Every brand online (and offline) is always on the lookout for effective strategies to pull potential customers into the marketing funnel and transform them into loyal customers.
The challenge lies in pinpointing precisely which promotional channels will be most efficient in drawing in quality leads or direct purchase traffic.
So we thought, hey, why not break down some of our favorite methods, tips, and tricks so you can try them out for yourself?
This is not an exhaustive list, but choosing even a few of these ideas might light a fire under your team and get the creative juices flowing. Let’s dive in.
Professional Networking Platforms
In the context of B2B marketing, professional networking platforms, such as LinkedIn, are incredibly effective. These platforms are business-focused and provide room for creativity, from carousels and videos to engagement through polls.
Here is a pro tip – Linkedin loves to paste full-size images in the feed – so creating an infographic that is taller takes up more screen real estate. The more screen size you take up with your post – the more likely you are to make people take notice.
However, the success to these platforms depends on your B2B company’s ability to distinguish its brand from the MASSIVE influx of other brands – and personal business posts.
There is also a keyword to focus on here—networking.
Way too many people jump right in to ask for meetings and sales without actually networking their way into their audience’s good graces.
So be sure to approach with care and consideration.
Paid and Organic Search
As an intent-based channel, people typically use Google with the intention of finding an agency to collaborate with.
Therefore, advertising efforts center around high-value keywords and crafting content that organically ranks well for leading industry topics.
The conversation surrounding paid vs. organic really comes down to speed and quality.
Paid advertising is akin to a sprint while SEO organic strategies are a marathon. While paid search may give you short-term higher volume or opportunities, organic SEO traffic/leads will take longer to acquire but the quality and purchase intent of this traffic is much higher.
Online Webinars
Don’t underestimate the power of online webinars!
Potential clients seek to overcome their challenges, acquire guidance on successful strategies, and hear about others’ success stories. Attending webinars provides them with this knowledge, and your brand becomes a valuable resource.
Engagement strategies, such as polling questions, can keep attendees involved and assist in further understanding their needs.
One thing to remember with webinars is you always want to leave attendees wanting more.
Your job when the webinar is over is to provide your audience with exclusive benefits or promotional offers that they need to jump on ASAP.
Pro Tip! To get the most out of your webinar, be sure that you have a robust follow-up email sequence in place to stay on your audience’s radar once your webinar is finished.
Pay-Per-Click or Visual Social Media Ads
There is a constant debate as to “which is better”—PPC ads or social media ads?
It really comes down to a couple of things—where your customers are searching and how your customers are being influenced.
With our AdBeacon platform, we can see full customer journeys. What we have discovered is that while social media ads are often great from top and mid-funnel customer journeys, the final sale is more likely to come from PPC ads.
In early testing we decided to stop social media ads under the assumption that all sales were coming from PPC—can you guess what happened?
Overall sales dropped!
Meaning that while on the surface, PPC was clearly outperforming, social media ads were (and do) have a massive impact in terms of staying top of mind with customers and driving purchase decisions.
Social Media and Blogs
A combined approach of promotion on social media and showcasing expertise on your website blog can be beneficial.
Social media can reach a vast audience quickly, while blog content establishes a thought leadership position in the media landscape, appealing to potential customers who may be less active on social media.
Organic social media lets you stay timely and push content out quickly, which can go hand in hand with your blog content. You publish a blog post and can then use snippets of this content (or the entire post) to post across your social platforms.
In the end, you want to show that your business is up to date on what is happening in your industry as well as within the minds of your customers. This helps you build trust with your customers and establish you as an authority in your industry.
Sponsored Location-Based Services
Sponsored location-based services, such as Google Maps, have been highly effective advertising channels to draw in and convert potential customers.
These ads leverage the power of location-based targeting, reaching users when they’re actively searching for nearby businesses.
This one is obviously designed for local businesses as opposed to national businesses.
Additionally, this strategy is perfect for customers searching on their phones and on the go. Local retail locations, services, and restaurants are just a few examples of businesses that should consider this approach.
Not only can it put you at the top of the search results, but you get the added benefit of a customer being able to navigate to your retail location (or call directly) with a click.
Direct Email
Direct email stands out as an incredibly effective channel.
It allows for addressing specific problem areas and visually demonstrating findings through embedded video content in emails.
This approach portrays a team of experts who understand the recipient’s needs, quickly building trust and streamlining the funnel process by getting straight to the point.
Email might seem outdated at this point, but this is far from the truth.
Even after nearly 20 years in the digital marketing industry, email still consistently provides the highest ROI across every marketing channel. The reason is simple—you are reaching out to customers (or prospects) that have already interacted with your brand!
An ongoing drip of newsletters, insights, and promotions will bring customers back over time—and your biggest investment is time. You are not paying per email sent or per email opened, which helps keep costs in check.
Emerging Social Media Trends
While professional networking platforms are the obvious choice, emerging social media platforms, like TikTok or even Threads, have also proven fruitful (or at least promising) in generating leads.
Projecting some brand personality, humor, and a different aspect of professional life on this platform can resonate with potential customers, reinforcing the idea that people prefer buying from people.
Jumping on social media trends does not mean your plumbing company should be dancing to the latest Bad Bunny track.
There are trends in content types that will align with almost any brand—behind-the-scenes (BTS) content, showing how products are made or user-generated content, the list is endless.
Better yet, seek out what others in your industry are posting and note what is getting the most engagement—then do what they do, only better!
Amplification of Keynotes and Quotes
As thought leaders in the public relations industry, various outputs generate leads.
There is considerable value in stage-side leads after each keynote speech, as well as when quoted in the news. Optimizing and amplifying content can result in even more leads, and the established credibility makes closing deals easier.
You should also ensure that you can record your keynote and use this content across your marketing efforts.
It is not uncommon for our team to take a single keynote or podcast and pull 10-15 short clips that can use used across channels. This not only helps keep you top of mind longer but gives you a larger “bank” of content to use for weeks instead of a couple of days.
Time To Get To Work
Understanding and leveraging the right advertising channels is vital in today’s competitive market. Each platform offers unique benefits that, when used strategically, can pull prospects into the marketing funnel and convert them into loyal customers.
However, knowing where to start or how to optimize these channels can be daunting. That’s where the team at National Positions comes in.
With a wealth of industry experience and a proven track record in effective digital marketing, we can help guide your business to new heights. Don’t let your potential leads slip through the cracks—contact the experts at National Positions today, and let us help you turn prospects into profits.