Before understanding lead generation, let’s talk about what leads are. To break it down, leads are people who may be potential customers and might have a pain point that your offerings can solve. This is why it is essential to view them for their actual worth, i.e., their potential of being a client, and not their perceived worth, i.e., them being billable clients.
Understanding the difference between a customer and a consumer is also important. When a lead pays, it is converted to a customer. However, it may or may not convert to being a consumer. For example, if you are a child therapist in this situation:
Your customer is the parent (who will end up paying for the service)
Your consumer is the child (who will end up benefiting from your service)
Another critical thing to understand here is that not everyone is your lead. Bringing in the right leads depends on the message you create and the ask you have designed. For therapists, leads are people looking to improve their health in some way.
Lastly, leads can be warm or inbound leads who contact you knowing you can solve their problem. They can also be cold or outbound leads who you reach out to through lead generation tools. There are also other types of leads depending on whether they possess knowledge about your offering and based on their stage in the sales funnel. We will talk more about the sales funnel in our next blog!
So, now that you know what a lead is let’s explain what lead generation is.
What is lead generation?
Lead generation is at the top of the funnel where your only objective is to make your leads aware of their problem and how your services are the best fit solution for that.
However, the end-to-end process of lead generation is targeted toward getting sales. The process is a sum of all streamlined efforts to search for and collect the contact details of potential customers. It involves creating a list of such leads using different and often creative methods.
How does the process of lead generation work?
None of the social media platforms where you talk about your services to attract leads are your own. So imagine what would happen if, one fine day, you woke up to see that the platform where you had thousands of followers was not there. What then?
That’s where lead generation comes into play.
The leads you gather through lead generation efforts are your leads to nurture and close.
Here’s what you can do to attract leads to your website and pique their interest in your services.
1. Create a lead magnet
A lead magnet is a resource of value to your visitors. It could be an Ebook or a template that they can use, or just a journal that you think can help them make their lives easier.
Once you have a perfect lead magnet in place, put it up on your website and ask for nothing more than their email address in exchange for the resource. You can have different types of lead magnets and then classify your leads based on the one they download. We suggest creating a lead magnet that answers a frequently asked question or gives tips on something they are struggling with.
2. Nurture leads with emails- win their trust and make yourself memorable
Now that your leads have made it to your contact list, it is time to build a relationship they value.
Be their problem solver. In every email you send out, add something that helps them lead a better life. In case that seems like a task, make them feel special. Educate them about their problem and let them know they are not alone in this journey.
Make your presence felt so much that they don’t think of anyone else when they want to opt for your services.
However, don’t overwhelm them with too many emails. One email weekly or bi-monthly is suitable if your content is good.
What are the kinds of lead generation strategies you can use?
The list of lead generation strategies is exhaustive. You can be as creative as you like when attracting a lead’s attention and making them share their email.
The big idea is to create compelling content that leads will find valuable.
Here are some of the tried and tested lead-generation strategies that work.
Video Series
No other form of content allows you to consume content faster than a video. Therefore, a video series is a great hook to get your visitors’ attention and make them aware that your offerings are what they have been looking for.
You can start with an ungated video (which means anyone can access it) about the problem they are facing. Then the solution video is gated (meaning they have to give their email to view it). Gated videos require visitors to submit their contact information to watch. By doing this, you keep building the list while also reducing your website’s bounce rate!
PDFs
PDFs in the form of ebooks, templates, journals, and other content are the most commonly used lead-generation strategies.
At the end of blogs, you can add these resources as a ‘Free Bonus.’ PDFs do wonders on any page of your website when you have the right content, sharing value your visitors are looking for.
Quizzes
Another great way to get email ids from visitors is by hosting a free quiz on your website. At the end of the quiz, ask for the email id to which you will send the detailed report of the quiz taken.
You can put different types of quizzes which will help you in lead generation and classify leads based on their area of interest.
Demo classes or session
Everyone likes free stuff! When you offer a free session, most visitors sign up for it by trading their contact information. What better way to add value to your leads while getting all the necessary details?
Conclusion
To generate leads for your practice, start by identifying your customers and your consumers. Remember that not every time people looking for your services will be the ones needing your services.
Build a strategy to attract leads and educate them with helpful and actionable content. Then, give a clear call to action so that people know how to reach you once they find you.