Picture that: you have invested your time and money in knowing about your audience's buying preferences and interests. You have created a store using one of the available ecommerce platforms, such as Shopify or WooCommerce, and finally launched your store for the customers after conducting thorough research.
Is this enough to get you the desired traffic and sales?
No!
Because even businesses with the best products are doomed to failure if they fail to connect with the right audience at the right time.
Ecommerce lead generation is an essential element of your ecommerce strategy. That's because the success and conversions of your business depend on the number of leads you generate.
Remember, today's leads will eventually turn into future customers.
But sadly, the process isn't as simple as you think. Especially if you're working in the ecommerce space, it is crucial to know that ecommerce lead generation strategies significantly differ from conventional tactics.
The issue is that ecommerce buyers have different perceptions, needs, and expectations. If you're looking to generate leads for your ecommerce business, you have to tailor your approaches according to the buying patterns, objections, and desires of the ecommerce users.
Instead of highlighting complex and advanced-level strategies, today, we're going to highlight some of the easy ecommerce lead generation strategies to help you have more customers in no time.
What Is Lead Generation?
Any person showing interest in any brand's products or services is called a 'lead'. It is critical to understand that not everyone is a lead, even if they're showing interest in your offers.
The biggest mistake digital marketers make is they waste their marketing budget on everyone showing interest in their products. For instance, if you're selling CBD products online and you're marketing your products to everyone visiting your website (kids, teenagers), then you're merely throwing your money into the trash. Target marketing is the essence of the lead generation process.
If you're looking for the formal definition of lead generation, it is the process of enticing buyers and turning them into someone with interest in your offers. Today's ecommerce businesses leverage different lead-generation strategies to attract potential customers (we're going to talk about a few of them in the subsequent sections).
Why Is Lead Generation Crucial For Your Business Success?
A genuine lead only requires a little push from the seller's side. All you need to do is to help those prospects fulfill a need.
Just imagine a brand pushing you to buy its clothing even though you have a closet full of your favorite ensembles. That goes without saying that you may feel like you're being pushed to spend your money on something you don't need at the moment.
Here are a few benefits of using lead generation strategies for your online business.
Improved ROI
As mentioned above, poor lead generation strategies can cost businesses lots of money and time. They waste their time targeting buyers who're not even interested in their offers. As a result, they see a sharp decline in their sales and ROI.
An effective lead generation strategy enables businesses to focus on a specific interested group of customers, making it possible to secure their returns and profit margins.
Increased Awareness
Another advantage of creating a foolproof lead generation strategy is it helps build business repo and awareness. When prospects find your brand online, you can provide them with relevant information about your business and your deals. This increases your chances of turning those leads into conversions.
Increased Brand Loyalty
With lead generation strategies in place, you can build communities of like-minded buyers who'll stay true to your brand no matter what.
Opportunity To Gather Valuable Customer Information
Lead generation also allows businesses to collect valuable information from their prospects. Owners can then use this information to create a personalized marketing strategy.
Why Is Ecommerce Lead Generation Different?
We have mentioned above that ecommerce lead generation is different from conventional lead generation tactics. Now you must be wondering what sets ecommerce lead generation apart from traditional strategies.
Let's suppose you sell SaaS subscriptions online. The traffic you get on your site will review your website, sign up for your email and newsletter service, check out your social media pages, and get in touch with your support team to make a buying decision.
Now let's change this scenario a bit. Now imagine you sell men's watches online. Most traffic you'll receive on your site will be from Google searches or paid ads. People will visit your store, check out your catalog, read reviews, contact support to know about discounts and deliveries and complete the checkout process.
So you see, you won't get your desired results if you implement the same lead-generation tactic for both businesses.
Now that you know what lead generation is and why your ecommerce business needs a tailored lead generation strategy, it's time to share our 13 lead generation tips for online stores. We have implemented these strategies personally and witnessed noticeable results in no time.
1. Optimize Your Pages For Conversions And SEO
SEO is still the heart and soul of digital marketing. Modern marketers use the best SEO practices with ecommerce CRO strategies to get the best of both worlds.
When we talk about lead generation, everything starts with a user-friendly and optimized website. Optimized websites encourage buyers to take your desired action. Similarly, if you do not optimize your website for search engines, nobody is going to find it.
Whether it's your descriptions, educational content, blogs, or sales and landing pages, make sure you optimize every element on your website for conversions.
Online tools, such as Leadpages, can also help you create and publish content based on a tested formula for success.
2. Hook Your Visitors Through Great Content
If you think creating flashy sales pages is enough to help you generate leads, then let us tell you it's not enough. Ecommerce store owners need to create content that provides readers with knowledge, information, and trending news.
