Lead Generation Techniques That Generates More New Customers!
Author of the Amazon bestseller, Power Branding Secrets
The ultimate objective with branding and marketing is to increase the number of customers, as well as increasing sales. And no doubt, attracting customers is a top concern and challenge for most businesses. As Fast Company stated, "Almost every industry is struggling with overcapacity: too many goods chasing too few customers."
For a brand to attract more loyal customers, they will need to reassess and adjust their mindset, strategy, tactics and marketing mix. But the ultimate goal can never be lost amid the planning and tactics - Attracting more customers!
The sole purpose of marketing is to sell more to more people, more often and at higher prices. There is no other reason to do it." - Sergio Zyman
Creating More Customers is Job No. 1
As a brand, you need to spend much more time and effort attracting attention from your target audience and prospective customers. You cannot build a brand or a business in a state of obscurity. The meek may inherit the Earth, but they will never build a powerful, prosperous brand. Business mistake #1: An improper estimation of effort to market and sell in order to build a successful business.
If your brand is not attracting and developing enough customers, then you need to expend more thought, effort, resources and time on creating more customers, email contacts and followers on social media. To succeed in business, you must be exerting a continual and mindful effort in generating new customers and repeat purchases from existing customers.
The purpose of a business is to create a customer.” - Peter Drucker
Become Strategic, Not Reactive
Brands that are built correctly, attracting more customers, are driven by strategic-minded leaders. Reactive business people handle whatever comes their way, responding to emergencies and immediate concerns. They cope, versus organizing by building a strategic brand, recruiting effective team members and putting into place efficient and documented business processes.
Well-organized brands will always attract and retain more customers than reactive businesses. Epic, prosperous brands are built by strategic-minded leaders.
Almost all quality improvement comes via simplification of design, manufacturing... layout, processes, and procedures.” - Tom Peters
You Must Wisely Manage Your Resources
If you don’t have the marketing budget to attract more customers, then you have to spend the time and effort to attract more customers. Either way, you will have to expend more action and/or budget towards generating more attention and new customers for your business. Creativity and hustle are enormous resources when you lack other resources.
Businesses that blame their lack of marketing budget will soon find themselves out of business, replaced by a new startup or a much wiser business that solved their marketing and sales problems creatively.
Capital isn't so important in business. Experience isn't so important. You can get both these things. What is important is ideas. If you have ideas, you have the main asset you need, and there isn't any limit to what you can do with your business and your life."- Harvey Firestone
Understanding Your Customer is Business Gold
You need to understand the needs, desires, dreams, frustrations and challenges of your existing customers, as well as your potential customers. You can gain valuable insight into your customer’s mindset with industry reports, Google Trends, keyword research, one-on-one surveys, comments on social media, and many other resources.
The rising power of customers is without doubt one of the biggest game-changers for business. Responding with yesterday’s notions of "customer centricity" just doesn’t cut it anymore because it’s become a lot harder to gauge what drives purchasing decisions. Digital technologies have utterly transformed what customers value and how they relate to companies. Customers have become not only more demanding but much more specific in their demands.
That’s why it’s so crucial that business leaders keep a close eye on emerging customer needs, and make use of data technologies to gather and analyze that intelligence, in order to rethink how they create value for customers.
Those who truly empathize, resonate and connect with their customers build powerful, emotional bonds with them. Only then does the loyalty occur.
The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.” – Peter Drucker
The first step in exceeding your customer's expectations is to know those expectations.” - Roy H. Williams
Build Strategic Alliances
Building a strong network of strategic alliances is a very powerful and effective method to attracting new customers. According to Producer’s eSource, a common strategy for entering into a strategic alliance is to gain the advantage of another company’s innovations without having to invest in new research and development.
Any business can build a referral and co-branding relationship with ten or more complimentary businesses that can help to attract more customers. Personal referrals and co-branding effort cost almost no money and can represent your brand's best source of ideal customers.
Alliances and partnerships produce stability when they reflect realities and interests." - Stephen Kinzer
Understand the “Branding Triangle”
Branding yourself, making yourself known goes well beyond an impressive logo, catchy tagline, attractive packaging and a well-designed website. There are tens of thousands of businesses who have all these “Brand Identity” factors in place and who are completely broke.
As I explain in detail in my book, Power Branding Secrets, branding is composed of three major components, which I refer to as the, “Branding Triangle.” These three major components are:
- Brand Identity – This is your logo, tagline, type style, packaging, colors, design, décor, uniforms, etc.
- Content Management – This is your promotional and sales materials and actions that engage your customers, moving them through the marketing and sales funnel. This can include your website, blogs, videos, podcasts, referral programs, social media, brochures, mailers, email marketing, webinars, catalogs, ebooks, white papers, sales presentations, training materials, etc.
