Working in the design industry, it can be difficult to find new clients and generate graphic designer leads, especially organic inbound clients. After all, a few years ago, the profession wasn’t in big demand. It was always popular but not as requested as it is today.
As a result, everyone has problems improving their lead scoring and getting those clients to be able to build their careers.
So, the premise is simple: if you don’t work on your lead generation strategies, how can you possibly make money at your job?
Graphic designers can easily get more leads since brands care about their appearance, including logos, color palettes, and every part of their design. They are looking for your services. So you bet people are waiting out there to discover you. It’s a matter to place yourself in front of them.
To stand out, you must use the right lead generation process. This includes building your website, using social media, and many other digital marketing strategies as your job relies a lot on them, and people want to see how you work on your own personal brand.
Your business may rely on digital options, but that doesn’t mean you should forgo traditional strategies. Referrals, networking, and meeting face-to-face with prospects are all good options.
Also, it is impossible to integrate all lead generation strategies. However, it is a good idea to limit your options and focus on the most effective and efficient based on results and budget after you’ve tried a couple.
We will discuss the most effective lead generation strategies to help you determine where your attention should be. We will be sharing some tips to help you maximize your results and get more qualified leads for your graphic design career as well.
You Want to Reach What You Know. Believe Us
It isn’t new to share educational content with prospects and just anyone on the internet without a price, but many professionals in your area are afraid of it. Be confident, not because you share some tips and tricks; it means they will know how to do your job.
Instead of convincing clients that you are the best graphic designer, content marketing can help you show them how you have helped others and why your knowledge is enough, and even more than what they expected.
It may seem like a bad idea, but sharing everything you know will help attract leads willing to pay for your expertise and knowledge to improve their businesses.
This strategy always relies on trust and building awareness among your potential leads because thanks to it, people will be relieved by knowing they have hired someone who is trustworthy and not afraid to show it.
But how should you work around this strategy? You can share all the content you create on social media, your website and other platforms.
In this, blogs are a top option to increase your lead generation effort and improving lead scoring.
Remember that blogging follows the premise of quality over quantity, but you should continuously post as consistency also matters.
Regular blogging will help you establish credibility with your readers and keeps you relevant in search results.
Some graphic designers avoid blogging often because they don’t know what topics you can write about.
If you’re open for some advice, try to ask your clients and prospects what they want besides writing or sharing the usual content.
Repeat the process of answering these questions and then share your answers on social media sites where potential clients are likely to be spending time, such as LinkedIn, Quora, or other industry-relevant platforms.
These ideas can be a great starting point if you don’t know where to start:
- What will you tell your clients about your work and what you do? Share the key details that you are focusing on.
- What are the top questions visitors or clients ask?
- Do you have success stories from past clients or case studies that you could share?
- What resources can you share with potential clients and customers?
If you are still in doubting and wondering what does a blog do for you, here are some reasons why you should start one:
- Blog posts help any professional position themselves as experts in their niches. You are not the exception.
- You can establish a deeper connection with readers who will be more willing to hire your services.
- Blogging can help you get inbound leads. This will increase your chances of landing leads without pushing people to contact you.
You can also discuss graphic design trends. It is also possible to discuss the components of great branding and how people can build theirs.
Optimize your blog posts with keywords your clients are most interested in.
Prospecting Graphic Designer Leads
It won’t be easy to make people inquire or ask about your services if you’re just starting. Prospecting for quality leads is crucial for this very reason.
This basically involves finding companies that would benefit from your services, then move on with contacting them and pitching your offer.
A small sales team can dedicate one hour per day to prospect leads. But for it, you should first, create a customer profile.
Next, you will need to compile a list of businesses and individuals who match your customer persona.
Then, connect. If you’re looking for B2B (business-to-business) companies, LinkedIn is our top recommendation.
LinkedIn makes it easy to find people within the company you’re interested in working for. LinkedIn can also be used to connect with people looking for your services. However, it should only be used for business-to-client (B2C) purposes.
What is an effective pitch to get this prospecting process started? The following should be included in a great pitch:
- Give them reasons to use your service. Tell them what you can offer.
- You have the opportunity to offer your services—the possibility to offer a competitive rate or have expert knowledge in the field.
As a cold prospect, you can alsorely on freelacing work sites. Check out online directories as they can be useful to find your next clients. You shouldn’t have any problems using any of them as long as they are functional.
However, this can also take a lot of work, which takes us to the fact that yYou should assign someone to manage your team and entire process with these platforms.
Create A Stunning Website for Your Designs & Portfolio
We always recommend and believe that every single company and person with a brand should have a website. In your case, it will work as your landing point for high-quality leads but also to show prospects your previous work and share anything relevant.
Also, consider that graphic designers are indirectly involved with web development and logos, and more elements tend to be fixed and created by you.
Overall, websites are important, but this is just one factor.
If your potential clients or prospects ever have questions, 50% of consumers visit brands’ sites before buying. It is important to establish yours as soon as you can considering this large percentage.
