How to Create the Best Sales Leads List

Tags

commercial leads, Marketing, Sales Leads

When you’re looking for the best sales leads list, don’t go to those “free leads” sites unless you want old, used lists that often don’t have correct information or have all been opted out of.  Research leads companies and try one that’s got asolid reputation and is transparent in their process. You should be able to select your criteria from a good-sized database. Your options for selection should be varied so you can narrow down the target for your marketing. Here are some key criteria to creating the best sales leads list:

 

Options for residential leads list criteria:

·         First Name

·         Last Name

·         Address

·         City

·         State

·         Zip

·         Phone

·         Age

·         Date of Birth

·         Gender

·         Marital Status

·         Children

·         Home Value

·         Income

·         Length of Residence

·         Home Owner / Renter

 

Options for commercial leads list criteria:

 

·         Contact Name

·         Business Name

·         Address

·         City

·         State

·         Zip

·         County

·         Carrier Route

·         Phone Number

·         Fax Number

·         SIC Code

·         SIC Description

·         Year Started

·         Number of Employees

·         Total Annual Sales $

·         Business Started Year

·         HQ / Standalone

·         Web Site

 

After you pick your criteria and narrow down the target for your marketing efforts, make your selections. When you get your data from a reputable sales leads list company, like GoLeads, you can be confident you’ve compiled the best residential or business leads list available. The list will be accurate and acutely targeted with solid information on each lead.

 

Whether you’re targeting working moms or single men, an effective sales list will get you more prospects than you can imagine. Take your list and make your move; after all, when you get to pick from the best data available, you create thebest sales leads list.

Interesting Facts and Stats on SEO and Blogging

Tags

b2b leads, Mailing List, professional consultant, Sales Leads

Business owner’s focus on sales leads and lists, but according to these stats and facts, they should also put some effort in SEO and blogging. While sales lists help with outbound calls and more traditional marketing pieces, SEO work and blogging help with inbound calls and brand recognition. Take a look at these facts and then decide how to incorporate SEO and blogging with your sales lists and leads to truly round out your marketing efforts:

 

·         “57% of B2B marketers say SEO has the biggest impact on their lead generation goals.” (Mindjumpers)

·         “Social media sites and blogs reach 80% of all U.S. internet users.” (Mindjumpers)

·         “Increased frequency of blogging correlates with increased customer acquisition, according to…HubSpot. 92% of blog users who posted multiple times a day acquired a customer through their blog, a figure that decreased to 66% for those who blogged monthly and 43% for those who posted less than monthly.” (Marketing Charts)

·         “For those looking to outsource, a professional consultant will generally charge $1,000-$3,000 for setting up a blog, $1,000-$3,000 per month for ongoing content development/editing, and ballpark of $200 for a single guest post.” (Mack Collier)

·         “Search provides the highest quality leads. According to research by HubSpot, “SEO leads have a 15% close rate, on par with the close rate for direct traffic, and ahead of referrals (9%), paid search (7%), social media (4%), and outbound leads (2%).” (Marketing Charts)

·         “Social networks and blogs account for 23% of all time spent online — twice as much as gaming.” (Mindjumpers)

·         “Blogs are the single most important inbound marketing tool. “When asked to rank the importance of the services they use, 25% of users rated their company blog as critical to their business, while a further 56% considered them either important (34%) or useful (22%)” for a total of 81%.” (Marketing Charts)

·         “The most popular frequency for blog posting is weekly (60% of bloggers). Just 10% post daily.” (Marketing Charts)

·         “B2B companies with blogs generate 67% more leads per month on average than non-blogging firms.” (Social Media B2B)

 

When you want to do more than call from your leads list or mail out more postcards, consider adding SEO and blogging to the mix. According to many of us in the sales/marketing/business world, a combination of efforts reaches the intended audience. So be bold and add to your traditional marketing moves with lists and sales leads and incorporate SEO and blogging.

