How to Get More Leads Without Spending More on Ads

In this digital age, the success of any business depends on the volume and quality of leads it generates. Generating highly qualified leads does not mean that you have to spend more and more on ads. There are many other strategies, outside the world of paid advertising, that can help you drive quality leads in large volumes.

So, what are these strategies and how you can use them? Find out the answers in this guide.

1. Referral Programs

Referral programs involve asking your customers to spread the word about your brand. Referral-based lead generation is about generating higher quality leads and not just more leads. It has a high success rate because people tend to trust suggestions from those they know.

You should use the following strategies to generate large numbers of high-quality leads:

i. Create a Referral Network

This involves creating a large group of people who are ready to refer others to your brand. This includes the following factors:

• Current Customers: Encourage your existing customers to spread the word about your business and how they feel about it.
• Social Media: Leverage the power of platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn to connect with your referral sources to spread the word.
• Incentives: Provide incentives such as discounts and promotions to encourage people to refer your brand to others.

Make sure to stay in constant touch with your referral sources, keep them informed of your products or services, and offer value in return for referrals.

ii. Offer Incentives

People are highly likely to refer a brand to their network if they can receive something in return for their actions. Offering incentives is an excellent way of driving more leads without the need to spend on ads.

A few examples of the different types of incentives that can work include:

• Non-Monetary Incentives: You can offer special promotions, free services, or special access to your products or services when people refer others to your brand.
• Loyalty Programs: Offer bonuses and rewards to customers who have been loyal and refer others to your brand.
• Contests: This can be a more fun way to encourage referrals. Offer a special prize to anyone who refers the most people in a contest.

2. Local SEO

Local SEO is important for any business that intends to drive leads from their targeted local markets. When you optimize your website for local search, there is a very high chance your target audience will find your business when searching for your products or services.

Local SEO helps build credibility and trust. When your brand appears at the top of local SERPs, your potential customers will see you as a trustworthy and reputable business. Thus, local SEO has a big impact on building brand loyalty and generating high-quality leads.

Follow these strategies to leverage the power of local SEO for lead generation:

i. Conduct Keyword Research

Research and identify keywords and key phrases that your local potential customers are using to search for your products or services. Use the keywords to create content that addresses their needs and interests. This can help strengthen your local search rankings and attract more high-quality leads. You can hire an SEO agency or conduct keyword research using tools such as Google Keyword Planner. Besides researching keywords, it is also important to find and analyze search phrases people use to find your business. 

ii. Optimize Your Website

You will also have to optimize your website to make it more visible and appealing to your target audience in your local markets. The following elements can help you in optimizing your website for local SEO:

• Create Local Landing Pages: Target specific keywords on these landing pages by creating informative and high-quality content focused on your local audiences’ needs. 
• Add Schema Markup: Use schema markup to identify info such as your business name, physical address, and contact modes. This can help boost your website’s visibility in local search results, helping generate more leads.

Additionally, you should ensure you have a responsive website that loads fast, uses high-quality images and videos, and provides a great user experience (UX).

3. Create High-Quality Local Content

When you create local content that addresses the needs of your local target audience, you are highly likely to generate more leads. Informative and rich content can help in the following ways:

• Boost your website’s visibility in local search results
• Establish your brand as a trusted authority in your niche and the local market
• Attract a larger number of high-quality leads

When developing local content, make sure the following questions are addressed about your target audience:

• What are their needs and interests?
• What kind of information are they searching for?
• What are the most frequent questions about your products or services?

It is recommended to develop local content in different forms including:

• Articles
• Blog posts
• Infographics
• Videos
• Social media posts

Additionally, you can leverage social media to draw the attention of local customers and build backlinks and citations from local organizations.

4. Optimize Your Google Business Profile (GBP)

Google Business Profile (GBP) is integral to your local SEO presence. It has a crucial role in helping generate qualified leads. Its importance has especially grown due to the growing prevalence of online searches in place of offline browsing.

Consider the following stats to understand how important it is to claim and build your GBP profile:

• 64% or almost 2 in 3 businesses already have verified GBP profiles
• These businesses receive, on average, over 1800 monthly views
• A quarter of these verified businesses get 50-plus monthly calls originating from their Google Business Profile

It is not just enough to have a GBP profile because of the ever-growing competitive local SEO landscape. You should also make the most of the tools that it offers. 

So, make sure to follow these tips to benefit from the features of Google Business Profile:

• Ensuring consistency and accuracy within your NAP data. NAP refers to your business’ name, address, and phone number.
• Select the right business category. The primary category on GBP is the most important local pack ranking factor. GBP categories provide Google and your audience information on the types of services your business offers.
• Provide comprehensive business information. Make sure all the relevant details are included in your business listing. For example, if you have a restaurant, provide info on dining arrangements, takeaways, and in-house amenities.
• Include important keywords in your business description. Make sure the business description is short, professional, and easy to read. Update the description regularly to avoid outdated information.
• Link your website. Make sure to include your website information within your GBP, as this can help you generate direct leads to your website from within your GBP profile.
• Upload images, videos, and posts. According to Google, businesses with images in their GBP profile are 42% more likely to get requests for directions. It can also increase CTRs by 35%, on average.

It is further recommended to create Google posts and Q&As, drive more customers to leave Google reviews, and enable direct booking using the ‘Reserve with Google’ feature.

Optimize Your Website

Optimizing your website is perhaps the most important step you can take as part of your lead conversion efforts. Keep in mind that all the organic traffic you produce cannot help generate enough leads if your website has not been properly optimized.

When it comes to capturing the leads on your website, it is important to address two important elements – calls to action and forms. Properly optimized calls to action can encourage visitors to take the desired actions whether it is downloading an eBook or whitepaper or filling out a form. 

More effective calls to action (CTA) buttons are clear to read, bold, and above the fold. When you keep your CTAs on top of the page, you keep them top of mind. Once a visitor clicks the CTA, make sure the form asks for only the most vital information. Keep the form fields to the minimum to increase your conversion rates.So, make sure to follow these steps and tips to generate more leads without spending more on ads. Lead generation requires investing your time and effort in a wide range of strategies. The ones mentioned above can give a big boost to your constant streams of leads, delivering consistent and high-quality results. For more information and assistance on lead generation, SEO, and online advertising, it is recommended to get in touch with Clear Imaging, Inc. Give us a call at 1(800) 380-6942 or send us a message using this Online Form.