Are you wondering, “How do I get free leads”? This post will give you 20 ground-breaking ideas that actually work!
Sales lead generation is something that every salesperson and company strives for. You can always spend money on a lead generation service, but then you are paying someone else hard-earned dollars for something you can take action on in-house, or through your web designer. Keeping that in mind, we have put together a list of ways to generate free sales leads.
20 Ideas to Get Free Sales Leads (That Actually Work)!
Why pay for outdated lists when you can create your lead generation? Below are the 20 ways to generate free leads.
1. Create a Press Release
One good way to get your message out and drive leads back to you is to issue a press release. By issuing news about a new product or service, you will be able to grab people’s attention, who are interested. Combine the press release with an invite to sign up on your website and you have accomplished capturing sales leads.
2. Market to Your Current Customers
Generating sales leads doesn’t mean you need to find new customers each time you reach out. Businesses sometimes forget about their current customers and are missing out on potential leads when they do. Here are a few ways to generate leads from already existing customers.
- Mail out flyers or reminder cards whenever a new product or service is provided by your business.
- Use email to remind customers you are there
- Create and then let your current customers know of any sales discounts you are offering
Read this great post on how online marketing is done so you can really understand how to get free leads in the process!
3. Make Sure You Are Listed in Online Directories
People search for business services online. Make sure you are listed on any online directories, especially for B2B leads. Companies use more than simple search engine inquiries in niche business types. There are many specialty directories you can sign up for at no cost to you.
PRO TIP: getting listed in online directories is a key part of local SEO. Find out how you rank by requesting a FREE SEO Audit here!
4. Use a Landing Page to Capture Leads
Landing pages are usually the first page you are directed to on a website. There is more of a purpose behind a landing page than artwork and information. To capture sales leads, companies use the landing page to place a “Join Us”, or similar button that leads to the visitor leaving information such as their name and email address. If you are not using a landing page in this way, you are costing yourself sales. If you are having someone design your website, make sure they are incorporating this into the platform.
PRO TIP: Request a FREE website audit and find out how your website is performing!
5. Use Videos and Webinars
Making yourself the authority in your industry is one of the best ways to gather customers. One way of doing this is to use webinars or information videos to give leads something they need for free. This can take place in the form of training, how to do it video, or merely sharing industry practices with others. Once people buy into a company’s authority and trust they are apt to be future customers.
6. Use SEO to Power Boost Your Leads
It doesn’t get much more cost-effective and brings long-term success like having great SEO strategically placed into a website. Using SEO costs only what time you spend creating it within a website. The return on investment you get is having SEO work for you 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, without doing anything else, besides updating it occasionally.
SEO, also known as search engine optimization, is not complicated. Keywords and phrases that potential customers are typing into search engines, like Google, are built into a website and blogs. The keywords and phrases are used by the search engine companies to rank your site. Outside of paid ads, SEO is why a website shows up on the front page of a Google search. Without hiring a good SEO company, your site will never be found by those searching. One of the best benefits of SEO is that when the keywords or phrases are created within a website, they continue to work for you day after day.
Here are some posts which will lead you in the right direction with SEO:
- When is SEO important
- How much does SEO cost
- How web design affects SEO
- How to choose the best SEO company
7. Add a Blog to Generate Leads
Blog posts do two things. One, they give you a place to add more SEO content and links to promote your site. Second, a blog gives the opportunity to connect to and inform your audience. By giving potential customers content in the form of a blog, helps create your site as an authority on the subject matter. This is especially true if the blogs are consistently produced and benefit those who are reading them.
As with videos and webinars, once you have established yourself as an authority in your related field through blog posting, users are more apt to consider purchasing your services or products.
8. Utilize Social Media
Social media platforms are a good way to bring leads to your website. In today’s world, people are fixated on social media apps. You can use this to your advantage by linking your website to social media posts to potential customers. Most social media platforms have some sort of “follow” button. Once people are connected to your social media, you have an audience ready to listen to you.
9. Web Design
Proper web design is more than nice eye-catching graphics. Hiring the right web design agency is crucial. A website should be designed to drive traffic to your products or services. A good web design will place lead capturing forms throughout the site. A landing page is a good starting point but utilize the entire site to capture customer data.
The site should work as a funnel to deliver sales leads to you. Have the site designed so that as you give free information, it entices the user to be engaged and seek more information. Of course, to access more information the site will require them to enter an email address, phone number, etc.
10. Create a Referral Program
People love to tell others about good experiences with companies they deal with, and they love a good deal. Create a referral program to reward anyone who recommended your business to others. The reward can be something you give away for free, or as simple as a discount to both parties.
11. Seek Reviews
Another great way to generate leads is to make sure your web design includes reviews of the company’s services or products. In many instances and scenarios, seeking reviews is referred to as reputation management. However, you can begin your own ORM campaign by informally asking for reviews too.
Anytime your company creates a sale, a review should be part of the purchase process. Receiving good reviews is so important, some companies offer future discounts for reviews after a purchase. Users who read positive reviews are more apt to purchase from a company that has posted them on their website.
12. Increase Funnel Size
When using platforms such as social media and blogs, we must look at them as tools to funnel leads to your business. This is done by placing links within these platforms to drive traffic back to your site. By strategically placing backlinks to your website in these platforms, potential sales leads can be driven to your site.
13. Use Backlinks on Platforms of Others
Backlinks to your website do not only need to be utilized on platforms you own but also on others. One way to do this is to trade links with others when both companies can benefit from the same customers. This type of sharing creates a larger platform for both companies to reach more leads.
14. Use Guest Blogs
In the same respect as sharing links with another company, you can also have links to your site placed in guest blogs. Find bloggers related to your business and ask them to link your company in some of their blogs. Outbound links are important for SEO to work properly, so many bloggers look for opportunities to collaborate on link sharing.
15. Design a Frequently Asked Questions Page
Creating a frequently asked questions page on your site not only answers potential customers’ questions, but it also has another benefit. Keeping people engaged within a site reduces the bounce rate of your site. By doing so, search engines will rank your site higher as part of SEO on search pages. It also increases your chances of visitors giving out their contact information.
16. Avoid Generic Website Templates
Creating a website with generic templates is fine for personal websites, but not for a business that wishes to be seen as accomplished. Professional designers know how to create a website to generate customers. Saving money by using cookie-cutter site-building, will only cost you more in the end.
17. Keep Your Site Simple
Keeping your site simplistic does not mean you do not give your potential customers the experience they need. The point is you do not want to overwhelm your audience with paragraph after paragraph of text information and use graphics that will slow your site down. If you have both of these, the site will not keep anyone’s attention. A web designer will utilize the white space on your site to break up content and add calls to action to generate sales leads. Keeping a website looking and operating simple is a strategic advantage a web designer knows how to build.
18. Create a Visual Voice
This strategy uses images and less text in your web design to generate interest and leads. A creative web designer will be able to create a site that is more navigable, and more interesting by using images to tell a story.
19. Start a Podcast
Starting your own podcast is similar to blogging. The point here is to create authority over your products or services. By becoming the expert that potential customers tune into to receive advice, a podcast can lead to future sales.
20. Use Analytics Across the Site
The only way to know if your website is generating the traffic and therefore the leads it needs is to use analytic tools. The point behind analyzing traffic is to see several key point indicators such as:
- The demographics of the site visitors
- How long are users on the site
- The purchase rate compared to visitors
- Most visited pages
- And more
Tracking users will help you tweak your website in the most efficient way to drive leads.
Conclusion
We hope that this post has been insightful in teaching you more about where and how you can get free leads. You now should have the answer to your question, “how do I get free leads?” and we wish you the best of luck!
