Top 20 Lead Generation Techniques For Professional Services
From a coffee shop owner to the CEO of an MNC, everyone wants to introduce themselves in front of a new audience. i.e., generating leads for their business.
When it comes to lead generation, Professional Services struggle a lot here. Professional Service Providers are not flexible with the recent changes.
No matter how good your product is, there is no point if that unable to reach the targeted audience.
And the catch is that you must spend your money and time more effectively.
Why do most people spend countless times and money garnering leads and still get no results?
Because they need the exact strategy to thrive in generating leads.
This is why lead generation services are one of the sought-after services among businesses.
What if you need more money to seek help from lead generation services?
We got you covered!
This article will revolve around the core essentials of Lead Generation and tell you about the Top 20+ Lead Generation Techniques For Professional Services).
Table Of Content
What Is Lead Generation?
Lead generation comes with identifying and acquiring potential customers by capturing interest in a product or service.
You can leverage several lead generation strategies such as content marketing, webinars, email campaigns, search engine optimization, and more.
By targeting a specific set of customers and providing them with relevant content, you can gain potential customers and create a more targeted approach to their marketing.
Lead generation services can also help you increase your customer base and improve sales.
20 Lead Generation Techniques
It is easier said than done. If you want to bear the fruit of lead generation, you need to do it the right way. Here you go-
1. Blogs
If you’re ready with the right strategy and consistent effort, you can increase their leads and, ultimately, their sales.
(i) Value Creation: The first step in leveraging blogging for lead generation is to create informative and engaging content. This could involve sharing industry news, offering expert advice, or providing insights into the company’s products or services. By creating interesting and relevant content, businesses can attract more readers and increase their chances of generating leads.
(ii) Incentivize Your Audience: To maximize lead generation, businesses should consider incentivizing readers. This could include discounts, free resources, or even giveaways. This will encourage readers to take the next step and become leads.
(iii) SEO: Make sure you have optimized the blog for search engines and mobile devices. That, in turn, will help you for increasing visibility. Additionally, businesses should link to the blog from their website and other marketing materials.
(iv) Result Tracking: Lastly, businesses should track their lead generation efforts to ensure they have the desired effect. Tracking metrics such as several leads, conversions, and average time on page can help businesses refine their strategy and optimize their lead generation efforts.
Businesses should also make their blog easy to find and navigate.
2. PPC
SEO enables businesses to target potential customers and increase the chances of converting those leads into customers.
(i) Keywords Research: You can research keywords related to their products or services and identify what their customers are searching for.
(ii) Optimized Content: Businesses should develop content optimized for their target keywords and search engine algorithms. This can include optimizing titles, meta descriptions, and content to ensure that it is relevant and appealing to its target audience.
Once you optimize the content for your target keywords, you should use various tactics to get their content in front of potential customers.
This can include utilizing social media channels, guest blogging, and link building. Additionally, businesses should track their progress and analyze the data to understand which strategies are working and which need improvement.
3. Social Media Marketing
By harnessing social media, businesses can reach a larger audience, increase brand awareness, and build trust with potential customers.
(i) Understand Your Audience: One way to use social media for lead generation is to create content that speaks to your target audience. This includes creating blog posts, videos, and other types of content that will attract their attention. You can also use social media ads to reach a specific demographic or geographic area.
(ii) Know What’s Trending: Another useful tool for lead generation is to use social media to listen to conversations that are happening in your target audience. This can help you understand what topics or issues are important to them. You can then use this information to create content or engage in conversations that address their needs.
(iii) Stay Active And Responsive: By engaging with followers and responding to comments, you can connect your business with potential customers. This can help build trust and loyalty, leading to more leads.
(iv) Promote Offers: You can promote offers and discounts with the right strategy. By providing discounts or other incentives, you can attract more leads. Businesses can also use social media to share information about upcoming events or products.
(v) Capitalize Social Media Groups: Are you a member of any group on Facebook? Does that event relevant to your business? If not, don’t just waste your time. If the answer is yes, then do it correctly. The beauty of social media groups is that the audience is already there; all you need is to showcase your products by using your mind.
4. SEO
SEO enables businesses to target potential customers and increase the chances of converting those leads into customers.
(i) Keywords Research: You can research keywords related to their products or services and identify what their customers are searching for.
(ii) Optimized Content: You should develop your content optimized for their target keywords and search engine algorithms. This can include optimizing titles, meta descriptions, and content to ensure that it is relevant and appealing to its target audience.
