3-25-2013
Last week I shared some online research tools to help you track news about your prospects, as well as monitor their social media conversations using Google Alerts and Social Mention. These tools can help you identify the optimum time when your prospects are most likely thinking about buying advertising.
This week we?ll take a look at some online tools to help you build quality lead lists more quickly.
Manta
Manta is a cross between a business directory listing and social network for small businesses. The primary mission of Manta is to provide a platform for small businesses to promote themselves and to support one another. According to a survey of their 90-plus million members last year, 42 percent of small business owners say they get most of their business advice from other small business owners.
How can Manta help you get more quality leads? As you search for small businesses in your area, Manta provides additional filters, so you can target businesses based on their number of employees and company revenue.
Here?s one quick search tip when using Manta, first search by type of business like ?restaurant? or ?car dealer." After your search results come up, scroll all the way to the bottom to filter your search by location or advertising category.
Angie?s List
If you are seeking to build a quick list of quality leads for home service advertisers like ?plumbers? or ?dentists,? AngiesList.com is your best bet. Unlike other business review websites, Angie?s List does charge a small monthly fee based on local rates, but it?s worth it for the leads you can gather.
Qualify your leads by looking for businesses that have the most reviews, are promoting special offers or have newly created profiles.
Those with special offers are indicating their desire to market a bit more aggressively. When you call on them, remind them that their pool of customers on Angie?s Lists is very limited. There is a much larger audience seeking their services who didn?t pay for Angie?s List, but can be reached by advertising on your radio station.
DemandBase
Think about all time and money you spend on getting people to come to your website. It?s probably one of your greatest unrealized sources of qualified leads. You probably have an ?advertise with us? on your website, but the majority of the people visiting that page are completely anonymous to you.
DemandBase.com enables you to identify businesses visiting your website. Your visitors? IP addresses are analyzed and matched against business information sources from Dun & Bradstreet and LexisNexis. DemandBase will identify the names of companies where your visitors work and then sell you leads to those companies for as little as $1.80 per lead.
This tool has a lot of promise, but for a radio station to realize its true capabilities, it would need to create content to attract businesses because most radio websites target consumers. A station could create a separate website, blog, or business directory targeting local business owners only. If you already have popular business content, then a tool like DemandBase might be worth your consideration.
The Web is one of the greatest sales research tools ever created and, at the same time, it is one of the most under-utilized research tools in radio sales. At the very least, before you call on any prospect, visit their website. Think of their homepage as a virtual billboard describing all of their marketing needs, priorities, and opportunities.
Stephen Warley is the founder of inboundarts.com, a research and training firm dedicated to helping radio broadcasters use digital tools to generate more qualified sales leads. He is also the founded of LocalBroadcastSales.com. Email him at stephen@inboundarts.com or connect with him on LinkedIn.
Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend
