Marketing For Startups 101: Focusing On Hot Leads

Prodeep Ahmeed/ Pexabay

When entering the world of modern business, you quickly learn the value of brand awareness. In fact, many marketers now suggest that it is a more important metric than sales. Ultimately, the success of all branding and marketing efforts are ultimately determined by sales. So, rather than focusing on reaching more people, the goal should be to land conversions.

While you still need to grow your brand, boosting conversions by placing more effort on hot leads can transform the entire company. Here’s how to do it in style.

Let Prospective Customers Find You
Even if your small business is focused on local offline sales, you will appreciate the need for digital marketing. Over 5.5 billion people have internet access and the vast majority of consumers now use it to discover products and services. 

PPC ads and social media marketing are great for reaching out to new prospects. However, professional SEO services that fire your business up the search engine results pages are the best solution. After all, people who run searches for specific products and services are actively in the buying mindset. A strong ranking instantly legitimizes your brand.

Even if they are not ready to convert today, you’ll have a fantastic opportunity to guide them to your sales funnel. 

Embrace Email & SMS Marketing
Email and SMS marketing have been effective marketing streams for over 25 years. But the fact that regulations have significantly reduced cold calling has made them even more successful.

Consumers know that the messages are unlikely to be spam. So, open rates are very high.

Better still, the fact that people have signed up to receive contact from you means that they at least have some interest. Email marketing offers many benefits, not least relating to time and money. Perhaps the most impressive factor, though, is that it is a chance to build stronger connections with your leads. This can lay the foundation for long-term loyalty.

Given that 80% of revenue could come from just 20% of your client base, this is a major success for your brand.

Target Your Niche
One of the most common mistakes made by startups is that they try to impress everyone. Ultimately, though, this could be very detrimental to the company if those efforts alienate your target audience. Building a brand that resonates with your niche is vital.

To do this, you should conduct thorough market research and build a target consumer profile. This can guide key decisions from branding materials to ad positioning. It’ll also help you determine whether ideas like elevating your eco-friendly credentials should be a part of your brand image. Seeking feedback and using it can help make them feel more valued also helps.

Essentially, if you are willing to listen to what leads want from your startup, it will become easier to provide it.

The Final Word
Many businesses will continue to focus on reaching the widest audience. However, your startup or SME can gain a huge advantage by focusing on the prospects who are most likely to buy. Aside from boosting conversions and revenue, it should allow you to make more accurate forecasts for future sales figures. The future of your venture will look better than ever.