Your company can only survive with a steady flow of customers. That is why it is critical to use effective lead-generation techniques to increase your customer base and sales.
In this article, we look at 10 proven ways to bring in more customers in a timely and cost-effective way.
What is email marketing lead generation?
Email lead generation is a method of collecting leads by using an email opt-in form. It all comes down to gathering information about potential customers, such as their names and email address.
An email lead generation strategy, however, does not stop with the lead capture form. It also entails strategically nurturing leads in order to convert them into customers.
Why is a lead generation strategy necessary?
Having an email lead generation strategy in place is critical for businesses looking to expand their customer base and increase sales. Without an effective lead generation system, your company will struggle to make sales and grow.
However, with the proper lead generation strategy in place, you will be able to nurture your audience and guide them to the ultimate conversion from prospect to paying customer.
According to research, more than 48% of marketers believe that email marketing is the most effective strategy for generating online leads.
A good lead generation strategy can also help your company in the following ways:
- It allows you to target your desired customers
- It aids in increasing brand awareness.
- More leads translate into more customers, which translates into more revenue.
While there are many useful lead generation strategies, such as the LinkedIn lead generation strategies listed here, the focus of this article is on email marketing in particular.
Email marketing strategies for increased lead generation
Now that you understand the significance of having a lead generation strategy for your company, let’s look at the various methods you can use to attract new sales leads.
The ten email lead generation techniques listed below can help you generate a steady stream of leads for your business.
1. Use lead scoring to maximize your efforts.
The ability to reach the right people with the right message at the right time is an important part of marketing. Lead scoring can assist you in accomplishing this by ensuring that you capture higher-quality prospects.
Lead scoring is a method of sorting and prioritizing leads. It’s an efficient method for obtaining qualified leads who are more likely to respond to your emails.
Using email automation to score leads is one way to use lead scoring in your marketing.
For example, if a potential customer has already viewed a specific product on your website, you are more likely to convert them with an email offering them a 25% discount on that product.
If the visitor isn’t already on your list, you can take advantage of the situation by displaying an exit intent popup as they leave the product page.
2. Create clear and concise emails
The design of your email is critical when it comes to lead generation. Emails should be clean and concise, and they should not be overly long. Excessive detail in the design of the templates can detract from your message. Here are a few best practices to keep in mind when designing emails:
- Plain fonts: Your emails should be simple and straightforward. They should be easy to read, so use plain fonts.
- Simple Design: Select a clean, simple template design that will make your emails easy to read. This will assist you in generating more leads.
- Text formatting: Use well-spaced, concise wording and highlight important information to make your email content as easy to digest as possible for your subscribers.
- Clear CTA: Your call-to-action button should be easy to see and click on, especially for mobile readers.
3. Learn to use subject lines to catch people’s attention.
It’s critical to think outside the box when it comes to inspiring curiosity or urgency to click. Use elements such as bold, italic font, and emojis to draw your audience’s attention to the most important part of your email – the subject line.
This tactic can significantly improve the success of your email campaign by increasing email open rates and, as a result, customer conversion rates.
For example, if you started a sports blog and had an email list of engaged contacts, you should focus heavily on current sports news to connect with your audience. To go even further, you should leave a hint of curiosity to engage the subscribers.
4. Always include a clear call to action (CTA)
Every email should have a single clear and compelling CTA that readers can easily act on. In order to include a strong CTA in your emails, use creative language that will catch your readers’ attention and encourage them to act.
CTAs with an element of urgency, excitement, or mystery are the most effective. They are difficult to ignore and encourage readers to take action, assisting you in increasing conversions.
Listed below are a few ways to help you get more action from your CTAs:
- Use action-oriented text: Use text such as “Get the Discount,” “Reserve Your Spot,” “Try for Free,” and so on to draw the reader in and compel them to take action.
- Keep it brief: As a general rule, keep your CTA text to two to three words. You can use up to five or six if necessary, but no more.
- Use phrases like “Shop Now!” “3 Spots Left”, and “60% Off Today Only” to create urgency in your CTAs and increase click-through rates.
5. Make use of content upgrades and gated content.
You can use content upgrades and gated content to turn your most valuable content into an email collection tool.
Gated content is content that your visitors can access only after providing their contact information. You can use gated content as a non-intrusive content upgrade to entice your readers to subscribe to your email list.
For example, after a visitor reads a blog post, you can suggest that they download a relevant article, ebook, report, etc. in exchange for their email address. This will not only help you make more money blogging in the long run, but it will also help you grow an email list in the short run.
This type of content is beneficial because it encourages lead generation. Because they are contextual and relevant, content upgrades are especially effective. Because the reader’s interest is predetermined, they are more likely to convert.
6. Make use of social media channels
Your social media channels can be an effective tool for growing your email list. You can add a CTA to your profiles and schedule daily posts to help promote your free download and generate leads on autopilot.
Here are a few more ways to use your social accounts to grow your email list:
- Add content upgrades to your blog posts, and then promote them on Pinterest to grow your traffic and your audience.
- Add a sign-up button and opt-in form to your Facebook page to give people even more ways to join your mailing list.
- To grow your list faster, use promoted pins and Facebook ads.
- Include click-to-tweet buttons in your content upgrades so that subscribers can share your lead magnets with their networks, increasing your reach.
7. Use email automation
Email automation is the process of using email software to send bulk emails to specific recipients at specific times.
Automation enables you to automate your email marketing strategies and free up more of your time. Email automation also enables automatic personalization, which aids in the improvement of email campaigns.
Specific triggers can be used to send the right emails to the right subscribers at the right time. Customers who do any of the following could be potential triggers:
- Subscribe to your email list
- Purchase one of your products
- Sign up for a webinar.
- Sign up for a service
As evidenced by the graph below, automation makes email one of the simplest and most effective lead-generation tactics available.
8. Split test to increase open and click-through rates
Split testing your emails is essential for improving your copy and strategy. There is always room for improvement, and by testing different versions of your emails, you will be able to identify the best-performing emails in order to increase conversion rates.
Decide what you need to test first for each email you want to test. This could be any of the elements, such as the CTA, subject line, body text, images, or email message layout.
Once you’ve decided which elements to test first, you can start the test using the built-in AB testing tools in your email marketing software.
9. Provide valuable content
Instead of sending “fluff content” just to send an email, provide usefully, targeted content that will keep your email list subscribers engaged.
Always prioritize value over everything else. To create valuable content, simply identify your audience’s major pain points and create intent-based content around them.
For example, if your audience’s biggest challenge is establishing a profitable online business, you could create high-quality content that answers the question “How to build a successful site from scratch,” then divide it into sections and distribute it via email.
10. Incentivize referrals from current subscribers
Putting your existing customers and subscribers to work for you is one of the best ways to generate leads for your business.
In order to encourage your current subscribers to refer their friends to your email list, offer appealing rewards. This is a lot easier than trying to convince them to refer customers to buy your products.
If you offer an appealing reward, such as a small discount on a future purchase, or any other similar benefit, you are more likely to see higher conversions. Make sure that what you offer is worth their while, and your subscribers will be happy to promote your list to their circle of family and friends.
Finally, whatever email database you create, I strongly advise you to download the contacts to your computer on a regular basis. Although many email platforms have their own databases, I do this myself to ensure that I have a backup in case the platform you’re using has problems. If that redundancy fails, as it did for me previously, you can recover your data using recovery software.
Summary
Each of the ten techniques listed above has been shown to be effective over time, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. Implement them in your email marketing and begin expanding your customer base right away.
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