The end of a year — and the start of a new one — always puts sales top of mind. It’s your last chance to achieve any goals that you set for yourself, as well as to set the bar you’re aiming for in the future. It’s the best time to think about which tactics have been a big win for you and what sorts of things you might want to add to your repertoire moving forward.

2020 was rough, and many small businesses didn’t meet their sales and marketing goals. If you’re one of them, you know that in order to keep your business afloat, always looking for new and creative ways to evolve, expand, and keep the money coming in makes all the difference. 

Small businesses are near and dear to us, and we’re focusing some content on how to help them tackle their sales issues head-on. Part of doing so is building a new sales pipeline that focuses on different approaches that will yield as much return as possible. Another is ensuring you’re prospecting efforts are thorough and well-executed. 

But another large component to turning sales around is doing everything you can to generate and convert those on-site visitors. When you execute your external efforts the right way, you’ll generate tons of traffic back to your site, and you’ll want to capitalize on that traffic. 

So as we look ahead, here are some of our best ideas for generating and converting more of your leads in the year to come.

1. Tap Into Your Existing Customers

Happy customers are the best customers. Not only do they spend more money more consistently, but the relationships that you build with them also open up new opportunities for bringing in more leads. And now more than ever, it’s important to cultivate your relationships with your existing customers and to look for ways to branch out those big wins into new avenues for conversions.

Some ways that you can capitalize on successful relationships for more sales include:

• Upselling your existing customers on packages or products that will provide them with more value
• Writing thorough case studies and publishing them on your site, social media, and adding them to your drip campaigns
• Customer referral or client appreciation programs that encourage existing customers to refer members of their network 

Use a marketing automation platform combined with a CRM to simplify the process of both tracking your customer successes and satisfaction and discovering just how easy it is to turn one great opportunity into several. You can dig into your customer records to see previous transactions and track their progress to determine if they’re a good fit to reach out to for referrals. You can even create a new list within your marketing automation and CRM tool designated for the leads obtained from customer referrals and case studies. This will enable you to send them dynamic and personalized content that focuses on their needs and eventually converts them to customers. 

2. Create New Content

Creating content should always be a part of your marketing plan. But when it comes to doubling down on certain efforts, it’s smart to look at the content you’re creating and adjust it based on your new goals. And there’s no better tactic at engaging new leads and nurturing them towards a conversion than high-quality content. 

Align your sales and marketing efforts so that your marketing team can create content that addresses your audience’s big challenges, pain points, and interests. Then, use that content in sales conversations and email outreach, including both individual outreach and drip campaigns or other nurture strategies. Now is also the time to bring social media further into the fold, using it not just as a place to connect with more leads but as a platform for putting your content to further use (more on that later).

3. Create Gated Assets

Gated assets can be hugely effective at helping you generate leads. Again, look to both sales and marketing to align this content with your larger goals. Also examine well-performing content that you already have that might serve well as a gated piece or as inspiration for similar content.

For the most success with your gated assets, make sure they offer something of unique value that your audience won’t be able to find elsewhere. Some examples include original reporting, in-depth how-to guides, ebooks, as well as comprehensive, research-driven deep dives into the topics that matter most to your customer base. 

Simply adding these gated assets to your site isn’t enough. Sure, they’ll generate some leads on their own, but it won’t be many unless you make it clear to your audience where they can access them. You have to introduce these assets into your social media strategy with dedicated and thoughtful social posts to your networks. It’s also smart to host webinars that promote them and partner with other brands on these webinars to tap into their network. Make sure you also put some paid advertisement behind your most critical gated assets to generate as many new leads as possible. 

4. Update Your Social Media Strategy

Looking for a great way to cast a wider net and get more leads? Turn to social media. Your social channels present a huge landscape that’s filled with prospective clients — you just have to make sure to put it to use.

Take a look at your current social media strategy and make sure you incorporate essential lead-generating content from your site. As mentioned in the previous point, share gated content on your social pages regularly, as well as links for setting up demos and/or scheduling a call with you to learn more about your product or service offerings. The more lines you cast, the more bites you’re likely to have.

Don’t be afraid to get creative, either. Encourage engagement by using hashtags and by tagging other brands with similar audiences. Make sure you also follow the right brands and accounts and interact with their content through comments or reshares. By making your brand known on the pages of other accounts, you can get them to share your content, as well as put your brand in front of their followers. 

5. Get Links Back to Your Site

Getting links back to your site isn’t a happy accident. Yes, brands will link to your content in their articles if you’re creating compelling, stat-driven pieces. But, that doesn’t mean you still shouldn’t employ certain tactics to get more links back to your content.

Tap into the publications and blogs that your audience reads, then reach out to them to see if it would be possible for you to contribute original content. What’s essential here is to pitch them high-quality, unique content that you know their audience will find useful. Once you get their go-ahead, make sure you include at least one link back to your site, preferably an applicable blog post. This will create a trail for new leads to sign up for your emails and/or see what else you’re all about. 

