7 Creative Lead Generation Ideas That Work

In a world where digital reigns supreme, the art of lead generation is essential to any brand, business, or organisation.

Today's online consumer isn't susceptible to cheap marketing ploys so to spark customer interest, gather valuable data, encourage loyalty, and ultimately, drive more sales, knowing how to generate positive leads will make you incredibly useful to any commercial organisation.

By spending as little as six hours per week, 66% of marketers see lead generation benefits through social media - and that's just one channel.

If your current lead generation strategies aren't providing the results you're looking for, and you've been hitting your head against the proverbial wall for some time, here are seven creative ideas that will change everything...

Produce a product video

Product explainer videos have the power to generate leads at a rate of up to 33% - and as 65% of us are visual learners, videos offer an incredibly valuable way of engaging with a large proportion of prospects.

These types of videos don't have to be high-budget or complex, as long as they are well-edited and offer value they will serve their purpose. Platforms like Animoto are ideal for producing great videos with no previous editing experience.

Try offering fewer choices

According to a notion called Hick's Law, fewer choices creates less confusion – and less confusion creates more leads.

By giving a potential customer fewer options to mull over, they are far more likely to make an informed decision and take action rather than filling themselves with doubts and bounce off your web page.

If you're running a campaign, try offering one clear-cut option based on a desired call to action instead of presenting a number of possible choices, and in the end, you're likely to increase your conversion rate up to 25%.

This eye-grabbing, clearly defined email sign-up page from quirky brand Nerd Fitness is a fine example of getting straight to the point and getting results in the process…

Put together a quiz

Earning a potential customer's contact information is essential to successful lead generation. One simple, creative, and interactive way you can do this is by creating a quiz based on relevant subject matter.

By asking for a potential lead's contact information, you will essentially by offering them a fun way of gaining valuable information and testing their knowledge.

Not only this but if your quiz proves to be a worthwhile experience, a lead is more likely to share it with their friends and acquaintances on social media, therefore, increasing its reach.

This quiz from Biolite Energy is very creative and proved a fruitful asset for the company's lead generation initiative.

Revisit your about page

Your company's about page may be called something different like 'what we do' or 'meet the team', but despite how it's packaged, it should serve one primary purpose: to generate leads.

Many people overlook this fact, but it's true, and if your about page is bare, conflicting, or poorly worded, you're missing a trick.

By optimising your about page, you will be strengthening one of your main connection points for customers and you will help to boost your lead generation efforts massively. You can do this by:

• Including a clearly defined value proposition in your headline
• Breaking your copy up into smaller, more digestible chunks
• Ending with a compelling call to action
• Including an eye-grabbing image or graphic that isn't overly busy

Take these measures and you'll start to see results in no time.

Create an email course

It doesn't matter who you are or where your role sits on the digital marketing spectrum, continuous online learning is essential.

By offering potential prospects a valuable email-based course, you're essentially providing them with free education - something that will prompt a great deal of customer leads. This technique works especially well for niche or particularly in-depth topics.

A shining example of this kind of lead generation strategy comes from Buffer, who gives away gives away 25 social media strategies over a period of 25 days in exchange for a customer opt-in…

Use LinkedIn's Publishing Platform

According to a recent study, there are currently 460 million LinkedIn users worldwide - that's a mind-boggling number of potential leads.

LinkedIn's new publishing platform is yet to become as saturated as the likes of Facebook and Medium, meaning it's easier to grab attention and cut through the noise. What's more, LinkedIn's visitor-to-lead conversion rate surpasses both Twitter and Facebook; it's also outpacing other competing social networks for lead generation.

Create compelling articles, share news, publish insights, and compile any other content you feel will be valuable to your target audience and start posting it via your LinkedIn network. If you don't, you're missing out on valuable leads for sure.

Start using Quora

Quora is a public question and answer platform whose popularity has skyrocketed in recent years.

If you're looking to present yourself to potential leads and dazzle them with your authoritative knowledge, creating a Quora account and joining the conversation is essential.

The platform allows you to create a profile with backlinks to your website or landing page, which makes answering questions a useful means for getting you direct exposure to leads who are asking about your solution. In addition to this, Quora's full-text search function gives you the power to search any term relevant to your business making tapping into the right conversations quick and easy.

This Quora feed gives a taste of how Quora works and provides working examples of companies who've been successful by using the platform to their advantage.

Lead generation is a powerful beast with an endless level of scope. Done correctly using a consistent and innovative approach, this key pillar of digital marketing can improve brand awareness, increase customer loyalty, and improve sales on an enormous scale.

If you're looking to improve your lead generation skills and gain a greater understanding of digital marketing techniques, check out our latest globally recognised online courses.

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