Every week I find that when it comes to marketing many people think purely in a lead generation scenario. They want some more work so they think the solution is to generate more leads. Sound familiar?
Now while of course lead generation is important, it is not the only way to gain more business and in fact, it is not always the most effective way.
As a marketing agency we create marketing strategies from a 10 point funnel and while I am not going to explain all 10 in today’s blog it is important to look at a few to demonstrate this point.
At the top of the marketing strategy is your brand perception. Do your customers and prospects align you with the type of service you want to offer?
As an example, we helped a landscaper change the imagery on his website as most of the images were of simple fence upgrades. This meant the leads he was generating were predominantly for fencing work when his speciality was landscaping. Those wanting Landscaping didn’t get in touch as they hadn’t aligned the website and brand with the correct service.
This was the same story for an electrician who wanted large contracts yet the first main image on the website was of someone changing a plug. Now while plug changing is, of course, an electrical job, displaying this first image may indicate the message “handyman” rather than “electrical contractor” so it is not going to help pick up larger corporate contracts.
What is your current conversion rate? Hopefully, you know this (if not, get in touch so we can create some tools for you).
If it is lower than you would like do you think it is wise spending time or money on generating new leads if, in fact, you are already getting enough but you are not converting them?
If you argue that you lose potential customers due to price, I would say we need to look at Brand and Perception first and then at the tools you use to nurture and demonstrate your value.
If everything was down to the price we would all drive the same cheap car, none of us would have an iPhone and every shirt we owned would be from Primark. It is not your price that is losing them, it is that you are either not demonstrating your value or you are going after the wrong prospects.
This is key to generating more work. Did you know that there is a 27% chance that a first-time purchaser will make a repeat or return purchase? You may think this is pretty good, but once a customer has made this second, or maybe even third purchase, the chances of them returning again goes up to 54%!
Do you have certain brands you keep going back to? Are you loyal to some over others?
With this in mind, it would be fair to say converting someone from a one time purchase to a second or a third-time purchaser should be high up on your priorities. Assuming you did a good job the first time, with a little bit of work this shouldn’t be that hard.
As you can see it is very easy to think you just need more leads to increase your turnover but in fact, there are many more ways to improve your business. From converting more of the leads you are already getting, to making sure that they buy more than once. These are great tactics that don’t require any extra lead generation.
Final point – I am by no means saying lead generation is dead. Lead generation is key for business growth but be careful not to prioritise this and sacrifice the other areas of the marketing funnel.
