understanding lead generation basics and fundamentals

If. You're. Taking this course you may already know what lead generation, is but, just to make sure we're all on the same page lead. Generation or lead gen is a great, way to attract, people to your business it's. Getting a customer, interested, in the products, or services your, business has to offer. Lead. Gen is about identifying, and managing prospects. Throughout, all stages of their decision, journey from, unqualified. Leads to, satisfied, repeat customers, to advocates, li. Chen has changed a lot over the years it used to just be salespeople attending events and conferences, sitting. In a booth at a tradeshow or making, cold calls. Websites. Social, media and search have totally, changed that there's, so much information available, online and customers. Do a ton, of research as part of their decision journey especially in, the beginning the. Great thing with legion is that people will feel like they're starting the conversation. With you instead. Of you chasing, after them and that. Means you, can focus efforts on qualified. Leads who are genuinely, interested in your, business. You. The, best way to get started with your lead gen program, is to write business goals, this, is a really, important, first step you. Need to know which business, goals your legion program, will help you attain otherwise. You'll have no way to track your success, now. This second chapter we're getting into is probably, the hardest, because, we'll be talking about a lot of numbers, but. I promise, that we will get through this together so, please bear with me. How. Do you write business goals well. Be, smart about it let, me explain what I mean by that SMART. Goals stands for specific. Measurable. Attainable. Relevant. And time-bound. Let's. Review how to write SMART goals and then, how to use them to predict, sales and grow your business I'll. Break it down so you can see exactly what I mean, a, specific. Goal is precise. Well-defined. Clear. And therefore. More likely to be achieved a goal. Like increased, leads is, vague and at lacks clear direction a more, specific goal would be increased, leads by 10%, by year-end a. Measurable. Goal indicates, progress, keeps, you on track it helps you meet deadlines, and it's motivational. As you get closer to achieving that, goal it. Provides information like, how much how. Many or key dates a. Measurable. Goal identifies. What's, working well that you should keep doing and what's, not working well that you need to improve an. Attainable. Goal keeps, you realistic, it accounts. For your past performance, current. Resources, and capabilities, and what. Your competitors, are doing so, you know what you're up against, an attainable. Goal motivates, people to succeed because, they feel like it's within their reach a. Relevant. Goal aligns what you want to accomplish with what, your lead gen program realistically. Can deliver, so. Let's say your company wants to grow revenue by 10%, sure, a lead gen program can achieve that goal but. Let's say you have a product, or service problem, lead. Gen can't solve that type of issue so. Talk with your sales force customers. Marketing. Team and other stakeholders. To make sure you have relevant, goals that lead gen can solve and, here's. The last one a time. Bound goal establishes. Deadlines, what, needs to be done by one, set. Your business goals for the year and then, break them down to monthly or quarterly goals, this.

Will Keep you on track and enable. You to optimize, your program consistently. Without having to wait until the end of the year remember. What I mentioned before that we get into some detailed, numbers well, here. We are I'll take, this slowly, here. Are two ways to write smart business goals, the. First how. Do you determine, how many leads you need to meet a sales goal let's. Say your goal is 50,000, more in sales this year the. Average sales price of your product or service is two thousand dollars and your. Average lead closed rate which, means when, you make a sale from a lead is ten, percent. Multiply. Your average sales price times, your average close, rate to, calculate the value, of each lead you need to generate which. In this example is $200. Then. Take your sales goal and divide, it by the value, of your average lead so. $50,000. Divided. By $200, equals. An additional, 250. Leads you, need to generate this year. The. Second, how. Do you estimate future sales you can get through lead generation. Well. You, multiply the average, number of leads that marketing, can generate times. Your, sales teams average, lead to customer conversion rate this. Will equal your estimate of future sales so. Let's say that marketing, generates, an average, of 40 leads per month and the, sales teams average, conversion rate is 5% per month then, your estimated, future sales is 2 new customers, per month, use. Smart, business goals for your legion to set the right expectations and, set your program up for success. Now. That you have your business goals you, can write your lead gen program KPIs. Which, are key performance, indicators. Now. KPIs. Are different than business goals there are lots of programs across the company that work toward the business goals so. You need KPIs, that are specific, for your lead gen program, to, understand, what we Gen can deliver to help attain those business, goals let's. Go back to the example, from the last video say. You have a business goal to generate, 250.

More Leads this year which. KPIs, will help you understand, how, your lead gen program, will progress toward, that business goal I'll. Give you a few examples of KPIs by. Specific, channels that, relate to generating. 250. More leads and as. We get through the rest of the chapters, we'll get into all the details about these channels, but for right now we'll, just talk about how they relate to KPIs, for. Your. Website, you. Can monitor the percentage, split between unique, and returning visitors, which. Pages, have been viewed or. Whether. Visitors, download, content and provide their contact information. Google. Analytics, has great, tools to understand, detailed, website analytics, in. Social. Media you, can see how, many people follow your company, pages and updates, what. Type of information people. Like or share, and if, people. Click through between your social, media pages and website. Check. Out business information. Help pages on LinkedIn, Facebook, and, Twitter, to, learn more about their, analytics, in, search. How. Do you rank are, you on the first page of a search or buried. Behind competition. On the second or third page. Where. Do viewers originate, from your website other, social, media, what. Role does search play to generate, leads in, your. Emails. What are your open, click-through. And unsubscribe. Rates to. People forward your email to a friend or, share in social media you can, review email analytics through, your vendor site such, as vertical response, MailChimp. Constant Contact or, another, one. Once. You determine your KPIs next. You can create a KPI. Dashboard. Now. A KPI, dashboard will. Pull together all the key information what. You'll measure when. You'll measure and how, you'll measure, let's. Think through a few examples of smart, KPIs, for your dashboard. Increase. From 500. To 600. Website visitors, each quarter. Increase. The number of website, downloads, by 5% each, month. Increase. Followers, on LinkedIn by 100. By year-end. Increase. Opt-ins, to email marketing by 20 leads per month or. Obtain. An average email open rate of 45%. With. A KPI, dashboard you'll, see the full picture of your lead gen program successes. And what, you need to improve it's. An objective, way to discuss program, performance, with key stakeholders. Everybody. Will view the same agreed-upon. Criteria. And later, on results, your. KPI dashboard will, keep you on track and aligned, with your business goals. There's. One more step in setting goals and KPIs. Benchmarking. Now. Benchmarking. Is understanding, your starting, point where. You stand before you launch so you have a basis, for comparison, and. This video will just scratch, the surface of benchmarking, and later, on we'll come back to these goals and benchmarks to, talk about measuring, and optimizing. For. Now I'll show you two ways to benchmark by, using your company's, data and industry. Data now. You may not have all of this information and that's okay just. Benchmark, with the information, you do have you. May have this information internally. From your research department, and you. Can actually get a lot of this information, by searching online it, really, just depends on your goals and KPIs. By. Using both types of benchmarks, you'll understand how your lead gen program, is doing compared to your previous performance. And compared. To the competition. Benchmarks. Help you understand, what's successful about, your program that you should keep doing and, where. You might be running into some problems and need to improve with. This information, your KPIs will improve continuously. Compared, to your benchmarks, this, will put you on the path to attain your business goals and really. Importantly, to engage your marketing team sales, team and other, stakeholders. Benchmarks. Are an objective, starting point so everyone, will view the KPIs, through the same lens it'll. Be easier to agree on how to manage your lead gen program, throughout the year including, successful. Tactics to maintain and. Opportunities. To improve and. Benchmarking. Motivates. Everyone to strive for more and improve along, the way. You. You've. Set your goals KPIs. And benchmarked. Now. It's time to entice, your prospects, let's. Start by defining your, customer, target, the. Most successful, companies, know their customers, who, they are and, how, they buy some. Marketers, even know their customers, better than their own families, the. Better you know your customers, the smarter, you'll be about understanding, what types of leads convert, best, start. By knowing basic information, like age gender, income or. Profession. Then. Think, from your customers, perspective, how. Do they buy what's, their decision-making process, there's. Just so much information out there today did.

