Times are tough right now in the US. Most of us are under strict orders to stay inside and, on the rare occasions we do go out, we have to follow social distancing guidelines: making it much more difficult to interact with people. Fortunately, there are several upsides to marketing during social distancing that lead generation companies want you to know. Marketing is cheaper, there’s less competition, and since almost everyone is spending more time at home, there are more available eyes to observe your marketing efforts.

Of course, simply reaching larger amounts of people isn’t enough to propel your business into the stratosphere. Targeted traffic that takes user intent into consideration is far more preferable than large amounts of pointless traffic.

What Is User Intent?

To put it simply, user intent tells us what someone is looking for when they use a search engine to look something up. It takes into consideration the keywords used in search queries, though it extends beyond simple word usage in an attempt to try to understand the context with which those words are used in an effort to learn the intention behind those words.

Types of Intent

Informational

Informational user intent is when the user is looking for information about specific keywords. Informational user intent includes searches such as “how to change a tire” or “best type of foods for dogs.”

In both examples, the user is clearly looking for information about changing a tire or feeding their dog and will probably discover thousands of websites from which they can obtain that information. People performing informational searches generally don’t care about which website they get their information from.

Navigational

Navigational user intent can be determined when a user is looking for a specific website. For example, if a user types in “bestdogfoodinUtah.com,” the .com portion of their search indicates that they’re looking for a specific website, not just the best dog food in Utah. People who perform navigational searches are generally only interested in the specific site they’re looking for (if you wanted to find Facebook, for example, you probably wouldn’t settle for Myspace).

Transactional

Transactional user intent describes users whose search queries indicate the user’s intention to purchase a product or perform another type of transaction. Transactional search queries often include the name of specific products or services, such as the iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, or Playstation. When people are looking for specific products, odds are they’re either looking to buy or are at least interested in buying.

Why Is User Intent Important?

User intent is important because it defines the type and quality of your website’s traffic. Increasing traffic to your website may increase sales slightly, but to truly benefit from lead generation, those who find themselves at your website should be those with transactional user intent.

5 Secrets of Lead Generation Companies

Now that you know what user intent is and why it’s important, let us tell you a few secrets of how we include user intent to drive quality traffic to your website(s) and help boost your sales.

Reach Leads Early

Most businesses sell products or services that are similar (if not identical) to those offered by others, making it critically important to make contact with leads as early as possible. By using intent data, lead generation companies can help get your business in front of potential customers before the salespeople of your competitors do. According to HubSpot’s marketing statistics for 2020, in 70% of cases, the first salesperson to connect with the lead is the one who gets the sale.

Prioritize Leads

Prioritizing quality leads from general foot traffic is a critical service provided by lead generation companies. Remember that there are three main types of user intent: informational, navigational, and transactional. The ability to distinguish a person’s intentions when performing a search allows for the targeted funneling of quality leads to your webpage, while those simply looking for information are weeded out.

Ideally, you want users with a transactional intent who are looking to buy, not those who are just wanting to read general information about your product or service.

Targeted Advertising

Targeting customers with transactional user intent is good, but we can help you take it one step further by engaging in targeted advertising. With targeted advertising, you can focus on leads who give off specific signals that indicate they’re more likely to buy. This way, you can focus your marketing dollars on leads with a high probability of making a sale as opposed to individuals who may have an interest in your product or service, but no real intention to buy.

Lead Scoring

Lead scoring is a practice used to rank leads based on the perceived value each lead represents to your business. Lead scoring is similar to the practice of prioritizing leads but seeks to further differentiate the quality of each transactional intent lead you receive.

With lead scoring, you base the quality of a lead on a few factors, such as if they have visited competitor websites or not, if they’re searching for key terms or phrases, or how many searches they’ve conducted and how many competitors’ websites they have visited. Those who have visited multiple competitors, for example, would receive a higher lead score than someone who hasn’t visited any.

Customer Retention

Generating new sales is a big part of what we can do for your business, however, new sales aren’t their only benefit. They can also help you retain existing customers and keep them from moving on to one of your competitors. Can you imagine having a customer looking for a service you provide, but losing out on the sale because the customer wasn’t aware you provided that service?

What about losing out on an existing customer who sends you an email notifying you that they wish to cancel your service? Wouldn’t it be great if you could know beforehand that one of your customers was looking elsewhere? With properly collected and utilized intent data, you can be notified about both of the preceding scenarios, allowing you to take action before your customers spend money elsewhere.

There’s No Time Like the Present

With so many people at home and unable to shop in brick-and-mortar stores, online sales are booming. Just because people are working from home doesn’t mean they don’t need things, and online businesses including Amazon, Postmates, UberEATS, and various grocery delivery services are all scrambling to hire to meet the increased demand.

More people are online day-to-day than ever before, and your business should be able to capitalize on the increase in viewership, the sharp decrease in competition, and your ability to show your brand’s support for people during extraordinary circumstances.

Empower Your Business Through Lead Generation Companies Like Lead Experts

Working with Lead Experts is unlike working with other lead generation companies. Not only do we want to sell you leads, but we want to make sure you truly understand how they’re coming in and who they are. Additionally, any data we gather is yours to keep. You own it, not us.

No matter what your marketing needs include, whether it’s social media, inbound content creation, SEO, paid advertising, direct conversions, or a little of everything, we’ve got you covered. If you have any questions about how we can help you expand your business and create the quality income you’re looking for, reach out to Lead Experts today.