etailinsights eCommerce Data and Sales Blog

Not every lead is created equal.

Having the chance to sit outside in the sun with a good book is one of my favorite parts of summer. Even with a chaotic weekly schedule, I like to take as much time as possible outside of work to turn as many pages as possible.

Many companies have found success in generating leads by marketing with content, and you can experience the same success.

Social proof is a sales buzzword that has grown in importance since the rise of social media, review sites, and even just the Internet in general.

Smart businesses understand the importance of showing client appreciation. Life-long customers are the best kind of customers, and one way to turn first-time customers into lifers is to make sure they know that you appreciate them.

Good communication is the name of the game, and it seems like a given that a company would be able to explain the ever-important question—why should you buy from us? But in reality, this value proposition is more difficult to communicate than you’d expect.

By Darren Pierce, Founder, etailinsights

Customer service can be a time-consuming part of your week, but it’s a necessary part of the job. Retaining customers is so much more cost-effective than constantly trying to generate new ones.

Driving sales begins with encouraging prospects to either engage with you or your online content and the best way to achieve that is through a well-placed call to action.

"LinkedIn Groups can be lead generating machines, but most B2B salespeople aren’t leveraging it to its full potential. Here is a proven step-by-step guide on how you can generate more leads by participating in these groups.1) Target An AudienceStart by identifying the type of people you want as leads. Use your data and analytics and your past experience to hone in on an audience of people that are most likely to engage with you. For this to be effective, you really have to nail down your target customer.2) Find The Most Active GroupLarge groups that are inactive, or small groups that are really active, might not churn out the best results. Ideally, you’ll want to find the largest, most active group out there. Keep an eye out for groups with more robots than humans and avoid them.3) Write Super Engaging ContentThis step is critical. You need to either revamp an old piece of content or write a completely new piece of content that you know will engage your target group. This has to be your absolute best. The title has to grab them and not let go until they read more. Take your content a step further and make it into a PDF white paper.4) Create An Opt-In Landing PageOnce you contribute to the group’s conversation and post about your super engaging content, you should take them to a squeeze page. Show the very beginning of the article on this page to hook them in, and then require users to trade their email address to view the full-length article. There you go—a new lead. Wash, rinse, and repeat for best results (i.e., don’t be afraid to reach out to multiple LinkedIn groups or with different content to the same group). Do you work with eCommerce companies? See how etailinsights has helped companies just like yours increase lead generation. Image: Flickr">data and analytics and your past experience to hone in on an audience of people that are most likely to engage with you. For this to be effective, you really have to nail down your target customer.