Targeted lead generation is a goal of most organizations trying to increase their sales. With the changes in digital marketing and social media, brands now have alternatives to traditional outbound marketing campaigns for lead generation. These inbound marketing strategies that can deliver qualified leads at 61% lower costs per lead vs traditional outbound campaigns.

5 inbound marketing strategies to develop a targeted lead generation program that will help you get found, engage, and convert more qualified lead opportunities.

 

1 Research better keywords for SEO

Think about what keywords you’re using in your search marketing and content creation. All traffic to your website is not good traffic. For a more targeted lead generation program focus on long tail terms that are more likely to convert to a lead. Now, test these terms. Which are driving traffic that is converting at a higher rate? Once you’ve identified these high converting terms, develop high quality content based around them.

 

2 Selective social media engagement

Where are you engaging in social media? Using inbound marketing strategies are more about quality, not quantity. To that point, all social media platforms are not created equal. Which ones are more frequented by your customers and potential buyers?

If you’re primarily a B2B company start with LinkedIn. A recent study by HubSpot showed that 65% of B2B marketers had acquired a customer in the prior year through LinkedIn. The opposite was true for B2C brands, where Facebook led the way with 77% reporting getting business from the social media platform. Also, don’t neglect the value of Google+ for its impact on search results, and if you’re a visual brand, Pinterest could be interesting.

 

3 Join a LinkedIn group, listen and participate

Join a few groups that are popular with your customers and prospects. Building a targeted lead generation program that uses social media means you need to start by watching and learning. What types of information do the members engage with most? When you get comfortable with the pattern of the groups join the conversation. Remember, go easy on the posts, you want to add value but don’t be “that guy” who over does it on promotional posts. You could do your brand more damage than good if you’re not careful.

 

4 Create content tailored by your audience segments

Smart inbound marketing strategies require upfront planning and keeping in mind the different segments of your target audience. Create different content that is targeted to your different target audience members. A functional manager will have different interests and needs than the COO. Tailor your content to who in the organizational chain you’re trying to influence.

 

 5 Qualify your prospects for the best opportunities

Targeted lead generation is sometimes about how you qualify a prospect, and sometimes about how you disqualify a prospect. We all have prospects we know aren’t ready to convert to an opportunity today because they don’t have the authority, budget or timing. Tailor your landing pages to help identify who is a now opportunity and who is more of a down the road prospect. Work to only feed your sales team qualified opportunities and you won’t waste their time.

Targeted lead generation is about focusing on the right audience making it easy for them to find you, to learn more and see how you are positioned to help them solve their problem. It’s also critical to qualify. Every prospect is not an opportunity. Learn from them through your landing pages so you can tell the difference. The result, your sales team will spend more time talking to qualified opportunities that fit your business, and close at a higher rate.