There are plenty of lead generation techniques and tools that can bring a lot of leads, but without the proper strategy, prospects can easily get turned off or shut you down quickly.
In this guide, we take a closer look at which lead generation strategies creep prospects out, and what techniques you should reexamine to get the best possible effects.
Don’t Take Personalization Too Far
Everyone knows that personalization equals wins in lead generation.
The more you understand your customer, the easier it is to create content or correspondence that resonates with them.
However, the problem is taking personalization too far.
It’s one thing to create an article that helps solve a common problem in a prospect’s industry and send it to them, it’s another thing to address them by their first name while talking about practices in the old company that they’re in.
Everyone enjoys their privacy, it’s a constitution in most countries, even if you know details about your prospect, they shouldn’t always be used for lead generation. It’s a sign of irresponsible data management and that could get you in trouble.
Personalization has to be done with the intent to help the marketer understand prospects and respond with solutions that will solve their problems, not tell the prospect that you know everything about their personal lives.
You need to exercise a little restraint to make sure that personalization is done well.
Related: Email Personalization: What to Do When You Have Limited Data
Don’t Ask Personal Questions
Sales discovery calls or intake forms are great for filling in the blanks about a prospect, but keep it business related and don’t ask personal questions.
Avoid asking any questions related to family, income, or their personality. People don’t like information collection, and they’re likely to bounce from your form if there are questions that they can’t justify in a couple of seconds.
Getting a prospect to fill out a form is already a feat in itself, and having them fill out a form with personal questions is even more annoying, and downright creepy.
Related: How to Qualify Your Sales Leads Using Proven B2B Methods
Take it Easy with Retargeting
Retargeting works wonders for ecommerce or helping with brand retention, but it’s so easy to take it too far.
An example of good retargeting is showing a prospect a quick ad about your company without forcing them to buy anything or sending them an email about an abandoned shopping cart.
However, if they’re shown an ad five minutes after you’ve visited their site, then it makes them like they’re being watched and followed, which is probably the worst way to make a “second” impression.
A great technique that great marketers do is reverse retargeting where they build custom audiences with targeted ads, and then do outreach to them a week or two later. This creates familiarity between the brand and the prospect which leads to better results.
The trick with retargeting is simple: take your time.
Everyone knows that sites collect cookies, but they don’t want to be reminded that they’re being followed. You need to be as subtle as possible with this.
Related: Debunking Common Myths on Digital Marketing
Don’t Add People to Your Mailing List
Apart from the potential to get you in trouble – with GDPR compliance issues – wouldn’t you hate getting newsletters from people that you don’t know?
Email newsletters might be great for lead nurturing and pushing people through the pipeline, but they won’t work if someone’s forced to read them.
Some prospects even get annoyed by the barrage of emails that they get even after opting in following a trial period for a piece of software.
Email is one of the most powerful tools in a marketer’s disposal, but it should be used with a little restraint.
A simple guide is not to send people who haven’t subscribed newsletters about your brand, and even then, you should still include clear opt-out links.
(Also, while we’re on the subject, don’t send too many emails either!)
Don’t Be “Chummy”
There’s a difference between a friendly vibe, and pretending you’re already friends with the prospect.
Most prospects are reserved, no matter how friendly they seem to be, it helps to draw a line between being friendly and being too “chummy” with a prospect.
A lot of prospects love friendly marketing, but it has to be different from the way you market to a real friend. Make sure there’s some restraint exercised in your lead generation materials, and that there’s always a layer of professionalism.
Any technique can be creepy if used the wrong way. Retargeting has always been creepy, but a lot of marketers have had a lot of success with it by using it right.
Remember tools and techniques are only as good as the strategies and people behind them. Just because something works doesn’t mean it should be used blindly without any planning. The best marketers are the subtle ones, they make sure that techniques aren’t abused.
