Lead Gen Can Be a Tricky (and Profitable) Business!

It’s essential to the growth of every niche publisher’s business to create original and effective ways to capture new leads. It’s all about finding the right balance between satisfying your advertisers’ demands for quality leads without burning out your own targeted list. (We know, easier said than done!)

The big question: what does your client really want – and can you deliver?

Nick Giallourakis, Founder and President of Elephants & Tea, has driven tons of successful lead generation (lead gen) programs, both B2B and Consumer. We asked him to share some of his expertise. He knows how to rise above the noise and develop a strong stream of lead gen sales!

3 quick tips on how to structure a successful lead gen program

Quick Tip #1 – Be honest with yourself and the client from the start!  Never set false expectations!

Quick Tip #2 – Content is King.  Let me say that again….CONTENT IS KING.  Everyone is going to sit there and say they have the best tactics or the quickest way to get leads, but unless the content is spot on and targeting the appropriate audience it doesn’t matter.  Content is King (I’ll be a broken record with this…I promise!)

Quick Tip #3 – Do you know what your audience wants/needs?  Have you asked them?  If you haven’t you better!  This will help set the foundation to perform any kind of lead gen program.” 

Creating new B2B or Consumer lead gen products

First – How much does the marketing team like you?  If you are hesitating you should probably visit with them, buy them dinner and a few “pops”.  When creating any successful lead gen product you absolutely need to have a fantastic relationship with your marketing team.  They will help lay the groundwork for an amazing program that will keep the clients coming back for more!

Second – Now that Marketing is your best friend – it’s time to build research programs!  You are probably looking at me going “Dude, what?”  Stop and think – what better way to not only build a program from the ground up, learn more about your audience and have concrete evidence to turn into a sell sheet and walk into your client’s office than research?  Clients love research.  Then we align goals/expectations…see below…

Third – What are the client’s goals?  What are their expectations?  These are the two questions we need answered before we can pitch any program.  Sounds simple right?  But these two questions are skipped time and time again from sales reps pitching lead gen products.  One lead gen product’s success can lead to another’s failure…unless there are competitors involved (more on that later).”

I’ll be sharing more juicy details in March at Super Niche!”

Editor’s note: Nick will be leading the Digital Sales Masterclass session, Lead Gen Revenue Mania! at Super Niche in Nashville, March 18-20.

 

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More about Nick Giallourakis: Nick is the Founder & President of Elephants & Tea, a new media platform for adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients and survivors. He is also the founder and CEO of Gilly Media where he educates and advises on digital strategies in the B2B media world.
Nick has been in B2B media for 10+ years and has a strong passion for engaging content marketing campaigns. He previously worked for Informa (formerly Penton Media) within the central marketing services division as a Solutions Specialist working with the sales team on larger strategic accounts across Informa focusing on lead generation programs. Nick then moved within the manufacturing market as the Digital Product Director and then as the West Coast Account Manager working with on lead generation with clients such as Salesforce.com, Autodesk, Oracle, Infor, Epicor and many others.

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