You Know that Google processes. 3.5. Billion, searches every, day and that, has a huge, impact on a customer's, buying process, they. Have more power than ever before, due to social media and easy, online comparison. Shopping. Today. Most. Customers, research, online before they buy whether it's a small candy bar or an expensive, new car. There. Are lots of customer, decision journey models, out there, first. Is consideration. A. Customer. Has some sort of trigger that begins their decision, journey they. Consider an initial, set of products, or services or brands based, upon what they currently know, perceive. Or have experienced. Now. Being in your customers, initial consideration. Set is great, but, your job is far, from over you, need to really rise above the competition throughout. The next few phases. The. Second phase is evaluation. Here. Your customer, adds or subtracts options. As they gather information. They're. Less trusted, friends or family, and research. Peer reviews and a company's marketing online this. Evaluation. Stage is most, likely to affect your customers, choice about what they actually buy so. Make sure your company's, brand is positioned, better than the competition. So, you'll win as customers. Evaluate, their options. The. Third phase is when, the customer buys, this. Is when a customer selects. Their, at the moment of purchase, now. If they buy in a store they'll. Have a lot of influences, like packaging. Availability. Salespeople. If they, buy online they'll. Be influenced, by the checkout, experience, ability. To chat or ask a question online, or by, peer reviews available directly on that site, so. You need to understand, how your customers feel about purchasing, your brand and why, so, you can make product, or service improvements, and build loyalty. The. Fourth phase is the experience. After. A customer makes their purchase they'll interact, with the brand and product, or service if their. Experience, is positive, they might advocate, by adding, two reviews and communicating. With other customers, online this. Experience, can lead to loyalty and inform, their thought process, when it's time to purchase again, so. You really need to understand, how your customers view, their experience, with your business well. They passively, buy again just, because they're confused, about other options let's. Hope not you'll. Want your customers, to feel loyal to your brand and actively. Recommend, it to others. When. You know your customers, and the phases of their decision, journey you, can communicate, with them at the moments, that most influence, their, decisions. Once. You understand, your target you, can start creating content, that will be relevant and engaging, let's. Talk through how to decide what, type of content you should develop and which, formats, you should use I have. A quick two step approach to help, you get started. Refer. To your lead gen program KPIs, and, conduct. A Content, audit. First. Review. Your program KPIs, from the previous, chapter to, make informed and focused, decisions, remember. To think through your resources. Original. Thought leadership ebooks. And white papers require, the most time and effort whereas, blog posts curated. Content and, social, media posts require, less time and effort. Second. Conduct. A Content, audit now. This is a review of all the content, you currently, have this, will save you time and money and avoid, duplicating, efforts, here's. What I mean by a Content, audit, ask. Yourself, what, content, do you already have, how, can you reuse repurpose, or, improve, existing, content. How. Can you curate, content. Curating. Content is sharing from another source like when you see authors include a link along with commentary, there. Are a ton, of details, to learn about content, marketing refer. Back to your program KPIs, and review. The content, you already have to stay focused and use, your resources efficiently. To. Make sure that people see your content, you'll, need to decide on the right length place. And frequency. To publish, let's. Take each of these one at a time starting, with content, length be. Concise, so, people can understand, the main points, quickly and easily use. However many words you need to get your message across but know, more if you. Were going to regulated or complicated, industry, people, may want more lengthy, content, like, a white paper or ebook but. Most, people expect, bite-sized content, that they can process easily, here's. What I'd suggest for, maximum, character, counts in a couple of popular places, to post content if you're. Tweeting try, for around a hundred in, a, Facebook, post or in an email subject line keep, it at forty once. You finalize your content, next, you, need to figure out where, to publish or some, people refer to this as making channel, selections, the. Best advice I can give you here is to, focus on your customer, be. Present, where they are which.

