9 Lead Generation Strategies for Small Businesses

To help you find effective ways to generate more leads for your local business, we asked marketing professionals and business owners this question for their best insights. From sharing client stories on social media to establishing your brand as an expert in your niche, there are several ways to improve your marketing to bring in more leads for your local business.

Here are nine tips these leaders follow to generate more leads for their small businesses:

Share Client Stories on Social Media

For us, the best way to generate leads is by telling stories of our client’s successes and the positive impact we’ve made on their lives and sharing them on social media. People love reading stories of hope and inspiration, especially when they can relate to the scenarios. We make sure to highlight the struggles our clients have gone through and how they’ve overcome them with our help. In doing so, we build a rapport with our target audience, and they’re more likely to reach out to us for help. This method has been successful for us so far.

Luciano Colos, CEO, PitchGrade

Check The Accuracy of Your Business’s Information Online

The first step for generating leads is making sure that the information available about your business online is correct. Most purchases today, both on and offline, start with a web search, so it is critical that your business is showing up correctly.

Try googling your business. You can quickly determine if your hours, location, and business description are correct and fix them. Google has some terrific free resources to ensure that you’re putting your best foot forward, like Google My Business. Once you’ve got the basics right, then opportunities to apply advanced lead generation techniques open.

Katherine Bakken, Director, Train River Publishing 

Set Up Google My Business Page

Setting up a Google My Business page is the most important way to generate more leads for a local business.  Google favors local businesses in their search engine, and it’s important for any local business to have an active presence in Google’s map pack.  This requires that GMB owners continuously add photos, solicit reviews, and engage with online reviews.  Google favors and rewards this activity and engagement with better rankings over a wider territory.

Jeff Neal, Engagement Office, CritterFam

Engage Influencers

Reaching out to influencers and offering them free products for a review is a great way for local businesses to generate leads. The free products will create a sense of obligation, which the influencers will more than likely reciprocate by sharing their thoughts on the product with their followers. This strategy is also a great way to build brand awareness and recognition. The more leads your business will generate as a result, the more people will be inclined to purchase your products.

Matthew Ramirez, Founder, Paraphrase Tool

Use Facebook Ad Manager to Target Locations

Facebook can be tedious, frustrating, and sometimes a lot of work but with that being said, it can be a great tool to get leads for local businesses. Using the Facebook Ad Manager you can target specific areas as small as a zip code or town. If you are advertising a restaurant or a niche service in a specific area, Facebook is great for this. Almost everyone uses Facebook and as a platform, it is a very pro-local business. I’ve tried a new restaurant or entertainment spot numerous times because of local Facebook ads.

Aside from location, you can target by age, gender, and hobbies. For example, if you opened up a new paintball arena where your target audience is male, 18-40 that live in your local area, you can do just that with Facebook!

Seth Newman, Director, SportingSmiles

Collaborate With Other Businesses

Collaboration is one of the best ways to generate more leads for your business. When you collaborate with another company, you get to enjoy the benefits of their success in addition to your own. If a local business were to collaborate with another local business, it could increase its reach by making it easier for people to discover them, as well as make it possible for those who are already familiar with one company to find out about the other one. For example, if a plumbing company collaborates with an electric company, they can offer customers discounts on appliances if they come in for plumbing repairs or vice versa. This kind of collaboration can help businesses grow because it gives them access to new customers that they may not have had before.

Shaun Connell, Founder, Writing Tips Institute

Create High-Quality Content

A local business that intends to generate more leads must invest in the creation of quality content. As people interact with such content on search engines, they get curious and follow your website to get more of the content. Eventually, they become leads who later turn into potential customers. This and word of mouth is cheaper ways for businesses seeking to increase sales via organic sources rather than paid advertising.

yongming Song, CEO, Imgkits- Photo Editor

Employ Digital Marketing

Not only can you rise in the ranks of Google and get higher on the SERPs using digital marketing, but you can also run effective paid media advertising on search and social channels to generate more business and leads for yourself. This has done wonders for our own business and can help you too. By targeting the right people, you can be sure that the money that you are spending is going to reach the right people and generate leads for yourself. Partner with a digital marketing agency to help you do this effectively. This will help drive leads for your business and get more local traffic to your site.

Marshall Weber, CMO, Stor-It

Establish Your Brand as an Expert in Your Niche

It doesn’t matter if you’re in the wedding cake business or you’re a management consultant. Generating and distributing content that works to establish your brand as an expert in your particular niche is a foolproof way for local businesses to start generating more leads. While establishing your brand online takes time and consistency – video marketing is one avenue that works especially well. Look for ways to incorporate video into your content mix that catches your target audience’s eye. Aim to educate and delight – showcasing the truly human side of your brand while letting the world know: “I’m passionate about what I do and I know what I’m talking about.”

Gabe Roy, Founder & Creative Director, Zest Media Productions