Each time you create a marketing strategy, you hope to attract new leads that will eventually convert into customers. When you’re trying to improve your sales numbers and increase your revenue, it may seem logical to cast your net as wide as possible—even if it means attracting low-quality leads. Unfortunately, these can be difficult to convert, costing you more time and resources in the end.
Focusing on high-quality B2B leads means potential customers are coming to you prepared for a sale. They’re members of your target audience, educated on what you offer, and ready to make a purchase. When you implement the right marketing strategies to attract qualified leads in the beginning of your sales process, you can convert leads faster, have happier customers, and see more repeat buys.
Let’s take a look at three marketing tips that will ensure you’re only targeting qualified leads.
A strong Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy allows you to get your content in front of more readers and potential customers. However, you won’t find success if you’re creating a generic SEO plan. In order to attract high-quality leads, you need to consider the unique ways your B2B audience uses search engines. Using keyword research tools, such as Moz’s Keyword Explorer can help:
However, there’s more to think about than just keywords, and your Chicago SEO strategy should also focus on the needs and behaviors of the people you’re trying to attract. You need to know what type of content your target audience prefers, how they’re searching online, and where they’re conducting that search.
For example, various demographics will favor different search engines. While Google is by far the most popular, according to a study by Further, individuals over the age of 45 are actually more likely to use an alternative search engine, such as Yahoo or Bing. This type of information should be combined with other components, such as keywords and content forms, to optimize your strategy.
The content you create needs to be interesting, informative, and persuasive. Not only should it contribute to your SEO strategy, but it should also provide unique value to your target audience. Creating content for your audience rather than for a search engine can be the difference between attracting high-quality and low-quality leads.
Valuable content, like this article from Moz, attracts solid leads. When your content is created for your audience instead of a search engine crawler, you put out information that people actually want to read. You’re able to share your expertise, differentiate yourself from your competition, and persuade your target audience to connect with you. This brings more people to your website, encourages more social shares, and keeps readers on your page—giving you an SEO boost you definitely won’t get from keyword stuffing.
Instead of creating content for the sake of your SEO strategy, look for topics that your audience is genuinely interested in. Using special programs, such as BuzzSumo, can help you find trending topics among your target audience. Looking at forums, social media, and blog comments can also give you a better understanding of what questions your target audience may have. Once you have a few high-quality topics, create awesome posts that will grab attention and improve your credibility.
SEO is typically the best way to attract high-quality leads to your website without using traditional advertising tactics. Unfortunately, it can take some time before you see the results of your SEO strategy. While you’re waiting for your pages to move up the search engine rankings, you may want to consider creating a pay-per click (PPC) advertising campaign.
PPC advertising can be a cost-effective way to place ads, such as the one above, on search engine results pages (SERPs). When setting up a PPC campaign, you determine which keywords you would like your sponsored listing to appear for. When someone enters that specific keyword or phrase, your ad will appear near the top of the page, typically above the organic results. However, with PPC, you only pay if a searcher clicks on your sponsored listing.
While it’s useful, this form of advertising doesn’t necessarily replace organic search. Although it can help you reach the top of a results page faster, searchers are less likely to click on a sponsored listing than on an organic one. According to Smart Insights, “paid search equates for just over 5% of all traffic.” However, you should also bear in mind that even if you don’t get a click-through, these advertising campaigns can still expose your audience to your company name, helping with brand recognition and familiarity.
In the B2B world, it’s common to aim social media marketing at a company’s profile instead of at its employees. However, unless your decision-maker is the social media manager, you’re probably not making the impression you need to. If the person running the company’s account doesn’t need your products or services, they probably won’t connect with your ads. To attract high-quality leads, you can use social media targeting tools to find the right audience.
As we can see in the above example from Facebook, you can include specific work demographics, such as employers, industries, and job types, making it easy to find your B2B buyer. Using social media to target your B2B leads is similar to using the platforms to reach B2C customers. Because you’re viewing the business buyer as a consumer, you can use detailed targeting demographics to reach the personal profiles of the employees you’re hoping to connect with.
Consider who your decision-maker is when deciding which platforms to use. Know what job titles they have, which social media platforms they spend the most time on, and what kinds of advertisements may attract their attention. Again, considering their unique needs and preferences can seriously impact the quality of the leads you attract.
Attracting the right leads in your B2B business means you can close sales faster and have better relationships with your customers. When they come to you prepared to purchase, you can save time and resources that can be applied elsewhere.
Let’s recap the four marketing tips you should use to attract high-quality leads:
Which marketing tip are you going to try first? Let us know in the comments section below!
Image Source: Pexels