Sites Do they visit to find information read, reviews order. Products and services or ask questions, publish. Where your customer, is, environments. That align with your brand and showcase. Your product, or service offering, and content. Let's. Say your content, is really visual like. Showing a product demonstration, you, might try YouTube or. If your, audience is business people use, LinkedIn, to share content that positions, you as an expert and the. Last question how. Frequently, should you publish, think. Through your audience's, expectations and, your resources so you can plan realistically. The, truth is many, businesses, have limited, resources and budgets, let's. Talk about a few tactics if you can't publish too frequently. Write. Longer more, in-depth, content, that, people can spend time with and really think through, repurpose. Content that, you know people have Lite shared. Or commented, on in the past like. Expanding, on a previous, topic, you. Also can ask your customers, how often they'd like to see new ten maybe. You don't need to publish as often as you might think, or, if you do need to add more resources to publish more frequently at least you'll, understand, the return remember. Those lead gen KPIs from the previous chapter well. This is a good time to go back to those KPIs to, make sure that however often you're publishing will help you attain your program, goals. You've. Posted content, on your website and in social media sites but. How do you get people to visit these sites. SEO. Which. Is search engine, optimization. Attracts. Organic. Also. Called natural, or earned, traffic. To your website. SEM. Which. Is search, engine marketing, is when, you buy traffic through paid tactics, such, as page search listings, in this. Video we're, going to focus on SEO, not. SEM. We. All do lots and lots of searches every, day think. About it which, search results do you click on probably. Only the ones that rank high up on the first page, most. Of the time we, don't even bother reading what's on the second or third page right, so. It's really important, to optimize your, search rankings, so, people will see your information right. At the top of their search results page. Search. Engines, display, links that are relevant, and credible, which, they measure by analyzing, keywords, and the, number and quality of external. Links from other pages, a, pretty. Common, mistake people make is to, spend all this time figuring. Out how a search engine works but, really the. Most important, thing is to think about your target audience, the, visitors, you want to attract to your sites. Let's. Talk about three best practices, for using relevant, keywords, well-constructed. Content. And, external. Links. You. Need relevant, keywords, for your website, page titles, URLs. And text. This. Is the language that will appear front and center in search results. How. Do you make sure your keywords are relevant well, here, are a few tips for, website. Page titles, use descriptive, concise. Accurate, keywords. Like, the name of your business, services. Or products, and location. Check. Your URLs, to make sure they're clear, understandable. And accurately. Describe, your business, avoid. Random numbers, or letters that have no meaning to search engines, or the people, making search queries, choose. A prime, mery keyword for each landing, page and then, optimize that, whole page for, that word, use. The primary keyword in your headline, and sub headline which, tend to be picked up by search engines. Once. You've got your keywords, now, you can write well-constructed, content. The. Right content, will have the most positive effect, on your search results, let's. Review a few tips write. Clearly, concisely. In, understandable. Language, focus. On quality over, quantity. Provide. Useful not, promotional. Information. And the. Last step is to promote your content through, external, links in social, media sites so, people can write reviews and share, in blogs or Twitter feeds. Remember. Search. Engines, look for natural links, so the more informative. And relevant. Your content, the more likely, people will link to it naturally, you.

Can Learn more about SEO. By, visiting Google, Webmaster. Central SEO. Resources. And tools use. Relevant, keywords, high-value. Content and shareable. External. Links to get leads to your website and social, media sites through higher search, engine rankings. You. You've, convinced, people to visit your website once. They arrive you, have to make sure your design invites, them in and the information, makes them stay, the. First two tactics, I want to cover have to do with your customers, first impressions. Only. Include relevant pages, and information, in order. Of priority in, your overall website design, don't. Clutter the design with unnecessary, information. You. Want your customers, to feel invited to really read through your site the. Simpler the overall design the better the customer, experience, figure. Out the right balance of information. And visuals, and leave plenty of whitespace, the. Home page should clearly explain what, you do and what. Makes you different and better than the competition, the. Home page can include your company's, purpose, how, your business helps customers and, may, be a link to your most recent, offer or content, after. First. Impressions. Customers. Need to be able to navigate, your site easily, to find what they need the. Navigation. Tab should be obvious, from the homepage and direct. Customers, quickly, and easily, to the information. They seek or, the action they want to take your. Navigation, could include services, testimonials. Values. Or a blog, but. Keep in mind that the fewer items in the navigation, tab the better so, focus on what's really important, each. Page within your site should, include a concise, headline, so, customers, know how to find what they need headlines. Should be accurate, and relevant and lead on to relevant, copy, as. Customers, navigate your site it should feel consistent. With other marketing, collateral they, see from your company. Visuals. Should align with your brand guidelines. Your, text, font colors. And overall, style because. Customers, expect a unified, consistent. Brand experience, use. A lot of high-quality visuals. Infographics. Photos, videos. Illustrations. Or maybe even comics, to, communicate, key messages, and customer, benefits. To. Entice customers to, learn more about your business make. Sure your website design is inviting, so they'll want to spend time on your site. You. At, this point in your Lijun program you've, enticed a lot of leads so. Now you, need to narrow down that list to more qualified, leads a great. Way to do this is through a compelling, offer a, compelling. Offer basically. Depends, on the value your customers, looking for it's. Subjective, in a way your. Idea of compelling may be way different than someone else's for. Some people it's a free consultation for. Another customer it might be a product discount, a, valuable. Offer will get people's attention and solve a problem, and most, importantly, a valuable, offer will make people want to give you their contact information. In exchange for your offer so. How do you create a great offer let's. Start with the language be. Honest, and transparent. You. Straightforward. Concise, words for your headline and body, copy, focus. Your entire, message on the offer avoid. Extra or confusing, information, it's. Really important, to use action-oriented verbs also. You, might want to suggest a limited, supply or a limited, time offer to, get people's attention and persuade, them to act quickly. Remember. When we talked about the customer's decision, journey well. The best offer will, align with the customer, stage in their decision journey are, they considering, options, evaluating. Multiple brands or ready, to make a purchase now this. Should help you decide the type of offer and, here. Are some ideas for, helpful information to include, when. People see your company's phone number and address they'll, think you're an established and credible business. Testimonials. From satisfied customers, or, the number of people who have taken advantage of your offer so, far will, create trust and, there's.