Once you optimize the content for your target keywords, you should use various tactics to get their content in front of potential customers.
This can include utilizing social media channels, guest blogging, and link building. Additionally, businesses should track their progress and analyze the data to understand which strategies are working and which need improvement.
To execute this entire process, many people seek help from online lead generation services.
5. Explainer Videos
Short, concise videos that explain a product or service in a simple, easy-to-understand way are explainer videos.
Explainer videos are incredibly effective at driving engagement. They’re a great way to showcase your product or service, increase brand awareness and generate new leads. They’re often used to quickly explain a complex concept, such as how a product works or why a service is beneficial.
Try to keep your explainer video precise and easy to understand. Your aim at this point is to provide viewers with a quick yet comprehensive overview of your offering. Consider using visuals, animations, and graphics to help explain the concepts.
Once you’re ready with the video, you need to push them through different channels. There are several channels (social media, email, blogs, etc.) through which you can execute the same.
6. Pinterest
Businesses can use Pinterest to showcase their products, build brand awareness, and attract leads to their website. Here are some strategies for leveraging Pinterest for lead generation:
- Brand Pinning: Companies should create branded pins that feature their products and services.
- Optimize For Search: Companies should optimize their pins for search by including relevant keywords in the pin’s description.
- Leverage Influencers: Companies should leverage influencers on Pinterest to reach a wider audience.
- Promote Contests: Companies can run contests on Pinterest to engage their followers.
Creating engaging content and optimizing your website for Pinterest can help you maximize the number of visitors to your website. We recommend you create eye-catching visuals, such as images, infographics, and videos, that your audience can easily share. You can also use keywords and hashtags to make your content easier to find.
You can also use Pinterest ads to boost your lead count further. Ads can help you reach a larger potential audience and increase engagement with your content. You can also use Pinterest analytics to track the performance of your content and gain valuable insights into your audience.
By leveraging the power of Pinterest and optimizing your content for the platform, you can attract more website traffic and grow your business.
7. Newsletters
A newsletter is a marketing tool that contains news, industry updates, problem-solving content, promotional content, etc.
- Consistency: The newsletter helps you reach the prospect’s inbox without being too salesy.
- Knowledge: They are successful in educating your email subscribers. The more you educate your audience, the better the chances of gaining their trust.
- Cost: If you compare newsletters with other marketing channels, newsletters come with less expense.
How Newsletter Generate Leads?
- Newsletters work fantastically as lead magnets. People subscribe to your email list and get valuable content from you. That, in turn, generates leads for your business.
- Almost all brands capitalize on newsletters to inform customers about incomplete customer journeys and entice them to purchase.
- With a newsletter, you can nurture stuck prospects while still thinking about whether to make a purchase.
To make the most out of newsletters for lead generation, you must refrain from sharing irrelevant content and spamming the user’s inbox.
B2B marketers use newsletters extensively for generating leads.
8. Audio Content
Be it any form of content, creating your own content helps you build your own audience. Earlier, many were apprehensive about the significance of podcasts, but with time people realized that podcasts are worth the effort.
Value addition is the pillar of any podcast. Create something that resonates with your audience and stays on top of the mind.
If you already have a large following, giving readers a deeper connection – through podcasts during their daily activities – will help you create better relationships beyond just blog content.
9. Retargeting Ads
Retargeting ads are applicable when someone visits your website, product, or services but hasn’t taken any action yet.
For example, if you have an e-commerce store, you can target ads to people who have previously visited your website and are more likely to purchase your product.
Similarly, if you’re a retailer, you can target ads to people who have added items to their shopping cart but never completed the purchase.
Retargeting ads also allow for greater control over your message to potential customers. You can create ads tailored to the interests of the target audience, which helps to increase the effectiveness of your campaigns.
Overall, retargeting ads are an effective way to generate leads and increase conversions.
10. Webinars
A webinar empowers you to share your knowledge and expertise with potential customers and demonstrate how your product or service can help solve their problems.
Creating compelling webinars can build relationships with your audience, showcase your company’s services, and drive more leads.
When creating webinars for lead generation, it’s important to remember that your goal is to provide value to your audience. You want to provide interesting and relevant content that your audience can use to help solve their problems. Additionally, you need to ensure that your webinar has a clear call to action so that those attending know what to do next.
To ensure your webinar is successful, you should plan it out in advance. You’ll need to decide on topics and speakers, create a webinar presentation, and promote your webinar. Additionally, once the webinar is over, you’ll need to follow up with attendees and turn them into customers.
