12 Ways To Generate Sales and Leads [The Most Practical Ways]

It's not easy to generate sales leads without learning the ins and outs of marketing strategies. And even if you know the strategy and create an extensive campaign to generate buzz, if you don't actually sell any products in the end, it means you are not generating profitable leads that you should be expecting. Today I will discuss how to generate sales and leads in the most practical way.

#1 Analyze Your Visitomers

Before you do anything, you need to find out who your current visitomers are from Google Analytics and also your existing email list, in order to decide whether they are your desired prospects or not. Your existing email list can tell you the location of each subscriber. Google Analytics can tell you a lot more; age, gender, interests and behavior such as how long they stay on your page. For example,

• If you only trade in the USA but the majority of your site visitors or current leads are from the rest of the world, you are unlikely to make any sales.
• If your website sells make-up items, then very few of your male subscribers are likely to make a purchase.
• If they only stay on your page for less than 10-20 seconds, it means the content of your page is uninteresting.

Don't be afraid of unsubscribing unresponsive leads. Also alter your content accordingly. Your efforts will produce better user experience, hence the results that you are looking for.

#2 Create A Landing Page That Makes People Look Twice

A landing page is where your visitors are directed to by clicking a link, and the visitors should get the information about the service you provide from that page. Your lead generation form (sign up with your email newsletter) should be placed there, and in which case the page is also called a lead generation page. The most effective landing page should be,

• With a headline in large font that contains a clear message to your visitors.
• Sub-headline to encourage readers to click call-to-action or opt-in to subscribe.
• The content should not be too long, explain your business or product using the minimum number of words. No decorative words (for example, expressions such as "join the next generation's utility management service", does not explain what it is.)
• It should not sound aggressive, nor weak/negative.
• The page should load fast. Don't use an outdated landing page builder or website theme. Images that you place should also be optimized adequately, as a large file will slow down the loading speed.
• The call-to-action should be large so that your visitor will never miss.
  The most important element (either call-to-action or lead generation) should be placed above the fold.

Also Read: How To Create A Landing Page For Free

#3 Create Content That Sparks Intrigue

If you simply try to sell, the visitors will only have the choice of two. To buy or not to buy. But if you provide high-quality and helpful content according to their needs, they will at least check your advice and decide if it's of use to them or not.

The most important contributing factor to make a connection between your business and your visitors is trust. The content that gains trust should be a how-to guide, a tutorial or a list, and it can be in a text format, video or infographic. If the content is useful, honest and sincere, it will create a highly effective engaging factor.

#4 Share Secrets In Exchange For Subscription

If you simply say "subscribe to our weekly newsletter to receive updates", it doesn't actually explain what kind of value you are offering to the visitors. The invitation words should be more meaningful and it should offer value.

At least to say "to receive subscribers-only discount offers". Also offering a freebie is a good idea, as long as the freebie such as an ebook is related to your product/service niche.

#5 It's Not The Number Of Leads

Quality, not quantity. Offering a freebie in exchange for subscription may be a good idea at a certain extent, but if your leads are the wrong type of audience or they don't have an intention to buy products in the first place, there is no point in keeping them in.

They can keep the free goods that you offer, but you can explain to them at an early stage of the autoresponder sequence that who your service is suitable for, and tell them that they're welcome to unsubscribe otherwise. (Never tell them abruptly, but explain as nicely as you can.)

#6 Install A Live Chat / Chatbot

A live chat box is another effective way to generate sales and leads. It will add credibility to your page, and it will show the visitors that your business is ready to help them.

The best thing about a live chat is normally it requires the visitor's name and email address before they can join the chat. So you can integrate the chat login with your email marketing service and let them opt-in. However you are required to make this clear and ask them for permission to send your newsletters.

Unless you employ a customer service agent, it will be impossible to run a live chat 24/7. In which case you can use a chatbot instead. A chatbot as you can imagine, is a robot therefore can prepare the answer for a limited number of frequently asked questions. For that reason, my advice is to clearly explain it before a user can join the chat in order to avoid annoying them. For example;

• A live agent will answer questions between 9am - 3pm EST.
• In other time, it will be a chatbot who can answer as much as it can.
• And the support agent will email back to the user as soon as possible (up to 6 hours, for example).