No Need to recreate the wheel every time, you want to promote an offer when. You find an offer that works well don't, be afraid to repeat it, valuable. Trustworthy. Offers will grab people's attention so. You can narrow down your list to focus on qualified, leads. Your. Offer is only as good as its call to action a call, to action or CTA, is a button. Or length that entices, a prospect, to take action, for. Right now we'll, focus on CTA s that are on websites, today. A call to action needs to be so much more than the click here button of the past it. Has to align with the page content and what, the customer, needs and move, the customer through the process, quickly, and easily you've. Probably seen plenty of call to actions on websites, you visited, like free trial subscribe. Or contact, us but. Which call to action is best for your customer, and your business, let's. Talk about 6 best practices, to design, and place your call to action, make. It easy to find so it'll stand out from other lengths use, bold colors, that stand out from background, colors try. A color that you haven't used elsewhere on your site it should, be big enough to see but with plenty of white space surrounding, it place. The CTA above, the fold believe. It or not above, the fold is a really, old newspaper, term but that's true for websites today this, means the call to action should be visible when, people first load the page without, having to scroll down use. Brief action-oriented. Words your, call to action should be no more than five words remember, less, is more, use. First person speech because. Research, shows this, creates significant. Lifts and clicks for. Example, create, my account is more, effective, than create, your account or create, an account. Place. The CTA on the right page that aligns with your customer's, decision, journey let's. Talk about a few examples, when. Someone's evaluating. Their options, use, a sign, up now button for, promotions, or sales Add. To Cart works really well when somebody views a product, and is ready to buy use. A subscribe, or share CTA. On your blog so, people can share their experience. Create. A sense, of urgency so, people will act now which. Offer would you click sail or, 50%. Off, today only. Align. Your call-to-action with the page content and what the customer, needs to, motivate, Lee to take action. Once. A league clicks on the call-to-action to obtain your offer they. Very often will end up on a landing page this. Is where someone lands after clicking on your call-to-action it.

Could Have been to download a white paper start. A free trial or, join a mailing list in this, video we'll, talk about how, to create an effective landing. Page here. Are three things to keep in mind to make sure you have a great landing page, align. Your content, with the offer and CTA, follow. Layout best practices, and do. Usability, testing let's. Start with the content, think. About what first attracted your, visitor stay, focused, on that offer keep. The language concise, and relevant don't. Overwhelm people with unnecessary. Information, think. About how you feel when you click to a landing page and there's a bunch of information that, you don't want to read to. Build trust you can also include testimonials, or, customer, reviews about that offer, with. The right content, you can move on to lay out best practices. Make. Your landing page consistent, with your overall website so it feels like one brand. Clearly. Display your signup form so people will fill it out white. Space is your friend, don't, use too many words and keep, the page uncluttered. Use. Visual, cues such. As arrows, to, guide people, create. A sense of urgency by, using language such, as sign up today or available. Only for a limited time use. High-quality, images to demonstrate, your product or service, you'll. Want to test different landing page tactics, to understand, what creates the best experience. We, call this usability. Testing this. Is understanding, the most effective, combination of, tactics, to convert, a visitor, to a qualified, lead such. As testing content, designs. Headlines. Language. And images. The. Right layout and content on your landing page will create a great experience that will convert your visitors to qualified. Leads. We've. All been there you're, really excited to buy something, and then, you're forced to fill out this lengthy, form so, what do we do we, forget the whole purchase. We. Talked about your call-to-action and landing page remember. That's where you provide information to customers but. Your form that's where you request, information from, customers, to. Make the purchase process quick, and easy you need an efficient, and trustworthy. Form let's, think through how to do that only. Asks for the information you really, need the. Less information, your request the more likely people will be to provide it just, stick to the basics such. As first and last name email address, phone, number. Company. Neighbor job title, and maybe. Space for an optional, message or request, now. If your offer is of greater value you, may have permission to request, more information. Let's. Say you offer a free in-person consultation. That you usually charge a lot of money for that's, a really valuable offer and people, might be willing to give you more information in, exchange for that opportunity. But. If your offers more typical, like a small discount, people. Will be less willing to give you too much information. Repeat. Your call to action it's another, chance to entice, your visitors, the. Forms title, directly, above the fields, should encourage, visitors, to take the final step and complete, the form but. Try not to use the word submit for, the forms final click, instead. Customize. It to align with the offer here. Are some examples. Start. Your free trial. Download. Your free report, sign. Up for our newsletter. Claim. Your coupon, or. Get, started now. Label. All form fields clearly, so they're easy to understand, and people know which of the required, fields, if they're. Not clear on what's required and miss, one they, won't be able to submit and probably. Will get frustrated, abandon. The process and you'll lose them. Reassure. Visitors that their information, is safe with you you, can include a link to your privacy policy and, website, terms and conditions, include. Certification. Of security, seals if you have them this. Will ease anxiety and, make, your company and brand more, trustworthy, and credible. Respond. Real time to fulfill the promise of your form immediately. Provide. The download, instructions. Confirmation. Or whatever offer you've promised, right, away customers. Have high expectations. For real-time responses. Just like you and me and, I. Can't share this suggestion enough say. Thank you after people, complete, your form, visitors. Took the time to fill it out so make sure to thank them for their time and submission, and be clear about any next steps, to. Make sure people fill out your form think, about the type of experience, you would want only, ask for the necessary, information that, people will feel comfortable sharing this.

Will Create a much more positive experience, and increase, your chances that the purchase will go through. Have. You ever received an email that felt like it was written for someone else and shouldn't, have even been sent to you did. That make you like that brand and want to buy it or did you just delete the email I think, we've all deleted plenty of emails right, while. Creating, and maintaining a, current database, of information from. Your forms is really, important. It'll. Help you customize, communications. To connect with people so they'll want to engage with your brand and by your product or service. We've. All heard about databases, but. Just to make sure we're thinking of it in the same way a database. Is a collection of, information that can be accessed managed. And updated. A, database. System usually, is a software, program that loads on your computer, the. Software allows you to input information and, conduct, a search in the database when you need to create a list of leads you. Input the criteria, and then, the database completes. A search and produces. A list of leads that fits those criteria. To. Create a database start. With basic, and current contact, information, like, first and last name company. Industry. Job. Title, email. Address and phone number. Still. Wondering if you should take the time to create a database well. Here, are some convincing, benefits. It'll. Save you time with. Just a couple of clicks information. Is immediately available and, you, can look at the data in all sorts of ways a request. For a specific list, from your database called. A query can take just a few seconds, instead, of having to hand collect paper records, it. Helps, you customize information. So you can personalize messaging. This, will improve the quality and, consistency, of your emails, and content, a, database. Creates, transparency. Because, information is available to anyone, in your company to whom you provide access, this. Eliminates, duplicating, efforts and unproductive, secrecy. Which, becomes more and more important, as your business grows it. Helps, you scale your business as you hire new employees and, expand. With more locations, to grow a, database. Increases, our Meishan because, it can create automatic. Email or message prompts, when to contact delete, and, most. Importantly, it increases. Your sales forces, productivity. As studies. Show that a database, helps, them increase, their customer sales, so. Now, that you understand, the importance, of a database, you're probably wondering how, do I create and maintain one let's. Talk about three ways, obtain. Information for. Example from. Your website signup, forms and landing pages to add to your database a lot. Of website programs, have functionality. To communicate. With a database software program, to automatically, populate. Create. Categories. Of information in the database to. Segment leads based, on your key criteria, then. Sort, based, on whatever is most important for your business such, as location, or company, size, keep. The information current, to, eliminate, duplicates, and inactives. People. Can move locations of. Life changes, or switch jobs, current. Information, will keep your efforts focused, on qualified. Leads, remember. How, you gather store. And process data, must, comply, with your local laws and data, protection legislation.

