5 Key Leverage Points That Will Help Turn Your Lead Generation Funnel Into Sales

By now you’ve heard plenty about turning your digital marketing, including pay-per-click ads, social media and SEO efforts, into a “lead generation funnel.” Also referred to as a sales funnel, this systemic approach to digital marketing will transform a slap-dash effort into a well-oiled machine that seamlessly drives prospects into sales and turns an audience into customers.

But how can we make sure that lead generation funnel is working as well as possible? Optimizing five key leverage points will help transform that funnel into a money-making engine that ensures that your company doesn’t just survive in the digital age but thrives. Ready to learn more? Let’s go.

Leverage Point #1: Effective Targeting

Starting the process of building a better funnel starts with finding your best customers. Customer profiling may sound like something you need the FBI to do, but it is simply identifying who is most likely to need what you are selling. Are you booking luxury family vacation packages? You probably don’t want to show your ads to low-income singles. Selling home septic systems? Couples living in a high-rise condo are probably not going to be interested. Offering an early-start program to save for college? Your best prospects aren’t empty nesters.

Once you’ve identified your customers’ profiles, the right marketing agency can then help you find source lists that match those profiles, giving you an audience that is pre-sorted and pre-primed to become purchasers. Thanks to the currents of information that flow both ways, your online ads can also be targeting specifically only to those customers who fit those profiles.

Leverage Point #2: More Reach and Frequency

Identifying prospects should be an on-going process, one that continually brings you new potential customers. Target lists need to be refined regularly, based on what works and what doesn’t.

It’s not enough to just touch those potential customers once. Just like in print advertising, frequency matters. We all have what feels like a million things vying for our attention; we need to see something more than once to remember it – and more importantly — act on it.

Leverage Point #3: Targeted Messaging

Now that you know your customers and they’ve had an introduction to you, it’s time to drill down and really get to know each other. Customizing your message to your potential customers’ needs will help you speak their language and determine how what you offer can fulfill what they need.

Once you have that information, use it. Fine tune your messages to make your website irresistible.

Leverage Point #4: A Landing Page That Grabs Their Attention

Once you’ve brought your audience to your website, do they know what to do? An effective landing page speaks to your audience and tells them what you can do for them. This is where you share your value proposition – the problem you solve for your customers. A clear, concise value proposition leads directly to a call to action – arguably the most important part of your message. Need a little extra juice – add a time-limited incentive that compels your audience to act now rather than wait – and potentially forget – to make a purchase.

Leverage Point #5: More Consistent Follow-up

You’ve got a sale!

Congratulations.

But now what?

By successfully turning a prospect into a sale, you’ve done the heavy lifting, but the work isn’t over. Making your lead generation funnel truly effective includes bringing them back for more. Nurturing emails and — when appropriate – a follow-up phone call will create customer loyalty and maximize the relationship you’ve established.