Websites should be more than just functional. Your website must look attractive to draw people in. Remember, you’re a designer, and it does help to make a first impression.
Websites must work properly, and for it, they should load quickly while looking great.
Social Media is the Best for Graphic Designers
Social media is probably the best option to connect with your audience if we consider all the channels available, like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Especially when considering the fact that most of them are visual.
With a smart strategy, this is a great way for your brand to be seen by the world. Through content, you can showcase your services and your brand personality that leads to building an audience that turns into prospects and then leads.
When working with this strategy, it is important to know how to approach each section and platform and what content to share based on the media you’re using.
The most important things for web design lead generation will be covered. Keep taking note:
- LinkedIn.
It is the best social network site if you want to target business-minded people. You can join groups and contact potential clients directly. LinkedIn Recruiter can be a great place for starting a business, especially if you have a small sales team or are a solo professional.
- Facebook.
Facebook seems like dying, but continues being the most used social media platform with over 2.7 billion users monthly and for businesses, it is gold.
These are the two of the ways you can gain leads from it.
- Your existing social network: You can build your page or audience with the help of those you already know.
- Facebook Leads: You can tailor the to specific buyers at a particular stage of the sales pipeline.
- Instagram.
Considering how visual it is, you get the chance to showcase more of your work and connect based on your talent.
Lead Generation Software For Graphic Design Leads
A lead generation tool is a way to gather leads and information via listings or channels.
This allows you to qualify leads quickly and is a simplified version of the manual process. You can quickly create a list using one of the available tools, particularly when choosing the niche or area you want to target.
This tool can be combined with keyword research to give you more precise searches that will help you qualify your leads.
The process of using a lead generator usually isn’t difficult. It is easy regardless of which platform you choose.
- Start the program or tool that you like.
- Enter the desired location in the location search box and then enter the keyword or niche.
- Click ‘Generate Leads.’ You will receive a long list of contacts that you can curate and qualify.
There are many benefits to using a tool or software to help you find leads. This saves time as it takes several days to find qualified leads instead of taking weeks.
Use Graphic Design Ideas
Although proposals can be a great way to convert cold leads to interested prospects, your proposal should be specific to the client you are pitching.
Software such as proposal makers and assistants allow you to create a proposal that addresses your prospect’s requirements automatically.
These programs are more expensive than manual ones. It can save you much time over the long term, but it can represent a large expense not many are willing to make for the short term.
If you’re writing a proposal in a traditional way, explain the graphic design process and how you will help the prospect achieve their goal.
This will allow your prospects to understand the problem they are facing and the reasons why you have suggested solutions, or why they need you in the first place. Make sure your prospects fully understand the proposal.
These are the questions that a well-crafted proposal should have:
- What is your business about? What are your business goals?
- What can they expect from your graphic design services?
- What are the values of your company or personal brand?
- What can you do to help them?
- How are you going to tackle the challenges or problems?
- How much will this cost the client?
- Why choose you over another professional?
Create an Online Portfolio
We know we kind of mentioned this when going over the website you should create, but if you want to divide the effort, you can always create a separate portfolio, which can also be a good idea for those clients unable to visualize it on your site.
Your portfolio can show clients previous work and will be a huge factor in whether they decide to hire you or not.
A portfolio is the best way for you to support your claims during a sales call. Graphic designer leads who don’t know you will review your portfolio.
A section of your website can be created that is only for your portfolio—as mentioned several times.
When you show examples of your work, it is possible to discuss the briefs with the client and how you delivered your work. Talk about how you have helped others grow with your service.
This is where the key point lies: When you present case studies, be sure to include statistics about how long your branding has helped. You must provide information to persuade them.
Gateway Product such as an eBook Or Email Course
It is important to show prospects that you can solve their problems.
Blogging is great but creating a digital product, such as an eBook or email course, can help you establish your expertise and market to potential clients.
Digital products can be used to access more expensive services. Prospects can purchase your product as an impulse buy, making it easier to convert them into customers.
This eliminates the need to invest in expensive services upfront. A $5 eBook can be cheaper than a $500 logo design or more in other projects. Prospects will be more likely to hire you if your product is valuable.
This option is available if you provide value and not just eBooks. These are some examples:
- Themes.
- Templates.
- Resource packs.
- Tools.
- Workshops and webinars.
- Online courses.
If your goal is to create a product that allows you to get more lucrative freelance jobs, it’s fine to start small.
Make Them Subscribe to an Email Newsletter
It is crucial to show potential clients your content after you have created it.
An email newsletter is always a great way for prospects to be nurtured and share content. You should send them your best content in return for their attention, but this is possible after they have shared their email addresses, thanks to what you initially offered to attract their attention.
They’ll give you lots of value in return for the attention given, which will show that you’re the right graphic designer.
Newsletters can help you keep clients in the loop even when they’re not ready to work with your team on a project.
Building trust is the main reason behind creating your email newsletter.
After all, email is one of the best ways to build relationships with your audience. It opens up a dialogue between prospects or potential clients and allows them to trust you, so you both can start a project.
