How to Get More Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs)

Hundreds of consumers can travel to your page or product daily, but you need them to convert for that traffic to benefit your business. This need is where sales qualified leads (SQLs) come into play.

You may have heard of marketing qualified leads (MQLs). Several differences set SQLs apart from MQLs, but the main distinction is their end goal. MQLs focus on your marketing strategies and consumers who take the next step to become more involved with your business.

In contrast, SQLs are specific consumers that a sales team targets as potential customers. You want to reel in as many of these leads as possible, pitching your services or following up with their purchases to encourage them to be regulars. 

With these seven tips, we’ll dig further into SQL examples and how to get more sales qualified leads.

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1. Segment your audience

Segmenting your audience means categorizing your leads into groups and showing them content that best fits their needs and interests. This strategy ensures you send the targeted messages to the right audience and use your resources on those who will interact with your content. Make it personal!

Let’s set the scene — you own a high-end dog food company that specializes in creating nutritious meals for all pampered pooches around the country. To segment your audience, you will want to figure out, based on leads, who your big dog owners are vs. who has a smaller pup. It wouldn’t be effective to advertise a meal meant for a corgi to someone who owns a full-grown mastiff.

2. Create lead magnets

Sprinkling lead magnets around like candy can hook customers onto your service. A lead magnet is a free service or item your company offers for gathering contact information.

Continuing with the dog food example, maybe this could be a trial subscription or sample for the pups to try. All the customer has to do is enter their email to begin, and you can contact them later with special promotions to make a sale. Letting the customer try before they buy is always an incentive for them to interact with your products.

3. Let them opt in

Speaking of email, opting in is another effective way to gain trusted customer information. A single opt-in box can pop up, encouraging the customer to type in their email address for a newsletter or other service they can benefit from. This simple step can bring in several customers.

However, try considering a double opt-in. This strategy is like its single counterpart but adds one more step for the customer to take — verifying their email address. This extra effort can narrow the pool of potential customers to those who are more serious about your product and want to remain connected to what you have to offer.

4. Integrate marketing automation

You can set up the steps above without running those efforts alone. Marketing automation is a valuable tool because the service will do all the work! An effective way to use this tool is through scheduling blog posts, social media posts, emails, and shopping cart management.

Even better, you can keep the customer experience personal. Any content you set up for automation should be written and formed with the customer in mind. Your products are for them, after all! Automation is very human — we don’t always think about every move we make. Many actions are instinctive, like breathing or, in this case, not letting our dogs go hungry.

5. Invite guest bloggers

Inviting well-known guests to blog or authenticate your products will always be a game-changer. When you show your potential customers a familiar face, they are more likely to trust your brand.

Nothing says “sold” like Oprah endorsing your product. Initially, certain customers may not know of you, but they know of Oprah, and that’s good enough for them. Going forward, you can gain brand awareness as the star’s brand of choice when she needs to feed her pups. 

6. Utilize quizzes and surveys

Quizzes and surveys are fun content marketing ideas to increase your customer engagement. These can reel in potential customers and seal the deal by providing them with a product that fits their needs. Customers are more likely to purchase when you prove your products’ value.

When customers search your product page for the correct dog food for their new maltipoo puppy, give them an option to take a quiz. Here they can click the size, weight, breed, and other characteristics of their four-legged family member. After submitting the quiz, a recommendation for the best match from your dog food line will pop up in their email. 

7. Incorporate SEO

Always tune your search engine optimization (SEO) to increase your SQLs. You strive to target exactly what the customer is looking for, and a handy way to do that is through long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords are three- to six-word phrases that narrow general search results.

A customer looking for dog food will not simply type “dog food” into the search bar. Instead, they might search for more detailed phrases or sentences to find what they need, such as:

• Best dog food for small dogs
• What nutrients should my dog be getting
• Dog food portion sizes for dachshund

As you can see, these topics are not the same. Incorporate as much information as possible relating your service to any customer questions.

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Boost your SQLs with WebFX

Sales qualified leads are significant to the growth of your business. Whether you’re selling dog food or HVAC systems, you want to target the right audience and convert them into loyal customers, which starts with a sale. Ready to get started? Let WebFX help!

We are a top-level marketing agency passionate about generating leads for your company. We will assist you in creating marketing campaigns and encouraging customers to engage with your content. We have driven over $6 billion in revenue for our clients — let’s grow together!

For more information, contact us online or call us at 888-601-5359. We look forward to helping you get more SQLs!