According to a study by Hubspot, 61% of B2B marketers said that lead generation is one of the top three challenges they face today. If you are not generating enough leads to grow your business, it is time to take action.
The good news is that there are dozens of strategies you can implement to start generating more leads and grow your business.
In this blog post, we will explain what you need to know about lead generation in Nigeria and why it matters so much for your business.
What is lead generation in Nigeria?
Lead generation is the process of getting someone to take an action such as filling out a form or contacting you. It is different from other forms of marketing, like advertising, because it doesn’t involve selling directly to the person; instead, it involves generating leads and then following up with them to see if they are interested in what you have to offer.
It can be done through many different channels, including email marketing campaigns, online ads, landing pages on your website and social media.
As mentioned earlier, lead generation is one of the top three challenges that B2B marketers face today.
By taking the time to understand how lead generation works and where you can implement strategies that will generate more leads for your business, you will be better able to scale your marketing efforts.
Why is Lead Generation so Important?
Lead generation is important to your business in Nigeria because it allows you to grow.
If you are not generating enough leads, you are losing opportunities to bring in new customers.
Lead gen helps you attract new customers, who will eventually turn into paying customers.
This is why B2B marketers emphasize the importance of lead gen in their marketing strategy: they want to be able to attract more customers.
Not only can lead gen help your business grow, but it also helps you maintain an authoritative online presence.
For example, a successful digital marketing campaign will ensure that your website has all the right keywords and is optimized properly, which will allow people to find and engage with your brand on social media as well as on Google search engine results pages (SERPs).
And as more and more people find your website helpful, they start seeing your brand as the go-to resource/authority in your niche.
Why is this important?
People tend to buy more from businesses they trust.
Proven Strategies for Successful Lead Generations in Nigeria
Lead generation in Nigeria is a challenging process but it’s not impossible.
As long as you have the right strategies in place, you can grow your business and the number of leads you receive.
Here are some proven lead-generating strategies:
1). SEO Strategy
Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the best ways to generate leads.
According to a 2012 study by Marketing Charts, they found both B2C (49%) and B2B (59%) marketers thought that SEO has a bigger impact on their lead generation goals.
Search engine optimization is also a great way to get more traffic to your website and improve your brand awareness.
The more people who visit your website and learn about your business, the more likely they are to trust you and buy from you when they need something.
As you probably know, all it takes is one click to buy something on the Internet.
As such, a good SEO strategy can help you generate more sales.
2). Content Marketing Strategy
It is important for businesses to understand what content works for their target audience so that they can create relevant, engaging content that will make them stand out from other companies in their industry.
A lot of organizations are turning towards content marketing because it is more cost-effective than traditional methods such as advertising and marketing campaigns.
If you want people to take action on your offer, the key is providing valuable information that will inspire them to do so (e.g., blog posts).
3). Social Media Strategy
Social media has become a powerful tool for generating leads in Nigeria.
Why?
This is because it allows you to reach your audience through multiple channels with minimal effort and investment at a fraction of the cost compared to traditional methods like advertising or marketing campaigns (e.g., Facebook Ads).
It is important to set up a social media strategy that fits your business goals, budget, and schedule.
While there are hundreds of different social media platforms, these five are the most commonly used.
To get started, find identify which one of these your target audience frequents, and then set up camp there.
Create a strategy of how you will find and engage them, and maybe entice them to take action on your offers.
4). Inbound Marketing Strategy
Inbound marketing refers to acquiring website visitors organically through tactics like search optimization and content marketing (we’ve looked at some of them here).
Inbound marketing focuses on creating high-value content that answers your customer’s needs and interests, and it engages your target audience through a variety of online channels.
This lead generation strategy in Nigeria is preferred by many marketers because it doesn’t require a large upfront investment of money. Instead, you can create content on a budget and scale it whenever you need more traffic.
5). Build a free tool to generate sales leads
The main purpose of this lead generation strategy in Nigeria is to provide a free tool that generates leads.
And when you do decide to go this road, it is important to build a tool that solves a problem or improves the way of doing something within your industry.
For example, if you are in the fitness industry you could create a free app that allows people to track their fitness progress, or if you are in real estate you could create an online calculator that helps people decide which neighbourhood is best for them.
Whenever someone uses your tool, ask for basic contact info. And they can be considered a lead, and you can use those leads to promote your company through paid ads, email campaigns, etc.
The more lead generation tools you build, the more potential customers will find your company through word of mouth marketing.
6). Publish and promote more case studies with high-quality content
Many people make the mistake of just publishing a case study and asking for the leads.
This is not enough.
Instead, you need to publish a high-quality case study that will go viral, and then use it as a tool to promote your company.
