Set Up a Lead Generation System for Your Startup to Gain Constant Interest
Connor Gillivan
I scale companies w/ SEO & content. Daily posts about the process. 7x Founder (Exit in 2019).
Do you have a lead generation system?
A lead generation system is an essential component of any digital marketing effort. Good lead generation is not just attracting and converting your average consumer into someone who is interested in your company’s product or service.
One of the major goals for your young startup should be to generate interest. The best way to do this is to have a lead generation system for your startup that encourages consistent interest. You can generate leads from a wide range of sources like job applications, coupons, and producing content. But you need a lead generation system to get your hustle on and the best results.
onHow to Set Up a Lead Generation System
The tried and tested process that Connor has developed for this is outlined in the steps below. It may not seem like the fastest or the easiest way to do it when it’s laid out like this. But streamlining takes a bit of doing upfront. In the end, it will save you a ton of time, effort, and expense.
(1) Identify your target customer
Who are you trying to attract? What kind of customer do you want to get interested in you? Who would you like to see browsing for your product or service?
You want to attract a certain type of lead. The way that you go about populating your initial list in the next step depends on your target customer. If you’ve launched or have started planning your business, you probably already have an idea of who your target customer is. So, the hardest part is over.
(On a side note, don’t forget to confirm your minimum viable product before you start setting up your lead generation system.)
If you are an eCommerce business owner, for example, you might want to start with people who are online a lot. Then you can narrow that down to specific groups. Once you have these groups in mind, you are ready to begin searching for where they hang out online.
You don’t have to and really shouldn’t start from scratch. If you can partner with other companies related to your business niche, you can take advantage of the audience that they have already embraced. Another good place to go is on Facebook and other social media sites or networking sites where you can find a bunch of people in one place.
(2) Prepare Your Lead Generation Sheet
You want to have a Google Sheet where you can record your research. This sheet is an important part of your lead generations system. It integrates with the emailing app that we will get set up in the next step.
On your Lead Generations System sheet, create the following columns:
- Company Name – the name of the company that you want to reach out to
- Owner’s Name – you’ll want to address your email to a specific person
- Email Address – the best available or most logical contact point
- Phone Number – the best available or most logical contact point
- Facebook Page – the company’s business page, or the owner’s personal profile if unavailable
- Linkedin Page – the company’s business page, or the owner’s personal profile if unavailable
When you start doing your research, this is where you will enter the important information that you need to effectively reach out.
(3) Mail Merge
Once your Google sheet is prepped, you are ready to set up your email. If you aren’t on Gmail, you’ll need to set that up first. You don’t want to email people from a free Gmail address, but you need one to get set up.
The next step is to take your email address that’s on your company web domain and set it up so you can access it via Gmail. Send a few test emails from Gmail to make sure it’s working perfectly. (If you’re not comfortable with the default Gmail settings, you can tweak the look and feel and functions of your account.)
Once your Gmail access is good to go, switch back to your Lead Generations System sheet. It’s time to install Yet Another Mail Merge. YAMM is an add on in Google Sheets that facilitates mass emailing right from the sheet. This is a really easy way to get your emails sent out. YAMM also tracks sent emails for which ones were sent, opened and bounced.