Word of Mouth Isn’t a Scalable Way to Generate Leads

In this session of The Smart Agency Master Class I chat with Clay Collins, cofounder of LeadPages, a lead generation platform. Clay is going to help explain why relying on word of mouth isn’t a scalable way to generate leads, as well describing some other ways you should be generating leads.

How should you be generating leads?

In as many ways as possible! Clay says LeadPages put lead generation opportunities at every turn, and that’s what you should be doing too. And the very first thing you need to do is get your damn opt-in box up.

Too many agencies get hung up on what kind of stuff they should be giving away for the opt-in, or what the content of the emails and newsletters will be. In fact, they get so hemmed up on these details they don’t even start with the first basic step to generate leads – the opt-in box!

You need to stop putting the cart before the horse and put opt-in opportunities on your site, on your blog, in your podcast, everywhere! Put it on your homepage, opt-in for webinars, for demos, the list goes on and on.

Not everyone will opt-in, but for sure no one will if they aren’t given the chance.

But I don’t want to be annoying.

Good, then don’t be annoying. We’ve all seen that website with the pop-up when you first get there, the one that ambushes you whilst scrolling, the one that slides up from the bottom, and another one when you’re trying to leave. Don’t be that guy.

But if you’re providing something of value for the consumer, you’re not going to be annoying by giving them the opportunity to get more value from you. Say you have a podcast – give the opt-in to get a transcript of the podcast. Or your blog post is about an industry trend – make the opt-in a downloadable white paper. This way the consumer gets something of value for opting-in.

Overwhelmed by keeping the leads straight.

It can be a lot of work to put opt-ins all over, but never fear because LeadPages has you covered with LeadBoxes. They help keep everything neat and organized for you.

And even if you decide to do all the opt-ins yourself, it still pays off in the long run. According to Clay, the 10% of opt-ins they’ve received from their blog alone has led to millions of dollars in business. Millions of dollars is worth the work, right?

“Word of mouth probably isn’t working as well as you think.” – Clay Collins

Sure, you can get business this way but you can get a lot more business by branching out as well. Don’t fall victim to thinking you’re just a Google search away from the big client.

It rarely happens that someone happens upon your website, fills out your 12-part form, and heads directly into a conversation with you. What more often happens is that they find your website, skip over the 12-part form, and opt-in to your newsletter. (That is, assuming you have an opt-in opportunity for your newsletter.)

So what you need to be doing is providing value in the newsletter. Or in the blog. Or the podcast.

Whatever it is that you’re doing – pack it full of value! Tell people all the tactics and strategies, and don’t be afraid. They don’t want to take your knowledge and do it themselves – they’re far too busy for that. They just want to know what it is you can do, and then they’ll hire you to take care of it.

Seriously, one of the best ways to get business is to give away your knowledge.

Share your personal story as well.

It’s not just about the business, you have a story too. You need to create the opportunity for people to get to know you, as well as your agency. It makes you more personable and relatable.

Remember: people want to do business with people, not brands and logos.

Take some time to think about how you got to where you are today. What were your triumphs? What trials and tribulations did you go through to get here? Then find a compelling way to tell it, and watch it transform your business.

Digital Agency Owner Advice

So we’ve taken a closer look at your strategies and now you know the best way to generate leads for your agency but this might not be the only issue you have right now. To improve your agency, you should take a step back and really look struggles you need to focus on to improve your business. I have all you need to get through these obstacles.

I have advice to share with you from gaining agency exposure in the news, how to build authority for your agency, or even ways to use Facebook marketing strategies to expand your brand awareness. If growth is your focus, I’ve discussed the four phases of growth within your agency and how website issues could be holding your business back from reaching your potential.

You can learn more about my life and my experience as well as lots of tips, tricks, and insights by reading my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics.

If videos are more your thing, did you know I have a YouTube channel?

You can check out more from my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my YouTube channel. There you will find advice from me and other agency experts.