When it comes to building a successful start-up, there’s something entrepreneurs are often oblivious to. While it might seem obvious once it’s pointed out, it’s an obstacle many fail to account for until they actually run into it.  

We’re talking about lead generation. The reality is that you could develop the very best product in the world, but without drawing attention to it, your business is inevitably doomed to fail. That’s because consumers cannot buy a product or invest in a service if they’re unaware of its existence. So, how best to remedy this? Here are six smart ways to help you generate leads quickly and effectively. 

Optimise your web content  

One of the best ways to generate leads is via your online presence, which means it’s essential for every small business to optimise its web pages for conversions. We’re not talking about simply advertising your products on the internet – rather, you need to use your website as a platform for encouraging visitors to take action. Ideally, said action would be to get your hands on any potential consumer’s contact information, from their name through to their email address, phone number, and any other data that might prove useful for making a sale. If you’re not sure of exactly how to do this, tools such as “Leadpages” can come in useful, outfitting you with plenty of handy page templates to get you started.

Host a contest or giveaway 

Another idea to help you generate leads is to host a giveaway or contest. This can produce a huge number of email and/or social leads in only a short space of time, which makes it an especially good idea for start-ups. The concept is a simple one: you tantalise your audience with the promise of a prize, and in return they either refer their contacts, share your content, or like your social media pages. This sort of online event is not only eminently easy to organise, but requires only a small expenditure on your prize in exchange for what can be a significant long-term reward.   

Find leads on Twitter 

If you don’t already have an account, setting up shop on Twitter can also prove helpful. That’s because Twitter isn’t merely a social networking website, but a rich source of potential leads for small companies in need of a boost. While you can do this manually, there are certain pieces of software/add-ons that can help to streamline this process and ensure your efforts are successful, such as Followerwonk.

What this does, essentially, is allow you to better analyse your data, by offering insights into everything from what time your followers tweet to what they’re interested in, so you can make sure your content is both reaching and appealing to the largest audience possible.      

Use LinkedIn as a marketing tool 

Twitter isn’t the only networking site you can use to your advantage when it comes to lead generation. Similarly, you can utilise LinkedIn as a tool to help your efforts, as well as a way to bring your business to the attention of new clients and more effectively connect with them.

Publishing the right sort of content to an already engaged audience is one way to achieve this, but if you really want to make the most of the opportunity, it can be worth investing in an add-on like Lusha. Specifically designed to help you get your hands on B2B contact information, this particular piece of software is able to tell you everything you need to know about your customers, so that you can instantly enrich your Salesforce leads and contacts.     

Create engaging content  

Another approach to try is producing high-quality and engaging content. This can help to bring in a much greater volume of web traffic, but only if what you’re putting out there is sufficiently informative and holds some particular appeal to your target audience. That’s why we suggest focusing not only on what you’re writing, but also on the sort of media that stimulates shares and engagement too, which means breaking up any text with images, videos, and infographics.   

Take advantage of existing databases 

Having an eventual database of leads to tap into is the main aim of lead generation, but if you want to create an audience almost instantly, there’s another way to do it: you can tap into existing databases. There are quite a few of these out there for those who think to look, and while you may have to pay to access them, they often contain long lists of companies with up-to-date contact information, making them incredibly useful for B2B businesses. According to the numbers, using these can catalyse an almost 25 percent increase in sales in only a short space of time, so they’re well worth considering.    

Isn’t it time you got serious about lead generation? With these six top tips to help you, there’s really no excuse not to!