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The question of how to generate leads is at the top of every marketing and sales professional’s mind. Leads are critical to ensure people are attracted to your business, that they engage with you, and that they convert and complete a purchase or transaction.

Paid ads can yield results, but at what cost? Is it worth it? Maybe. Don’t abandon it altogether, but consider putting a greater focus on organic lead generation strategies. You can achieve your goals with organic traffic and optimized tactics designed to convert. Here’s how.

Lead Generation Strategies that Convert Organically

Would you rather cold call 100 people (usually at the most inconvenient times, no matter how conscientious you are!) - or have 100 people come to your website, social profiles, etc., by their own free will? We’ll take Door Number two, Bob!

It makes sense: you can achieve better conversion rates organically. When strangers or newcomers to your brand show a natural interest, it is easier for them to take the next steps towards becoming a customer/client. You don’t have to bombard them with information they don’t need or want. Instead you leverage the interest they have already expressed.

So, back to your question of how to generate leads organically. This is how:

1. Optimize Organically for Lead Generation

First, let’s back up. What’s organic traffic? It is traffic that comes to your website via unpaid, or organic, search results. Unlike paid traffic (i.e., traffic generated by paid ads), visitors find your website through search engines or social media. They want to go there because you’re offering some sort of value. You’ve piqued their interest.

Slightly more than half of all website traffic comes from organic searches - but why do they come to your site? They’re attracted by high-quality, highly-relevant content that addresses their needs, concerns, and challenges. You feature excellent blog content. You share expert tips. You air engaging and informative videos. It’s all part of the organic lead generation process.

The best way to boost organic lead generation is to create unique content that specifically targets your audience. You’ll also need to make sure your pieces maximize your search engine optimization (SEO) potential. So, instead of using keywords like “best spas in Miami,” you might go with “best Miami spas for hot stone massage” -- or whatever your premium offering is. You will appeal to the people looking for your specific services/products, and in terms of search rankings, your site will climb closer to the top. The top of the search engine results pages is the best place to attract organic leads.

Speaking of optimization, focus on two critical aspects:

Calls-to-Action

CTAs should prompt visitors to your website to take actions that drive your brand goals forward (e.g., downloading a whitepaper, filling out a consult/contact us form). Make sure they are very clear: what step (not steps - just one) do you want someone to take after consuming a piece of content or interacting with a social post. Above-the-fold CTAs tend to perform better as many people don’t scroll down. Caveat: for posts that people do engage in, a CTA at the bottom will lead them deeper into your marketing/sales cycle.

Forms

When your visitors click on a CTA, they should find a user-friendly form that is as streamlined as possible. You want to capture essential information (e.g. email address) without turning leads off with endless requests for info. The fewer the number in your fields, the higher the conversion rate. For example, when Expedia stopped asking visitors for their phone number, they saw a 100% increase in conversions!

2. Use Strategic Syndication

There’s no reason to restrict your great, original, relevant content to your own website. Syndication gives you a chance to publish your pieces on trusted sites. Be sure that those you choose for syndication purposes have established audiences of the people you need to reach. From Quora and Slideshare to Facebook Business, LinkedIn, and StumbleUpon, you can build trust and connect with more people who are willing to give you their contact info in exchange for spot-on thought leadership.

3. Don’t Neglect Email

Email may seem “old school” in comparison to other marketing channels - but it’s an oldie that’s also a goodie. Most marketers/companies report that email delivers “good” to “excellent” ROI. When you send the right messages to the right people, you can generate, nurture, and push leads.

Segment your email list by persona. Test different offers for your products/services and use the insight gleaned from your email testing to zero in on the leads who are most likely to convert.

Ask the experts at THAT Agency for more information about how to generate leads organically - and about how their proven lead generation strategies can supercharge your brand’s results!