A lead pipeline to a customer is tricky — we know who our leads are (including their approximate ages, income levels, nationalities, etc.), why they'd benefit from our solution, and their pain points.
But even with all this information at our fingertips, converting these leads into paying customers is still challenging.
It is because, in the digital age, your leads are bombarded with ads from a thousand different companies offering the same services as you.
12 Proven Strategies for Converting Leads
- Benefit from social listening tools
- Use social proof
- Know which channels work for which leads
- Rise from competition
- Stand out in your niche
- Offer product add-ons
- Use lead scoring models
- Provide free giveaways
- Optimize existing parts of your business
- Use influencers to build trust
- Nurture leads before asking them to buy
- Communicate your value clearly
So, it’s become harder to stand out, especially if you’re a small business that doesn’t have an unlimited budget to reach out to them in a thousand different places to get them to buy your product.
Don’t worry — we get it! We’ve created this blog to help small businesses like you stand out and convert your leads into customers.
1. Benefit from social listening tools
Today, if most of your target audience is online, it makes sense to target them with content based on their conversations rather than the keywords you think they may or may not be typing in the search engine.
How to figure out these topics, you ask? Use social listening tools.
“We’ve found that using social listening has helped us create more targeted and specific advertising, particularly for our social media ads,” says David Janovic, CEO of RJ Living.
He goes on to say, “These ads are far more niche, so they reach a smaller audience, but they convert at a higher rate, so the ROI on them is much higher than our general digital ads; and as a bonus, we’ve tapped into new niche markets that we hadn’t previously explored.”
You, too, can copy RJ Living’s strategy by using social listening tools like Sprout Social and Hootsuite and hiring a copywriter to produce convert-ready copy to achieve operational excellence.
It's an often underutilized tool and should be part of all strategies for startups and established businesses alike.
2. Use social proof
Another thing that’ll help you convert leads? Social proof.
Consider StudioSuits as an example. The company understands the importance of having an unbiased third party (your customers) highlight your product features.
So, it uses testimonials right on the home page of its website to promote men’s linen suits.
Below these testimonials are images of customers wearing their products and a step-by-step process of creating their suits.
In other words, don’t underestimate the power of social proof as one of the top-ranking conversion strategies. The small details matter.
3. Know which channels work for which leads
Not all leads are created equal, so some channels will be more effective than others for reaching out to different types of leads.
For example, a lender might find it more effective to use social media to reach students interested in different ways to pay for college while using newspapers to get professionals interested in pursuing a master's degree.
Dig into your data or use stats to understand where most of your customer subsets reside, see what they’re talking about on those channels, and use that information wisely in the conversion process.
Leverage a social media content planner to plan your weekly and monthly content for various channels.
As sales reps, you need all the help you can get. And knowledge is power.
4. Rise from competition
In the competitive business landscape, leveraging a popular competitor's name to promote your brand can be a strategic approach to converting qualified leads into customers, especially if you’re a newcomer to an industry that already has its favorites.
For example, Citrix alternatives can use the recognition and reputation of Citrix to introduce themselves to potential customers in a more streamlined and effective manner.
Or, if you’re already an established brand, you can create alternative product pages to develop your narrative.
Consider Modash as an example of this strategy.
If writing isn’t your forte, don’t worry. Leverage an AI writer to help with the heavy lifting. You’ll have a library of product comparison guides in no time.
5. Stand out in your niche
Another way to stand out from the crowd and convert leads quickly is to become an authoritative figure in your niche.
For example, suppose you’re known for doing X; you can become the go-to person for X and things related to X.
In that case, Clean Origin is a brand known for selling lab-grown diamonds, and they’re so well-versed within this niche that they’ve become the go-to company for anyone who wishes to buy lab-grown diamonds.
That’s to say, they have an extensive catalog of diamond tennis bracelets, diamond rings, diamond pendants, etc., so they can cater to the demands of all types of customers within that niche.
