Do you know that as a B2C ecommerce company, you stand a better chance at getting new leads than a B2B business? Well, you do. Data shows that as of June 2023, B2C businesses had seven times more leads than B2B companies.
The reason is simple – there’s a larger audience available for B2C businesses to reach out to, unlike B2Bs. Also, the purchase decision for individuals is not as complex as it is with businesses, considering the sometimes stiff protocols that have to be observed to make a buying decision.
It was Sir Winston Churchill who said a beautiful strategy is not enough. It’s the results that matter. So, if with this obvious advantage, you’re not generating enough leads, then you need to take a closer look at your strategies. They’re definitely not as effective as you think.
The next quest for you should be how to strategize effectively in a way that will drive more leads. Fortunately, you’re on the right page. Here, you will learn time-tested strategies that will shoot your business from the bottom of the lead generation pyramid straight to the top. Let’s get to it, shall we?
3 Common challenges B2C ecommerce businesses experience in lead generation
Again, another wise saying (this time from Albert Einstein) comes to mind. He said he wasn’t so smart, he only stayed with his problems for much longer. Unfortunately, we tend to do quite the opposite these days. We flip over our problems and rush to the solutions. Little wonder those solutions do not stand the test of time.
But if we look at it closely, we would see that if we studied our problems more critically, we would come up with better strategies. It is on this premise that we’ll be examining the common challenges B2B e-businesses face in lead generation.
1. A fiercely competitive market
Yes, ecommerce businesses have access to a large audience but they also have many competitors. This means your prospective customers have many options and standing out among this sea of rivals is no child’s play, making it difficult to get leads.
2. Lack of website visibility
No discussion on lead generation strategies will be complete without analyzing how search engine and social media algorithms affect the visibility of ecommerce websites. And we all know that an ecommerce business’s journey starts with online visibility. Once the battle is lost here, subsequent efforts will have little or no effect.
3. Costs of acquiring customers
As already mentioned, the competition in the ecommerce market is stiff and visibility could be challenging. Therefore, extra efforts need to be made to get leads. However, these efforts don’t come cheap. The cost of running ads, creating content and other forms of marketing and promotion is a lot and might not be affordable for most ecommerce companies.
Let’s note that while these challenges are daunting, they’re not insurmountable. With the right strategies, they can be overcome or managed, opening the door to more leads. Now, let’s learn these strategies.
5 B2C ecommerce website solutions or strategies that will drive more leads
There are many B2C ecommerce website solutions for lead generation out there, and knowing the ones that will make a difference in your business is not an easy task. However, that’s one less headache for you as we have carefully curated the following innovative strategies based on best practices in the industry.
1. Get a process mining software
A process mining software is a solution that leverages data from your company’s event logs to help you discover, evaluate and optimize your business processes. If you think you know how your processes run, think again. When you use process mining software, you’ll realize you’ve been working with assumptions and your processes actually run differently than you think.
However, discovery is not the only benefit of this software. You also get to see areas that need improvement, implement more effective solutions and optimize your processes. A well-optimized business operation creates more prospects and leads.
Aspects of your business where process mining software can help maximize corporate efficiency that will generate leads include inventory management, order processing, customer journey analysis, payment processing and supply chain.
2. Practice lead nurturing
Do you know that if you follow up with a prospect within five minutes of a desired action, you’re nine times more likely to convert them to leads? Now you know. What to do? Constantly engage with your users. This exercise is called lead nurturing. Lead nurturing is the process of cultivating your leads with the aim of making them buy from you when they’re ready.
When you notice critical actions like abandoned carts or subscription sign-ups, immediately follow-up to nurture your leads. These seemingly little follow up actions add up to making your prospects complete their customer journey.
3. Prioritize content marketing
Content marketing has to do with creating and distributing relevant, valuable and regular content to your target audience in a way that does not explicitly promote your brand. Instead, this content is aimed at educating your audience and helping them solve problems. The aim is to gradually make them develop an interest in your product or services.
If you’re serious about generating leads, then you must not joke with content marketing. 70% of B2C marketers, according to a Content Marketing Institute report, say content marketing is a core aspect of their marketing strategy, and for good reasons.
Content marketing helps you grow your brand image and awareness organically. It builds trust and loyalty in your customers. When you constantly put out educational and informative content, your brand will be viewed as trustworthy and authoritative. You become influential in your industry and this will draw more prospects to you. And don’t forget that the more prospects you get, the more leads you drive.
With content marketing, it also becomes easier to reach prospects who avoid ads. These prospects look out for genuine content that addresses their concerns without selling any product or service to them. Warming your way into their hearts gives you a good chance at turning them into leads.
Content marketing also saves costs. It is relatively cheaper to create and distribute content than to run ads and engage in other forms of marketing campaigns. It’s not surprising that marketers make this strategy a priority. It helps achieve more with less.
4. Explore social account sign-ups
We’ve all clicked the back button when we felt an ecommerce website was asking us to fill out complex forms to sign up. The truth is, we just wanted to shop – we didn’t bargain for endless questions. But it’s a different scenario if there’s a social account sign-up like Google or Facebook. These sign-ups are easy, and with one click, we can continue our customer journey.
Now imagine all prospective leads you’ve been losing if your website doesn’t have social account sign-ups. It explains why your bounce rate has been high. Well, better late than never. Include these options in your sign-up page and watch your leads increase.
5. Leverage live chats
True, shopping is fun but it can sometimes be overwhelming. Going through hundreds of products and making a decision isn’t exactly blissful. This is where a little help is needed. Shopping gets easier when shoppers can get help on the go. Having live chats where shopping assistants can offer help to shoppers in real time is a game-changer.
Giving personalized help to prospects gives you an edge over competitors. This strategy is far more effective than bots, which is what’s commonly used. Shoppers and prospects will feel more comfortable relating with a human assistant than a bot. The result? Returning customers and increased leads.
More prospects and leads? Adopt game-changing strategies
In life, positive changes don’t just happen. They’re a product of deliberate planning and execution. Likewise, ecommerce businesses that are making bank aren’t resting on their oars. They’re constantly coming up with top-notch strategies, executing them and going back to the drawing board to improve on those strategies.
And so should you. If you’re tired of recording high bounce rates and low leads, start by implementing the game-changing strategies discussed in this article. Before you do this, though, try analyzing the challenges you’re facing at the moment. An in-depth understanding of your current challenges will help chart effective lead-generation strategies.
Also, keep in mind that times are always evolving and the strategies that work today might fail tomorrow. Therefore, to drive more leads, you must cultivate a mindset of change and be ready to adopt new strategies when necessary. We’ll leave you with these parting thoughts inspired by George Bernard Shaw – If you cannot change your mind, you cannot change anything.
⸻ Author Bio ⸻
Moyofade Ipadeola is an SEO Writer, UX Writer and Editor. Witty, she loves personal development and helping people grow. Mo, as she’s fondly called, is fascinated by all things tech. She can be reached on Linkedin.
