TLMM 048: How To Generate Leads For Local Small Businesses For Less Than $0.50 each!

Read time: 4 mins

In this week’s issue, I want to talk about how local small businesses can build a list of potential customers/clients for less than $0.50 each and how you can help them implement it as a Local Small Business Consultant or Digital Marketing Agency Owner…

Sounds too good to be true, right?!

Well with what I’m about to share with you…

It’s not only possible, but I’m doing it right now as I write this weekly newsletter.

So with that in mind…

Let’s dive in!

 

Why A Local Small Business Should Build A List

Before we jump into the “why” a local small business should have a “list”…

Let’s define “list” first.

When we talk about a “list” in terms of digital marketing…

It usually entails having at a minimum an email address.

And typically also has a name associated with the email address.

Of course the more data points you can have in a “list” the better.

Especially if you can also have a phone number.

Now the list itself can be made up of one or more of the following…

• Prospects (Leads)
• Customers (Current and/or Past)

As you can imagine, a list of this magnitude is an invaluable resource.

But unfortunately, most local small businesses overlook the importance of having their own.

Not to mention the fact that most local small businesses simply don’t know where to begin…

They may have a customer list of sorts that they can use to get started…

But for the most part, they have no clue how to build one.

So unless you’ve been living under a rock for the better part of the last 20-30 years…

Then you know just how powerful a list can be.

A list can be the difference between feast or famine for just about any local small business.

So make no mistake about it…

It’s not a question about “if” a local small business should have a list, but rather it’s about “how” they’re going to build one.

 

What You Need To Generate The Leads 

As I previously mentioned…

One of the things you can put on a list is “prospects” or leads.

In order to generate leads you need to be able to give something of value up front in exchange for their information. (i.e. name, email address, phone number, etc.)

That’s the whole trick…

Figuring out what exactly to give that is something so compelling that they will give you their contact information.

Which is often referred to as a “lead magnet.”

Of course there are varying degrees (or levels) of the value given to various lead magnets.

I think it goes without saying that not all lead magnets are created equal.

So again the higher perceived value a lead magnet has…

The more leads it will attract.

Meaning, not only will you get more leads, but you will also see a significant drop in your cost per lead assuming you’re paying for leads.

So ideally, you want to offer something with as much value as possible…

Without it costing you much if anything at all, especially if you’re giving it away for free.

I found that the best lead magnet of all-time is something that applies to anyone and everyone on the planet…

A vacation!

And more specifically, a free vacation!

Now you might be wondering how in the world you can offer a free vacation?!

And I’m here to tell you that it’s easier than you think!

There’s a couple ways to go about this…

One of which is just to bite the bullet and pay out of pocket for 2 or 3 nights for a hotel room in a desirable destination (i.e. Las Vegas, Orlando, San Diego, etc.).

The second way is to find a partner…

Whether that’s a specific hotel that will give you a discounted rate or even a free room or a company that offers discounted room rates.

Of course you can’t give this out to everyone…

So how do you offer it as a lead magnet then?

Simple… You run a contest/giveaway where everyone who opts into the list has a chance to win it.

 

Where You Can Get The Leads From For Less Than $0.50 Each

Now that you know the best lead magnet that’s the most appealing to just about everybody…

Let’s talk a little bit about where you can generate the leads for less than $0.50 each!

If you haven’t guessed it yet…

It’s Facebook!

Facebook is still the number one social media platform in terms of number of active daily users.

And since it still has arguably the best ads platform on the Internet…

It makes it a no-brainer to use Facebook over all other social media platforms to advertise your business and more specifically your lead magnet.

The trick is to use Facebook’s lead form ad campaign as that will give you the lowest possible CPL (cost per lead).

To be perfectly honest, when set up correctly, you can get leads for as little as $0.20 each with the average being right around $0.25 each.

So why did I say you can get leads for under $0.50 each?

Because I didn’t want to over promise and under deliver…

In fact just the opposite… I want to under promise and over deliver! 🙂 

 

How To Get The Most Out Of Each Lead

Generating the leads is only half the battle…

Because remember the leads came in from the lure of a free vacation… (which BTW you will fulfill your promise on)

So at this point we have no idea who they are…

And more importantly, whether or not they’re even interested in your client’s business.

But since we have the proverbial carrot dangling over their head in the form of a free vacation…

We can pretty much make them do anything for it…

Including jumping through hoops!

The “hoops” I’m speaking of is more or less a survey/questionnaire.

See, after the lead opts-in to the list…

We can then tell them that they must complete the survey/questionnaire in order to be officially entered into the contest/giveaway for the free vacation.

You’d be shocked at how many leads will complete the survey/questionnaire…

Not to mention all the personal (and not so personal) questions they will answer just for a chance to win a free vacation.

And once you start gathering all of the information…

You can simply start segmenting the list to put the offers (products and/or services) in front of the right people.

I hope you can see just how powerful this can be from both a cost standpoint and volume point of view.

I started this strategy 6 years ago, back in 2017…

And it’s still holding strong today in 2023.

So if you’re struggling to build a list in just about any industry/niche…

Then I highly recommend you give this a try.

Good luck!

See you next Monday.