Use Targeted Mailing Lists for Direct Mail Success

Tags

consumer leads, Social Media, targeted mailing lists

While you should incorporate technology into your marketing efforts, you shouldn’t forget the power of mailing lists and direct marketing pieces. Social media sites are all the “rage” right now, but if you’re not incorporating them with traditional mailing lists and consumer leads, you’re not being as effective as possible with your marketing reach. Direct mail, when paired with targeted mailing lists, helps reach even the most elusive prospect.

Some of the ways direct mail (sent to your targeted consumer leads) can help improve your marketing efforts include:

·         On-demand printing and automation let you customize your message to specific targets on your mailing list. Start with specialty lists and create direct mail pieces specific to each customer/prospect response. Talk with your sales leads provider to see how you can work together to create an effective, personalized marketing strategy.

·         Using targeted mailing lists helps you narrow your audience. When you reduce the target your direct mailing pieces can become even more specific and detailed. Targeted sales leads are easier to communicate with when they are found with the same specific criteria.

·         Creating different marketing pieces for different audiences allows you to prospect, develop relationships, sell and show appreciation with direct mail pieces.

·         Direct mail lasts longer than tweets and social media messages. People have to touch it, whether they throw it away or save it for later. The tangible message leaves an imprint technology can’t compete with.

Include your social media URLs and Twitter user name on each piece of direct mail that goes out. When you use targeted mailing lists to reach your audience this only helps by directing them to your other marketing efforts. Use your creative copy and custom images in direct mail pieces to create an interest, then develop and maintain the relationship through social media.

In today’s technological world, don’t abandon the tried and true direct mail marketing. Use targeted mailing lists andsales leads from a reputable company to enhance your marketing strategy and improve your opportunities.

Best Ways to Get Sales Leads

Tags

business owners, consumer leads, reputable company, Sales Leads, Social Media

So many times business owners, marketing gurus and self-made millionaires throw phrases around, like, “consumer leads, mailing lists and sales leads.” Unfortunately, they don’t tell you the best ways to get them. Today is a different sales and marketing game then yesterday saw, but consumer leads and the other afore mentioned leads are just as important.

 

Here are some of the best ways to get sales leads:

 

• Buy consumer leads and mailing lists from a reputable company. Go through a company who’s stood the test of time, has decent prices and a solid reputation. The internet has developed several “leads companies” that are not always on the up-and-up and often times sell you poor leads, expired data and expensive mistakes.
• Ramp up your inbound marketing skills to increase your sales leads. Do this with content marketing, by placing quality content in all areas of your online presence, such as your website, social media, blogs, email campaigns and more. This can be time consuming, so if you need to hire an outside company to help you blog and manage your content, do it. The expense will come back to you when your phones start ringing and people start signing up to follow your blog. These “viewers” can turn into consumer leads, which can quickly turn into satisfied customers. Leverage the web and start having potential new buyers calling you. It’s one of the best ways to grow your business.
• Sell yourself…You should be attending business socials, volunteering with your local Chamber and making connections all around town. The more people who know you and enjoy you, the more sales leads you’ll get. People will begin to recommend you and consider using you (your business) for their needs. If you’re not out making a good impression with your peers and potential clients, you’re missing tons of prospects.

 

Successful business owners, sales managers and marketing executives know that having the right mailing list or sales leads can propel your business forward better than the best sales person ever could. When you want to grow your business, consider buying consumer leads or improving your inbound marketing. And make yourself known within your business community; you’d be surprised at how many sales leads come from being the talk of the town.

What is a Mailing List?

Tags

direct mailing campaign, Mailing List, reliable leads, targeted mailing list

A mailing list is a targeted compiled list of names and addresses for direct mailing purposes.  On the internet, a mailing list includes the person’s email address rather than a postal address, which is also known as a “traditional” mailing list.

The success or failure of any direct mailing campaign relies on three main things – the message or creative, the offer, and the quality of the mailing list.  You might have the best creative material with a very attractive offer, but if your mailing listis bad and inaccurate, your message will not get in front of your target audience.

