THE DIGITAL LEAD GENERATION 2016 GUIDE FOUR STRATEGIES TO BRING CUSTOMERS CLOSER

“What is your online activity

and company website for if not

to take your business further?

“Today, they must be more

than just a brochure, however

beautifully designed.

“Websites, and online

engagement in general, must

be grounded in the need to

generate leads, bring

customers closer and establish

a competitive advantage over

business rivals.”

Paul Watson

Head of Content

Attercopia

In This Guide:

Persona development

Lead capture

Lead nurturing

Social media lead generation and presence-building

Attercopia’s services

These days it’s not enough to have an online presence for the sake of it.

Whether you’re invested in your website or social media profiles, if you’re not

generating business, you’re spinning your wheels—and can do better.

Creating the lead generation machine

To transform your website into a lead generation machine, you need to be

able to anticipate customer needs, what they search for and the type of web

content that will bring them closer to you.

In B2C, the goal might be to drive online sales and impulse buys, but for many

organisations just getting visitors to identify themselves is a win—enabling

them to start drip marketing and lead nurturing until prospects are ready to

buy.

A customer-first strategy

To establish the right lead generation strategy, it’s essential to start with the

right information—who are your customers and what do they want?

Understanding different customer personas—the buyer types that you want

to serve better than your competitors—is the foundation of online lead

generation.

In this guide we’ll discuss how to target those personas, how to capture leads

on-page, how to nurture them down the funnel, and take advantage of social

media and customer advocacy to boost referrals.

Let’s start with knowing your customer.

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1. Persona Development

There is no “average visitor”. Your customers approach the buying process in different ways—to

design a website or marketing strategy for the “average user” is to leave the majority of your audience

high and dry.

A well thought-out customer journey strategy provides a detailed process for persuading your visitors

to take action. If you provide visitors with the information they want, when they want it and how they

want it, your website will be a lead generation machine—not a static resource.

To achieve this, you need to create a detailed picture of who your prospects are as individuals

through personas.

Introducing personas

A persona is a sketch profile based on the attributes of your key customers and buyer-types. In B2B

this might be based on individuals with certain job titles—for example, a marketing director or a

procurement manager. In B2C this might be more to do with demographics—for example, people of

different ages ranges, income levels and so on.

By having a clear idea of who your different customer types are, understanding their buying habits,

motivations, decision-making styles, sources of information they value, knowledge level and personal

preferences, you can refine the content of your website to successfully address the needs of these

different audiences.

Persona development

Careful planning, based on what we do know and what we can surmise, can ensure that you cater for

all of these different buyer types, taking the random factor out of web design, content creation and

lead generation strategy.

Personas should underpin your content plan, tone of voice, site structure and even social media/

advertising strategy and set you up to attract, engage with, sell to and serve your ideal customers.

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Lead capture essentials

Resolutely targeted advertising

Segmented landing pages

A/B testing

Content aligned to personas

Keeping up the tempo

On-page assets and CTAs

Consumer/Industry guides

Newsletter sign-ups

Interactive tools and calcula-

tors

Member registration

Discount code sign-ups

2. Lead Capture

Once you know your target personas, you can move to incorporate calls to action

(CTAs) that are relevant to their interests and preferred ways to engage.

For example, in B2B this might include a downloadable guide targeted to one

particular buyer type e.g. a guide to accounting for small business owners.

In B2C, a CTA might be an invitation to sign up for a retailer newsletter, offering a

discount code for those who do so.

In both cases, data is captured on-site and the possibility opens up to nurture them

further with more targeted marketing based on the information they provide and

activity they subsequently carry out.

Between a visitor filling in a contact form/making a purchase or doing nothing at all, there is a big opportunity gap.

There is plenty of scope for companies of all types to get creative with the right offers and CTAs to persuade potential

customer to give up some information. What’s essential is that this data is worth sharing in exchange for information or offer

of value to them—but it all comes down to making the right offers, based on persona insight.

Too many companies work hard with minimal results by targeting the wrong type of customers, or by missing out on

opportunities to capture leads from their websites.

Game-changing lead-generation strategies hinge on the combination of on-page content, expert targeting and the right

strategy, to make sure potential customers don’t slip through the net.

