We have all heard the saying, “being at the right place at the right time”. This saying is definitely true when it comes to lead generation. Effective lead generation increases your odds of being at the right place at the right time.
There are many key components to an effective lead generation program. There are three components when effectively setup, will have a huge impact on your results. Those components include:
1. Assessment
2. Messaging
3. Delivery
These three components often do not receive the time and attention they require to effectively impact your lead generation programs. Each component requires time and validation before moving forward. Let us look at each.
Assessment
One of the first things you must do is gain an accurate assessment of your market. When assessing the market, we must identify their needs, their requirements, their wants, and their pains. This assessment must be accurate and validated. Our assessment cannot be based on what we think but rather validated based on what the market thinks.
Often, we assess the market’s needs and requirements based on the features and benefits our product or service offers. In other words, we try to fit the market into what we have to offer vs. fitting our product or service into what the market needs.
Once we have an accurate and validated assessment of our market, we then must assess our product or service. We need to identify how our product or service meets the needs of the market. A common mistake made is assessing our product or service based on what we think the value is vs. what the market thinks.
We must identify what solution our product or service brings to the market, based on the market’s needs. What value is our product or service bringing to the market and is this value in our eyes or in the market’s eyes? Are we offering features and benefits based on what the market says it wants and needs or are we positioning features and benefits of our product or service based on what we think is important and valuable?
It is important to remember, we are not the buyer, the market is the buyer. Our product and service must meet their needs, their wants, their pains, and their requirements. Take the time to understand all the needs and requirements of the market and then determine how your product or service meets those needs and requirements?
Messaging
An accurate and validated assessment of the market combined with an accurate and validated assessment of how your product or service aligns with it, enables you to create and craft an effective message. Once we know how our product or service meets the needs of the market, we can then structure and create our message.
We must craft our message, so it easily, quickly, and effectively informs the market of how our product or service meets their needs and requirements. Our message must:
1. Address the market’s requirements
2. Solve the market’s wants and desires
3. Focus on the market’s pains
4. Meet the market’s needs
Our message must resonate with the prospect and the market. Remember, they are the buyer. You must use terminology and communication they will relate to. Often, we form our message based on what we think sounds good to us vs. crafting it to sound good to the market. Your message must quickly and effectively communicate why the buyer should consider and buy your product or service. As you craft your message, you must also determine what content will be included in each of your messages. Will you or should you include videos, graphics, and/or links? The channels we choose to deliver our message will drive the content we use for that channel.
Once your message is crafted you must determine how you will deliver your message.
Delivery
Now that you have crafted an effective message, you must determine the best way to get this message in front of your target audience. In today’s market, it is important to have a multichannel approach. Each delivery channel has its benefits. It is important to hit the market from multiple angles. Some prospects will respond to email, while others prefer talking on the phone, searching on Google, or browsing LinkedIn.
Utilizing a multichannel approach helps us increase our odds of being at the right place at the right time. Incorporating marketing automation with your multichannel approach increases your odds of being at the right place at the right time even more.
Are you leveraging all the channels that are available? Effective use of CRM can enable you to efficiently leverage multiple channels and cost effectively. CRM is a must for any effective lead generation program. We must leverage CRM for marketing automation and to increase our odds of being at the right place at the right time.
Take the necessary time to effectively set up each of the above key components. It will have a positive impact on your lead generation results and success.