What gift can you give away to get new leads?
The number of touch points (the interactions between a brand and a prospective customer) has increased since the development of the Internet. No longer are only one or two connections enough for your business to make that all important sale. Sometimes a prospective customer will interact with your brand at least eight times before making a purchase.
The problem is when a potential customer lands on your website or visits you at a trade show; there is little chance they will remember you beyond that meeting unless you provide them with a giveaway item.
Years ago, a pen would have been the item of choice, but they are so cheap to produce and common on the market that they add little value to the prospective customer. At the same time, giving away a pen has little value to you since it’s not going to be useful in acquiring contact information.
So, how can you sell to them and bring them back to your brand? You need something that they will value, but will also provide you with their contact information so you can continue to keep in touch and move them further down your sales funnel.
Another common solution is to offer a discount. However, as soon as you discount a product/service, the customer’s perspective of the product’s value is diminished. It makes it harder to make recurring sales at a later date.
The easiest option is to create an online purchasing path where your website collects the information and provides the “gift” to the lead, or notifies you to send it out. However, you shouldn’t underestimate the potential impact of a good offline offer, and with the right processes in place (like a sign-up form), you can generate a lot of attention and collect new email list subscribers and leads fairly quickly.
Here is a list of items to give away that can attract your target audience into becoming qualified leads for your business:
1. Ebook/Whitepaper
These are very popular because they are so valuable to customers. Companies like HubSpot have dozens of these giveaways, and it helps them determine what leads are interested in as well as collect them.
The document should contain valuable information that can assist the potential customer to solve a problem. At the same time, you don’t want to give everything away, so remember to hold some information back.
What you need to ensure is that the visitor to your website provides their email address and other valuable information you are seeking before they download the document.
2. How-To Videos
Video is one of the most engaging forms of online content. The combination of visual and sound is very attractive to audiences. Additionally, ‘how-to guides’ are one of the most frequently consumed forms of online content. Combine the two, and then give video access only to potential customers who provide you with their contact information and you’ll have a strong lead nurturing program.
At the same time, if you have a series of videos on different niches within your industry, you can discover what topics are more interesting to your audience. It can help you create convincing sales pitches to them.
3. Free Subscription
Everyone wants to feel as if they are part of a community – you can provide this with a free subscription. It can be a great option for those selling online software and is often used by dating sites and social media management companies.
Ensure the free offer is a stripped down version of the main software that leads will have to buy to gain the full benefits.
4. Prize Contest
Humans are a competitive species, and the chance of winning something is often an urge too hard to resist. It is why offering a contest for a prize, like a free product, can sometimes be the best option for your business.
Get your potential customers to provide their contact information to be entered into the contest.
5. Gift Cards
Providing gift cards to your potential customers can be one of the best lead nurturing gifts available. Don’t offer gift cards for your own business; instead, offer a popular brand such as iTunes, Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts. These branded gift cards can be a great pull as you are associating your service with that of a large brand and this will draw customers to you.
However, you must ensure that you receive the contact information of the potential customer before sending them the card. If you don’t, then you are just spending your money for nothing.
You should also consider the amount of the card. Most won’t sign-up unless it is significant enough (i.e. $5 is not high enough). You’ll also have to keep an eye on costs as not everyone will buy your product, so you’ll have to spread costs over several leads to ensure you still make a profit.
Conclusion
You don’t always have to think about giving away money to collect contact information of potential customers. Instead, you can use other items to incentivize them; so you can continue to market and sell to them.
How do you collect contact information of your potential customers? What is the most effective lead generator you have?
Let us know in the comments below.
Image: Flickr