Lead generation is the best way to build a customer base and earn loyal users for your software products. It’s also a tough nut to crack if you lack the right tools and strategies.
Thankfully there are some best practices for generating leads which work well when you’ve got software to sell.
Let’s go over a few of these, and discuss what makes them special.
Turn social media to your advantage
There are a few ways to handle lead generation on social media. Being consistent with your content publishing schedule is an option for achieving organic traction, but it’s also worth considering whether paid ads on popular platforms will work for your brand.
Which platforms you target also has an effect on whether you can connect with prospects, or find them slipping through your fingers.
Research your audience, find out where they spend most of their time, and focus your social media efforts here. For B2B software businesses, LinkedIn is a good choice, for example.
Run high-quality webinars
Hooking leads in means offering them something of value, rather than just going all-in on sales right from the get-go.
That’s where using a technology vendor’s trusted solutions to put together a webinar program comes into play. If you can demonstrate the benefits of your software in a live presentation, then there’s a reason for people to pay attention beyond the basic selling points of the product itself.
Obviously the webinar has to be relevant to the needs and interests of your ideal audience, and there are costs involved in hosting one. However, the rewards make it worthwhile.
Dip your toe into content marketing
It’s a good idea to have a blog to drive traffic to your website. However, if this is the only piece of content marketing that you’re pursuing, there’s lots more to be done.
Getting your content on other sites is a long-standing solution to issues with lead generation. Guest posts remain powerful not only because of their SEO impact, but also because you’re building a reputation for your brand and having your products and services featured elsewhere.
Embrace search optimization
Talking of SEO, it’s worth remembering that lead generation is not only reliant on social media in the modern age, whatever some experts might say. You’ll still be able to get your name out there more effectively if you’ve got a well optimized website that ranks highly for your target keywords.
Much of this comes down to picking the right keywords to target in the first place. If your software solutions are geared towards a very narrow area of the market, that makes things easier, of course. But even companies that are competing with major rivals can benefit from pursuing long tail keywords and low volume phrases, rather than trying to take a slice of much more popular alternatives.
Reconnect with existing leads
People who’ve interacted with your business in the past, and even made a purchase, can be brought back into the frame via a number of avenues.
Email marketing is one of the most impressive examples in this context, especially if you’ve got a mailing list on tap and you’re not currently exploiting it with lead generation in mind.
Providing unique offers and discounts for those who have proven they’ve got an interest in your products is a tried and tested formula for reviving old customer relationships.
Final thoughts
Keep existing customers happy as well as drawing in newcomers, and your sales figures will look a lot healthier. It also pays to know your products inside out, so you can better sell them to the uninitiated.
