Key to a Successful Business - Step 4 - Generating Leads
Marketing covers a whole broad spectrum of areas on which companies spend an inordinate amount of money.
But the single most important job of marketing in a small business is lead generation.
For a small business generating the lead is like the oxygen that keeps the body going without that next breath we can't continue for very long and the same applies to the next lead, the next phone call and the next enquiry.
Generating the leads Did you know that the optimal number of marketing approaches has been identified? The optimal number of marketing approaches that any business should be doing to raise awareness and generate leads is 10.
That is to say you should be marketing your business in 10 ways.
10 different and unique ways to reach your customer and communicate with them.
10 ways sounds expensive but it is only expensive if it doesn't work or if you spend more on it than the customers you receive.
i.
e.
you get a bad return on investment.
a) It doesn't work To avoid spending thousands on marketing that doesn't work you should TEST IT SMALL.
Test any approach on a small scale.
Spend a few hundred pounds monitor the results in order to find the optimal approach.
b) What is your customer's worth? It may be worth taking a fresh look at what customers are actually worth to you in pounds and pence.
How much are you willing to spend to win a new customer? Understanding what customers are worth to you in the lifetime of a customer may change your view on your marketing spend.
If you consider the marketing spend as a cost of sale rather than an overhead you may be willing to invest more into each sale.
My suggested 10 Approaches Here are 10 approaches I recommend for most small businesses: 1.
Advertising 2.
Trade Shows and Exhibitions 3.
Existing Customers 4.
Direct Mail 5.
Pay Per Click Campaigns 6.
Search Engine Optimisation.
7.
Telemarketing 8.
Email Marketing 9.
Networking Events and Meetings 10.
Joint Ventures So there you have 10 activities to generate leads for your business.
Remember to test them small and don't over spend and once you find one that works increase the time and budget on it to get optimal results.
Read about closing the lead in my next article Key to a Successful Business - Step 5 - Closing the lead
But the single most important job of marketing in a small business is lead generation.
For a small business generating the lead is like the oxygen that keeps the body going without that next breath we can't continue for very long and the same applies to the next lead, the next phone call and the next enquiry.
Generating the leads Did you know that the optimal number of marketing approaches has been identified? The optimal number of marketing approaches that any business should be doing to raise awareness and generate leads is 10.
That is to say you should be marketing your business in 10 ways.
10 different and unique ways to reach your customer and communicate with them.
10 ways sounds expensive but it is only expensive if it doesn't work or if you spend more on it than the customers you receive.
i.
e.
you get a bad return on investment.
a) It doesn't work To avoid spending thousands on marketing that doesn't work you should TEST IT SMALL.
Test any approach on a small scale.
Spend a few hundred pounds monitor the results in order to find the optimal approach.
b) What is your customer's worth? It may be worth taking a fresh look at what customers are actually worth to you in pounds and pence.
How much are you willing to spend to win a new customer? Understanding what customers are worth to you in the lifetime of a customer may change your view on your marketing spend.
If you consider the marketing spend as a cost of sale rather than an overhead you may be willing to invest more into each sale.
My suggested 10 Approaches Here are 10 approaches I recommend for most small businesses: 1.
Advertising 2.
Trade Shows and Exhibitions 3.
Existing Customers 4.
Direct Mail 5.
Pay Per Click Campaigns 6.
Search Engine Optimisation.
7.
Telemarketing 8.
Email Marketing 9.
Networking Events and Meetings 10.
Joint Ventures So there you have 10 activities to generate leads for your business.
Remember to test them small and don't over spend and once you find one that works increase the time and budget on it to get optimal results.
Read about closing the lead in my next article Key to a Successful Business - Step 5 - Closing the lead
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