When building a targeted mailing list, consider your audience, as you have a myriad of options for comprehensive, specialty and compiled lists.  Mailing lists can be as basic as name and address in a specific zip code to age, race, religion, annual income and more.  Depending upon the exact audience you want to reach, you can get very targeted and extremely specific.

Pricing of mailing lists vary depending upon how targeted you want to be. Cost also depends upon the amount of leads you’re wanting to mail to, as most list companies have volume based structures.  This means the more leads you buy, the less expensive the list becomes per lead.

There are many companies online that offer mailing lists.  Be sure to find one that is reputable and reliable.  A quick check with the Better Business Bureau is always a good place to start.

2.5 Million U.S. Agricultural Leads with US Farm Data

Tags

consumer prospects, farm list, Leads list, traditional list

Whether you’re expanding your search for business and consumer prospects and clients or you’re solely focused on the individual farmer and rancher, take a look at US Farm Data for that additional lead you may not get on traditional lists.

While it’s accurate to say most databases are similar and offer many of the same sales leads, an agricultural list is a great alternative or supplement to your basic list and can significantly enhance your prospecting activities.  With approximately 2.5 million farmers and ranchers contained in this unique specialty database, finding detailed and accurate information is easy.  This database comes complete with mailing information, crops, acres, livestock information and more.

The knowledgeable sales representatives at U.S. Farm Data are educated and experienced in the sales leads and mailing list industry.  Furthermore, since they specialize in this database only, they’re incredibly familiar with the details contained within and will be able to assist you with your next targeted agricultural or leads list.

As well, if you’re looking to deploy an effective and targeted email campaign, US Farm Data can help.  Email is a great way to reach the agricultural world, as often email is the main source of communication for many farmers and ranchers.  Whether you want to append emails to your existing database, or you’re seeking a fresh list that includes email addresses, consider US Farm Data for your next farm list purchase.

It Takes More than Just Leads to Grow Your Business

Tags

campaigns, online optimization, online presence, Social Media

Marketing your business’s products and services isn’t as easy as it used to be.  There seems to be an innumerable amount of ways to get your message out to existing and potential customers.  There are still the old tried-and-true methods of direct mail and telemarketing from lead and sales lists, which remain relevant and continue to work, but what about your online presence?  What else can you be doing to grow your business?  What works?

The answer isn’t easy and it’s more complicated than ever.  For tactics, email campaigns are a great way to build brand awareness, but not necessarily to get immediate action or a response to your offer.  With prolific spam filters and highly tuned junk folders, it’s harder than ever to get your email through.  This doesn’t mean, however, that email campaigns shouldn’t be part of your acquisition or branding strategy.  It simply means you need to be smarter about how you create your email and how your deliver it.  More importantly, it’s how often you send it.  A “one and done” strategy will only result in disappointment.  Email campaigns are about frequency and best left up to the professionals to handle at least the deployment of your campaign.

Online optimization and web placement is vital to being found on the Internet and also in cultivating your personal connection with viewers.  Whether they’re existing customers or brand new visitors, they’re looking for something specific and you’re website must have it or they’ll be gone.  Time and time again studies show and experts tout the importance of good, quality content marketing.  This isn’t selling or pushing your products or services, but it’s providing valuable and meaningful information your viewer is eagerly searching for.  If they find significant content on your site or being provided by you, the chances of converting those viewers into customers notably increase.

Social media is another resource beneficial to businesses both large and small.  Anyone wanting to grow their exposure and customer base should actively participate in Facebook, LinkedIn and/or Twitter.  Naturally there are other social sites that can benefit your organization, too, but these are the three main and most popular social media services.

Whether you’re looking to engage your current customers or attract new ones, there’s a lot more to the marketing pie than there used to be.  Keep doing the traditional methods that work for you, but also explore other options, as well, to either supplement your current efforts or to take your marketing in a whole new direction.

Content Marketing Trends for B2B

Tags

Content, Content Distribution, Content marketing, Email Marketing

If you’re still not sure whether content marketing can help your business grow in the upcoming year, let’s take a closer look at a few findings from a recent study involving 1,426 business-to-business marketers from North America.  The study was recently conducted by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs.

