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We have weathered a major storm over the past couple of years, but the winds of change are blowing again. Lead generation during the pandemic meant a drastic shift towards digital marketing for many small businesses. 63% of marketers surveyed received a budget increase to boost online recognition in 2021. With a potential recession looming over the economy, entrepreneurs and business leaders are bracing for the coming months.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Challenging economic times are one of life’s best teachers. The best thing small business owners can do is learn to adapt based on consumer behavior and changes in the market. In 2023, sales and marketing teams will need to focus on building trust with their target audience through value-based lead generation strategies
What Lead Generation Will Be Like for Small Businesses in 2023
While we don’t have a crystal ball to help us peer into the future, we do have experience in the highs and lows of customer acquisition for small businesses. Over the past few months, we have witnessed prospective customers being more selective in their purchases. Amid an informal recession, this trend comes as no surprise. For small businesses, though, a decrease in spending could result in fewer high-quality leads and longer sales cycles. Fortunately, the right lead generation strategies can make all the difference.
With a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.9%, digital marketing will continue to be at the forefront of lead generation success. However, just as consumers are adopting a pickier purchasing process, we too need to adopt a pickier prospecting process. Experimentation with marketing and sales tactics has been the norm for the past two years. By 2023, small businesses will need to improve target market accuracy and increase consumer confidence, all on a tight budget.
Privacy regulations will also take a front seat in strategy sessions as sales and marketing teams adjust to match changes in political policies and consumer concerns.
Because of these challenges arising in 2023, small business leaders will need to rely on multiple lead generation strategies to develop a steady revenue stream while also becoming more independent in prospect data collection.
Build Up First-Party Data Through Digital Marketing
The great third-party cookie deprecation has been on marketers’ lips for over two years — after Google’s big announcement in 2020. While search engines like Safari and Firefox have already blocked third-party cookies by default, Chrome is now scheduled to phase out the trackers by the end of 2024.
So why is this so important for small businesses?
If you advertise to audiences based on attributes or rely on intent data collected through lead generation software, then the accuracy of your targeting is expected to be impacted once Google finishes its cookie-cutting project. While you’re safe from the deprecation in 2023 — thanks to industry pushback — it’s important to be prepared for the inevitable.
First-party data will take a front seat for many trailblazing small businesses wanting to curtail the side effects of cookie dependency.
First-party data is information collected by a company from its own customers and prospects. This information can be used to improve marketing campaigns, target new customers, and enhance customer service. Additionally, first-party data can help create custom audiences for targeted advertising.
There are several ways that companies can collect first-party data. The most common method is through digital channels such as website traffic, online surveys, lead capture forms, and customer service interactions.
While it might seem that the deprecation of third-party cookies makes marketing harder, think of it this way: it’s much more cost-effective to own your data rather than renting it. Just like you are more likely to invest in your own home than a rental, you will be more likely to invest in the data you collected versus the data lent by third-party platforms. By starting your first-party data collection in 2023, you will be leaps and bounds ahead of competitors that chose to maintain the status quo.
Partner with Social Media Influencers to Boost Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Social media has become the number one marketing channel, according to a 2021 survey by HubSpot. But, have you ever felt like your results are lackluster no matter how much you post, share, or comment?
It’s not just you. A whopping 93% of small businesses experience at least one challenge, with social media marketing — lead generation being the biggest culprit. So what we have to figure out is where the disconnect lies. Who has access to your target audience, and how can you capture their attention?
It seems that in modern marketing, influencers hold the key. Whatever the social media platform, be it LinkedIn or TikTok, influencers are the ones that can turn the tides in your favor.
If you are considering this marketing path, there are a few different ways that you can find social media influencers. Platforms like BuzzSumo make it easy to filter through players in your industry and evaluate engagement. Or, if you have the time to do manual research, enter keywords or hashtags related to your business into your preferred social media platform to create a list of influencers discussing topics in your niche.
Before reaching out to an influencer, you will want to ensure they have enough followers to reach your target audience, but you also don’t want to partner with someone who has millions of followers but very little engagement. The content shared on the influencer’s channel should also be vetted. Look at their feed and see if their posts are relevant to your brand.
Once you’ve found an influencer with whom you want to partner, send them a direct message on social media. Most platforms have a built-in messaging feature that allows you to send private messages to other users.
Be sure to keep your message short and sweet. Introduce yourself and your brand, and explain why you think partnering with them would be mutually beneficial. Include a call-to-action (CTA) at the end of your message so that the influencer knows how to proceed if they are interested.
Also, be prepared to send samples of your products or demonstrate your services. This is one of the best ways to build confidence in the partnership and increase the chances of a successful collaboration.
When budgeting for this lead generation strategy, keep in mind that influencers fund their channel and lifestyle through commissions and brand sponsorships. You can also offer to pay a fee for each post made about your brand. This is a typical arrangement between brands and influencers, and it’s usually based on the number of followers that the influencer has.
And last but not least, you will want to offer exclusive discounts or coupons for their followers. It is a great way to incentivize people to make a purchase and encourages those followers to share with their network.
