Congratulations! You finally got your business running, but you are having trouble getting any traction in the market. This is one of the most common first hurdles a company can face during its formative years. This means it is time for you to start getting leads.
A lead is a person who has shown interest in your business and is a potential customer. The company's goal is to get as many leads as possible and sustain that throughout its business life.
So you might be thinking now to focus all your attention on all customers and treat them with the same level of attention. That’s where you’re going to make your first mistake.
Not All Leads Are Equal
Not all leads are created equally. This might sound harsh, but some leads will not buy from your company. They might show interest, but they might not see it as a good fit at the moment. The three basic types of leads you need to look out for are:
Cold Leads - People who have no-to-low interest in your product
Warm Leads - People with an interest in your product
Hot Leads - People who have an interest and are actively scouting the market for solutions
Your audience will be a mixture of those 3 basic types of leads. To be effective, you need to be able to zero in on those leads that will buy your product.
The Pareto Principle or more commonly known in marketing as the 80/20 method, is how 80 percent of a given business's profit typically comes from just 20 percent of its audience.
Many small businesses actively try to get the word out about their ventures. In a highly competitive market, people are bombarded with different types of advertisements that will lead them to a business.
So the name of the game is to be able to find your niche and maintain momentum. This means focusing your resources on the part of your audience that will buy from you.
How to Get Your Audience to Notice You
Now that we understand how the audience works, it is time to find a way to get those potential customers to line up for you. Here are 3 ways to do it:
Understand Your Buyer Persona
A buyer persona is an overview of your ideal customer drawn from data that makes up a target audience. This is made up of data such as gender, age, income, and employment. By knowing your audience, you can focus on those leads more effectively.
Focus Your Marketing
It’s okay to have favorites in your audience.
You need to be able to market specifically to those customers who will buy from you. By doing this, you will be able to lower your marketing cost since you aren’t spreading yourself too thin. The 3rd quarter of the business year is just starting, so you still have the time to pivot and make active campaigns designed to work with your buyer persona.
Cut Your Losses
When you see a lead start ignoring your calls or marketing, pack up and move on.
This might sound extreme, but sometimes being persistent isn’t going to work on a lead with no interest. By cutting your losses, you are freeing yourself up for better leads. This is a hard lesson, but it is an important part of growing your business. You don’t water the weeds in your garden. You pull them out before they affect your flowers.
Lead Generation with LeaseMyMarketing
LeaseMyMarketing offers lead generation strategies to help you figure out how to get your business in front of the right audience. We'll walk you through the process of developing buyer personas, as well as creating and executing lead generation camapigns. Contact us today for a free quote!