All eCommerce store owners aim to persuade prospective shoppers to make purchases from them. In a perfect scenario, shoppers visit the online store, trust the brand, seek products of their choice and complete transactions. But this is a rarity in today’s bustling online space. Admittedly, eCommerce stores, on average, convert 3 to 5 per cent of the time.
The important question is, “what becomes of the 97 to 95 per cent?”. The truth is that you can’t convince every prospective shopper to make an instant purchase from your store. However, with a lead generation strategy, you can eventually turn visitors into paying customers. This article will explain the four best lead generation strategies for eCommerce.
Creating leads is essential for e-commerce success.
A lead generation strategy will help you to better engage prospective shoppers and significantly shape their purchase decisions. But acquiring leads is the first step to achieving this.
So, what does “lead” mean in eCommerce? Leads are prospective shoppers or clients who have shown interest in your online store or product. For lead acquisition to take place, interested parties must offer contact data – for instance, their email address or phone number.
As an eCommerce store owner, you can engage with these leads and motivate them to buy products from your store with an effective strategy. Lead generation offers numerous benefits, which are integral to your business’s success.
Here are some of them:
Acquire new customers
Lead generation is the best way to grow your customer acquisition rate. Not all customers who visit your online store will make a purchase at that particular time. Some will quit the store while others will return. You should have a strategy aimed at turning customers who aren’t ready to make purchases into prospects so as to prevent them from going to the competition. These prospects can later be turned into paying customers via email marketing.
Do you need strategies for acquiring new customers?
Read the article Best FOMO Marketing Email Examples to Improve Conversions in 2022
Broaden your existing customer base.
Visitors who aren’t prepared to make a purchase should be seen as opportunities. If they can be converted into leads, you can utilize newsletters and emails to boost their loyalty to your eCommerce store. The newsletter email is a great way to create awareness for your business in the minds of your leads. Ensure the content is rich with information and value, as this will allow you to build your existing customer base while growing your customer lifetime value.
Leverage web traffic
There is plenty of potential for your business as conversion rates hover between 3 and 6 per cent on average. Lead generation is a good way to leverage this situation and use the hard-earned traffic to grow your sales.
Channels for effective lead generation
There are plenty of channels for generating leads for eCommerce stores. Two of the most widely used and appealing are social media and websites. Although there are other offline lead generation channels (like expos and exhibitions), as an online business, your focus should be centered on online channels.
Lead Generation via your websites
Your website is an effective channel for lead generation. Also, there’s a reason your customer visits your website. The first thing that interests them is your store, products (or service) for sale and content. With this interest, you have to motivate them to make purchases or acquire them as leads. To achieve this, you have to use effective lead generation to get their contact details.
Homepage: Ensure you display the lead generation popup on your website. This will allow your visitors to subscribe to our newsletter as they access your store. Ensure you add an incentive to increase the effectiveness of your popup.
Blog CTA
If you have a blog page where you offer relevant content to your customers, add a scroll-intent popup between paragraphs or at the end of each article. This will ensure it doesn’t distract the reader. Ensure your content is engaging, as this will impact your lead generation.
Newsletter popup
Newsletter popups are excellent ways to instantly generate leads and engage with your customers without being intrusive. Ensure you offer incentives for newsletter signups; you can also use a countdown timer or spin-to-wheel for added effect.
Generating leads through social media
Social media websites (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok etc.) are excellent channels for generating leads. Social media gives you endless possibilities to connect and engage your target audience and demographics. Social media has a penetration rate of more than 80%, and typically, users spend at least 2 hours on these channels. So, the outcome would be worth it.
Facebook and other social media sites are currently simplifying the process of generating leads via their sites. For instance, lead generation forms are merged with ads, making it easy for leads to type in their email addresses and contact businesses directly.
Ensure you carefully assess your target group and their favourite social media channels to avoid wasting time and resources.
Best lead generation strategies for eCommerce websites and online stores.
Do you know which lead generation channels are most effective for you? It’s time to strategize! But how do you carry out the process of generating leads?
Here are four strategies that will help you get better quality leads and lower your lead generation costs.
Minimize data collection
The lead generation form can make or mar the entire process of getting leads, regardless of where it is placed (website or social media). So ensure you plan in depth on the data you will be requesting. For instance, the least data you can ask for is the email address. However, names and dates of birth are also relevant because they add value to the customer engagement process.
However, note that the more data you request, the lower your chances of success. This may eventually lower the number of leads you generate. Thus, ensure you minimize the amount of data you request. For instance, simply ask your site visitors for their email addresses, and as you grow your relationship with them, you can request more information.
Provide added value to potential leads
At the start of every lead generation process, there’s always the question of the best way to motivate potential leads to share their data. One of the most effective strategies is to offer them added value.
The added value can take the form of incentives like discount vouchers, free eBooks or FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). Ensure you employ targeted or unique leads to boost your chances of generating leads. This is because potential leads have distinct personalities and needs.
LeadForza offers a free lead generation popup that will enable you to add incentives that will cater to your visitor’s needs and preferences.
Utilize owned media platforms
You don’t have to break the bank to carry out a lead generation successfully. Owned media platforms are splendid tools for free lead generation. These are channels controlled by your business and used for delivering content to customers.
Some examples are:
- Business website
- YouTube page
- Email templates
- Social media
To make this happen, ensure newsletter popups in your eCommerce store, add compelling CTAs to your blog article or link your social media post to an email subscription page.
Get connected to your target group.
If you want to notch it to another level and actively engage your target market apart from your own media channels, blogs, online publications, and external newsletters are fantastic options. Check around for media with related target groups. For instance, do you own a kiddies store? There are plenty of children’s blogs and influencers on the internet. You can strike a partnership or collaboration to generate leads. This will boost your brand awareness as well.
You can offer downloadable, interesting eBooks in online publications, e-zines and blogs. This strategy is effective for both B2C and B2B companies.
LeadForza for Lead Generation
Lead generation is highly beneficial for online stores. Even if you are on a shoestring budget, you can always leverage your traffic and grow your email list. Through media channels like your website, you can generate leads for free and convert them. Use the free newsletter popup blog engagement popup and lead gen popup for this.