Creating. A database of contact, information, gives you the power to convert, prospects, to qualified, leads your, database, can expand, in scope and help, you grow and scale your business over time. There's. No use in chasing down a lead who doesn't, meet your criteria, it's. Better to put your efforts elsewhere as, you. Evaluate your lead response, rate you, might find you need to change your strategy a bit you. Might need to decrease, your lead response, rate if too, many leads don't meet your criteria to, convert to a customer, or you. Might need to increase, your response rate let's, say if your business is a start-up or expanding. We're. About to get into a lot of detail, so stay with me as we get through this together, to. Decrease, your lead response, rate you need to narrow your lead quality so. Essentially. If you want fewer people responding, to your offer you'll, want more strict, or narrow, criteria. To. Increase, your lead response rate you need to broaden your lead quality so, here it's, just the opposite, you want more people to respond, so, you loosen, or broaden, the criteria, for your offer a good. First step is to ask your sales force for feedback then. You'll understand, whether they're busy, and meeting their goals and how they rate lead quality this. Will help you figure out whether to narrow or broaden, your lead quality. Let's. Dive a bit deeper here to. Narrow your lead quality, which will decrease your lead response rate you, can do things like this, charge. A fee for your offer if someone's. Willing to pay that'll. Be a more serious lead, request. A lot of information, on your signup or contact, form same. Thing here if someone's. Willing to give you more information about, themselves they're, likely more interested, or. You. Might use strict. Terms and conditions, for your offer such. As an obligation, to purchase in exchange, for that offer, let's. Talk about the opposite, scenario now if you, need to broaden your lead quality to increase, lead response rate try, some of these ideas to get more people in offer. A free, service gift, or toolkit, request. Minimal, information, in your forms like, just, a name and email use. Really, loose terms and conditions, like, no obligation, to purchase in exchange. For a free consultation. Once. You decide whether to decrease, or increase your lead response, rate it'll, help you focus your efforts on the, leads that you want that are right for your business. We. Have one more video about, getting two qualified, leads, here. We'll talk about how to use keywords, to identify, opportunities, there. Are millions, of conversations, happening, each day online but. What if those conversations. Are about your business, would, you even know they're happening. Responding. Real-time, to conversations. About your business is a powerful. Way to convert prospects, to qualified, leads, whether. It's expert, advice on an online forum or an instant, answer to a social, media inquiry, an old, saying fits a new truth the early bird gets the worm, there. Are ways to monitor, the web almost, all of it for conversations. Happening, about just, about everything a great. Way to monitor conversations. And engage with leads is through Google Alerts. Google. Alerts monitors, keywords, and phrases about, your business, and emails. Or texts, you when, that content, is posted on the web let's. Say your keyword alert is Apple iPhone you. Can tell Google to notify you every, time it finds a mention of Apple, iPhone whether, people are linking, quoting. Apple iPhone, showing. Support or, lodging a complaint. Think. About how powerful a keyword alert is what. If one of your customers posts something positive. Or negative, on a public, forum and you could know about it immediately. Setting. Up Google Alerts is really, simple and you can get started in just a couple of minutes go, to google.com Alerts. Sign. Into your gmail account if, you. Don't have a Google account no, worries, just start filling out the form in the. Create, an alert about box, enter. The keywords, you want to track, separated. By commas, for. Example, your, business and personal name and your, business URL. Click. Show options to. Customize areas. Of the internet you want to monitor these. Could be new articles, blogs. Competition. Videos. Groups. Books. Or forums. Choose. The alert, frequency, it could be once a day as it, happens, or once, a week, I like. Once a day you won't miss anything and can respond within 24 hours.

