Lead gathering is an effective means of gaining new clientele at a trade show. It allows a company to spark interest for an upcoming event, bringing new people into the show and walking away with new clients. Use a wide variety of methods to attract and gain new customers whether it be trade shows or Pinterest. Each has their own unique way of bringing in new clients, some used more frequently than others. Other great forms for lead generation are pop ups on websites or displaying a 1-800 number at the top of the page.
The web defines lead generation as “a marketing term that refers to the creation or generation of prospective consumer interest or inquiry into products or services of a business.” Leads can come from a variety of different sources. For instance the internet, television ads, or through calls. It can also be an effective means of tracking the success of an event or marketing tools. There are 4 main topics that are important to lead generation:
- Never stop gathering leads
- How to effectively gather leads
- How to track lead gathering
- Important aspects of lead gathering
It’s an Ongoing Process
Lead gathering is an ongoing process that should start before the show begins. Use emails, phone calls, social media, ads or whatever means necessary to generate interest for an upcoming event. A lot of business is found on the internet when customers are searching for certain products. It is critical that these customers are treated in a way that keeps them coming back time and time again. Lead generation is great for gaining new clients. However, ongoing work is required in order to ensure they become a lasting customer. In our article “Steps for Effective Trade Show Planning” we cover many topics including effective marketing plans that will aid in lead gathering!
With the ever increasing amount of information found on the internet, it is important to have vast resources for lead generation. There are a plethora of sources available to ensure your company’s information is found by the common everyday internet browser. It is best to optimize your website for relevant search results. Use SEO so when someone searches Google your company’s name is first to come up. Creating a budget for prime lead generation will greatly increase sales. A lot of companies are focusing their lead generation on SEO, Social Media and Website Optimization.
Be Accessible
Effective lead generation will drive sales and increase knowledge of your company. Being accessible is a great way to generate leads. Every website should have a contact us page. The contact us page is a great way for consumers to ask questions and get themselves familiar with your company. Having it readily available is really important because most people won’t go searching for it.
Tracking leads is a vital part of lead generation because there needs to be a way to measure how effective one marketing method might be over another and whether or not it is successful. Most companies who attend trade shows have a way of tracking attendees that visit their booth, so that they can be contacted again after the show. A majority of companies want to know how many attendees visited their booth every hour to determine if attending that show was a valuable return on investment. No reason to waste money on a marketing tool if it isn’t very effective at driving sales and bringing in new customers.
B2B and B2C
Lead generation is on the rise and putting yourself in the forefront can put your company ahead of the rest. Business-to-business(B2B) leads are as important as a business-to-consumer(B2C) leads. Bringing in new clientele is what keeps businesses afloat. Having the sales team on board will greatly affect the success of generating those new leads. It is extremely important to have the sales team on board with plans the company has of gaining new clients. The sales team is the face of the company; representing every aspect of it and being able to effectively sell and close a deal is what will lead to success.
In ending this blog, effective lead gathering is an important part of marketing. Being able to effectively bring in new clients is what keeps a business going. These basic, yet important processes are sure to point your business in the right direction when developing a complex marketing plan!
