ve noticed an ongoing decrease in organic traffic that’s having a continual negative impact on your business, it may be time to learn about lead generation, also known as lead gen marketing.

What is Lead Gen Marketing?

A lead is a person who is interested in your products or services. They may have seen an Instagram photo of one of your products that piqued their interest. Or maybe they read a blog post of yours that they enjoyed and that also spurred them to click around your website in order to learn more about you. There are many ways people hear of a business, whether online, in print, or through word of mouth.

Lead generation means taking actions that will reach more people who may be interested in you. When you do this, you are creating leads. Ideally, you will then be able to follow up on these leads, offer them something further, whether it’s information, a discount, or something else that appeals to them. If you are able to reach them more than once, you increase the likelihood that they will transform from leads into customers. If they hear about your brand often enough, through your lead generation efforts, it can lead to sales.

The internet becomes more crowded every day. It’s increasingly difficult to be seen through purely organic efforts. If you haven’t started some lead gen marketing, it’s time to consider creating a strategy for it. According to Lyfe Marketing, only 42% of businesses are using lead generation marketing, even though more than 80% of marketing experts say it’s the most important marketing tool available.

Easy Ways to Get Started with Lead Gen Marketing

Email Newsletter Campaigns

If you haven’t already, you need to start building an email list. Collect addresses at your business when people checkout. Create a “Sign Up for Our Newsletter” button on your website. Conduct a fun contest with a great prize. Offer a useful, free handbook, infographic, or guide on your website. Just be sure to always make it clear that whoever gives you their email address consents to do so. You don’t want to end up marked as spam! It’s a good idea when sending your first email to remind the recipient that they gave you their email address.

Once you have your list, start a newsletter that goes out regularly, but not too often. Twice a month is a good place to start. Offer things in your newsletter that people actually want to receive, whether discounts or other specials, or valuable information.

Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising

Using Google Adwords to create a PPC ad campaign can result in acquiring many leads for relatively little cost. You choose certain words, known as keywords, that cause your ad to display as a result of people entering those words into Google search. For example, you might pay Google to show an ad for your restaurant when people search for “best Chinese food near me.”

You don’t pay Google anything unless people click the ad. When they do click, it takes them to whichever page of your website you want them to see, called a landing page. You can even create custom landing pages that have limited-time offers in order to increase the likelihood of turning these leads into customers.

Social Media Campaigns

If your business isn’t active on any social media channels yet, choose one and start posting! Social media is an excellent way to boost brand awareness, create communities, and reach new people who will be interested in your company.

You can announce your latest news on social media, promote your email campaigns, offer exclusives that will spur even more interest in your brand, and enhance your customer service reputation.

The more often you post, with high quality content, the larger the number of potential leads you will reach. It’s an excellent choice for lead gen marketing, but keep in mind that it takes commitment. You will need to plan what type of content you will be sharing, and insure that you have available staff to monitor your channel for comments and questions.

These are just three great ways to get started in lead gen marketing. If you have further questions about one of them, or about the other ways to develop new leads, contact us. Our staff is thoroughly experienced in digital marketing and can help with your strategy or even develop it from the ground up.

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