How to get more customers? Try these 54 lead sources.

By Hitesh Changela - 26 April 2017 | New Customer, Lead Sources, Marketing, Sales, Competition,| 715 Words | <10 minutes read

I have interacted with hundreds of business owners and business persons. Most of business persons are trying only few lead sources. They are not actively seeking new ways to acquire customers.

Many times they are not tracking the original lead source of the acquired customers. So they don’t know what marketing methods are working and what marketing methods are not working.

Using CRM (Customer Relationship Management) we can track the lead source of each acquired customer in one the most effective way.

As technology evolves it opens up amazingly effective and efficient new ways to acquire customers.

Digital marketing is fundamentally affecting the way businesses acquire new customers.

• SEO (Search Engine Optimization
• PPC (Pay Per Click), Email Marketing
• Social media marketing (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Plus)
• Content marketing (Writing blogs, eBooks, Guides)

Such others are open up opportunities to acquire, retain, connect, support, and understand customers in the way we have seen never before.

We must keep up with what’s happening with market. Otherwise more savvy competitors can grab the major chunk of market very quickly.

You should know

1. What lead sources you are trying currently?
2. Which lead source is #1 to get customers?
3. Which lead sources are the most effective?
4. Which lead sources are the least effective?
5. Which new lead sources you should try?

Once you answer above five questions. It will give you insight into what marketing method is working and not working, so you can do more of what is working and do less or stop what is not working. This will also give insights into what other marketing methods you should be exploring.

Here is the list of potential lead source one can try. I have group similar lead sources but you should track each individual lead source e.g. there are dozens of social networks such as

• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Google+
• YouTube
• Instagram
• Pinterest
• WhatsApp
• Snapchat
• Vine
• Tumblr
• Flickr
• ClassMates
• Meetup
• Viber
• StumbleUpon
• Digg
• VK

54 Lead Sources: The most exhaustive list of lead sources you can ever find in one place

1	Affiliates/Partners
2	Agents, distributors, retailers, wholesalers
3	Billboard/Hoarding
4	Direct marketing i.e. direct mail brochure, flyer, catalog or leaflets
5	Business networking
6	Industry associations
7	Business show
8	Conferences
9	Events
10	Podcast
11	Seminar
12	Webinar
13	Workshops (Online & In-person)
14	Own Speaking Engagements
15	Sponsorships (Events etc)
16	Cold calling
17	Call centers/Telemarketing
18	Third party leads generation companies
19	Targeted prospect list provider companies
20	Writing book, eBook, white paper, guide, case study
21	Free trial, free sample, free advice (1-to-1 or Group)
22	Joint Venture (JV)
23	Strategic Alliances
24	Just walking by (Location, Event)
25	Print Media (Newspaper, Magazine, Industry Trade directory)
26	Mass Media (Radio, TV)
27	News Story (In Mass media)
28	Membership (Chamber of commerce, Business associations)
29	Mobile marketing (MMS, SMS, Apps)
30	Personal/Face-to-face selling
31	Blog (own blogging, guest blogging)
32	Digital advertising (Banner ads, social ads, retargeting campaigns)
33	Email Marketing
34	Newsletter
35	PPC (Pay Per Click) Google AdWords
36	PPC Bing, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram
37	SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
38	Social network or Social Media marketing (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Meetup, and Instagram)
39	Social media advertising (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest)
40	Public Relation
41	Publicity
42	Promotion (Contest, Branded Gifts)
43	Referral from customer
44	Referral from employee, colleague or co-worker
45	Referral from friend, family or acquaintance
46	Research (Internet and others)
47	Renew ex-customers by follow-up
48	Traditional Advertising (Print, Radio, TV)
49	Website personal (Lead capture form, Contact us form, Opt-in form or pop-ups)
50	Website company (Lead capture form, Contact us form, Opt-in form or pop-ups)
51	Online Chat
52	Website Classified craigslist, gumtree
53	Website Reddit, Quora, SlideShare
54	Yellow pages/White pages

Competitors

You should keep a pulse on your competitor by trying to find out where your competitors are getting customers. This would really give you insights regarding what’s happening in the market.

Where your competitors are getting customers from? Which are lead sources working from them?

Competitor1	Lead Source 1
	Lead Source 2
	Lead Source 3
	Lead Source 4
	Lead Source 5
Competitor2	Lead Source 1
	Lead Source 2
	Lead Source 3
	Lead Source 4
	Lead Source 5
Competitor3	Lead Source 1
	Lead Source 2
	Lead Source 3
	Lead Source 4
	Lead Source 5

I am very interested to hear what are your thoughts? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.