Simple Marketing Strategies to Generate Leads And Grow Your Business

Here are seven ways you can become one of those smart companies:

1. Embrace SEO
Startups and small businesses don't have the cache and general market awareness to generate meaningful amounts of traffic without an intentional strategy for ranking for relevant keywords.

SEO is like a locomotive, it takes a bunch of 'fuel' to get it moving, but the momentum can be sustained for a long time without incremental effort if it's appropriately maintained. A high ranking on Google for the right keywords can get to more visitors to your website - which can generate more leads. 

2. Have a Blog
Every business - big, small, large market or small can benefit from blogging. And, I would submit that if you're not blogging, you will never get as much out of your marketing efforts as if you were. 

Unclear why blogging is so important? Here is a quick rundown.
-Google's algorithm favors new content over old content. 
-Google rewards frequency as well. The more frequently you offer information on a particular topic (or keyword) the more credible Google begins to believe you are on that identified topic. 
-Google rewards depth of content. Each new blog post is a new page on your website.

3. Have a Presence on Social Media
Many too quickly dismiss the power Social Media can bring to their marketing strategy. In my experience, traditional industries like manufacturing, banking, law firms, accounting firms, etc. are the worst offenders at writing off the value. This can be a meaningful source of traffic.

Build a company profile on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Build a following by commenting on other's activity and contributing to the conversation. Don't be too "salesy." It's about relationship building and developing awareness. 

4. Let Customers Tell Your Story
There is no one more powerful to tell your story than your satisfied customers. 

It's simple. Make a list of your top 8 success stories. Over the next year, tackle two of them every quarter. Don't over complicate it. Set up a videographer and capture it on camera. Then, write it down in a page or two case study. Identify the situation, what you did and have the customer define the impact you had on their business. Don't just talk about the work. Talk about the working relationship - and the things that make you different from the competition. 

5. Pick up the mega phone 
Awareness is the first step to a successful marketing effort. Here are some ideas about how you can more intentionally get your company's name in lights.

Be a guest blogger, speak at conferences, make friends with the media and never let up on your efforts to network.

6. Ask For Referrals
Be intentional about asking for referrals! Write it into your contracts that it's an expectation of the relationship - once you've delivered value that exceeds what you've been paid - that your clients will begin giving you referrals. Lastly, be smart about the timing of when you ask.

If that isn't incentive enough - consider this stat. Referrals generally have a greater than 60 percent close rate. 

7. Love Thy Database
Perhaps the most undervalued marketing asset a company owns is their contact list or database of contact information for prospects, customers, lapsed customers, industry leaders, vendors, etc. At best, the data exists in an excel spreadsheet or in a never-quite-implemented CRM and at worst - on 15 different personal computers. 

Focus on continued segmentation, on developing Standard Operating Procedures for keeping contacts updated as they change companies and positions - and integrate the behavior learned through marketing analytics to inform how you better optimize the sales funnel. 

Conclusion
The recipe for successful marketing is the same thing that makes a successful company. Focus. Determination. Creativity. Discipline. Effort. Time. And sometimes, money

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