That’s why lead nurturing is the essential next part of the story

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3. Lead Nurturing

Outside of retail, few companies are lucky to have web visitors that they can immediately transform into customers.

Lead nurturing is therefore essential to bring potential customers closer to that decision to buy.

The most appropriate form of lead nurturing should be guided by the personas reflected in the leads you’ve gathered. A

segmented campaign of relevant offers and engaging content, planned rigorously and continuously improved by new

data, will reap rewards.

Successful lead nurturing strategies typically include:

Super-focused email marketing on a regular schedule that is all about adding value to the customer—not

relentlessly promoting your services. Content is critical.

Retargeting — dynamic online advertising that shows banner and text ads to your web visitors based on their

previous internet actions. For example, a web visitor who browsed a certain product page could receive an ad

showcasing just that product to encourage a return visit.

Analysis of key ‘buying signals’ and refinement of the lead nurturing strategy to ensure that you’re constantly

bringing leads down the funnel and closer to making a sale.

Lead nurturing necessitates a data-led approach to the sales funnel and applying the techniques and targeting required to

bring leads closer to making an enquiry or purchase.

In this respect, it is the natural extension of knowing your customer and making sure you have the discipline and

commitment to not let potential future business slip through your fingers.

Most lead nurturing strategies hinge on using data to create a schedule of engagement with potential customers that feels

tailor made, but is actually driven by process, commitment and creativity.

The public face of your organisation shouldn’t be neglected, though—and that’s why social media can’t be overlooked as a

vital engagement channel. Let’s take a look at generating profit from social.

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4. Social Media Management

Social media is largely about reciprocity—two-way communication and engagement. Being active is

simply not enough.

Just like attending a party doesn’t guarantee a good time, being on a social media platform doesn’t

guarantee lead generation.

Keeping up a regular schedule of tweeting, or posting incessantly to LinkedIn groups, can feel

productive, but if you’re not engaging your ideal audiences, you’re wasting time and aggravating

potential customers.

Social media marketing lead generation hinges on identifying and understanding the channels that

work for your company, your industry and your customers—and subsequently developing an

approach that can be measured and managed.

The pressure is on to demonstrate ROI from social media marketing—the true measure of success.

You don’t need to be everywhere on social media; you need to be where your customers are, and

have something that adds value to their day and brings them closer to you. If you don’t, you won’t.

Just as social media success should, in part, be measured by attribution of new leads, it has an

important role to play in lead nurturing.

A mixture of targeted, private and segmented lead nurturing, such as through email marketing and

retargeting, should be combined with public and inclusive social media outreach.

In this way, you can build up a solid presence, never too far from the thoughts of potential customers.

The challenge most companies face is to create and sustain this mixed methodology without

aggravating customers—the right tone and type of communications must be well understood. But the

rewards are very significant for those who get their digital lead generation strategy right.

Attercopia can help.

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Contact Us

Visit us on the web at www.attercopia.co.uk or email me directly at simon.hicks@attercopia.co.uk to take the discussion further.

Simon Hicks

Strategy Director

Digital Lead Generation in 2016

As this introduction has described, there can be a lot to manage when it comes to delivering a digital lead generation

strategy that has a significant and positive impact on your company’s future direction.

Drawing on persona insight, content marketing, segmentation and a clear focus on how your sales funnel functions,

you can benefit from a superior approach to online lead generation—but it shouldn’t be taken lightly.

It’s a fact that many digital marketing initiatives underperform when good intentions are not matched by sustained

and continually improving strategies.

Creating, capturing and nurturing leads requires a disciplined and integrated approach that feels seamless for

potential and existing customers. Whatever your industry, Attercopia can help.

Our digital lead generation services include:

Practical lead generation strategy that’s right for your company, industry and customers – carried out by

dedicated digital subject-matter experts

Complete persona development, research and segmentation strategy for lead generation and nurturing

Web development, conversion-rate-optimisation, digital design and content marketing to achieve consistent

quality and quantity of leads

Social media profile development, outreach and community management

Transparent, target-driven reporting that removes the mystery from digital lead generation

About Attercopia

Offices in Huddersfield, Dundee, Edinburgh, Northampton, Manchester and London

50+ digital experts

Full-service agency - SEO, Paid Search, Web Design, Web Development, Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing, PR, Strategy, and much more

We exist to help you profit from digital

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