By creating compelling webinars and following up with attendees, you can generate more leads for your business. With the right strategy and execution, webinars can be a great way to generate more leads.
11. Online Courses
Maybe you’re thinking about how even online courses matter in generating leads for your business.
They really matter!
By offering online courses, you can provide content to your customers on a variety of topics that are relevant to their industry and products. Online courses can also help you build relationships with customers and create trust.
No idea about what course you should launch?
We do not recommend people launch courses on any random topic. Select a course niche where you have expertise, interest, and experience.
For example, businesses in the finance industry can offer courses on investment, the latest trends, and other topics related to the industry.
This helps to keep customers up to date on the latest advancements in their industry and creates a sense of connection with the company.
Additionally, you can offer courses on topics such as customer service and sales, which can help customers learn more about the products and services they are purchasing and provide a better overall customer experience.
We hope now it is clear to you that by providing online courses, you can capture the contact information of potential customers and use it to follow up with them in the future.
12. PDF/Guides/CheatSheets/Whitepapers
People often misconstrued them with books. But they are not books; there are tools of a content marketing mechanism – lead magnet.
Through a lead magnet, marketers share PDFs/Guides/Cheat Sheets/Whitepapers for free in exchange for personal information.
But what do you get in exchange?
We as human beings are inclined towards the word ‘free’.
Free PDFs/Guides/Cheat Sheets/Whitepapers entice us to download even if we have to share our personal data to get a copy of the same. This is how you, as a business owner, can generate leads through downloadable guides etc.
But Always Keep One Thing In Mind These Downloadables Must Be:
- Well-researched.
- Packed with value.
- Backed by data (if possible).
- Expert opinions.
- Real examples.
If people find your content problem-solving, word of mouth will get more exposure.
13. Seek Help From Lead Generation Service Providers
Lead generation requires time and effort! Do you have the time to do it by yourself? If not, you can consider reaching out to lead generation service providers, given you have the budget.
How can they benefit you?
- There is no need to invest your time in learning the techniques. They come with proven experience and will take the entire responsibility on their shoulder and saves you time.
- They are well-versed in modern tools that provide great results.
- They easily identify the loopholes in your business that help you grow.
- With them, you don’t need to hire or manage anyone; they already have the experts on their team.
- Consistency is a crucial thing as you often lag while doing the entire thing single-handedly. While with a service provider, you get ongoing support for a longer period.
14. Reach Out To Influencers
Backed by a loyal audience base, influencers are highly effective in generating and driving traffic to your business. They have the potential to impact the buying decision of the audience.
Collaborating with influencers also gives a new perspective to your marketing efforts.
Here Are The Best Practices For Influencer Marketing:
- Selecting an influencer is the first step. Here you must choose someone who resonates with your brand voice and your audience. Check out whether he or she has legitimate followers on their account.
- If you can go for industry experts, go for it. Recommendations by industry experts help immensely in generating leads for your business.
- Always offer creative space to the influencer with whom you’re working. We agree that an influencer manual is important, but that doesn’t mean you completely regulate them.
- Try to build relationships with your influencer so they can connect with your brand in the long run. Consistent promotion of your product doesn’t seem too ‘salesy’.
15. Leverage LinkedIn
LinkedIn is highly effective for lead generation. And this is more relevant for the B2B industry.
Here are the ways to generate maximum leads with LinkedIn:
(i) LinkedIn Profile Optimization:
Optimizing your profile for the best results is a must-have thing to achieve success with LinkedIn.
- Make sure you’re noticeable on connection requests. Add a picture and clear headline for the same.
- Add a banner with your value proposition.
(ii) Post Content:
Posting on LinkedIn regularly offers you great exposure and enables you to become a thought lear within the industry.
(iii) Sales Navigator:
Finding prospects becomes easy if you know how to make the most out of your LinkedIn profile. The advanced search feature of this sales navigator allows you to filter out and reach the most relevant audience for your business.
(iv) Reach Out Personally:
If you think sending personalized messages is equivalent to spamming your prospect’s inboxes, you’re living in a false belief. Cold outreach works wonders if you know the correct way of doing it.
Do not be too salesy! Try to build conversation and tailor your message to offer a solution for their problem.
(v) Follow Up:
Your sales approach is incomplete without a correct follow-up strategy. Every follow-up will take you closer to conversion. So try to incorporate value into every follow-up message that you send.
Don’t just send the same thing. Try to make it as personalized as you can.
