The second stage of Lead Generation is to generate interest in your business, products and services with those of your target market you’ve managed to reach and engage with in some way. The method/s you use to generate interest at this stage will depend on how you’ve managed to reach them in the first place. We’ve categorised the methods below with that in mind.
Online – Your Media
These are methods that utilise your website and other online media to generate interest.
Landing Page
Can include sales copy, demo video, sales video, testimonials, examples etc.
How: Information on the page generates interest and may be enough to take the visitor all the way through to an optin or even a sale. Beware that aggressive landing pages may not be approved by advertising platforms such as Facebook and Adwords
Content Page
E.g. Case study, news, information, story, video, podcast, quiz/poll
How: Information and interactive elements generate interest
Advertorial
This is a cross between a landing page and a content page
How: Will generate interest through the copywriting and information
In a conversation
E.g. a live chat feature
How: Live chat attendant can ask and answer questions to educate the potential customer and generate interest in your products and services
E.g. Outbound cold email
How: Give relevant and targeted information to generate interest
Social Interaction
E.g. Facebook post, Twitter, Google+, Linkedin etc.
How: Social media interactions often feel personal and help to build a relationship with the potential customer while educating them about your offering
Online – External Media
These are other online methods that happen within other people’s media.
Page with Information about your Business & Offering
E.g. a business directory listing, Google Place page
How: The information connects with the reader
Content page
E.g. a guest post, interview, review etc.
How: The content is relevant and interesting to the reader
Other Content Medium
E.g. webinar, podcast, video
How: The content is relevant and interesting to the listener, viewer
Advertisement
E.g. banner ad, video ad, Adwords etc.
How: The ad content is relevant and connects with the reader/ viewer enough to generate interest without them having to click through to a landing page, although taking them to this additional step wouldn’t hurt
Word of Mouth
E.g. in a forum, email exchange, community etc.
How: The mention, suggestion or recommendation by others is enough to generate interest in your products, services and business
Remarketing
Via Adwords, Adroll etc.
How: Someone who’s previously visited your website but wasn’t fully engaged can be remarketed to while visiting other websites via a remarketing cookie
Offline
These are interest generating methods that take place in the offline world.
In Person Conversation
E.g. at a networking event
How: Generate interest by talking to them face to face
Phone Conversation
E.g. During an outbound cold call
How: Present information and answer questions to generate interest
Word of Mouth
E.g. at a networking event, business meeting, regular conversation etc.
How: The mention and explanation of your offering by another is enough to generate interest
Advertisement
E.g. TV, radio, print
How: The content of the advertisement is interesting and engaging enough to generate interest in your offering
Advertorial
E.g. infomercial or print advertorial
How: The combination of information and sales can generate interest and even take the visitor all the way through to a lead capture or sale
Presentation
E.g. seminar, lecture, conference etc.
How: You are the centre of attention and have the position of authority so your words will have the opportunity to generate interest in yourself and, by extension, your business
Editorial
E.g. news story, magazine article
How: The authority lent from the medium as well as the content can generate interest in your business and offering
Your Marketing Materials
E.g. Signage, flyers, brochures, direct mail
How: the content of the marketing materials is enough to generate interest
What’s Next?
The objective of all of these methods of generating interest is to get the potential customer interested enough that they become a lead. They’ll get to this point when they do one of the following;
- Voluntarily give you their contact details e.g. by handing over their business card or filling out an online form
- Call you
- Come to your store/office in person
- Indicate their interest after an outbound call or email
We’ll cover lead capture in more detail in the next part of this series.