Determine. How many alerts, you want to receive only. The closest, in matches or everything, close. Matches will probably, use your time more efficiently. Pick. Your delivery method, Gmail. RSS. Or other. Email account which. Ever you check most frequently, and. Create. The alert once. Your alert is set up you'll start receiving emails, any time, new search results, come up for your keywords and, don't. Forget to test to. Find the sweet spot you, may have to adjust your google alerts accordingly. You'll. Find that some alerts may overwhelm, your inbox while others are really useful find. What works best for you and make, the necessary adjustments. By. Following these simple steps you're. On your way to setting, up alerts with keywords to engage prospects, real time and focus, on qualified, leads. You. We've, talked about how to entice, leads and qualify, leads, next. In this chapter we'll. Dive into how to transform, those leads to customers. This. Video will start with learning how to identify when. A lead is ready to make a purchase and when, you should follow up, let's. Say you're considering, replacing an aging appliance, in your home you. Start with some brief research online to evaluate, options, you, find a couple of options but. Decide to hold off on that purchase for right now the. Next thing you know salespeople. Begin to contact, you but you're not yet ready to buy in. This example a salesperson. Who contacts, you won't, be welcomed. But. If you were further along in the buying process let's. Say you've conducted, all your research and evaluated. Options, by, reading product descriptions, pricing. Reviews. Or even downloading, sales brochures, wouldn't. You be more receptive, to engage with a sales person now, so. How. Does the business determine, when a customer, is ready for sales contact, buy, lead scoring, this. Is identifying, when a lead is ready to buy and assigning. A value to that lead based on their information and behavior, on your website. Before. Anything. Make. Sure your sales team receives enough quality leads does, appropriate. Follow-up with leads and has sufficient, data to proceed you'll. Recall we discussed all of this in the previous chapter. Now. That you're ready to get started with a lead scoring model let's, talk about how to get there. To. Find a qualified, lead with marketing, and sales because, you can only start, scoring, leads when everyone, agrees on the definition, then. Sales. Will only receive, high quality leads, and marketing. Will provide fewer, but, higher quality, leads. Examples. Of qualifiers, could be a decision-making, job title, such as VP. Or above or, a list of the top five company, industries, that align best with your business. Collect. Demographic, and behavioral. Data on your leads through, your online forms. Or other great sources like, LinkedIn profiles. Demographic. Examples, could be years of experience, or, lengthen their current position, or, their budget ranges then. You'll know whether that lead is a decision-maker. You. Can get behavioral, data through a leads actions, on your website, determine. Their stage of the buying journey are. They only considering, options at this time or ready, to buy here's. How you can tell when a lead is ready to buy, they'll. Fill out a contact, us form, request. A free trial. Search. By company name or. View. A pricing page. Now. That you've collected the information you're. Ready for your lead scoring model now, there are a lot of models out there input.

Your Criteria, use, a simple, point system, ranging from 1 to 10 assign, a score, to all criteria and, the, spreadsheet will Auto populate the. Scoring system lead, scoring can, be done manually, which is a great, way for a new or small business to get started, however. A leads, behavior, will change over, time based. On the stage of their buying journey. Consider. Upgrading, from a manual, system to, lead management software, which, will help you manage the qualifying. Criteria and, leads. Data to, keep your scoring system current. After. You've developed your lead scoring model and launched, make, sure to consistently. Evaluate. And adjust your. Criteria. May evolve as your business evolves, over time and, many. Lead scoring models are optimized, over time with learnings. Talk. With your sales team frequently, to, make sure they're receiving high quality, leads and following. Up look. For potential missed opportunities. That, can be incorporated into, your lead scoring model an. Effective. Lead scoring model will provide you with insight, to understand, what buying stage leads are in understand. When they're ready to purchase and when, you should follow up. Customized. Experiences. Make people want to be your customer it's. Sort of like when you go into a coffee shop and the, person knows exactly, what you want and starts making it the second, they see you walk through the door the. Concept, of a personal touch has been a really, effective sales strategy, for years, studies. Show that knowing, and using. A customer's, name and knowing, their preferences, will help you close the sale, luckily. Today's, technology. Gives marketers more, ways than ever to personalize. A customer's, buying journey, let's. Review a few tips to customize, follow-up, communications. To prospects, when they're getting ready to buy. When. You created your lead form you collected, lots of data about your leads this. Data you collected, and stored, in your marketing database can. Now be used to create personalized. Content. The. First step to personalization, is segmentation. That's. Dividing. Up your marketing list into, segments, based, on customer, information, your. Segments, could include geography. Product. Interests. Gender. Household. Income or lead. Source, these. Are just some examples but. How do you segment your list really, depends, on your business the, data you collected, on your lead form and the, information, you've collected about, your customers, over, time, and. Once you've divided, your lists into groups you can create targeted. Content that, fits their profile. Let's. Say you're an electronic, store you. Could send information about, cameras. To someone who's noted, their interest in photography on, your website form or. Let's, say somebody's, interested in video games you, might send the latest deals on gaming, systems. Customizing. The experience, through segmentation. Is just, a start you. Can take personalization. Even further by, using your data in a whole new way it's. Called dynamic or, smart, content. Dynamic. Content, is personalized. Information in, the subject line of an email or in, the body of the email itself, the. Most common, example, of this is inserting, person's, name but really, it, can be any information. Another. Way dynamic, content, can be useful is if you want to personalize just a small part of your email and the, rest of the email can be the same for all customers, this. Way you can manage just one email and don't, have to make the same changes, again, on different versions but. As your business grows it's a great way to deliver personalized, content without, having to expand your marketing, team too much. So. We've practiced, customizing. Follow-up, from prospect, data and interests, but, why go through all this trouble bottom, line personalization. Works, studies. Show it improves, email, click-through, rates by 14%. And conversion. Rates by 10%. Can't, argue with those numbers. Once. You've identified leads. Who are ready to buy and have, relevant, customized, content how. Will you deliver this personalized, message and information, well. Email. Is a really, effective targeted. Tool to, nurture relationships with. Your leads. Let's. Review some email, best practices, for. An inviting, effective, layout an, attention-getting. Subject, line and. Concise. Copy, let's. Start with these layout tips be. Clear and consistent in the from label, typically. This would be your company, name or recognizable. Employee, name most. Importantly, the, from label should be the same in all, your emails. Consistency. Helps people recognize, where, the emails are coming from and builds, trust in the source. The. Pre header text should all meant and aligned, with but, not be the same as the, subject, line which. We'll discuss in more detail in a moment. Preheader. Text invites. The reader to open the email.

