How to use freebies to optimize your lead generation I’ll never forget the first freebie marketing piece I created and put on the internet: a free guide to help you grow your Instagram following. I wrote all the copy in a Word doc and tossed it out to my audience. Within a few hours, I had a few hundred new subscribers on my email list. Seeing people jump onto my list in exchange for the value I was offering was an exhilarating feeling. After that, I was hooked. Over the years I’ve made dozens of freebies to help me grow my email list and in the process, I’ve learned what makes a freebie generate leads successfully. Table of Contents What is freebie marketing? Does a freebie marketing strategy work? How to Choose the Right Freebies to Give Away Freebie Marketing Examples Freebie Marketing Strategy: How to Run a Successful Freebie Campaign What is freebie marketing? Freebie marketing is a strategy where businesses offer a product or service at no cost in exchange for a customer action. Freebies can be digital or physical and the most common customer actions include signing up for an email or text list, engaging on social media, or downloading an app. Freebie marketing has the power to increase a brand’s perceived value, customer loyalty, and leads. Does a freebie marketing strategy work? In most purchasing decisions, customers...

Why You Still Need SMS Marketing & How to Get Started The average person spends five to six hours on their phones, while the average smartphone user unlocks their device around 150 times.  What the heck are we doing with our devices all day? Well, when we're not endlessly scrolling the web or social media, we're probably texting. In 2023, 15 million texts are sent per minute while nearly 70% of people open up a new text message within five minutes of receiving it. With endless stats like this in mind, businesses are presented numerous opportunities and touchpoints to engage their target market through SMS.  What is SMS marketing? SMS, an acronym for "Short Message Service," is a communication channel used to send and receive text messages on mobile devices. It allows users to send brief messages, typically 160 characters, to individuals or groups instantly. Text messaging has gained immense popularity due to its simplicity, convenience, and widespread availability across different devices and networks. On the other hand, MMS, or "Multimedia Message Service", goes beyond simple text and allows users to send multimedia content such as pictures, videos, audio files, and even formatted text.  SMS marketing allows businesses to connect with their target audience through personalized and timely text messages. It leverages the widespread use of mobile phones and the convenience of SMS to deliver promotional offers, updates, reminders, and other engaging content directly into the palm of the recipients' hands.  Integrating SMS marketing alongside email and social...

The Best B2B Lead Gen Campaigns for Every Channel As a marketer, you’re always on the hunt for more leads. However, building the best lead generation strategy involves an in-depth understanding of tried-and-tested channels. Then, you’ll need to find the most effective combination of tactics for your unique goals. In this post, you’ll gain insights into each major channel for B2B lead generation, including social media, PPC, blogging, and email. Best of all, you’ll learn effective strategies and impressive real-world examples for each. Table of Contents Social Media Marketing Strategies PPC Lead Generation Strategies Blogging Lead Generation Strategies Email Marketing Lead Generation Strategies Top 10 Lead Generation Best Practices What is B2B lead generation? B2B lead generation is the process of bringing prospective customers to your organization. These leads should be potential buyers who would benefit from your business’ product or service. The types of leads generated vary by campaign and marketing platform. Disciplined B2B marketers understand the different dynamics, budgets, and expectations typical of each lead generation channel. Learn more about B2B lead generation in the video below. Social Media Marketing Strategies Social media is a critical component of B2B marketing. Social media marketing is typically less expensive than traditional advertising costs and offers broad mileage. In fact, 44% of marketers identified social media as their top channel for acquiring new customers, according to 2022 HubSpot Research. Image Source Here’s how...

The 21 Best Lead Generation Tools in 2022 Online lead generation is difficult. There’s no way around it. However, you can give your brand an edge by optimizing lead generation pathways on your site. This article will cover lead generation software and tools that help you reduce friction and increase the conversion rate of website visitors to leads. This will include both paid and free tools. We've compiled a list of the best lead generation tools on the market, including some free options. The 21 Best Lead Generation Tools in 2022 HubSpot Marketing Hub Intercom Proof Paperform MobileMonkey Mailshake Qualaroo HotJar Turnstile by Wistia Pointerpro Zuko ProProfs Quiz Maker Clearbit Datanyze Hull.io TypeForm Hello Bar Hunter.io Gravity Forms Jotform Discover.ly 1. HubSpot Marketing Hub HubSpot Marketing — and specifically its lead capture tool — can be used for free (then upgraded) and has tons of lead generation that make it easy to capture, store, and nurture leads, including: Forms Popup Forms Live Chat Chatbot ... and more. It all plugs naturally into HubSpot’s free CRM, or you can easily integrate with your CRM, email tool, or customer data platform of choice. Using HubSpot Marketing helps you build an inbound marketing flywheel from start to finish. You create content that allures visitors, capture leads through one of several tools...

Lead Generation: A Beginner's Guide to Generating Business Leads the Inbound Way Let’s set the stage: I’m about to dig into the best darn pile of spaghetti and meatballs I’ve ever seen. Just as I twist my fork in the pasta, spear a mouth-watering meatball, and go in for my first savory bite...the phone rings. "May I speak to Lindsay Kow-low-witch?" asks the telemarketer on the other end. "This is an important message regarding your oven preferences." This frustrating interruption is why we’re here to discuss inbound lead generation — a solution that can save your business or organization from being that annoying, disruptive cold caller that is ruined by spaghetti night. Let's start with defining a lead, and then we'll cover what online lead generation is, why you need lead generation, how you qualify someone as a lead, how to label lead types — such as sales qualified leads, how you generate leads, and why inbound lead generation is much more effective than simply buying leads. What is a lead? A lead is any person who indicates interest in a company's product or service in some way, shape, or form. Leads typically hear from a business or organization after opening communication (by submitting personal information for an offer, trial, or subscription) … instead of getting a random cold call from someone who purchased their contact information. Let's say you take an online survey to learn more about how to take care of your car. A day or...

