Introduction
Attracting new clients is one of the main goals of every company. Many business owners invest heavily in paid ads to draw potential customers to their websites. However, it is not the only way to increase sales.
Organic lead generation is a smart method that allows you to get leads for free or at a low cost.
The process includes providing useful information, using search engine content, social media, websites, and other tools which help to reach the company’s audience.
It is a long-term solution that requires time, effort, and proper content. The main advantage of organic lead generation is that it builds trust with customers and provides your business with a steady stream of website visitors.
This post will unveil the concept and inner workings of organic lead generation, explain lead generation techniques and strategy, and discuss its benefits.
What Is Organic Lead Generation?
Organic lead generation is a means of attracting potential customers without spending much money.
For instance, someone searches on Google and finds your well-written blog post. Then, he/she decides to check your website and leaves their contact information.
This is how a person becomes an organic lead.
The common sources of organic leads include Google search, blog, website, social media content, community forums, referrals, email, educational videos, and other platforms.
The main idea is that you provide informative resources and wait for people to arrive at your landing page.
How Does Organic Lead Generation Work?
Organic lead generation typically works in the following steps:
Understanding What Your Customers Want
The first step towards creating an organic lead generation strategy is finding out what your customers are interested in.
Your business offers certain goods or services, so you should know what questions your target audience has.
For instance, some companies specialize in digital marketing services, such as SEO. In this case, researchers can look for keywords related to online marketing. Here are some examples of questions related to my company:
- SEO services for small business
- How to boost website traffic
- Local SEO
- Lead generation
- How to generate leads
Based on the things you know about your customers’ interests, you can proceed to the next step.
Create Valuable and Useful Content
The next thing to do is to create content about the topics identified in the previous step.
There are many types of content, so make sure to pick those that resonate most with your audience and meet their demands.
Here is a list of some common content types:
- Articles
- Guides
- How-To posts
- Tutorials
- Webinars
- Video reviews
- Case studies
- FAQs
- Webpage dedicated to the provided service
The important point is that you should not only promote your services but also address your customers’ problems.
Optimize and Deliver the Content
Creating an article is not enough; you should optimize it so that the target audience can find it easily.
Moreover, it is a good idea to enhance your content using search engine optimization (SEO). You can also share your articles and other types of content on social media. The optimization part plays a big role because you will never succeed if nobody sees your landing page.
Make the Landing Page Compelling to Turn Website Visitors Into Leads
The final stage is to make website visitors interested in your services.
For this, you need to create a call-to-action. There are several CTAs, such as fill-in form, inquiry, consultation, book a meeting, get a quote. You can also encourage people to leave their contact information, after which you will remind them about your services.
Main Advantages of Organic Lead Generation
Reduced Costs
Organic lead generation techniques are an affordable source of income because you do not spend much money to advertise your page, post, or article.
However, there is one caveat – it takes much time and effort to provide high-quality content that will attract new customers.
Besides, to maintain the steady flow of website visitors, regular SEO is required. Moreover, optimizing the page can be resource-consuming as well.
Customer Trust and Credibility
In most cases, customers want to check out your services and learn more about what you offer before requesting a quote.
Organic marketing is a perfect option to demonstrate that your company is reliable and competent.
For instance, trust-based content includes informational articles about your specialized service. If your company is in the accounting field, you can upload webinars and blog posts containing educational material concerning taxes, deductions, expenses, and other topics.
This way, you nurture your leads and increase the chances of making a sale.
Sustained Traffic Growth
Unlike paid campaigns, organic lead generation usually requires much time and effort. Yet, the results can be worth it.
Since your content will keep appearing in search engine results, more people will visit your website again and again. Moreover, sustained traffic growth means that you will get more leads and sales over time.
Increased Brand Awareness
If you employ effective tactics, your page with valuable articles or videos can appear first in the search results.
Thus, people will learn about your services and your company. Even if they do not make an inquiry right away, they will certainly remember your brand and consider their options again in the future.
Lead Generation Strategy and Techniques
Search Engine Optimization
SEO is a set of optimization strategies and on-page actions aimed at improving your website’s visibility in SERPs.
SEO services are one of the key aspects of organic lead generation, and there are several techniques that you can apply. Keyword research, quality content, search engine-friendly landing page, internal linking structure, technical SEO, mobile responsiveness, and backlinks are some of the main areas of SEO. All these components are crucial for increasing your website’s visibility. With proper on-page and off-page optimization, your company will get more traffic and, consequently, more leads from organic sources.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is an umbrella term in marketing that involves communicating your brand through valuable and relevant content. The main types of content are articles, blogs, tutorials, videos, webinars, guides, podcasts, and more.
Creating informative and educating content helps you build your brand presence among your target customers and lets you nurture the relationships with your leads.
For instance, small business owners who want to promote their website development skills can post blog articles reviewing the most common mistakes in web designing.
This way, they will fulfill the dual purposes of attracting and educating the audience. There are also many other effective content types, and it is highly recommended to use them in your organic lead generation strategy.
Local SEO Strategy
Local SEO is critical for companies with a physical office. Similar to regular SEO, local SEO is a marketing strategy used to increase the visibility of organizations and products in local searches.