Include. A link so people can forward, to a friend, many. Email vendors include, this as a simple, option in their services. Make. Social media and website links clear so, people can click to follow easily. Only. Include social, media links if you're active, on those sites. Help. Readers scan the email quickly and easily through, bold headlines, or keywords bullets. And ample. Whitespace to, avoid a cluttered, look. Avoid. Using underlines. Which can be mistaken for a hyperlink. Stick. To what will show well in HTML. Format but. Provide a text version for, those who don't accept HTML. Versions. Make. Sure the most important, information is above, the fold and prominent. Use. Clear call-to-action visuals. Such, as prominent, hyperlink, text image. Or buttons. The. Subject, line should be a maximum, of 30, to 40 characters it should, really, get the reader's attention so, they'll want to open the email. The. Subject, line should, be accurate. And aligned. With the email body content. Useful. And relevant, for the reader. Clear. And specific so. The reader doesn't, have to guess and. Create. A sense of urgency. The. Email headline and body copy should, also be concise and relevant use. Short blocks of copy to draw the reader in with, links to read more if they choose to do so. Focus. On offers that your target audience will consider to be valuable, so they'll share or forward, limit. Each email to, one to five topics, or offers. To. Nurture ready to buy leads use, these best practices, for email content, and inviting. Layout and attention, getting copy. You. You've. Moved your leads through the process, now they're. Ready to buy so, it's really important, to create a positive, purchase. Experience. Let's. Start in this video with making the purchase process clear, and simple. Today's. E-commerce can, be a great experience you. Comfortably, sit in your home or office compare. Products and make a purchase that's best for you sounds. Simple right well. It's, not always that easy sometimes. You, let down a confusing, path with unexpected. Twists and turns while making it all on purchase, the. Result frustration. The. Average shopping cart abandonment rate, is an incredible. 71, percent, when. You develop your website checkout process make. Sure to think from the customer's point of view what, will be a great experience so, customers, won't abandon your site and will complete, an online purchase. How. Can you streamline your purchase process and, make it really simple for a customer, to make their purchase, let's, talk about several, ways allow. Purchases, either with, or without, online. Registration. Let. People check out as a guest if they don't want to fill out a registration form. Some. People view a registration, form is prolonging, the process, or invading, their privacy. Requests. Shipping, information, before. Billing, shipping. Is really, important, to customers if, you want to know when and where they'll receive their product before they provide, payment, information. Offer. A variety of, payment options. 24. Percent of online shoppers, abandon, their cart because they find out their method of payment isn't, accepted, by. Offering a range of options, your customer, is sure to find a suitable form of payment to make the purchase. Make. The checkout link easy to find so people don't have to search it should be easy to locate obvious. And not, surrounded, by lots of clutter. Integrate. The checkout graphics, with your overall, website look and feel your. Customers, are used to a certain branded, look and feel on your site make. Sure the transition, to checkout is seamless, by, using the same background, colors fonts. And fonts. Imagery. Buttons. And copy tone. Be. Clear about what's in stock and don't hide item availability, if something's. Out of stock let the customer know right, away and if, the product will be available at a future date offer, a pre-order option, or to send an email when the product is available. Make. Shopping cart modifications. Quick and easy like, adding items or changing the quantity before.

Finalizing, The purchase. Include. Visuals, and links on the order summary screen during, shopping cart review such. As a photo of the item desired. Quantity. Item. Specifications and. A, link to the item page in case someone needs to verify something. Offer. Multiple. Shipping options, let. Customers choose, which shipping method is right for them offer, a range from, Express, to, standard, so, customers, receive their purchase, when they need it, provide. A delivery, estimate, so customers, know when to expect their merchandise. Be. Transparent, about your return policy, studies. Show that 86%, of customers check shipping, and return policies, as a precaution. Before, buying online and, remember. To always say, thank you send. A confirmation email thanking. Customers, for their order and include. An order summary and delivery, estimate, by. Following these tips to make the online purchase. Process clear, and simple you'll, create a positive, customer experience and, avoid, shopping, cart abandonment which. Will drive sales. Customer. Satisfaction it's, the key to success for every, business everywhere, and it's never been more important, than it is today. The. Internet hasn't just changed, the rules of customer, service it's turned them completely, upside down customer. Service is no longer just about resolving, complaints through, a phone call now. Customers. Expect immediate. Service how, and when they, want just. How important is this well, news. Of bad customer, service reaches. Over twice as many people, as praise for a good service experience, but. Believe. It or not customers. Are more forgiving, than you might think and responding. The right way at the right time, can, help you turn a negative, experience into, a positive one, look. No, business wants any problems, but we're all human some mistakes happen, whether it's a failed delivery, or a faulty, product or service as, a business. You need to provide and monitor. Multiple. Channels, to make sure your customers issues are solved to their satisfaction. Let's. Talk about some ways you, can transform, a negative, customer experience, into, a positive one. Provide. A range of options on your website, such, as live chat a feedback. Form an email, address or phone number, this. Way customers. Can easily contact, you with problems, if not they'll. Find another likely, more public, way to complain, which, would be bad for your business and reputation. Live. Chats becoming, more and more popular with 58%. Adoption. But. Providing, options for how customers, can contact you is just the beginning, make. Sure you staff, the chats or emails so that whoever responds. Has the authority and. Information. To answer questions, and solve, problems quickly. Monitor. Your and your competition's, social, media channels, frequently. Social. Media is a powerful marketing, tool it can promote your business or. Detract, from your business and reputation if an unhappy, customers, experience, goes viral if, your, business has a presence, on Facebook Twitter. Instagram. Or any other social, Channel customers. Will expect you to respond real-time. 24/7. So. Monitor your social media, as often as possible and, respond, quickly to a complaint, in some. Cases managers. Even respond directly to customer, reviews or complaints, on apps such, as Yelp, watch. Online shopping, reviews and reach out to active customers, did. You know that 88%, of customers research, a product online before they buy what.

People Say about your product, is really, important, as customers. Are evaluating. Their options. 88%. Of people trust online reviews, usually. As much as personal recommendations and. Often. More, than company, produce marketing. Collateral. Believe. It or not the, phone is still a really, popular way that customers want to voice their complaints, there's, just something about a live person's, voice that, calms people down when they have a problem, make. Sure that a live service, rep responds, to a customer's, call in two minutes or less this. Is really important, because. 67%. Of people hang up the phone when, they're frustrated, by not reaching a real person, it. Takes a lot of effort to turn a lead into a customer, but, it, costs, six to seven times more to acquire a new customer than, to keep a current one so. It's good business to, invest time, and money to. Resolve customer complaints, let, me give you a few more reasons why. 7. Out of 10 people will, spend more money with companies, they believe provide, excellent, customer service. 91%. Of unhappy, customers won't. Do business with you again however. If you, resolve a customer's, complaint they, will do business with you again 70%. Of the time to. Create a positive purchase, experience, monitor. Customers, after they make their purchase, and remember. We're all human, so when a problem does happen, which it will fix. The problem immediately. In whatever way, your customer, prefers. To. Run a successful business, you have to know your competition. Every. Business plan whether you're a startup, or have been in business for years should, consistently. Analyze, its competitors, so, you can make sure your customer, purchase experience is a positive, one compared, to other options out there, what's. The best way to understand, your competition. Become. A customer, yeah. That's right step. Into your competitions. Customers, shoes, experience. Their buying journey and understand. What your competition, does well and what, it doesn't do so well let's. Start with how you can learn more about your competition this. Might be easier than you think a quick, Google search and, Google Alerts. Can provide a ton of information, about, articles news.

