Business-to-consumer marketing — also known as b2c marketing — is a complicated process that requires a lot of balance and finesse. It can be difficult to strike the right tone when speaking with potential leads, but the right tool set will help you get there.
Most B2C companies have learned to generate leads online. At the beginning of 2015, there were already 7 million B2C businesses with active websites and this number is expected to grow exponentially. I would like to share with you some information on how to generate leads in sales B2B
You are curious about lead generation tactics b2c. B2C stands for business to consumer. These are the lead generation tactics that apply to businesses that sell goods directly to consumers, often online, by using channels such as search engine marketing or social media marketing. You will find a wealth of free b2c lead generation tools here.
There is no way to avoid it: lead generation is an inevitable part of modern digital marketing. Many companies have something to sell, and in order to make a sale, you should generate leads with the help of lead generation tactics b2c.
B2C lead generation challenges
There may be times when you try your best, but your website or campaigns do not generate an adequate amount of leads, or the lead-quality is not as per your expectations. There could be multiple reasons behind this. It could be due to offers or ad copies that are not attractive enough, landing pages that aren’t relevant. Incorrect use of forms or confusing content can be another issue affecting your lead generation efforts. So, building the right B2C lead generation strategy and ensuring that every part of your campaign follows the set approach is critical for companies.
Without a lead generation strategy that is properly thought through, your company will struggle to make sales and expand at an acceptable pace. Traditional lead generation strategies that focused on one-way communication will not cut it in the connected world of today.
So, let us dive into successful lead gen techniques apt for contemporary tech-savvy customers.
B2C lead generation strategies
Successful lead generation is an outcome of your strategies that resonate with your target audience. By tailoring these strategies in a way that the audience turns into potential buyers, you can notice a considerable increase in sales. These strategies can both fulfill short-term goals and build a pipeline of potential customers into your business.
1. Use gated content
Gated content is a means of providing valuable information in exchange for the customer’s details. Here, customers are supposed to fill in details in exchange for a better picture of the product they are looking to buy. This technique helps in identifying and channelizing your prospects. The use of gated content is a tried-and-tested tactic for over a decade now, and many expert marketers still vow by it.
2. Produce video content
Crisp content always tops the lead generation strategy. However, these days people are also reaching out to their customers in the form of videos. Do your customers have confusion with the product? And do you have a solution to their problems?
If such is the case, then present the solution to the problem through a series of videos. Nowadays, people spend more time on the internet. Of all the forms of content that customers consume, video tops the list. For instance, 85% of the people in the United States who use the internet watched video content online.
The following are the most popular categories of videos on YouTube. If your product/services fall in any of these categories, start leveraging the power of video-content right away!
- Funny animals
- Video game walkthroughs
- How-to guides and tutorials
- Product reviews
- Celebrity gossip
- Vlogs
- Comedy/sketch videos
- Shopping hauls
- Unboxing videos
- Educational videos
Spending efforts in creating useful video tutorials will not go in vain. Plus, the visual representation of an idea works much better than written content.
Now, when your end goal is to generate leads, include a CTA (call-to-action) at the end of the video. For example, you can ask viewers to comment on their questions. Or you can ask them to visit a product page. Another way to generate leads and engage with viewers is to ask them to participate in a survey.
3. Content marketing and SEO
Every marketer is familiar with the term content marketing. But only a few know to use it effectively. Accurate, crisp, and high-value content is very critical to your B2C lead generation strategy. Marketers need to create content that hits the right audience and keeps them engaged throughout. Customers are attracted to consistent, on the spot, and valuable content rather than content that is bland and fills up pages. You need to remove redundancies and add only the necessary information.
Your goals should be to attract targeted visitors, engage them, make them your brand advocates, and gain the trust of your customers.
Also, SEO is an unavoidable part of content marketing. Quality SEO content matters in generating better leads. Search engine rankings can lead to a surge in organic traffic. Although SEO can be a part of your long-term lead generation strategy, it helps you create footprints in the web-world. This is something that distinguishes SEO from paid advertising campaigns. While you can drive immediate ROI from paid campaigns, SEO increases the visibility of your site, which in turn generates more leads and customers.
The following are some of the content marketing and SEO best practices for optimizing your website for lead generation.
- Use keywords strategically. For example, if you sell books, then terms such as “best books for kids” can be relevant for your product/category pages.
- Use data markups to help search engines identify your content. For example, products, recipes, news articles, lists, and how-to guides are the popular data markups for pages.
- Market your product on product review sites and online marketplaces.