- Customer Service – This is how you and your team render your services and/or products to meet or exceed your customer’s needs and expectations. It is also the tone in which you deliver.
All three of these major components are what builds a brand’s reputation, value and word-of-mouth, good or bad. To attract and keep more and more customers, you must excel at all three components of the “Branding Triangle” on a consistent and routine basis.
You Must Offer the Irresistible
To attract potential customer’s attention, you offer something valuable and/or unique enough to try you out for the first time. This is the essence and purpose of your content marketing. Your content must offer something that your brand can deliver and which satisfies your customer's needs.
This is what is referred to as a lost leader or the “Freemium” that your audience opts-in for or takes advantage of in person so that you can now build a relationship with them. Such examples are free samples, 2-for-1 offers, a free 30-minute consultation, discounts, a free car wash, etc. You will spend much more money obtaining the customer than you will retaining that customer. The majority of the heavy lifting, marketing and sales wise, is on the front end when it comes to attracting and boarding customers for your business.
Always be pushing out and offering an irresistible offer. You know when you have one: it’s attracting new appointments and customers. These offers may change over time, so be aware of what is working and what is not.
I'm addicted to the deal, to the next thing. It's irresistible.” - John Caudwell
Invest in Paid Social Advertising
Social media channels have completely monetized their platforms. The vast majority of your organic posts are being seen by less and less of your connections.
The average Facebook reach in 2015 is estimated to be only around 2.6%. Meanwhile, on the second largest network, Twitter, you can reach about 10% of followers with a tweet. Some claim only to reach as few as 3.61%. The same holds true with LinkedIn. Even though LinkedIn is content-based—similarly to Facebook—your status updates and posts should still reach about 20% of your network.
Creating and distributing relevant and engaging content, with the purpose to attract, acquire and engage your target audience, has become a popular marketing tactic over the past few years. But although most companies understand how to promote their content via their “owned” channels, such as their Facebook page, Twitter account or LinkedIn company page, many are missing out on the opportunity to get their content in front of a larger audience through paid social promotions. To reach a broader customer base, you will need to leverage paid advertising on social media.
Be Professional & Amazing
The customer experience, from your content to your services and products, must be professional and amazing; two qualities that will never go out of style in business. You need to create memorable impressions as a business when your customer arrives and leaves. It is the small things that can make a huge difference in creating a memorable first impression. Great brands pay attention to the details, knowing that these can represent their factor for differentiation.
This is why employee training and well-crafted business processes are also important keys to building a successful business. Great customer experiences soon convert into 5-Star online reviews, organic social shares, and positive word-of-mouth.
A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.” - Michael LeBoeuf
Do What Works Consistently
Direct and proactive programs that increase quality appointments, in-bound calls and/or walk-ins are the most important marketing actions that you can initiate and maintain. Businesses that consistently drive leads and calls will attract more customers. Consistency is just as important as "workability" when it comes to attracting attention in a overcrowded and noisy market place.
Companies and their brands need to reach out and speak directly to consumers, to honor their values, and to form meaningful relationships with them. They must become architects of community, consistently demonstrating the values that their customer community expects in exchange for their loyalty and purchases.” - Simon Mainwaring
Generate & Publish Your Best Results
Third party endorsements and online reviews can catapult or crash a brand faster than a military rocket. To attract more customers for your business, you must develop a proactive strategy in generating genuine reviews on Yelp, Google My Business, Angie's List, and other similar sites. These reviews can be further repurposed as content on your website, shares on social media and further distributed to your email list.
Additionally, the B2B world needs to create branded content such as case studies, endorsements, awards and videoed features of success stories. Press releases should be used to broadcast accomplishments with major clients.
Brands don’t control the message anymore. Consumers have become the brand managers for the products they use." - Harvard Business Review
Always Hustle
It is hard to beat a sports team, individual or business that out-hustles you day in and day out. If you are a fan of best-selling authors, Grant Cardone and Gary Vaynerchuk, then you know that their successes were built on pure, relentless hustle.
Hustle translates itself into so much value that your audience cannot help but take notice and become inspired. When customers see that you are genuinely attempting to fulfill their needs and wishes, they will never think of switching brands or referring their friends elsewhere. Hustle makes up for most shortcomings and can in itself become your number one tactic to win more customers over.
Genius is one percent inspiration, and ninety-nine percent perspiration." -Thomas Edison
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Edwin Dearborn is the author of Power Branding Secrets. His book clarifies how any brand can spark customer interest and ignite sales for any startup or small business.Purchase your copy today!
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