In conjunction with these efforts, keep an eye on opportunities for your content to be included in articles other brands are creating. Sign up for various newsletters and regularly check publication sites, tracking articles that relate in some way to content you’ve created. Then, reach out to these sites to see if they’d be willing to include a link to your content, explaining why your content will help increase the piece’s value. 

6. Use Videos

People love videos. In fact, over half of consumers will reach out to a brand after viewing one of their videos. If you don’t have video content including in your marketing strategy, it’s time to start looking into it. 

Start by creating marketing or tutorial videos that give prospects a more in-depth view of your company, your service offering, and/or your product. Make these videos easily accessible on your website and share them to create engagement and interest. Keep the tone light but informative, and follow some basic rules to make them as engaging as possible — including bright colors, eye contact with the camera (if you’ll have anyone on camera), and captions to make your video accessible to people with hearing impairments. 

There is video software out there that even beginners can use to create and edit beautiful, high-quality video content. You don’t have to be an expert to incorporate this approach, however, if your team is small and you have the marketing dollars, you can always look into outsourcing these efforts, too. 

Don’t get stuck with a less-than-exciting inbound funnel. Keep the leads coming in so you can look back on 2021 as one of the most successful years for your small business. There will always be new ways to find new leads, but the tips above will help ensure you’re getting started in the right direction. 

Selling during a pandemic is extremely difficult. Obviously, there are more important matters happening, however, small businesses still have goals to meet, and creating revenue is a necessity if they want to survive once the fog has cleared. 

When March hit, companies had to throw their original sales plans out the window and quickly figure out a way to adapt to the unexpected disruption COVID-19 presented. Many months later, brands still haven’t totally figured it all out.

If you’re still struggling to find your sales footing, know that you aren’t alone. To continue to thrive, though, maybe it’s time to take a look at adjusting not only your sales process, but also your sales pipeline. And while we know there are no guidebooks to follow for how to sell effectively during a global pandemic, we do have some ideas for you to try that are sure to get you moving in the right direction. 

Put Sales and Marketing Automation to Work

First up in your new pipeline: a plan for incorporating sales and marketing automation, if you haven’t already. 

There are a lot of benefits to automating these core processes, but right now, it really comes down to their utility in helping you engage with people online, as well as their ability to help you quickly adapt when the time calls for it.

Here are some specific functions an automation software (like BenchmarkONE) helps you achieve:

• Easily create and send emails
• Manage your sales follow-up through tasks and reminders
• Organize your contacts, track activity and site interaction with a CRM
• Tag your contacts based on various characteristics so you can segment them and send personalized emails
• Create landing pages and popups to convert on-site visitors into leads you can nurture
• Increase your email subscribers so your brand can stay top of mind

And that’s not even the exhaustive list. But, look at what having a marketing and sales automation solution can do for you. Instead of needing to perform these duties individually or by-hand, you can focus on other important tasks and leave the rest up to your tool. 

It’s best to find an all-in-one solution. While most platforms have various integrations, allowing you to use your CRM, marketing, and sales automation together, nothing tops having one solution that caters to it all. The more you can centralize your sales and marketing efforts in one place, the better foundation you’ll have for weathering the storm of what might be (and what’s already here).

Ramp Up Your Prospecting

Conventional wisdom may say that it pays more to focus on retaining current customers than gaining new ones, but conventional wisdom isn’t always enough in the face of a pandemic. While typically customer acquisition and retention are equally important, for various reasons, we recommend stepping up your prospecting game right now. Put a little more energy towards finding — and engaging with — potential customers, even if it’s not something you’re totally comfortable with.

We know reaching out to potential new customers seems awkward right now. But as long as your outreach doesn’t focus on selling and conveys how much you want to be of assistance, you’ll show your prospects that you value their time and building a relationship with them. By fostering this kind of trust, you’re setting yourself and your brand up for success later down the line. They may not be in the right place to partner immediately, but they’ll remember how helpful you were and genuinely interested in their business’s well-being that you’ll be the first they think about when they are ready. 

Align with your marketing team to find out what strategies they’re finding most successful. Then use them on your own end to reach out to leads directly, even ones that haven’t been qualified yet. This isn’t the time to let opportunity slip through your fingers, nor do you have much to lose by deepening your sales pool.

Look through your company’s blog content and your knowledge base to pull pieces that can help your prospects. And if you aren’t finding that content, have your marketing team create it so you can show your prospects that you’re listening and can be that reliable resource in their time of need. 

Look Into Re-Engagement Strategies

Speaking of not letting opportunities slip through your fingers, now is a great time to re-engage old leads that were once hot but have since cooled off. Consider using drip campaigns to gradually bring them back into the fold or offering some incentives that could encourage them to finally take the leap. You’ve got an advantage since these leads have already expressed heightened interest at some point, so you may as well use it.

Use your marketing automation software to run a report on leads with low engagement. In BenchmarkONE, you can assign a number system to certain actions, so every time a lead opens an email or downloads a piece of content, they accumulate points. The leads with the lowest points represent the least engaged. Our users can leverage that system to determine which leads could need some TLC from a dedicated nurture campaign. 