- Distribute your content on social media so that people with relevant interest come to know about your products/services.
4. Personalize email marketing
If you see from the recipient’s point of view, receiving an unrelated email can be annoying. Hence comes the concept of personalization.
Personalized emails increase open rates by nearly 328% and click rates by 543%. A small gesture such as adding the name of the recipient can go a long way in nurturing your leads.
Here is how you can personalize email communications to your prospective customers.
- Use automation to send a response when someone sign-ups for your newsletters or product information. People expect communication from brands when they provide their email address.
- Segment leads based on their interests.
- Personalize the subject line.
- Include the recipient’s name and organization or any other relevant personal information in the body text at least once.
- Don’t bombard your leads with emails every day. It will dilute their interest in your brand/product/services.
- Select a suitable time for sending emails. You can gauge this through your marketing automation software. Email marketing automation suite tracks different metrics for email campaigns such as open rates, link clicks, time, location, bounce rates, etc. All you need to do is to identify the time that has the most email open rates.
- Optimize your email for mobile.
- Link relevant product pages in your emails. Do not redirect your leads every time to the home page.
5. Paid advertisements
You might have also encountered this. While searching for a particular product online, ads of a similar product start appearing on the websites you browse, social media you use, and more. It is because marketers run paid advertisements across different channels and devices based on your in-market preferences and interests. But please note, each platform has its unique audience persona.
For example, people use Facebook and Instagram for leisure. Therefore, if your brand sells apparel, cosmetics, travel-related products, then these channels are the best for advertisements. On the other hand, people use LinkedIn mostly for professional networking. Therefore, advertising a holiday tour package might not generate as many leads. But, if you are into the EdTech business, then you can advertise your courses on LinkedIn.
What Is The Difference Between B2C and B2B
We have seen that B2C means direct selling between the business and an individual customer. Therefore, B2B refers to sales business to business.
Generally speaking, B2B sales include a decision making process, that usually requires more than one person signing off on it.
It’s much more complex. Decisions can’t be made without much thought because the experience of an entire body of users rests on it. The end users are not buyers.
For example a digital website and marketing agency will first compare and contrast several different types of software before deciding which one has the best features at the best price.
A decision will be made on the way forward. Another example is an online retailer selling office furniture. Its primary target market is other businesses who need office furniture. Or a wholesalers providing food to cafes and restaurants.
These companies are selling to other businesses, not directly to the consumer.
In comparison, B2C selling doesn’t need a consensus. The aim is to sell straight to the person who wants it.
This definition should help you to start focusing on your B2C sales and what approach you might want to take.
However, notably, some companies can operate as both B2B and B2C businesses. An example is an events management company.
They may offer wedding organisation services, as well as conference management services to other businesses. They may sell tickets for concerts while directly dealing with audio and visual businesses.
In this article, we are particularly focusing on B2C lead generation and marketing.
What is B2C Marketing?
So now you understand what B2C is, but how do you use it to maximum effect for your business.
B2C marketing refers to all the techniques you can use to promote your products and services to the consumer. Essentially, your goal is to sell your product or service. Along the way, you will also capitalise on the value of your brand.
For example, with B2C, your customers are likely to make sudden purchases. Generally speaking, they make decisions independently and can also be swayed by different factors.
Such as free shipping or a free smaller product along with their purchase. Even a two for one offer.
However, not all buyers respond to the same marketing techniques. You may have one customer who wants the convenience of free shipping and will buy the product immediately.
Or you might have another who is still searching for exactly the right product and is willing to pay for shipping to get it perfect. Hence they continue to shop around.
That’s why a useful technique in B2C marketing centres on segmentation and targeted messaging.
To reach different customers, you need to consider what is an effective campaign for each marketing channel.
Then, target the audience and tailor your efforts to that customer base. For example, your customers on Facebook may need different advertisements and tailoring compared with returning customers through your website.
This is where analysis helps. Consider the results of website and social media analysis.
Then group together the data and work out how to tailor your marketing to that particular audience. You want each online customer to feel like they have your individual and focused attention.
If you discover that Facebook works better than Twitter, or YouTube delivers more leads than your website, then you know where to put the majority of your investment in B2C marketing.
Not to ignore the other channels, but to focus on the best techniques to drive your business forward.
What is B2C? And Why Is Lead Generation Important?
B2C stands for business to consumer. This is the process of companies selling to individual people, not a business.
Examples of this could be diners eating in a restaurant, consumers buying clothes or even people paying for a subscription. Whatever your business does in the B2C world you will need to focus on how to build your brand, and its awareness.