And Customer. Reviews that might make you want to adjust some, of your business, or marketing plans and here. Are even more ways to learn about your competition. Look. At their websites, is information. Easy to find what. Are they offering are. Their prices, competitive, join. Their mailing list and carefully. Read all the information, you receive, sign. Up for a free trial, read. Their annual report. Contact. Their customer service department, with product questions, or, join. Online chats, and follow, them in social media. Once. You've collected competitive. Information what. Do you do with it well. You, can use something called a SWOT analysis tool. SWOT. Stands, for strengths. Weaknesses. Opportunities. And. Threats. This. Is a great, tool to think through so, what or what does this mean for my business about, all that information, you've just collected, let's. Dive into this tool. Identify. Competitors, strengths, these. Could be product quality, price. Customer. Service, distribution. Sales. Marketing. Public, opinion, or market, share now. While, your competition. May have many strengths, remember. They also have, their weaknesses do, they lack customer, service or product, innovation, other. Costs, too high for the quality, maybe. Their inventory, is limited and have a difficult, checkout process. Uncovering. And capitalizing. On your competitors, faults could create more business for you, what. Opportunities, do competitors, create, are, there recent technological advances. Emerging. Trends, or customer, frustrations. Or unmet needs that you can capitalize, on, what. Are the threats posed by competitors, is there. A new emerging, offer that, will make your product or service obsolete, or priced. Out of the market, maybe. The competition leads. And technology. Or innovation, is their, market share increasing. Understand. The why behind your, threats and develop. Immediate. Action plans to address them go, online start. Sizing up the competition and begin, gaining, the business intelligence you, need to, differentiate, and create a great, customer, experience. So. You've made your sale think. Your job is over absolutely. Not the. Customer, experience doesn't end with the purchase, the, way we're treated by companies, after, we've given them our money can often determine if we become repeat, customers, and recommend. Them to others, so. How, do you make sure your new customer, will be a repeat, customer again, and again let's. Talk about three ways keep. Your customers, informed, large. Online retailers. Have made this an art form but, keeping a customer, informed, after they make a purchase is vital for any business, use. Follow-up communications. Such, as discount, offers reward. Points or. Thank-you messages. Give. Your customer, a voice send. Out satisfaction. Surveys so, your customers, can voice their opinions, or complaints, whether, it's about the buying process or service, improvements, try. A company, like Survey Monkey which, doesn't cost that much money and will provide you with the results right away. Surveys. Prove to your customers, that their feedback is important, to your business and, that you value, their opinions, go. Back to your customer databases, that we discussed in an earlier chapter to. Pull a list of people who meet the criteria for, your survey and make. Sure you take those insights from the survey feedback and take action, this. Lets customers know that they've been heard and you're making the changes they've suggested, you. Can use your website and social media sites to, communicate, these changes, to your customers, and encourage, additional feedback on how to make your business better which, benefits everyone.

Follow-up. Purchases, with education, emails such, as how to's and tips and tricks to. Accelerate, customers, usage of your product or service the. More of an expert they are the, happier, and the more likely they'll be to recommend, to someone else plus, it gives you an opportunity to cross, sell items or upsell, add-ons, or enhancements. These. Might sound like obvious, ways to create customer, loyalty but, you'd be surprised, at how many companies just don't do them engage. Your customers, and let them know their business and their opinions, matter. You. Probably know that businesses spent a lot of time and money to, get new customers but. What you may not know is that it pays to keep them a la. Existing. Customers spend 65%. More than new customers, so isn't. It surprising that more companies don't put more effort into retaining, the customers, they do have. Keeping. Your customers engaged and, loyal is a great, way to grow your business and here, are some ideas for your company. Make. Customers, part of the club a rewards. Club that is. Incentivize. Repeat, business by giving something back to loyal customers, this. Could be as simple as a point, system like. Earning a point for every dollar you spend or a punch or stamp card or. You, can offer free items discounts. Or some sort of special treatment whatever. Type of reward program you use make, sure it's simple to understand, and the rewards are attainable. Give. Customers the VIP treatment, make. Customers, feel special, by giving them exclusive. Benefits, this, could be early access to new products, exclusive. Sales or special, discounts, some. Programs, tear benefits, to encourage more sales the. Rewards can start small and increase. As a customer, becomes more loyal such. As having bronze silver. Gold and, platinum, levels. Make. A game of it have, some fun by turning your loyalty, program into a game if. Customers, a chance to win something every, time they buy just. Be sure there's enough winning so, customers, feel they have a legitimate chance. Make. It personal, whatever. Loyalty, program you choose remember. That personal, works best. Tailoring. Your rewards, to someone specific, buying habits can, make it that much more effective, and show that you care too for. Example giving. Away a free meatball sandwich, to a vegetarian, customer. Doesn't have much value in, fact. It probably would, have the exact, opposite, impact you were looking to achieve and turn, off the customer, so. Use customer, data to personalize. Rewards, and messages, for different customer, segments, remember. There, are people - and catering. To their individual, needs is always good customer, service. Measurement. Matters before, you start a loyalty program define. What, success looks, like and how you'll measure is the. Program really driving customer, retention or are, you just giving away free things, find. Out for your customer, retention rate this. Measures how long customers, stay with your business by. Measuring, the difference in customer, retention between. Program, members and non, program members you, can determine if your loyalty, program is working.

Drive. Engagement by rewarding, customers, for their loyalty through, tailored, offers customized. Content and other valuable, rewards. We. Talked earlier about monitoring. Social media to, find qualified. Leads well. It's also important, so you can understand, what your current customers, say about you, over. Two million people around the world use social media that's. A lot of people so. You'll want to monitor what customers, say about your business and their, experience, with you have. You ever written a review about a restaurant, and all, of a sudden the

2018-09-27 04:56

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