Focus on Upselling

Upselling doesn’t have to be a dirty word. Instead of approaching an upsell like you’re just trying to tack on more dollar signs, consider it as a way to benefit the customer as much as yourself. Your job is to show how your product or service can help them meet their goals, and you know better than anyone else exactly what will get them where they want to go. 

Don’t be afraid to suggest bigger deals. As mentioned earlier, make sure you convey that you are more interested in helping Them. While it may sound contradictory, you’re really just spotting a way for your customer to get more value out of what you’re offering them. If you still feel shady about it, then you’re probably somewhat aware that it won’t actually help your customer. If that’s the case, then don’t push it. 

Find Opportunities Elsewhere

There may be some sales strategies that you put off in the past because they weren’t aligned with your goals or the reality of the situation. Well, times have changed, and perhaps you should brush the dust off of those ideas and put them to use. It doesn’t hurt to conjure up some new ones, too. 

Have you tried out an affiliate program? What about a referral program to incentivize existing clients to send more leads your way? Have you tried swapping services with other brands? Think outside of the box, and you might end up finding a new go-to that really works. 

Sell Longer Contracts

Your customers are also likely to be facing some instability at the moment. Longer contracts mean they don’t have to worry about changing things up again anytime soon, and neither do you.

If it’s in your budget, consider offering a special deal in return for an extended contract. There’s a ton of value in doing so, especially when it comes to ensuring a steady base of customers. And in most cases, your clients will appreciate the option.

This method can apply to your existing customers, too. If you know any are being hit extra hard, offer to extend their contract for a discounted rate or to offer a month at no charge. This simple favor could spread enough goodwill that they’d be open to partnering for years and years to come. 

Times are tough, but selling doesn’t have to be. Modify your pipeline to adapt to the moment, and you might just find that you’re in a better place than ever when things start to even out again. 

When it comes to yearly revenue, two sources are the big focus: client retention and customer acquisition. But which matters more for your bottom line and the overall success of your company? 

We all know that it’s important to diversify your marketing efforts, and that includes not just your deliverables but your desired outcomes.

But the how and why behind each focus matters a lot — and it’s important to understand the differences between the two.

In this article, we’ll do a deep dive into the differences between client retention and customer acquisition, including why you need to set your sights on both if you want to meet (and maybe even exceed) your marketing and sales expectations.

What is Customer Acquisition?

Customer acquisition should definitely be one of your 2021 marketing goals. It’s the active process of gaining new customers for your brand, or more specifically, converting leads and prospects into paying customers.

Of course, the goal with customer acquisition isn’t just to find new customers but to find new brand loyalists. A customer who makes one decent sized purchase and then disappears isn’t nearly as valuable as a customer who makes continuous purchases, even if those purchases themselves are smaller. As such, effective customer acquisition methods have to be multi-faceted to pull in the most qualified leads and bolster brand integrity from the get-go.

What is Client Retention?

Client retention refers to marketing practices that are optimized to engage with existing customers and drive them toward additional conversions. It’s estimated that 65 percent of an organization’s profits come from existing customers. If you’re not prioritizing client retention in your marketing efforts, you’re losing out on an enormous chunk of profit potential and business growth.

The value of your relationship with a client is almost equal to the value of their purchase history. Clients who feel appreciated, understood, and supported by brands they work with are more likely to go on and share that enthusiasm with others. The result is a pool of clients who do some of your marketing for you and who are more likely to return to you again and again.

Client Retention vs. Client Acquisition

Much like the chicken and the egg scenario, the value of client retention and client acquisition can come down to which comes first.

Sure, client retention has more value potential and costs five times less per customer than acquisition. However, regardless of the benefits of retention, you can’t retain clients if you don’t get them in the first place. 

In practice, we often see a lot more strategizing going toward customer acquisition than client retention. In fact, 44 percent of companies place a strong focus on customer acquisition compared to just 18 percent of companies that do the same for retention. And we get it: more customers equal more success, right? Sure, but it’s not that simple. 

If we’re going to place more value on one over another, the truth is that neither is more important. You’re going to need to focus on both if you want to maintain a steady flow of revenue and meet your bottom-line goals.

Double Duty

Fortunately, many of the techniques optimized toward one or the other strategy do double duty. For example, automated email marketing can be used to engage and re-engage with prospects, but it can also be used to send out coordinated drip campaigns that keep your existing clients connected and in the loop. Likewise, a good SEO strategy is going to be just as effective at getting your name out in front of potential new customers as it is at keeping you top of mind with those who have already converted into a sale.

What it comes down to isn’t so much acquisition vs. retention but the customer experience. A good experience, starting at stage one of the buyer’s journey and cycling through to the post-sale period, will always be a critical factor in your marketing and sales performance. And it all starts with understanding your brand’s value and communicating that value to your customers, both new and existing.

Existing customers spend 31 percent more and are 50 percent more likely to try new products, but you need to get them in the door first. Always aim for variety when putting together your marketing plan and think of as many ways as possible to grow your customer pool and increase the value of your existing pool. When you focus on both, you ensure you connect all of the dots you need to hit your plan out of the park.