Why You Need a Lead Generator
Did you know: For every dollar you spend on email marketing, you get a $42 return?
Yes, $42. That’s an extraordinarily high return on investment.
In fact, email marketing is one of the best uses for your advertising dollars, but it’s totally meaningless if you don’t have anyone to email. You need a list of potential leads—folks who are interested in what you have to offer and likely to support your business—before you can do anything.
How do you get that?
With a lead generator.
What’s a lead generator?
A lead generator is something valuable that you offer, for free, in exchange for an email address. This typically happens on a website, but can also happen in person if you have a shop, pop-up, or other physical space where you can collect email addresses.
In-person lead generators
What does an in-person lead generator look like? Here are a few examples:
A florist who is working to grow their client base.
Imagine you have a booth at a farmer’s market and you want to encourage shoppers to think of you for all their florist needs. You raffle off a free bouquet at random to anyone who jots down their email—a lovely prize for virtually nothing!
In this case, the free bouquet is the lead generator.
A photographer who wants to break into a new sector.
Say you spend your days shooting headshots for corporate clients, but want to grow your business by breaking into the non-corporate world. Solution: Give your clients a chance to win a free photoshoot in exchange for an email address.
The lead generator here? The free shoot!
Home Depot looking to increase revenue. (This is an actual lead generator that our Communications Director participated in). Did you know The Home Depot offers free water testing kits for homeowners? You can grab a tester at check out, fill the vile, send it in to be tested, and find out what’s in your water—for free.
Except, of course, for the really valuable information you’re trading. Home Depot now knows three things about you:
You shop at Home Depot.
You own a home (projects, anyone?).
Your address.
You’re an ideal lead: They can mail you coupons and know you’re likely to come into their store to make a purchase.
ColorWord’s Communications Director recognized all these things before sending in a water sample, but you know what? She didn’t care. Because the lead generator was valuable enough to her that she was willing to exchange information to get it.
That’s a key factor to keep in mind: Whatever your lead generator is, it must be enormously valuable to your ideal client.
But what if you don’t have many opportunities to physically interact with your potential consumer, or you don’t offer a product or service like the ones above?
Online Lead Generators
Never fear, it’s absolutely possible to create a valuable lead generator in the virtual world. Just make sure you are solving a problem or titillating your audience’s curiosity with what you’re offering.
Here are some examples:
Write an E-Book
Okay, not everyone has time to write an e-book, but if you’re an expert in your field (as you no doubt are!), a short e-book is a great way to generate leads
Are you an event planner? Flesh out a few chapters on the do’s and don’ts of a successful party. A veterinarian? Write a beginner’s guide to pet care.
Whatever your topic, make sure you’re intimately familiar with it, which will make it quick and easy to write.
A PDF
Realistically speaking, this is what you’ll probably have time for: A beautifully designed, downloadable PDF full of helpful tips and tricks.
Examples of this could include:
A cocktail recipe that ColorWord Creative shared for the holidays.
Why are there so many file types, and which one should you use?
Which file type should you use in what circumstance? A helpful guide from a graphic designer in exchange for an email address = a perfect lead generator.
10 Holiday Mock-tail Recipes
A collection of recipes from a loose-leaf tea company, where every recipe features one of their teas.
8 Ways to Grow Wealth in Your 20s
Money tips from a financial advisor trying to break into the under-30 market.
A Quiz
No, not a Buzzfeed quiz that tells you which flavor of ice cream you are: A helpful, informative quiz that gives you the answers in exchange for an email address.
Will you have enough money to retire?
A financial guru could create a lead generator that serves as a preliminary assessment of someone’s finances. After all, who doesn’t wonder if they’ll have enough money to retire?
What’s your perfect capsule wardrobe?
Are you a personal stylist, or do you run a boutique? Create a quiz that will generate the ideal wardrobe based on a client’s unique answers.
These are just a few examples of how a lead generator can work, but the most important thing bears repeating: make it valuable.
It doesn’t matter if you’re providing a bundle of free stock images or a checklist with everything you need to go camping, it must be worth the cost of an email address.
Time to brainstorm!
Want help forming, writing, designing, or publishing your lead generator? Give us a shout!
OR are you ready to create an email campaign with the emails you’ve already collected? We can help with that, too.
Email us or click here to get started.