For example, if you are in real estate, you could create a video about how you helped someone get their dream home in the area they wanted.
You could also include some testimonials from people who benefited from your service. And then publish this video on Youtube and other social media channels to find more leads by sharing it with your email subscribers and social networks profiles.
A good place to start is by creating a Youtube channel where you can share your videos (make sure they have good sound quality).
You can also write articles on LinkedIn or other sites that are related to your industry so that people can find them easily when they are looking for information about your industry.
Another way of doing this is by creating a website that is related to your industry and then writing articles there.
7). Ask for testimonials (use social proof)
Once you have built a good reputation in your industry, you can start asking people who have used your service or products to write testimonials about how effective it has been.
You can also ask for referrals from people who have heard about you through this method. This way, when potential customers are looking for information about you, they will see these testimonials and be more likely to contact you.
If you want to get more testimonials, it is a good idea to come up with a quiz and ask your customers to answer it and write their answers as a testimonial.
By doing this, you are sure you will get a wide variety of testimonials and have more evidence if someone asks you why you should hire a company.
With a little creativity, you can also come up with other ways to ask for testimonials.
For example, you can create a Twitter poll with a range of options, some of which is “How did you hear about us?” and “What did you think of our service?”
8). Create an email list of active clients/customers that can be used to promote your business
Another one of the best lead generation strategies in Nigeria is building an email list.
You can create an email list of active clients/customers by using a tool like MailChimp or Aweber. With this in place, when someone is looking for information about your business, they will be directed to the email list instead of having to search the web or look through social media profiles just to find out more information about what you do.
Many companies make use of this method by sending out emails regularly to their clients.
9). Create a podcast and talk about your industry with other experts in the field
If you are an expert in your industry, you may want to consider creating a podcast where you talk about the issues and topics related to your industry with other experts who have excellent knowledge on these topics.
In fact, if possible, try talking about these issues with people who are really good at what they do so that people will be more likely to listen to what you have to say and will be more likely to trust you and your information.
You can also reach out to potential sponsors and ask them to leave a message on your blog post or podcast where they talk about their business and what they do.
This will help you build a valuable relationship with people who can sponsor your blog or podcast and get more exposure to your content.
10). Create a referral program for your business
Another best lead generation strategy is creating an affiliate program for your business. This is a way to gain more leads for your business by making people who have referred you to other people earn money for each lead.
You can create a referral program where you reward your affiliates for the clients they bring in so that they will be incentivized to bring in new clients.
11). Utilize video marketing
You can also use video marketing as an effective lead generation strategy in Nigeria because it is easy for people to watch videos online than to read blogs or articles.
You can create a video blog to promote your business and make it easier for people to find out more about your business and what you do. \
Truth is, people are always on the go, and they are always doing something. Whether it is sitting in traffic, watching TV, or reading on their phone, people are always on the go and are always open to learning about something.
It is important to create engaging and entertaining videos that people can watch whenever they have a few minutes to spare.
It is also important to create a variety of different types of videos for lead generation purposes. You can create a video blog that can be used to promote your business and collect email addresses.
3 Tips to improve your lead quality
It doesn’t matter how many leads you have, if they are not the right ones, you won’t make any sales.
So there are three things that you need to do to improve your lead quality.
a). Understand and define your target audience
This is critical in making sure you are getting quality leads for your business. You need to know who your target audience is so that you can create a message that they will find attractive.
You also need to understand what they are looking for so that you can cater for your message. You can do this through research and testing.
Find what works for your audience and repeat it.
Get into the mindset of creating a series of questions that you can use to test your messages and your copy.
What works?
What doesn’t?
What can be improved?
Give your target audience what they want. If you are selling a product or service, make sure you know what your lead wants. It can be as simple as asking them what they want and then giving it to them.
b). Qualify leads with questionnaires
You need to gather as much information as possible about your lead. It is important that you ask the right questions so that you can make a good decision on whether or not to convert them into a customer.
If you are selling a product, you will want to know what they are looking for and what their goals are. You need to ask them what they actually want from your product or service and then offer it to them.
If your product does not meet their needs, then they would have no interest in buying it. If it does match up with their needs, then it is likely that they will buy it.
c). Ask happy customers to refer you
If you have been in business for a while, you will have some customers who have been with you for a long time.
Ask them to refer you to other people.
They know what it is like to deal with your company and they will be able to give you a good recommendation.
If they have been happy with what you have done, then they are likely to tell their friends about it and they are more likely to buy from your company than someone who has never heard of you before.
Bottom line
If your business is interested in generating more leads, we have 17 lead generation strategies that work. These lead generation strategies in Nigeria are time tested, proven to work, and will help you generate quality leads for your business.