Lead generation: From 10 to 300 leads a month using digital marketing campaign, how?
A case study how one established business launched a brand new service and went from 10 leads a month to 300 a month. By the end of the project, the business owner went and got himself a RR, while I went and bought myself a derelict home. Everyone was happy, including many happy customers that the client serviced. (I have a picture of my derelict home to prove it!:).
With the holiday period coming to the end and the business as usual resuming, it’s once again time to take a look at the visibility, how to make sure your business shows up when customers are searching for it, and how to scale up, while creating a positive impact on your community.
Here’s how we did it (the names and some of the details have been disguised out of the privacy but the facts remained accurate)
A brief summary:
The Project - A New campaign project
A client approached us with a new project. He already had a successful business, (a solicitor by trade) but he spotted a new gap in the market he was hoping to fill and therefore wanted to launch the new service. He is a smart guy. He kind of tried to push the new services himself but he had a problem, he simply did not have time, or the skills required to promote this particular service.
We had an initial consulting meeting to determine his goals. He had a 2 year plan in mind. He was hoping to lay strong foundations for his new services, so that in 2 years time he could really take off and be ready for any new competitors.
It was a long-term business growth strategy, but it was also important that the business was taking money in the short term.
Three things we did before starting a project
1. Firstly we determined a very specific lead generation number the client wanted to achieve. It was 30 leads a month, but more the better.
2. We then looked at their current marketing materials and systems to get a better idea what was working and what needed to be tweaked. Frankly there was not a lot that was working at that stage. He had been building a website for 2 years, and it was still in the staging phase. His systems was all over the place or did not exist. There was no real measurements of the number of leads coming through, no follow up systems etc.
3. The problem he had, he was the business owner and he was the busiest and most in demand. If he happened to pick up a phone, he would convert prospects into customers. If he did not pick up a phone, there was no real way of systemising his conversions from lead to sales.
Most importantly his business visibility online for this new service was as good as non-existing.
READ: How much will increasing visibility and conversion boost your sales? It is probably not what you are thinking.
18 areas we examined and created prior to the campaign launch
We essentially started our marketing campaign from zero. Here’s the brief marketing campaign planning process.
Marketing tools had to be created and put into place. The tools are the pieces that are put into the line of the process that creates sales leads.
Target research
Mind research
Thought research
Sales path research
Conversation research
Positioning research
Perceptive research
Message to match
Core message
Lead generation message
Target messages for different targets
Triggers words
Buzzwords
Reaction phrases to call to action
Images are taken from mindset
Conversational copy
Headline creation
Reassuring copy
Plus 10 Website specific tools we created to gain momentum
Website created
Leads page
Lead offer
Lead capture
Words for lead capture box
Offer for lead capture box
Design elements for conversion
Call-out design
Page after lead captures
Offer after lead capture
Follow-up system to convert unconverted leads
14 Online Marketing as well as traditional marketing tools we utilised during this marketing campaign
Overall SEO positioning
Traffic strategy
Brand positioning strategy
Social media strategy
Mobile phone strategy
Landline strategy (phone script)
Voice mail strategy
Advertising Banners horizontal
Banners square
Banners rotating
Banner placement
Banner email ads
1,2,3 click strategy from the website
Website branded colours - memory meme
And 13 more tools and strategies we used to support the campaign
Key Office personnel training
PDF and eBook creation
Advertising copy of the website and documents
Support of all the above
Magazine advert
Targeted adverts
Testing on everything, that means testing each campaign’s performance
Tracking on everything
Tweaking on everything
Monthly sales and results meetings
Above marketing campaign may sound like a lot, but we did work for 2 years on the project.
Now, here’s the fun part. The first time we met, he turned up in BMW. When we had the final business meeting, he was rather excited going to test drive his new RR!
RR aside, he did not just get rich. Growing business meant, he was able to recruit more professionals, he was able to move to a brand new office, bigger and better location and he was for certain making a positive impact on the overall economy and community spirit.
Would you agree it’s a nice position to be in, where you are able to create such a vibrant business community?
What was the marketing budget for this marketing campaign?
Firstly, we had the initial 12 month plan divided by 4. A simple 3 month plan, then 6, 9 and 12 month.
When we originally started, we agreed to work on a marketing budget of just £1000 a month (for digital advertising only).
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As the business started to come in, we then gradually doubled the amount to £2,000 a month. Then we jumped to £6000 a month and by the time we handed over the project to him, he was allocating £10,000 a month towards the advertising budget. By that time, our lead generation results went to 10 a day, 300 a month. Each converted lead was worth £3,000 to a client. You do the math.
What are the 3 the important takeaways from this digital marketing campaign case study?
1. It is never just about running online ads; Ads may work to a certain level, but without a clear planning, and strategy behind they are not sustainable in the long term;
2. Having a long term vision and goals were important, as it helped to lay strong foundations to the business, which allowed to maintain the competitive advantage, and to really solidify his business as the ultimate choice in the region;
3.Start small, grow together with your business. You don’t have to have a big marketing budget, but you do have to ensure you can maximise every advertising pound that you spend. As you start to grow, keep reinvesting, keep evolving. Don’t forget, your competitors will not quit, it is your job to maintain your competitive edge.
Growing business takes time, it takes investment and it takes commitment.
I am not really sure what happened to the client’s RR, but I loved my derelict home turned into a lovely urban comfort that keeps attracting expats from all over the world year after year. What can I say, I am a fan of Roman invention, brick and mortar any day! :)
To showing up when your customers need you
Tamara Forrest-Smith
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