The number one challenge for content marketing professionals surveyed was creating enough content, with 64% saying so.  52% said that producing engaging content was their biggest challenge.  To help offset these, consider repurposing and recycling older material, spread existing content across all platforms and take relevant customer feedback, letters and testimonials and utilize for your content creation.  Though difficult, the more content you create the better.

For content distribution tactics, the study showed 87% of marketers use social media to distribute their content, more than articles, email newsletters, blogs and other strategies.  Another discovery tying in with this is that the typical company used 12 various content marketing tactics on average.  For your content strategy, the more tactics you utilize, the more your voice will be heard.  Furthermore, if you can utilize non-web tactics such as printed white-papers, emails, newsletters, etc., the greater your content distribution and the larger your voice.

A very surprising find from this study is that more marketers (83%) are using LinkedIn as their main media channel forcontent distribution.   Twitter and Facebook are a close second with 80% each, respectively, and YouTube at 61%.  Though the difference isn’t substantial, it says quite a bit about LinkedIn as a B2B tool for disseminating information.

This study revealed a lot more about the state of content marketing and its impact on future B2B.  If you’re still on the fence about content marketing, this study demonstrates the truly successful marketers are those who invested the most resources in trying new strategies to create and distribute compelling content.

Content in 2013-What You can Expect

Tags

content Creation, Mobile Application, Multimedia content, Social Application, Visual Content

Whether you’ve got your eye on the world of content creation, publishing or writing, the New Year brings with it a sense of a fresh new start.  With it, too, come predictions.  Of which some are worth taking a look at, at least when it comes to content and you’re business in 2013.

A vital trend in the coming year is the increased emphasis on visual and multimedia content.  Writing will always be important, without a doubt, and won’t be replaced but it will be increasingly supplemented by creative content marketing via video, info-graphics and the like.  In fact, some industry experts believe that multimedia is the future of content as we know it.  Mobile and social applications will also continue to grow in importance for smart marketers as traditional advertising continues to diminish as a priority.

The importance and impact of content marketing is clear.  With that said, the coming year will see increased adoption and execution on well thought out marketing plans that will increasingly gain a greater share of the marketing pie.  Marketing budgets aren’t dissolving or disappearing, but simply being reallocated to content, which is still plenty cheaper than display advertising or TV commercials.

Since businesses will need to continue to create more sophisticated and engaging content, good writers, videographers and info-graphic designers will be in high demand.  If you fall into one of these categories, 2013 will be a good year for you.

If your business needs help starting your content marketing strategy or you simply need an extra hand, give the professionals at GoLeads a call to find out how easy it is to start 2013 off right.  Or, visit them online atwww.goleads.com to learn more.

What is Content Curation?

Tags

Content, Content marketing, curation marketing

Still considered by many to be a marketing “buzz” word, content curation is becoming more mainstream and widely adopted by professional marketers  Not just another passing fad, it is now becoming a staple for many companies with stellar and successful online presence.  Content curation is the act of discovering, gathering and presenting digital content surrounding a specific subject matter.

There is a difference between content marketing and content curation which should be noted.  Unlike content marketing, content curation doesn’t just include generating and creating original content, but instead it’s also accumulating content from multiple sources, organizing it and delivering it through various media.  Content curators are not necessarily responsible for creating new content, but finding it and funneling this information to readers in mash-up style.  Those familiar with Facebook feeds and Twitter streams have witnessed curation already.  Other examples include Digg and Delicious websites, which are both social bookmarking sites and where one can find a myriad of content curationexamples.

Successful content curation tips include properly giving credit to sources, as well as linking to those sources.  Do not use automated curation or content aggregation software, which can lead to poor quality curating.  And, like many things in business, focusing solely on quantity and not quality, can lead to botched curation attempts.  Also remember, to be successful in overall content marketing and SEO, you must incorporate a healthy mix of both original content and curated content.