6 Ways to Generate Leads Online

1.       Blogs

A blog is like an online opinion column where the author writes about a topic he or she has specialized knowledge about.  It’s generally written by one person and it’s understood that a blog is that person’s own point-of-view.   Blogs are one of the best ways to reach your customers because they contain lots of information.  People like reading them because they take an informal tone while at the same time provide useful information and advice.  What’s even better, blogs tend to rank well on the search engines which improves your SEO and boosts your rankings.  Blogs become an entrance point to your website and are a great gateway for introducing visitors to your company.

2.       Videos

People love watching videos.  If you need proof, just take a look at YouTube.  Millions of viewers watch millions of videos every day.  Videos are a great way for people to learn and a great way for you to attract potential customers to your site.

To use video for lead generation, the first thing you need to do is make a video.  Make your video something instructional that provides useful information to your clients.  The trick with these videos is to make it “useful, but incomplete.”  That way, people feel like they’re learning something, but they still don’t have quite enough information to do it themselves.  The next step in this process is to direct your customers to your website where they will find more informational articles or videos along with information about the product or service you offer.

3.       Quizzes

Quizzes are a fun way to get customers interested in what you have to offer.  To use this technique, create a quiz centered around your product or service.  Make it interactive and relative to your customers.  For example a weight loss company might create a quiz about the nutritional value of certain foods.  After the quiz has been completed, provide advice and information related to the topics covered and make suggestions for how that person can improve.

4.       Forums

Making use of forums in your industry is an excellent way to stay connected with your customer base, to scope out the competition and to generate leads.  Find a popular forum within your industry and create an account.  Right away, join in the discussion, making comments wherever you have something useful to say.  Once in a while (but not too often because people will start to think you’re spamming and you’ll lose credibility) comment about one of your own products and services and link to your website.  Make sure your comments are relevant to the discussion and not just there to give yourself some traffic.

5.       Articles

Writing articles and creating article writing campaigns is a great way to connect with people from all over.  Use a distribution site to send out your articles and they will get picked up by bloggers and article writers all over.  Make sure to include a short bio about yourself at the end of the article and a link to your website.   This way, when readers are finished with the article, they can visit your site for more information and to look at your products and services.

6.       Social Marketing

Social marketing is all the buzz these days.  If you want to get in on the action, choose two or three sites you want to get involved with and then make your presence known.  Before making your decision, be sure to check out the demographics of each site so as to ensure that you are reaching your target audience.  Once you’ve decided on your sites, create a page for yourself and fill it with content related to your business.  Update it regularly with useful content related to your industry and relevant links.  Don’t always direct people to your own website; be sure to include links to other sources as well.  This way you’ll gain credibility and people won’t see you as abusing the system.

How to Utilize Staff Strengths to Meet your Internet Marketing Goals

No matter what industry you’re in, everyone at the office is going to have different talents when it comes to internet marketing.  Some people are excellent writers and can write pages and pages of content in the blink of an eye.  Others are good at design and can effortlessly create custom banners and logos.  Still others are good with the camera and love taking pictures and videos.

Instead of creating a marketing plan and then forcing staff members to fit into that mold, do the opposite.  Allow staff talents to drive the direction of your internet marketing efforts.  Working this way will lead to a more well-rounded campaign that everyone will enjoy doing.

1.       Writing Content

Writing content is fundamental to internet marketing.   For most websites, written content makes up the bulk of the site and the content falls into two categories: informational and sales.  Informational content consists of free information put out on the web.  These articles give advice or tips on how to do something related to your business or industry.  But nowhere should you try to sell your product.  There are other places to sell and this isn’t one of them.  Informational content can include eBooks, articles and blog posts.

The other type of written content is sales.  You’re a business (or an organization or charity or church) and you need a place to tell your customers what you have to offer.  This is the place to do it.  Sales and marketing content should give your customers enough information about your product in order to make a buying decision.  Be sure to include a call to action at the end of the page and let customers know exactly what they should do next.

2.       Design

People who naturally love design are excellent assets to your e-marketing team.  They can make banners, landing pages and create flash videos to put on your site.  Creating different aspects of the site, while keeping with the branding of your company will add flare to your website and help keep customer’s interest in the company and the site.

On the surface, it may not seem like design is an important part of internet marketing, but in fact it is.  Good design that is clean, simple and professional helps with your e-marketing in that it builds credibility for the site.   Design is part of positioning yourself as an expert in your field.  It allows clients to feel comfortable with you and your product and will encourage them to return to your site for more information and eventually to buy your products.

3.       Videos

If you’re lucky enough to have someone on your staff who enjoys making videos you will be able to reach a much larger audience.   Different people have different styles of learning and many people learn best through videos.  Adding instructional or informational videos to your website will provide another kind of content for your customers.

The beauty about videos is that they work overtime for you.  Not only can you post your video directly on your website, but you can also post it on YouTube, where millions of viewers are likely to find you.  At the end of the video make sure to include your URL and direct viewers to your website for more related information.   “How to” and instructional videos are excellent to put on your site because people are always looking for information on the web.   Additionally, you can transcribe the content of the video and publish it as an article or a blog post.  Now when people search for your topic, your transcription will also be indexed, boosting your SEO.