Your ecommerce site should have a dedicated blog section where you can post content regularly to engage your visitors. If leads find your content valuable, they'll visit your website often, and then you'll have a chance to convert them into paying buyers.
Content gating is another effective lead-generation strategy that works well for webinars, informative content, cheat sheets, etc.
3. Set Up An Email List
The easiest way to generate leads is to set up an email list. Ecommerce email marketing, if used correctly, can bring a noticeable improvement in your lead generation process.
If you're selling a high-ticket product, you can send out an explainer email or a tutorial to help your prospects know the real benefits of your products.
Similarly, if your product is cheap, you can send emails covering good news for your buyers. That good news could be anything - a coupon code, a time-sensitive offer, or a free delivery incentive.
4. Host A Contest
A simple giveaway or contest can generate a ton of leads for your online business. Participants are required to enter their email addresses to qualify for the process.
Offer something valuable in exchange for their interest in the competition. Contests and giveaways go viral in no time and generate large amounts of leads.
The good thing about hosting surveys is that you can benefit from them in several different ways. For example:
People will share the contest details with their friends
Those who win will consider your brand forever for their needs (if you know how to retain them properly)
You will get User-Generated-Content (UGC) for your website and social media pages
5. Run Retargeting Campaigns
Retargeting campaigns are an integral part of your lead generation strategy. After a prospect visits your website, they'll start following you on different platforms, including your social media pages.
The biggest perk of running remarketing campaigns is that they create brand awareness even if you don't get leads back on your site.
Brand awareness and recognition are equally important, considering the competition we have in the ecommerce space.
6. Identify User’s Buying Patterns On Your Site
We have mentioned this thing numerous times in our blogs that the only thing present-day customers look for is a personalized experience. If you don't know about your target audience, you'll not be able to offer tailored experience and generate leads.
The more you focus on how visitors navigate your store, the greater your odds of receiving and converting more leads. Take help from analytics and use this information to adjust your lead generation strategies.
Give your visitors a reason to stay on your website, and they don't stray.
7. Nurture Leads With Live Chat
Live chat is a great way to convert your leads into customers. It also triggers interest and turns a simple visitor into a quality lead. Businesses that use live chat tools get a chance to know more about their visitors.
You can create your copy according to the needs and wants of your target audience. Now see them convert from a random visitor to a lead.
Another way you can use live chat to generate leads is by getting your site audited to identify the pages your visitors spend most of their time on and might need help with.
Now provide live chat assistance on those pages and casually collect information about your visitors while responding to their queries.
8. Simplify The Checkout Process
Simplify your checkout process to convert more visitors into leads. Even if people abandon their carts last minute, you'll get their email IDs. Send a follow-up email and offer an incentive to help them convert.
You must invite visitors to sign up but also allow them to check out using a guest account.
Offer multiple payments and delivery options, show trust seals on your checkout pages, and optimize them perfectly so that the entire process can become as easy and stress-free as possible.
9. Leverage Social Media To Generate Leads
Did you know social media can act as a gateway to generate more leads and conversions? Let us explain how.
If you're using Twitter, make sure you include images with your tweets along with hashtags to make things more engaging and fun for your visitors.
You can also use LinkedIn to generate leads for your online business. You can also publish personalized content on LinkedIn to engage your visitors.
10. Measure Performance
Measure the performance of each of your lead generators so that you can see how well they're contributing to your business success. A/B testing can go a long way if done strategically.
11. Comment On Other Blogs
Writing comments on other people's blogs is a foolproof way to prove your expertise. People read those comments and then visit your site to see what you have in store for them.
Make sure your comments are specific and offer value to the readers. Answering questions on Quora and Reddit is another effective way to show people that you're a pro in your area of expertise.
It may take a few months to establish credibility, but once people start trusting you, they'll eventually visit your website to see your offers.
12. Add CTAs
Your landing pages should include relevant call-to-CTAs to attract visitors to show interest in your products. Since CTAs drive action, they can be an effective weapon in your lead generation arsenal.
Read our guide on "How To Create Powerful Calls To Action (CTAs) That Can Boost Your Ecommerce Conversions" to create powerful calls-to-action and get you more conversions.
13. Offer A Free Software Tool On Your Site
We have recently visited a Forex robot website where they offered a free robot software download to all the people visiting their website.
We all love free stuff. Don't we?
You can also use this strategy to generate leads for your online business.
Debutify's lead generation add-ons can align well with your business niche, and attract visitors and sales. We're just a click away.
