How to Generate Leads for Business for Free for Your Small Business?

Lead generation for small businesses is about reaching out to potential customers in the world who are likely to be interested in the product or service that you are offering. The advent of the information superhighway, the internet, has made the world a marketplace for all businesses. So, small businesses should devise meaningful strategies to reach out to people who are their potential customers. These meaningful strategies can be offline or online or can be a blended version of both. The correct combination of online and offline lead generation techniques will depend on the type of business, as well as the opportunities in the industry you are operating in. Let us look at some free lead generation in the offline mode.

Lead generation through offline mode-

Before the pandemic, trade shows and trade fairs were regularly conducted, and some of them were an initiative of the respective ministry like promoting organic foods or traditional toys. Finding a space slot for exhibiting your products is more of a procedural effort than a financial constraint. Go for such gatherings. It not only generates leads for your business but also helps you to stay updated about things in your industry.

Sponsoring events through in-kind sponsorship is another method to generate leads. Many student-led events look for sponsorships. If you are into the business of coaching for entrance exams or competitive exams or job-related examinations, giving discounts on the courses that you offer can be an effective method of generating leads.

Presence in mainstream television shows - There are many television channels dedicated to specialised areas of interest like tourism, food, fashion, religion, spiritual content, education. Try to feature your business in these shows covering the geographical area of your operation.

Organising free camps or offline sessions for fitness and yoga practices can be effective methods to generate leads from the area you intend to cover with your services.

If you are a home tutor, ask for reference from the child you are tutoring from amongst his friends, relatives. If you are tutoring a child in a housing society, establishing contact in the same society will generate many organic leads.

Having seen the offline methods, which do not lead to any financial implication to small businesses, let us look into some online strategies required to generate meaningful leads.

Lead generation through online mode-

Influencer marketing- If your product or service is such that the consumers see several intangibles in it, they are likely to depend on other people’s opinions in making a decision. Hence influencer marketing will generate a lot of leads for such small businesses.

Nowadays, people depend on the opinion of unknown persons on the internet for making small decisions, like where to buy a cake or to take big decisions like which house to rent. Identifying an influencer who cherishes your product or service will be a big help.

Such an influencer will be able to organically generate leads for your business because he/she is good at describing her experience or interaction with your business; all you need to do is ensure that it remains excellent. It is about the organic influencer. In case your product or service needs to be pushed hard to hit the market, you may request an influencer to promote the same and share revenues with him/her.

If you are a decent writer, you must start your website and start blogging on all the domain areas that are likely to connect with the products you sell or the services you offer. If you see potted decorative in house plants, you can blog about things like how to decorate your home at minimum cost or in an environmentally friendly manner. Looking at the pictures that you share, people will be interested in buying the same from you. These are converted leads since those people who were thinking of using artifacts to decorate their homes might also buy your plants.

Webinars have become a very effective way to reach out and interact with your focused target segment. Educational institutions, training partners, and edutech companies have been able to generate leads and have many conversions through these webinars wherein they have a famous speaker from a related domain who moderates the session. The webinar is also a source of lead information collected during the registration process.

Facebook and Instagram pages help many home-based businesses generate leads. Particularly during this pandemic, people are looking out for hygienic food-related items to rely on personal contacts and extended contacts through Facebook and Insta pages.

Facebook and Instagram pages can be updated continuously with new offerings from your small businesses to get more customers interested and eventually engaged. New-age tech tools allow you to merge, beautify, combine features seamlessly and at the click of the mouse. Learn some basic tech tools to display your offerings.

Online lead generation needs a bit of strategic thinking on which platform to use, some tech tools to create your communication material, and finally, a strong feedback mechanism to keep your business cycle active.

A blend of online and offline lead generation-

Having seen methods to generate online and offline leads, when should we go for the blended approach. When the business needs to expand or enter into a new domain or add features to its offerings, it is time to expand in either online or offline mode, whichever will contribute to the holistic development of the business. Post-pandemic, if your tours and travel business decides to expand into organising religious tours, lead generation will be possible if you get a chance to address a gathering of few people in the temple who have gathered for some sath sang or prayers.

In case you are a home baker and you had enough orders by word of mouth that you did not feel the need for online lead generation, relocation to another city may force you to go in for Facebook or Instagram pages to establish yourself in your new location.

As we have seen through multiple examples, it is always good to keep both the online and offline lead generation channels, particularly those that do not cost you active all the time whether you need them or not.

Conclusion

In this connected world, people can generate leads for their small businesses by understanding their target customers thoroughly and appropriately using a combination of online and offline strategies to reach them. Small businesses are going to define the growth story of India post covid. Encouraged by initiatives available in the public domain as well as the loss of jobs in the mainstream service sector have forced many to return to their homelands, and many are looking at options to start businesses. The best way to generate leads is to look around for new ways of reaching your target, either online or offline.

FAQs

Q. Is it compulsory for me to have a website for my small business?

Ans. Not necessary, but it is good to have one if you are hopeful of funnelling leads from different sources to your homepage. There are many avenues to start a website for free or at minimum charges.

Q. Should I depend only on online lead generation?

Ans. Depending upon your business, you may go for either online or offline or a combination of both. Some small businesses which deliver parts to other businesses depend heavily on word of mouth. Hence, rely strongly on the existing customers talking good about your business. In these cases requesting promotion from existing customers amongst their circle is a good idea.

Q. What does a referral network mean?

Ans. A referral network is the network of people or businesses that help each other to grow. They help their customers by referring to potential clients. These networks can be both informal and formal networks. Referring to customers helps in lead generation.