You can optimize the website to appear in local search results when people look for services in your city or region. The main point of local SEO is to encourage more customers to become familiar with your business. Here are some examples of companies that employ local SEO.
- Restaurants
- Salons
- Clinics
- Repair services
- Real Estate
- Marketers
Social Media Marketing
Using social media, you can post photos, videos, informative statistics, comments, questions from your audience, and much more. Thus, you can attract much more traffic with compelling and catchy headlines. While your company can invest in online ads, try to provide informational and entertaining stories that will help you build brand recognition, engage and attract new customers, and encourage them to visit your website to learn more about your services.
One should also remember that not only paid methods entice people to explore their services.
Email Marketing
Another way to build stronger relationships with your existing customers and promote and market your service or product is through email marketing. With the help of this type of marketing, you can send emails to your target audience. For instance, one of your newsletter subscribers might sign up for a free guide. After that, you can regularly send marketing emails and eventually build an ongoing conversation, leading to a sale.
Organic Lead Generation:
The Funnel
The process of organic lead generation takes place through a funnel. Here are the phases of a general sales funnel, from awareness to sale.
- Awareness: The visitor learns about your brand through search engines, social media, or another source.
- Interest: They go to your landing page and blog and begin learning about your offers and products.
- Consideration: The leads are interested in your service/product and compare you with your competitors. This is also the phase where they will learn more facts and details about the goods/services that your company offers.
- Conversion: Here, you need to persuade them to complete an inquiry, order, fill an application form, or make any other commitment. You should also keep track of your lead’s progress and provide assistance and support throughout their consideration.
- Customer: This is the stage when your product or service has already made the sale. The company continues to build long-term relationships with the customers and encourages repeat purchases.
Thus, the funnel represents the lifecycle of your customers. You can identify at which stage your customers are, and you can also see where you need to improve. By examining the conversion rate at different stages, the business will understand the points of improvement and can enhance its overall sales funnel.
6 Easy Tips to Make Organic Leads Convert
While attracting new website visitors is important, getting them to actually inquire and request more information is even more so. The following are a few important tips on improving the chances that your visitor will convert into a lead.
Use Easy and Understandable Call to Actions
A call to action means a statement or a question that activates the reader to come to your site. For instance, CTA can be “get a free quote” or “fill in this form.” You need to clearly define that button, action, pop-up or section of your page to draw your customers’ attention.
Make Lead Collection Simple
Not all your website visitors will make a full inquiry; some will simply be curious about you. This is why it is vital to make a short form instead of a five-page long form. The information requested should include your name, email, phone number, and a message, if required.
Ensure Fast Loading Web Pages
If people cannot load your landing page, they will search for another business that provides the services they are looking for.
Make the Page Mobile-Friendly
Many people browse the internet on their mobile devices, so the website should be mobile-friendly and contain relevant content.
Organic Vs. Paid Lead Generation: Which One Should I Choose?
Organic Lead Generation
- SEO and content creation
- No direct cost per lead
- Generally longer-term
- Depends mostly on the time and effort
- Best for long-term sales growth and brand building
Paid Lead Generation
- Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising
- Direct cost per lead
- Provides faster growth
- Mostly depends on budget
The overall conversion rate for organic and paid search marketing averages to be equal. However, businesses should invest in both areas: in other words, you should use both forms of marketing.
Mistakes Businesses Make at Organic Lead Generation
Creating Content without Defining Your Needs
While creating random content may help, it is more likely that you will invest much effort and time into something that does not meet your customers’ demands.
Focusing too much on keywords
You may think that the more keywords used, the better, but writing a blog article full of keywords may confuse your readers. Make sure that your blog contains relevant keywords, but also valuable information.
Thinking that More Traffic Equals More Sales
Although people browsing your website is a good sign, more website visitors do not always mean more sales.
You need to keep track of how many people fill out your inquiry form or contact you anyway.
Neglecting Old Content
Updating your web content regularly is vital to a successful business. As time passes, the old content loses relevance.
Conclusion
Organic lead generation is critical to any company aiming to achieve steady growth rates. Organic marketing strategies help sustain continuous sales. SEO and content marketing are two of the vital aspects of lead generation, along with local SEO, social media, and email marketing.
This type of marketing takes much time and effort to attract new customers, but the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. Building brand awareness is essential, and creating valuable educational content will contribute to your business’ reputation and credibility.
Moreover, while organic and paid campaigns seem mutually exclusive, they complement each other perfectly, which is why many businesses take advantage of both areas.
FAQ
Is organic content free?
It can be both expensive and cheap because generating leads this way takes much time and effort. Also, it involves content creation, SEO optimization, and other processes.
Is organic traffic costly?
Organic traffic can be both costly and cheap depending on business size and allocated resources.
How long does organic lead generation take?
It depends on the level of competition and keyword difficulty. Usually, it is a long-term and slow process.
Is search engine optimization a part of organic lead generation?
SEO is one of the most popular techniques that can be included in the framework of organic lead generation.
Can small business benefit from organic lead generation?
Yes, because in most cases, small business owners can easily apply such methods as content creation and SEO.
Can I apply organic and paid lead generation techniques simultaneously?
Yes, you can, and it is a good idea.