Embrace Email Marketing as One of the Most Cost Effective Lead Gen Strategy
Even though social media is continually claiming more and more consumer time, emails still play a huge role in consumers’ day-to-day life. With 99% of people checking their inboxes every day, it’s no wonder that email marketing is holding strong at a 3,500% return on investment. In 2023, email marketing revenue is projected to reach $10.89 billion and go up to $17.9 billion in 2027. So it’s safe to say that if you are not embracing email outreach as a go-to strategy for cost-effective lead generation, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity.
Unfortunately, if you ask a group of marketers about their approach to email outreach, their answers may vary widely. So, how do you know what email marketing strategy would work best for your company?
When it comes to small businesses, you need a clever mix of automation and personalization to maximize your time and ROI. You don’t have to implement intricate chains of drip campaigns based on triggers and trackers. Consistency is more powerful than complexity, especially in the beginning. If you are just starting out, focus on ways to build your list through newsletters, special promotions, and gated content.
Send emails on a steady and predictable schedule and let your subscribers know when to expect your messages to land in their inbox. For example, Ann Handley, best-selling author, and chief content officer of MarketingProfs, specifies in her newsletter sign-up that subscribers will receive an email every two weeks.
As you gain a solid subscriber base, you can experiment with more elaborate strategies like segmented campaigns targeting potential customers with specific attributes such as age, location, or interests. Still, you can keep it simple by choosing three to five segments that will best suit your objectives.
The above tactics are considered inbound tactics, but if you are selling to other businesses, you can also pursue outbound email marketing. Also known as cold email outreach, this strategy allows you to connect with decision-makers directly so you can concentrate on cultivating relationships instead of competing for ad space or page rank. For small businesses building brand recognition, expanding their market share, or launching a new product, outbound email outreach is a cost-effective way to speed up the sales cycle and scale faster.
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Pump Up Your Contenting Marketing Game with More Landing Pages and Lead Magnets
Yes, content is king; we have heard it all before. But how you use the content you create is just as crucial. It’s one thing to write a blog, post a video, or develop a plug-and-play template, but if you do not share that information in a way that converts visitors into leads, you’ll see little to no return on your lead generation efforts.
Landing pages and lead magnets are the flyers and samples of the digital marketing era. These essential market materials serve as one of the best ways to exchange value, and when it comes to lead generation, the most valuable thing to exchange is information. That being said, we understand that designing landing pages and lead magnets seems intimidating. Fortunately, you don’t need an expert developer to make a plan come together. Tools such as Instapage or Leadpages make it easy to set up high-converting landing pages in minutes. And when it comes to lead magnets, platforms like Canva and Envato Elements can help you create ebooks, reports, and infographics without a graphic designer’s help.
If you have already succeeded in capturing new leads through landing pages, this tip might not seem that revolutionary. But if you have dabbled in this type of content marketing and seen minimal ROI, there may be a good reason for that. It appears that quantity plays a huge role in determining the success of landing page lead generation. Compared to businesses with five or fewer landing pages, those with 31-40 pages received seven times more leads. So if you have struck out in the past after a few attempts, it may be time to give it another go.
As you build out your 2023 content calendar, add landing pages and lead magnets as one of your core strategies to see how it impacts your bottom line as well as the buyer’s journey for your prospects.
Outsource Lead Generation Processes that Steal Time Away from Your Customers
Following the pandemic, 82% of small businesses expanded their business process outsourcing, according to UpCity’s research. In the study, several positive outcomes were attributed to working with an outsourced team, from greater flexibility to better tax breaks.
When most people think about outsourcing, the first thing that comes to mind is accounting, IT services, or even human resources. However, with a CAGR of 4%, lead generation is becoming an increasingly popular choice for small businesses.
So, why the rise in popularity? Think of it this way, 50% of prospects in your sales funnel are not a good fit, on average. That’s a lot of labor hours for no return. Outsourcing lead generation frees small business leaders to focus on other tasks that can increase revenue, such as product development and customer success, while an expert sales team hunt for new opportunities. Any variety of lead generation processes can be outsourced, starting from top-of-the-funnel prospecting all the way down to customer onboarding. You just have to decide the level of assistance needed to meet your sales goals.
Additionally, by partnering with an outsourced lead generation team, you can reduce overhead costs by gaining access to tools and talent that would be expensive for any business to retain, big or small. In essence, you are implementing a proven workflow for a fraction of the in-house cost, all without the pain of proving that the process works.
If we are headed for a recession in 2023, now is the time to start thinking about how to stretch your dollars. Outsourcing part of your sales and marketing strategy can make it easier to build a predictable stream of revenue that will keep you going despite economic challenges.
Successful Lead Generation in 2023 Comes Down to Diversity
While this list of lead generation tips included some of the top trending strategies for the coming year, by no means are they the only ones you should pursue in 2023. Success in lead generation comes down to diversifying your pipeline with prospects cultivated through various methods. No two businesses are alike; eventually, you will find the perfect blend of processes for your company.