Also Read: Chat With A Chatbot – How Interesting Can It Be?

#7 Run Surveys

Running a survey is a great way to let users join in your circle. Anyone will be interested in sparing a minute a two as long as your survey questions are interesting, short and clear.

Surveys can help you improve your business however, the key is not to keep asking the participants about your business. Focus more on them, less on you. You will not receive constructive answers from typical, broad questions such as "How do you think we can improve our service?" Many of them will leave that box out. Only a few people who are either kind or opinionated/negative might answer, which will not necessarily reflect the majority's opinion.

The good thing is you can share the survey results on social media, which may appeal to new users and drive more traffic to your site.

Also Read: Best Online Survey Maker: ResponseSuite To Generate Leads

#8 Run Prize Competitions

Another way to generate sales and leads is to run contents. For a chance of winning a prize, people are happy to provide their personal information. You can either simply ask them to opt in in exchange for entering a prize draw, or you can ask for a few simple survey questions at the same time.

Another idea is you can run the competition in your closed Facebook group. With this way, you can draw them into your group where other discount offers are announced and some helpful tips are regularly posted.

The prize that you offer should be something that's related to your business in order to attract the right target leads. Again, the winning results can be announced across multiple social media, which will help draw new potential customers' attention.

#9 Ask Existing Customers To Leave A Testimonial

If your existing customer is happy with the service you provide, and if you offer something in exchange, they will be happy to leave a few lines of testimonial.

What you must never do is to blackmail them - offering a product for free in exchange for a testimonial. Because while it may seem like a good idea on a temporary basis, you cannot continue to ask everyone for that kind of special deal. It will damage your reputation otherwise.

Instead, you can explain some of the extremely happy customers that you would like to share their good experience with new visitors, and perhaps offer a discount or free goods discreetly.

If you'd like to be completely transparent, you can also ask some unhappy customers to write a review that contains a few negative points. 91% of 18-34 old consumers trust online reviews and 80% of them have written online reviews.

Don't forget to respond to each and every review (positive and negative), and explain what you are trying to do to improve your service.

#10 Ask Them To Share

Social share buttons should be large enough so that the existing users can easily share your content across social media.

The buttons should not only be placed on your landing page and every blog page but also in your email messages. When your existing leads share your newsletter content, especially if it's about a seasonal discount offer or prize competition, the buttons will help your business receive more attention of new users.

My advice is to actually ask them "to share". Because social buttons can be seen in almost every website, people will naturally tend to ignore them. Don't be afraid to say "please share this news with your friends and followers, so that as many people can enjoy the benefits!"

#11 Offer A Referral/Affiliate Commissions

You can provide a unique referral link to each of your existing customers and offer a discount. For example, introduce a $5 discount voucher for first-time buyers. Each time your customer refer to their friend, $5 will be deducted from their first purchase, and also your customer will receive a 10% discount on their next purchase.

You can also join an affiliate network and advertise your business. Affiliates are your powerful sales force, who can spread the word quickly and in a larger scale by writing a review of your products on their website, sending campaigns to their own email subscribers, and also by promoting your products across social media on your behalf for a commission.

If you're offering an affiliate program, it should be advertised on your site, so that internet marketers who are a fan of your products can find the presence of it.

Make sure the referral/affiliate link destination is your landing page with a lead generation form so that it will give any of the new visitors a chance to become your subscriber.

#12 Ask Bloggers To Review

As well as affiliates, bloggers can also help you increase your leads and sales. You can search for other products that are similar to yours and find the reviewers. Contact them, ask them to test your product and publish a review post. If you offer them the product for free, most of them will be happy to do so. Also make sure to let them know of the presence of your affiliate program.

12 Ways To Generate Sales and Leads: Conclusion

It's difficult to scale up your business and increase sales if you randomly advertise without a proper plan. What you need is relevant, high quality leads who can convert into actual buying customers. I hope the above tips will help you to succeed. If you have any questions, do let me know.