How to Generate More Leads with Freebies and Giveaways
A business plan is incomplete without details on target segments and methods of creating leads. In simpler words, before launch a business has to determine whom to sell and how to sell to them. These two factors form the basis for a business to remain profitable in the long run and will help you generate more leads. More than any other factor for success, a business has to continuously work on bringing in a steady stream of new customers. A business can learn to accommodate a surge of new customers but it can never operate without a steady inflow of new business.
Bringing in visitors through advertisements, promotions, social media, content marketing strategies, search engines, etc. is easy but it isn’t easy to convert them into customers or leads. A casual visit can be turned into a lead if users voluntarily give you their contact information. They are more likely to give you their contact information in exchange of something they need. Freebies are perfect tools for creating leads for small businesses that have hit the limits of their budget and limitations.
Here are the top 3 effective freebies for creating new leads that work for all types of online businesses.
Videos: There is no doubt that videos are the best tool for user engagement. In this day and age, customers prefer to view a video instead of reading text. Short, to the point videos that are related to your business are perfect for user engagement. They can create leads by encouraging viewers to take an action. Tutorials or general advice videos can even attract your competitor’s customers. From product introductions, to advertisements and funny videos, you can create different types of videos that resonate with your customer base. They can even be used for brand building.
Here are a few companies that offer promotion video services:
Creating high quality videos can be expensive but if you have the right tools you can make your own videos. With social media, you never know which video will be your business’ ticket to instant popularity. You can use videos to achieve a number of goals. However, the end result should always be to create leads by calling for some sort of action. You can use your videos to convince your users to make a purchase immediately or collect their email address and create a lead that can be used in the future.
eBooks: Creating an eBook with evergreen content is a one time investment for a business as it is capable of creating leads for a long period of time. It also offers value to your customers. eBooks are convenient and they seem to be the new phenomena on the internet. Customers looking to collect information find it easier to download an eBook instead of making dozens of bookmark of different web pages. You can create leads by providing the download link to your eBook in an email. Unlike newsletter subscriptions, the numbers show that users are more likely to give you their email for a download link to the eBook.
If you already have a blog, you can simply pull your existing content and organize it into an eBook. It is important for you to portray yourself as an industry expert to leave an impression on visitors and win first time customers. And eBooks are the perfect tools for a business to display its expertise over its area of operation and industry. As it turns out, eBooks are nowhere as expensive as videos.
Podcasts: Podcasts are the next gen newsletters! You can make interesting podcasts related to your business and industry to easily reach prospective customers and create leads. You can not only get your prospective customer’s email address during the signup process but engage with them in every episode of your podcast and call for an action. Interesting content can help you attract hundreds of listeners and they are all prospective customers.
People like to listen to podcasts while they are on their way to work, in the gym or out for a jog. A 5 – 10 seconds advertisement with a call to action can be easily plugged into a Podcast when you have their attention. Episodes can be released as frequently as you can produce them.
You can also combine these freebies to generate more leads. For example, in your videos or podcasts you can include a link to your eBook or provide steps to get the eBook by signing up with a valid email address. Or you can include a link to your podcasts in your eBook. Don’t forget to include a “Share To” social media link along with your freebies to increase your reach.
