Lead Generation Through Classified Ads

With all of the options for online advertising, there is really no reason not to promote your website and business on the Internet. In addition to paid advertising, there are many opportunities for free advertising including article marketing, newsgroup participation, forums, social networks, linking, and many other formats. You can also find a lot of sites that offer you an opportunity to use classified ads for free.

Taking advantage of free classified advertising may be just what you need to get your online business off the ground. They can bring you a wealth of traffic when you focus on your target audience and create classified ads that are succinct and engaging. Touting the benefits of your products and services through your ad can bring visitors to your website and they can be easily converted to customers if your website is dynamic and engaging.

Creating your classified ads, placing them, and watching the traffic flow is just the beginning of an important business process. It presents a huge opportunity for instant sales, but more importantly, it offers you a chance to create long-lasting relationships and expand your lead generation efforts.

Exactly how does this work?

When you place classified ads, you will very likely get many new visitors to your website. But you will also get a lot of inquiries and questions from people who want to know more. They may have questions about a specific product or they may need help solving a problem. If they find your ad engaging and credible, they may turn to you for information and advice.

This is a golden opportunity!

One of the most important things you can do as an online marketer is to manage your leads and be extremely responsive to your visitors and potential customers. Immediate and complete follow-up can mean the difference in a returning visitor and a long-lost visitor.

Take the essential steps necessary to make the most of every lead you get:

Respond immediately to inquiries and provide complete and thorough information. If you don’t have answers find them! They are looking to you as the expert.

Follow-up after you initial reply to ensure that your visitor received all of the information needed to answer their questions. If you have an auto-responder, this is much simpler and automated. If you don’t have an auto-responder that can be programmed for this purpose, you may want to consider getting one. In the meantime, create a method to track your inquiries and responses and manage your follow-up.

Once you have the email information from inquiries, obtain permission to provide them with additional information and follow-up in the future. Obtaining this opt-in permission gives you an incredible opportunity to stay in touch with prospects and turn them into customers. They will appreciate your valuable information and consistent follow-up.

Make sure your follow-up activity adds value for your prospect. Including important information, make an offer for discounts or sample products, and provide them with something that helps them. People appreciate getting valuable information from credible resources.

Don’t overload or inundate your prospect with a barrage of emails. Keep them to a reasonable frequency to avoid an opt-out request.

Solicit feedback from your prospects. Ask them questions, find out what they value, and demonstrate your appreciation to them through thank-you emails and free gifts. When you value their opinion, they will value your business!

When it comes to online advertising, classified ads provide you with an inexpensive way for lead generation and creating future customers. If you take advantage of the opportunities presented through inquiries and questions, you’ll find that your prospect list is growing by leaps and bounds.

Classified advertising is about more than just making a sale – it’s about creating a relationship that converts visitors to loyal customers.