Once you build that brand and awareness you will be able to relate this to lead generation.
Lead Generation is the process of generating ways to bring people to your business who are likely to spend with you. From here, you can then engage with them and turn them into paying customers.
Lead Generation is done through a variety of ways, and marketing is the most successful.
Your marketing efforts and plan need to aim towards generating traffic and also leads, so that you can build revenue.
In regards to B2C this is done in a variety of ways, and we will now look at ways to build a B2C Lead Generation Strategy.
5 Examples of Business to Consumer Models
There are different types of B2C business models you can use, but here are 5 ideas to get you thinking about what will work for your business.
1. Direct sellers
Direct sellers are online retail sites where consumers buy products. There are large businesses such as Amazon. Or small businesses that create and sell products online. Additionally, there are online versions of department stores, like John Lewis who sell a wide range of brands.
2. ‘Go Between’
Go Betweens put buyers and seller together without owning the product or service. An example of this is Etsy, a website which hosts a wide range of different arts and crafts sellers and products. Etsy provides the space for consumers to choose who they want to buy from.
3. Advertising
The advertising B2C model uses high quality free online content to attract visitors to websites, who then come across online ads. So, lots of potential consumers see the ads and then some may continue on to buy the product or service on offer. Examples of this include Huffington Post or the online Daily Mail.
4. The Community Model
Interested in photography? Or fishing? Or writing? A community B2C model builds an online space around shared interests. Hence, people who have something in common will gather in that online space and look at the information. Therefore, if you have a fishing tackle shop, you may want to advertise in that area. Or if you are selling antique cameras, you will target a specific community of photographers. The best known example of this is Facebook. Marketers can target people very specifically using Facebook.
5. Subscription Fee
Some newspapers or magazines charge a subscription fee if you want to view their content. The Telegraph online newspaper will publish the first two paragraphs but the rest of the article is hidden. Another example is Netflix or Apple TV.
Why Do You Need to Try Lead Generation Strategies?
Most businesses fail to innovate when it comes to lead generation ideas. They throw together a whitepaper and advertise it on their website in exchange for contact information.
That might very well work, but it’s also boring — and your competitors are probably doing the same thing.
The companies that truly master lead generation ideas for B2C or B2B understand that they have to surprise their audiences. They need to set themselves apart from the competition in a visceral way through strategic branding, better content, and tremendous value.
Imagine that you’re a DIY enthusiast who constantly Googles information on cutting the perfect mitered edge or mounting shiplap properly. Every time you Google, one website turns up in the Search Engine Results Page (SERPs) and blows you away with its helpful content.
That website also sells home decor. When you need a new mirror for your remodeled bathroom or a vintage-inspired set of candlesticks for your mantle, you’ll likely return to the site and make a purchase.
It’s very simple. The more you give, the more you can ask. The best lead generation ideas revolve around providing tremendous value for your audience so you can later ask them to give you their money in exchange for a product or service.
Why Do You Need to Try Lead Generation Strategies?
Most businesses fail to innovate when it comes to lead generation ideas. They throw together a whitepaper and advertise it on their website in exchange for contact information.
That might very well work, but it’s also boring — and your competitors are probably doing the same thing.
The companies that truly master lead generation ideas for B2C or B2B understand that they have to surprise their audiences. They need to set themselves apart from the competition in a visceral way through strategic branding, better content, and tremendous value.
Imagine that you’re a DIY enthusiast who constantly Googles information on cutting the perfect mitered edge or mounting shiplap properly. Every time you Google, one website turns up in the Search Engine Results Page (SERPs) and blows you away with its helpful content.
That website also sells home decor. When you need a new mirror for your remodeled bathroom or a vintage-inspired set of candlesticks for your mantle, you’ll likely return to the site and make a purchase.
It’s very simple. The more you give, the more you can ask. The best lead generation ideas revolve around providing tremendous value for your audience so you can later ask them to give you their money in exchange for a product or service.
Conclusion
It’s no secret that lead generation is one of the best ways to add customers to your business. Not only is it extremely effective, but it also helps you get real people interested in what you’re selling. The best part is that lead generation doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive or time-consuming. You can use these free tools to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible.
Internet provides us with unlimited opportunities to grow our business. There are many ways by which we can generate leads using the Internet. One such way is by using lead generation tactics b2c. Lead generation tactics b2c is one of the best ways for a company to increase sales conversions and improve bottom line results. B2c lead generation is a vital part of any company’s marketing plan.