We’ve all seen listicles with the same old tips to generate leads. But sometimes you want to mix things up. Utilizing creative lead generation solutions can take your target audience by pleasant surprise and might just impress them enough to follow up for more information.
Looking for some creative lead generation strategies? Here are some of our favorites:
#1. Interview the Stars of Your Industry For Insights
If a simple whitepaper or ebook with tips for success isn’t getting you the leads you wanted, consider reaching out to some of the big names in your industry. Ask to conduct an interview and get their success story.
This is effective for a number of reasons. First, it’s more personal than a simple list of tips on how to be successful. It’s coming from a person’s firsthand account. Interviews also tend to feel more exclusive and unique, because they’re an interaction that only happens once. Readers also love to hear about a success story. It can encourage them to learn about someone who was once in their position and went on to become successful, especially with concrete tips.
#2. Create a Free Tool or Template
Running dry on ideas for content that you can offer your target audience? Why not offer them a resource instead? A free tool is a great way to drive interest towards your website and hook audiences into becoming leads.
A free tool can be something like an image creator, a keyword search tool, or a template for a legal document. It should be something the user can utilize for free, no commitments necessary. However, to generate a lead, you should somewhat limit access. For instance, if you have a keyword search tool, you might show the first ten results and hide the rest. An image creator or a template might create two free images or documents.
To access the full function of the tool, the user may need to download a demo, register an account, or sign up for a plan. This offers them a taste of your offerings for free, as well as giving them something truly useful, as an incentive to follow up for more.
#3. Share Stories From Your Own Company
Instead of simply offering general tips and information, draw inspiration for your lead generation content from a source that is closer to home. Share stories of experiences that your company has had that might be entertaining and useful to the reader. Interview members of your team or new employees. This can help your audience get to know your company not as a company, but as a group of people. Lead conversion will feel less like a business decision and more like a connection.
#4. Foster a Community
Create a space where your customers can interact with your brand and be heard. This could be a Facebook group, a rewards app, or a forum where they can interact. You might even host an event where you ask for ideas from your customers and reward the best idea. This all helps to paint your business as customer centric, which can make a lead conversion that much more appealing to the customer. After all, customer-centric businesses have been proven to be 60% more profitable.
#5. Create Video Tutorials
Rather than giving your audience a long wall of text to read, consider a video tutorial. A video tutorial can help to put a face to your business, as well as offering an engaging and visual way to learn a new skill. Video tutorials also give you the opportunity to develop another form of lead generation, by inviting viewers to subscribe to your YouTube channel, where they can get more content. The more your brand is in front of them, the more likely they will be to think of you when they need your products or services.
#6. Use a Referral Program
Referral programs are classic, and with good reason. By offering discounts or rewards, you incentivize your customers to do much of the lead generation for you. It also encourages new members to join when their friends and family refer them, as they can also benefit from a discount.
But there are still creative ways to go about a referral program. Rather than offering a discount (though this is always a good call), you might offer them an upgrade to a higher package if someone uses their referral code. You could also enter their name into a contest in addition to the discount, with the contest offering a greater prize to a limited number of loyal customers. You could create referral incentives for special events or even seasonal referral incentives, just to keep things fresh.
