If you think about where your customers come from, you may think about cold calling, online marketing, and referrals. But potential clients behave differently based on where they’re coming from. For example, a referral lead would be easier to work with than a cold call lead because they are already familiar with you and your business. This means you don’t need as much time to introduce yourself and prove the value you can add, compared to other types of leads. It’s important to understand the type of lead you’re dealing with so you can tailor your follow-ups and interactions with them. Here are the key things you need to know about your online leads!
What are online leads?
An online lead is someone that came across your business, through your online marketing, and filled out a form with their contact information. They could have come across a Facebook advertisement and filled out the form to learn more about it. Maybe they were on your website’s homepage and decided to reach out to you via the lead capture bubble. There are also many other lead capture tools on your Avenue website that your leads can engage with.
Online marketing is important because it puts your brand in front of a new audience and allows you to reach new prospects outside of your direct reach. This widens your potential market and increases the pool of people you can work with. It also gives you targeting capabilities that no other form of marketing offers. You can decide exactly who sees your advertising, using the vast amount of information that Facebook & Google collects on its users to your advantage.
Follow up, follow up, follow up
While these online leads have interacted with your brand or your website in some way, they’re not necessarily familiar with you or your business. They were simply interested enough to leave their information in order to learn more. Once they do, it is now up to you to engage with them and build a relationship. It’s important to show them the value you can add from the start and nurture these leads, as you would do with prospects that call your office to inquire about a service or ask for a quote.
To turn your lead into your client, it is important to show them the value you can provide! Online leads have given you their contact details and likely some information about what they are looking for. Use this to your advantage! Drop them an email with some of your past projects that match what they are looking for!
Multiple Touchpoints
Is one email or one call enough? Not at all! Your potential client may be looking into a multitude of service providers! You need multiple touchpoints to stand out and show your expertise. A touchpoint is any direct interaction with the lead, such as leaving a voicemail, sending an email, or a live conversation on the phone.
While the number of touchpoints varies based on the type of interaction, industry, etc., 6 touchpoints is a good place to start and adjust as needed. This doesn’t mean you should reach out multiple times in a day or every day. It just means you have to be persistent in your communication. Experiment with the number of touchpoints and find what works best for you. Regardless of how many times you decide to engage your leads, just know that one initial reach out is generally not enough.
Your online presence
Sometimes, people can focus too much on the number of leads, but this is only one part of the equation. Your online presence is what your leads engage with before and after leaving their information, and this starts with your website. Stay on top of it and make sure it’s relevant, up to date and on-brand.
- Review your testimonials and look at driving more reviews from previous clients.
- Update your contact information and make it easy for them to reach you.
- Write useful content on your blog regularly about the local market to show off your expertise.
All these steps build trust with your online leads and make them more likely to leave their information.
Build a relationship with your online leads through your social media channels. Post at least once a week, and make sure you are responsive to their comments and messages. All these channels help you show your expertise, be personable and relatable, and keep you top of mind until they are ready to hire you.
Next up: Read our article on “When to follow up with your online leads”!