Digital Lead Conversion As A Journey

Generating leads has increasingly become an online endeavor, as 88 percent of consumers make sure to do a fair amount of online research before pursuing their prospects. This means that it is crucial to catch them at the stages in the game when they are most likely to be responsive to your lead generation efforts.

However, it also means leveraging the entire journey rather than focusing on one particular junction of engagement. Knowing how to generate leads in a particular sector or time period is only part of the puzzle. Actually converting on those leads takes a lot of effort as well as consistent engagement not just with your potential customers but with the successes and shortcomings of your own way of doing business in the digital world.

There’s no such thing as simple

Some aspects of engaging with your potential client base may seem simple, and even as the landscape has evolved to support, and even necessitate, a robust digital presence, the emerging complexities have come hand in hand with new experts in the field who claim to demystify the changing frontiers for professionals.

You will never be left wanting for an article, or a dozen, that purport to contain insider secrets on how to navigate the digital world and turn it to your benefit. However, do not confuse quantity for quality. Many of these will provide you with what amount to “flashes in the pan” or “one-hit wonders.” They may be useful for a particular phase in the lead generation and conversion process, but fall short in terms of follow-through.

However, as is the case with everything you come across in your personal or professional life, each of these things has value. When you consider input from a new or even trusted source, try to identify what stage in the lead conversion journey each piece of advice is addressing. Then assimilate it into your overall plan, one that is anything but cookie-cutter and draws inspiration from a wide variety of unique sources.

Step zero

Before you begin a lead generation campaign, which should involve everything from marketing strategy to personal development, take the time to set goals and allow the input of current buyers and sellers to influence those goals.

Keep your ear to the ground and find out what current clients, both yours and your competitors, have responded to. What are the demands of the market? You are not playing to an empty auditorium; many prospective clients are already out there searching for exactly what you have to offer. Their ears are open; what do they want to hear?

Follow up and follow through

Before it even comes to that point, make sure you have a plan for following up with new leads. Acknowledge that each potential new client is in a different state of mind and a different state of the buying or selling process. Incorporate the position of each new client into a well-thought-out plan that meets them where they are and sees them through to the completion of their journey.