Although it is possible to buy databases to get leads more quickly, you should know that these contacts most likely do not have knowledge about your company and your offer, are not segmented according to your interests and are more complicated to close because there has not been a nutrition process involved.
For this reason, today, marketers are employing more effective strategies focused on the delivery of value , since it is the biggest differentiator between the huge offer of products and services existing today.
In this sense, it becomes essential to awaken interest in our brand to attract more users who close in sales. But how do you get quality leads ? To do this, we will base ourselves on the methodology that inbound marketing offers to businesses.
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Why do you need a strategy to capture leads ?
Every company needs to have a database and content marketing is an excellent option to build it because useful and valuable content serves as a bargaining chip to generate new contacts.
The inbound methodology uses attraction marketing for lead generation. It is based on the creation of a website adapted to SEO guidelines, as well as a blog, downloadable offers, landing pages, etc. to convert visitors into leads.
In this way, it allows you to attract better quality leads and build a database with people who have already shown interest in your product or service. To which you can classify and rate, according to the interaction or predilection towards your page and content ( lead scoring ).
At the same time, you have the possibility of maturing the leads obtained through sequences of emails and offers appropriate to the stage of the conversion process, which is known as lead nurturing. The more advanced they are, the more specific these offers will be and little by little you will be able to establish a stronger relationship with them.
Typology of leads in inbound marketing
Since inbound marketing seeks to attract prospects with content rather than chase them, it is also necessary to understand that not all leads have the same level of interest. Many are still unaware of their problem or are just evaluating options.
Then, the classification of the leads is related to the stage of the purchase cycle in which the user is and the actions that we implement should help them advance within the sales funnel. Segmenting them will help you understand their needs and open the conversation at the right time .
Leads or potential customers. They are those who have filled out any of our forms, probably downloaded a guide and gave us their basic data, but they are still far from a purchase decision, that is, they are in the Top of the Funnel (TOFU), at the beginning of our sales process.
Qualified Lead or Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL). This is a user who has shown constant interest in our content and has characteristics of our ideal client or buyer persona. To identify if you can become a customer, it is necessary to extract more information since your interactions are in the MOFU or Middle of the Funnel stage.
Qualified Sales Lead or Sales Qualified Lead (SQL). This type of lead has advanced within the funnel to the Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU) stage, that is, it has a purchase intention and can accept a transactional proposal to become a sales opportunity.
It is worth mentioning that the definition of an MQL or SQL varies from company to company. A lot also depends on your marketing and sales departments being aligned so that they know what a good customer is, in order to make the most of the digital assets you already have and pass the leads to the commercial process until they are ready.
How to advance the leads within the conversion process?
So far, we have defined how to get quality leads with a content strategy based on the inbound methodology, but below we are going to delve into how to heat them up and convert them into customers.
As we saw previously, it is essential to understand that leads are classified according to the stage the user is in: TOFU, MOFU and BOFU. Therefore, to convert contacts into qualified leads, you must create offers for each of them.
At any stage, it is essential that you have a very clear profile of your ideal client or buyer persona. Both demographic aspects such as their age, gender, profile, as well as those that refer to their behavior, preferences, challenges, qualities, etc.
TOFU Stage – Recognition
Here are the users who are just discovering their problem or need. Many times, even if they download one of your offers, they can be considered cold leads , since there is still no real purchase intention.
To convert these visitors into contacts, you have to empathize with their situation, know their characteristics and behaviors to disseminate content that interests them on the digital channels they prefer.
In the same way, since this is the first stage of the conversion process, to attract traffic to your website you must use the keywords that your potential clients use to find solutions to their problems.
MOFU Stage – Consideration
To advance the leads in the funnel, at this stage you must offer content that helps them evaluate options, since you have already named your problem, it is time to establish the alternatives that your company offers to solve it.
For example, articles where you delve into your products or services, the advantages they offer or an interactive offer such as videos or webinars are more attractive and allow you to push the potential client towards closure.
BOFU Stage – Conversion
In the last stage, it may happen that the contact has already been educated in their need, knows your product or service and requests contact with sales, or that they have directly downloaded one of your BOFU offers.
In this case, we are talking about demonstrations, consultancies, success stories, that salespeople use to scale the sales process or that the lead himself requested.
The 5 pillars of the inbound strategy to get quality leads
The lead generation requires the combination of 5 main elements:
1. Optimized website
To facilitate and increase the conversion of leads, it is essential to have an attractive, functional and optimized website for the search engines.
For this, it is very important to consider Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) and usability, which quantify the ease and comfort of browsing a website to improve the user experience by means of:
- An attractive but not saturated web design, with the necessary colors and elements to highlight your offer.
- Simple and clear navigation, since otherwise the user may be confused or frustrated and leave our site.
- Accessibility so that everyone can use it. For example, a well-sized and legible typeface, buttons or active cta’s, etc.
- Optimization for mobiles (responsive), due to the fact that people are increasingly connecting from their cell phone.
2. Value content
The inbound methodology seeks to use the content to accompany the user at each stage of their purchase journey. Being the cornerstone of the entire strategy, it must be planned and optimized for search engines.
It is important to consider the SEO guidelines to position your content based on the keywords that your potential customers use, as well as disseminate them on your digital channels. Remember that the more valuable users consider it, the more information they will be willing to provide you.
3. Landing pages
The landing page or landing page is key to capturing leads, since it is the means that leads the user to the form where they are going to provide us with their data. Therefore, you must have:
- An orderly and attractive design, with the essential elements so as not to distract the user.
- A text that arouses your interest to push you to download our content.
- A striking and functional call to action or CTA.
4. Forms
People are often very reluctant to provide their data, so it is recommended:
- Guarantee that the user sees the form immediately, without having to do any type of additional action or scroll.
- Create an attention-grabbing title, for example, “Leave us your details and download your guide.”
- Request only the necessary data, for which, you can integrate smart forms that automatically detect the data stored in your database.
Also, after someone has taken a form, it is good to direct them to a thank you page, where you can invite them to review your blog or download other similar offers to continue educating them.
5. Call to action
The call to action or cta’s are the means that leads the user to the form where they are going to provide their data, it can be included in the blog articles and other parts of the website to take it to your landings, so, you must take into account that:
- The CTA must be action oriented. Use verbs like “download” or “request information.”
- It must be eye-catching and functional, that fits with the design of the web and appears at the beginning, to avoid the user having to scroll to see it.
