One of the first steps to getting more customers is to start generating more leads. There are many ways that companies generate these leads including more traditional methods like TV / radio adverts, mass mailing and cold calling. Whilst these methods still have their place we would like to share a 5 simple methods that have worked for us.

1. Create a lead-generating website

This may be quite obvious but a study by Ad-ology that was done a few years ago revealed that just less than half of the companies surveyed didn’t have a website. That’s staggering. You may be wondering if a website really does equate to higher leads and then higher sales. Well, the statistics show show that 69% of companies that have a revenue in excess of ±R10 000 000 have a website yet 55% of the companies under ±R5 000 000 don’t.

Using open source software like WordPress, enables you to get a website quickly and affordably. Remember, a website is fundamental to your company generating leads online.

• 5 Popular South African Websites Built on WordPress

2. Make sure you are mobile friendly

Mobile adoption in South Africa is massive and is continuing to grow at a rapid rate – over 80% of South Africans access the internet via their smartphone. Google South Africa’s Country Manager, Luke McKend, was interviewed about mobile first being a game changer which reiterates Google support for mobile websites (Google now has a ranking factor for mobile-friendly websites).

If you’re wanting to generate more leads for your company, you have to make sure that your leads enjoy their experience on your website. This is especially true if your audience is a savvy Johannesburg based customer.

3. Get your company onto social media

Social media is not just a fad. There are over 1.8 billion people on social networks around the globe. 55% of those people do their research before buying on social platforms (IBM). It’s very important that your company has the ability to join the conversation to drive potential leads to your website.

Make sure you share content that will not only help your customer but engages them as well – it doesn’t always have to be your own content as well! You then want to join conversations about your field of expertise in an attempt to help the person (not sell to). You should do this in a personalised way so that the person you’re talking to feels like you’re helping and not selling to them.

Create a social monitoring stream for topics that you’re an expert in. Be specific though. User long-tail keyword terms like “Generating More Leads in Johannesburg” so that you can really focus on a specific audience.

4. Create quality educational content

You’re an expert in your field, right? So why don’t you take this knowledge and become a thought leader? When people are looking to fix a problem they generally look for a solution to it before they find a solution provider. This is a great opportunity for you to give solutions to peoples problems and actually provide it as well. Visitors are also more likely to share content that talks about a solution rather than your company.

Also make sure that you’re writing on a consistent basis. A great way to find content to right about is to listen to your customers and find out what questions they are asking. Provide an answer (again, not about your product) to their question and send them a link. They’ll appreciate your effort and you’ll have an important piece of content that people will be looking for.

When writing this content, make sure that you’re specific. This makes sure that you generate leads that are very specific to you. If you’re a boat repair company based in Johannesburg, for instance, it won’t help you to write about protecting your boat from the sea air. Rather focus on information that is specific to your Johannesburg customer (which would most likely be something to do with fresh water boating).

These 4 simple tips have greatly improved the number of leads we generate every month but has also increased the quality of our leads. If you follow these tips your company will see the long-term benefits and allow your sales team to speak to educated leads that are ready to purchase.