16. Customer Referral Program
Top brands have used referral marketing as an effective lead-generation strategy. A referral acts as a sign of recommendation and a vote of trust.
(i) Incentivize Through Your Program:
Create a program that incentivizes your audience to share with their friends and family. People should find a reason to share your program.
Two-way referral programs work the best where both the referrer and the referred get the reward.
(ii) Reach Out To Existing And Past Customers:
Identifying the right customers is the hack to promote your referral program. Don’t reach out to people who are most likely to share negative reviews about your products.
Filter out the audience that is most likely to recommend your product.
Customers who have shared positive reviews (4 out of 5 or more) are the people who are going to share your program.
(iii) Product Speaks Louder:
Meeting the expectation of your audience is ok, but delighting them is the winner! Try to create a product that exceeds the expectation of your audience. This drives your audience to spread awareness about your product, generally known as word of mouth. Word of mouth works better than any marketing strategy enabling social shoutouts.
17. Give A Speech At Industry Events
You may have been to industry events but not as a speaker. Speaking engagements work magnificently, given you add value to your users. That in turn, works as a great tool for lead generation.
Here you don’t need to push yourself extensively. All you need is to show the audience that your expertise is unmatched. People will come to you if they find you valuable.
Before the event, you need to have a handly plan about how you conduct your speech. This involves creating your PPT to acquire their emails. Here you engage them with a free resource (PDF, PPT, etc.) and help you collect their information.
The most important part of your speech is incorporating a Call-To-Action without sounding like a call to action. If you have demonstrated your product or services through your speech, the onus is also upto you to make it easily gettable.
18. Leverage Quora
There are forums where you can ask your questions and seek answers from fellow members.
One Of the most popular among them is Quora. Utilized correctly, you can get leverage this platform as a great source of lead generation.
Here Is How You Can Turn Quora Into A Lead-Generation Machine:
- In any field, the first impression matters a lot. People who engage with your answers will check out your profile first. So it’s pivotal to optimize your profile and stand out with it.
- The next step is to look for an audience and topics that resonate with your business offerings.
- Once you have found the most relevant audience, start engaging with them. Here your aim is to establish yourself as a credible source of information within your industry.
- And the most important step is to create content that is backed by immense value. An ideal Qura answer ranges from 500-1000 words depending on the scope of the question (This is entirely subjective, it can be less or more). You can also add visual elements to present your answer in a better way.
- Remember your response must be presented in an answer format. Don’t write your content too flat; add a human touch to it, and keep the tone conversational.
19. Product Trail/Demo
Do you even consider product trails/demos as a marketing mechanism?
Though it doesn’t seem from a superficial level but deep down, it’s a great way to position your brand and test your product.
Almost all SaaS companies offer product trials to get the first glimpse of their product. And if you’re a business owner, you can show them how you can solve their problems with your product.
Starting from setting and configuring the product, product trials need some work in the backend.
Whereas a Demo involves less effort and it’s easier to conduct.
If people like your product, they will be interested in further communication with you. You can build trust by offering a product trial or demo. In turn, you generate new leads for your business.
20. Cold Emails
We know that you might be thinking, “oh! Cold emails are such a conventional approach. Does that even work today?”
Cold emails work wonders in generating leads! And if you’re someone from the service industry, you know it quite well.
But before you shoot an email, you need to consider some factors.
Subject Line: This decides the opening rate of your emails. Make your subject lines personalized so they can grab the user’s attention. We at BloggerOutreach add the names of our prospects while crafting an email to our prospects. This helped us to boost our open rate massively.
Additionally, try to make the subject line crisp and be honest with your promises.
Keep Your Email Body To The Point:
- Don’t just bombard information into your emails.
- Keep it short, precise, and simple.
- While crafting the email body, assume that your prospects are too busy and you need to grab their attention quickly.
Call To Action: Imagine your prospect has gone through your email; what’s next? Many people make mistakes. It is not desirable for your prospect to spend time with your email and move out without taking action. This is why you should incorporate a clear call to action that resonates with your goal. Refrain from using multiple CTAs and ambiguous CTA phrases.
Time To Take Action: Over To You
What are you waiting for? You got 20 lead-generation techniques to grow your business immensely.
What’s next? Take action.
It’s obvious that you won’t apply each strategy. That is not a smart thing to do.
You’ll choose something that aligns with your business and resonates with your audience.
Another important aspect of a lead generation strategy is tracking the right metrics. As you’re on the verge of applying a lead generation strategy, you must keep your metrics right.
Track your campaign regularly, and if there is room for modification, do that.
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