Converting leads into sales is becoming increasingly difficult in today’s chaotic digital landscape, writes Brian Hughes for Entrepreneur.
Even for the most seasoned marketing professionals, today’s digital landscape can seem daunting. Multiple marketing channels and constantly changing consumer behaviour and expectations can lead to confusion.
While many companies find that fewer leads generated by their inbound marketing efforts are resulting in sales, marketing departments feel under pressure to generate more leads in the hope of increasing sales. But leads are not worth much if they don’t convert into sales. Choose quality over quantity of leads and the sales will follow.
Medical transport and protection provider Medjet Assist recently boosted sales using an “agile” inbound marketing strategy that focused on bringing in leads that were most likely to result in sales.
The best way to tackle a complex situation is to simplify your approach. Here are three lessons your company can learn from Medjet Assist:
1) Identify your ideal client. There is no point in chasing clients if there is no chance of a sale. Look at your current client list to determine which customers are easiest to work with and generate the most profit for your company. Then look at your company’s history to determine which leads are most likely to hire your business. Remove any clients from you current list of leads that aren’t worth your time and effort.
2) Test your call-to-action. The only way to know if a call-to-action is working is to test it. Analytics platform Kissmetrics reports that A/B testing (comparing two variants to see which works best) can result in a 5% to 20% increase in your company’s bottom line. Combining A/B testing with reliable data surveys can help you find out why leads aren’t converting into sales. You can then test alternative strategies until you find out what works.
3) Nurture your leads. Just because a lead has not resulted in a purchase yet, it doesn’t mean it never will. Forrester Research says that companies that nurture leads generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost per lead. Keep in touch with promising leads until they are ready to commit. Medjet Assist keeps in touch with leads via e-mail marketing until they are ready to buy.
Less is more
“By taking the time to understand our target audience and testing different call-to-action messages, we honed our lead generation to focus on those most likely to convert,” says Bill Miller, chief sales and marketing officer at Medjet Assist. “The result: more qualified leads and more sales. Less is more!”