The Best 18 Online Quiz Makers for Boosting User Engagement in 2021 Grabbing — and keeping — your audience’s attention has never been harder. Nowadays, people are bombarded with marketing 24/7, and yet in the last five years, the average attention span has actually dropped — to a mere eight seconds. Fortunately, there are fun and unique strategies you can implement to engage your audience — and one of those strategies is an online quiz maker. Similar to the addictive nature of Jeopardy, online quizzes are a fun way for people to engage with your brand. Additionally, consistent online quizzes can help you stay top-of-mind when your consumer is finally ready to buy. Online quizzes also help you gain a better understanding of your users, and help create stronger relationships with them. But, whether you’re looking for a professional survey tool or a more lighthearted quiz maker, there’s a range of options to choose from — which one will help drive the best long-term results? We’ll explore our favorite 18 quiz makers shortly, but first, let’s take a look at the key features of great quiz makers. Online Quiz Makers: Key Features Quiz makers come in all forms. Some are incredibly professional, while others are pretty casual. Some are intended for fun, and others are meant to drive real business growth. Whatever your goal, you should always look for the following key features in your quiz maker. Easy Promotion Options You’re trying to gather as many responses as...

The 5 Best Ebook Formats for Marketers Some argue that in the world of marketing, ebooks are dead. Others say they are not. But the fact is that ebooks — when written, designed, and marketed properly — can generate thousands upon thousands of contact submissions for your business. Whether you're just getting started with ebook creation as a marketing tool, or you're reconsidering the role of ebooks in your existing content strategy, you're likely asking yourself an important question: What is the best ebook format for the ebooks in my marketing library?It's important to note that this question can be answered in two different ways: What is the best ebook format for content creation? What is the best ebook format for content consumption? Here, we'll cover best practices for both of these topics — and explain how HubSpot's Ebook Templates can help you achieve your marketing team's lead generation goals. Featured Resource: 18 Free Ebook Formatting & Creation Templates Download Free Ebook Templates Need help formatting your ebooks? Our collection of 18 free ebook templates will help you create and format your ebook content for an incredible reader experience in Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe InDesign, and Google Slides so that you can format your ebooks in the way that best suits your marketing team and your content readers. The 3 Best Ebook Formats for Content Creation 1. Adobe InDesign Adobe's advanced design software gives content creators a myriad of options for creating and formatting their ebooks....

Gated Content: What Marketers Need to Know As William Shakespeare once wrote, "To be or not to be, that is the question." Marketers have a similar classic debate and that is: gated versus ungated content. While 80% of B2B content marketing assets are gated and lead generation is one of the top objectives for marketers, it's not an open and shut case. That's why we've gathered everything you need to know about gated content in this post. Below, let's review what gated content is and how it compares to ungated content. Then, we'll dive into gated content best practices and look at some examples. So, how does gated content work? Usually, users arrive at your website and see a CTA or pop-up that offers them access to a piece of content in exchange for their information. Your CTA or pop-up could lead to a landing page where the visitor will get more information on the content offer. It's important to note that gated content for inbound marketing is free and not hidden behind a paywall. Users just need to submit contact information to access the content. Now, you might be wondering, "Why would I hide my content from my audience?" Typically, the goal of gated content is lead generation. Marketers will create targeted content for their audience and use it to attract leads. Gated content isn't used for brand awareness or visibility campaigns because the nature of hidden content doesn't allow for high traffic. Below, let's discuss the...

16 Creative Lead Generation Ideas to Try Lead generation is tough, whether in person or online. Sending cold emails and scraping together lists can be difficult because — let's face it — often, people don't want to take the time out of their schedules to talk. What if you could reach your lead generation goals using methods that actually add value for your prospects? And what happens when traditional lead generation methods fall flat due to internal or external circumstances? This lead generation utopia I'm describing is a possibility. To walk you through how to achieve this for your business, we've detailed several creative methods you can add to your lead generation strategy. These ideas provide valuable information that helps prospects rather than simply pushing them to make a purchase. Let's unpack these 16 creative lead generation ideas to spark activity on your content offers, email lists, websites, and conversion rates. Discover all of HubSpot's free lead generation content and resources, all in one place. 1. Share success secrets from thought leaders. Want to provide unique value in your content? Reach out to a thought leader in your industry or even your company. By interviewing an expert to uncover their secrets, you prove to potential customers that you're dedicated to delivering the best advice and insight out there. Below you'll see Groove's take on this approach through an interview with the CEO of The Foundation, Andy Drish. The folks at Groove frequently interview successful founders and ask very specific...

How to Bridge the Gap Between In-Person and Online Lead Generation From a marketing standpoint, the great benefit of online channels is the ability to track and measure how effective they are. Knowing which social links led to a conversion, or which web pages ultimately influenced a customer to purchase your product, makes us better and more effective marketers. But what about the power of in-person events? How do you measure the value of a speech or understand the influence a conference had amid all the other interactions a prospective customer had with your company online? Linking the online and offline activities has long been a challenge for marketers — but it's not impossible. Here, let's dive into a few ways you can bridge the gap between in-person and online lead generation. Additionally, we'll explore how to transition to online lead generation if you find some of your traditionally in-person events are now cancelled and replaced with virtual customer interactions. How to Transition In-Person Events to Online Lead Generation 1. Provide an option for your attendees to download slides. Speaking at an event carries with it a tremendous amount of potential — more than any vendor table or collateral seat-drop can offer. You have the capacity to captivate an audience, teach them something new, and form a lasting impression. But even the best speeches are lost opportunities if you don't translate them to visits to your website and potential conversions. Giving your email or website URL alone may not be...