Generating leads is an important part of any business in today's digital age.
When it comes to IT service providers, ensuring that you can generate leads is essential.
But from experience, generating leads can be easier said than done - and there is no single way to generate leads with a 100% success rate.
In this article, we will aim to discuss 10 proven lead generation strategies for IT services, ranging from content marketing to networking, and everything in between.
We will also discuss methods associated with the two main types of lead generation strategies: inbound (attracting customers to your website through useful content such as blog posts and webinars for IT professionals), and outbound (actively reaching out to potential clients such as through email marketing).
In this next section, we will cover the top 10 lead generation strategies to drive traffic to your website and thus to your services.
Working in IT services, you have probably come across the term "content is king" - and this still rings true today. Producing valuable, informative content that your target audience will want to actively engage in is paramount from a lead generation point of view.
As an IT service provider, examples of useful content that you can create include blog posts which address customer pain points.
Once you have established what your customers' pain points are, you can craft long-form content such as blog articles around this, to address their needs and ultimately lead them towards converting.
To delve even deeper into those customers' needs, you can write an informative white paper on a specific topic, or if you want to go out there, develop an e-book which can be sold to any potential customers.
Search engine optimisation (often shortened to simply SEO) is the process of driving a greater quantity and quality of traffic to a website - and it is an essential part of any lead generation process.
One of the best techniques to improve your website's SEO is to conduct keyword research, so that you can craft the content on your website in a way which incorporates these keywords, and thus directs potential leads towards your website as a result.
As mentioned above, blogs are a great way to incorporate keywords into content on your website, but there are other ways which do not involve keywords that can still improve your website's SEO.
This is often known as technical SEO. Improving the readability of your website by making sure that it is optimised for both desktop users and mobile users is an example of good SEO for IT businesses, which can lead to leads coming in from both desktop and mobile users.
A common misconception of social media is that it is for young people to socialise with their friends, make videos on apps such as TikTok, and post pictures of their dinner on Instagram. This could not be more wrong.
Social media is an excellent - and usually free - tool and is easily one of the best lead-generation strategies for IT service providers to drive organic traffic to your website.
Creating unique content which also appeals to your audience can be done across a multitude of social networks, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (formerly known as Twitter), YouTube and more.
Arguably one of the best sites to generate leads from when it comes to social media, though, is LinkedIn. With it being a network designed specifically for businesses, connecting with like-minded individuals or potential clients is a great lead-generation strategy via social media.
Email marketing, for IT firms, is often seen as an old-school marketing tool, but it does not mean that it is a redundant method.
One advantage of email marketing is that it has a personalised feel to it that can often be lost on social media (for example). This is because on social media you aim to address generic pain points, whereas email marketing can be personalised.
You can even create whole marketing campaigns via email marketing, simply by collecting email addresses and letting the magic happen!
Webinars and other forms of online workshops are a superb way of generating leads. Not only are you attracting the exact sort of people you want to sell to, but you are also likely collecting their email addresses so that they can go into an email marketing campaign (GDPR pending, of course).
Not only is this a good way to generate leads, but hosting a webinar or online workshop on a specific topic is a beneficial way of showcasing yourself as a leading authority in that particular field, such as IT services.
This in turn means that you can showcase your products and services as a relevant authority in the field, and thus turn some potential watchers into future customers simultaneously.
Services such as PPC are another great way not only to track and measure any lead generation but also to generate leads in the first place.
Software such as Google Ads helps to place your IT services directly in front of any potential customers who are searching for IT services by pushing it to the top of the first results page on Google.
An important element to remember is that PPC and paid ads can be very cost-effective, as you will only pay when someone lands on your ad - although it is important to craft the ads well, with relevant keyword research undertaken beforehand.
It is all well and good to attract leads to your website or services in the first place, but how can you guide them through the sales funnel?
This is where lead nurturing comes in. Once a lead has been identified, they must be guided through the sale process carefully.
Ways that this can be managed include personalised (automated) email sequences - similar to email marketing - and regular follow-ups to keep them moving towards the final goal: a conversion.
If leads are nurtured carefully and effectively, you can increase conversion rates and move towards retaining regular customers or clients through customer loyalty schemes.
Working alongside other like-minded businesses and companies is a good way of establishing yourself as a leader in your industry, as well as showcasing that you are a reliable company, too.
Not only this, but it also provides a lead generation opportunity - work can be passed on to you from another partner, for instance, and vice versa.
You can also collaborate with other businesses for referral schemes, which works well for both parties.
The act of building trust through customer success stories and testimonials is known as social proof.
This can go a long way into not just establishing yourself as a leading provider of IT services, but also as a lead generation strategy. Receiving genuine reviews on platforms such as Google Business Profile or even on social media sites like Facebook can also boost your authority as a thought leader within the industry.
People seeing that you are a genuine business and reading about how others in their position have also been helped can sometimes be enough for them to make the first enquiry, thus working as a successful lead generation strategy, especially when they are displayed on your website and showcased across your social media profiles.
Making the most of available technologies can not only save you time but can also work in your favour as a successful lead generation strategy.
A notable example of some useful technology to use is to ensure that you have a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system in place.
A good CRM system does not have to cost a fortune, but what it repays to you can be priceless from the point of efficiency and accuracy.
For instance, a CRM system will be able to take care of any email automation sequences, organise lead data and automate any communication workflows for you, taking the more time-consuming laborious tasks out of your day-to-day runnings.
The next step to take now that you have learned all about the different lead generation strategies - both inbound and outbound - is to put them into practice.
The most important part starts just after you have decided which lead generation strategy to adopt.
You will need to establish clear, measurable goals first of all - for instance, how many leads do you want to bring in per month? How much do you want to spend on PPC advertising monthly? Do you want to achieve a certain click-through rate from your organic social posts? All of these factors need to be considered beforehand.
Ensuring that you choose the right channels is the next step. Do you want to focus on organic social advertising, or will you be opting for blog writing instead? You can choose the right channels by identifying the most common ways your target audience interacts with you, which can be a good benchmark for creating your lead generation strategy.
Revisiting the idea of "content is king" is also incredibly important - ensuring that you have a good content plan in place - or a team of content marketers - is paramount for lead generation success.
Daily posts on social media channels, weekly blogs showcasing your products or addressing customer pain points can go a long way.
Even longer-form content such as whitepapers or e-books are very useful, as are videos which can be posted onto sites such as YouTube, or trimmed down into short clips to share on apps like Instagram and TikTok.
There are various ways in which you can measure and optimise the performance of your lead generation strategies, and it is important to do so so that you can see which methods are working best and which ones are not as successful.
Establishing a list of KPIs (key performance indicators) is a good way to track important metrics such as conversion rates, email click-through rates, social insights and email form submissions are just a few notable examples.
Using A/B testing is another way to measure such metrics - this can be done on a range of different methods such as testing out two different landing pages, or emails, to see which one works best.
Making sure that you receive regular statistical reports - whether from a member of your team or yourself if you are monitoring it yourself - is also important to make sure that you are making the right decisions when it comes to lead generation strategies.
Ensuring that you can attract leads and generate a continuous flow of them is hugely important for a business as diverse as one working in IT services.
Utilising lead generation techniques listed above, such as content marketing and social media strategies are great organic ways of attracting traffic towards your website, whereas implementing technical SEO across your website or using paid advertising techniques such as PPC can also be just as successful when it comes to digital marketing for IT services.
The bottom line, though, is that if you do not measure the performance of these strategies, it all counts for nothing, so making sure that you have successfully planned out your strategy and then measured it properly is paramount for its success.
For any more information, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
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