6. Offer product add-ons
While adhering to the core principles of MEDDIC, it's crucial to acknowledge that various sectors may demand a tailored approach to the sales process.
For instance, in the real estate industry, where the market is dynamic and highly competitive, leveraging specialized resources such as real estate lead services can play a crucial role.
Those services showcase your industry-specific expertise and build your authority in that niche without making you buy the product.
Consider PandaDoc as another example.
The company’s primary product is e-signatures, but it also has a CRM solution, PDF converter, document-sharing software, etc. (and they’re all free to use to get the customers to start buying the actual product eventually.)
7. Use lead scoring models to your advantage
One of the best ways to convert a potential buyer and save costs on lead acquisitions is first to understand which leads to target — and that’s precisely where lead scoring models can help you out.
HubSpot is the pioneer in lead scoring models.
With HubSpot lead scoring, you can accurately assess the quality and potential of your leads, allowing you to focus your efforts on the most promising prospects.
When you focus on sales-qualified leads, your median conversion rate will improve tenfold. Sounds idyllic, right?
8. Provide free giveaways
We all love to get our hands on free products, and our customers are no different from us. So, to first build the trust of your customers, consider offering free stuff like research studies, ebooks, content, webinars, etc.
Here’s a stellar example from Wordable that uses free training as a quality lead magnet.
You can also go one step further to provide a free subscription to your product. Some brands provide 14-day free trials, whereas others have freemium models.
To get your leads hooked on your product and thoroughly understand its advantages. This strategy works wonders for any sales team.
9. Optimize existing parts of your business
One of the most prominent ways businesses let go of leads is by not optimizing the existing parts of your business.
- So, consider questions like:
- Is your page speed fast?
- Do your product landing pages have the same offer as your ads?
- Is your website mobile-friendly?
- Are you using thought-provoking visuals?
- Do you provide valuable and insightful content?
- What does your customer support time look like?
- Which areas of improvement your sales and customer experience teams have pointed out?
Addressing these questions and working on them will allow you to convert those leads who are already impressed by your product and come to your website to make a sale, but then bounce because of:
- Slow loading speed,
- Landing pages communicating the wrong offer, or
- The website is not mobile-friendly.
10. Use influencers to build trust
Sometimes, the quickest way to build the trust of your audience is by using influencers they already look up to.
Here’s what Coty Perry, the CMO at Anglers, has to say about the importance of influencer marketing in today’s day and age:
“If you think influencer marketing is just for Gen Z, think again. We've seen real growth come from influencer content marketing, and it's so simple that virtually every business can do it, too.”
Connect with your industry's thought leaders and subject matter experts (SMEs).
This way, you'll win backlinks, increase your website's engagement, and unlock new promotional opportunities on the SMEs' social accounts.
And it's not just digital. People will discuss their collaborations with you and create word-of-mouth opportunities for your business. These are much tougher to track but can really drive results over time.”
11. Nurture leads before asking them to buy
Nurturing your leads before asking them to buy something from you is a golden rule in the marketing world.
To ensure your leads are ready to buy your product, engage with them at every touchpoint to make their experience with your company such that they consider becoming a customer.
Lead nurturing works through your content marketing efforts, where you educate and inform leads about your products so they completely understand their benefits.
12. Communicate your value clearly
Lastly, one of the best ways to create demand for your product is by communicating your value.
You can do this in three ways:
- Create product-led growth (PLG) content (e.g., if a user is on your page to understand how XYZ works, you can show them how to address this issue through your product).
- Provide social proof and write about the features of your product in different pieces of content (e.g., blogs, webinars, guest posts, emails, etc.).
- Double down on your lead’s pain points and challenges and tell them how your product can help them overcome these challenges.
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Author bio:
Juwaria is a freelance writer specializing in SaaS, marketing, and health/wellness.
Backed with 3+ years of experience, she helps brands build content that adds value to their business. You can catch her reading her favorite books or studying the latest trends online in her free time.