These are some tips for creating an email newsletter:
- You should send your newsletter at the same time every time. Make sure to send your newsletter in a specific day of the week or month so people look forward to them.
- A mix of personal stories and anecdotes as well as educational content. People hire people. You want to help them understand you and your work.
- A subtle call to action HTML for services should be included in every newsletter. Do not sell. Instead, let them know you are available for graphic design assistance.
Become a Podcast Guest
Podcasting is trendy, but it takes time and effort to grow your audience when relying on this new option. This is especially true if you’re looking for freelance jobs or trying to attract clients, considering that podcasting builds an audience but not that many leads until you have spent months in it.
Instead of investing all this time, take advantage of other people’s audiences and become a guest on podcasts where you can get the same results for your business.
Podcast hosting is a great way to make money, and it’s much more rewarding than starting from scratch. Podcasting can build trust with potential clients who will view you as an expert.
Podcast hosts can lend credibility to your brand. This will help you increase your audience. It can also bring many SEO benefits to your business.
It can be faster than guest posting, and you still get valuable backlinks. Podcast hosts also promote each episode.
Find the best podcasts for you. Search iTunes, SoundCloud, and Spotify for industry-specific keywords. Next, reach out to each host and explain what you do. Explain why being a guest will benefit their audience and why you’re valuable.
Once you come to a deal, be a great host.
Share valuable graphic design tips and stories to attract the right clients and make sure the owner of the podcast includes a call to action that sends prospects to your website or landing pages.
After the episode is published, share it with as many people as possible and include it in your email newsletter as well.
With permission from the host, you can also repurpose this content to create a blog article and make your voice heard. Your lead scoring should be completed by the end.
The Local Lead Generation Process for Your Graphic Designing Business
All right! So, everything is about building properties and generating leads. But how does the process actually take place? Are there other steps I need to know?
The steps I mention below are what students from our local lead generation program follow to generate leads for businesses like yourself. So I’ll help you see what we do. And how if you join our program, you can simply generate leads for your own business (unless you want to start a side hustle and build a laptop lifestyle business).
Essentially, our lead generation can be divided into four steps:
The first is prospecting. You need to take the time to do market research on a niche (industry) and determine how many phone-driven businesses are there.
Keep in mind that this is local research as you need to know how many companies need leads. For example, you may search for “plumbing services Youngstown OH.”
You will find dozens or even hundreds of businesses trying to get themselves in front of the customers by ranking on Map Listings, organic results, and even Ad.
The second step, building. When you find a niche (plumbing, tree services, a software company, real estate…), you will need to start building your digital properties. You don’t need to be an expert in HTML or coding. It can be easy with the right tools.
The third step is now taking time to rank your lead gen website. With the site done, you need to work on SEO strategies and start dominating those Google search results. If you’re new to SEO, it stands for Search Engine Optimization.
To keep it simple, it consists of the entire process of growing a company’s visibility on search engines like Google and generating organic traffic. And remember this, local lead generation is part of the strategies.
Moving on to step four, once you rank the site, you will start getting your ROI and profits. You only need to rent it out to a local business interested in the leads the site generates. You can offer a couple of free leads to their move on with the actual pay per lead.
To review steps 1-4 above, I described it to a normal student who is building a lead gen business to help local service providers generate more calls. But replace the student with you as the business owner. And replace sending the leads to a business to simply siphoning the leads to your personal business.
By the way, fun fact, about 20% of our students in our local lead gen program are actually business owners who went through the program. And they use the skillsets we teach to generate leads for their own business.
An Example of Lead Generation: Home Advisor
You must be thinking, “if lead generation sounds so good so far, how come I haven’t seen any company?” That’s the thing; there are many out there. You just don’t know they are dedicated to it.
HomeAdvisor is one of the best examples you can find on the Internet as it is a top lead generation company that has spent millions building its brand but also earned even more zeros for this same reason.
They started small as everyone else but invested in building their brand awareness to make people who are looking for home services go to their website and find what they need. They are over 75% of people’s first choice when they need those services.
If you don’t get HomeAdvisor that much or need a refresh, users need to submit their information to request a service and get a professional or expert who can provide it.
HomeAdvisor’s job is to share your information, which makes you a lead, with local companies so they can contact you and offer the service you’re requesting. For sharing this lead information, HomeAdvisor gets paid by the companies. This happens for every single lead they send to multiple businesses.
Business owners who don’t have marketing skills or don’t even know how to have any online presence will always rely on those pages to list their services. They will save time and effort, but companies like HomeAdvisor can make them spend lots of money as leads aren’t exclusive (one lead is sent to multiple companies after all).
Using Facebook Ads aka Paid Ad Platforms: Do They Generate Leads?
They DO generate leads. If not, no one would use them.
However, you need to remember two facts:
- Paid ads or platforms can be expensive.
- They don’t generate “natural” leads.
Whenever someone sees or clicks in one of those ads, over 80% of them did it by accident or are trying to close/report it.
Why? Because they aren’t looking for those services. At least not at the moment.
What those ads do instead is interrupt their time on the platforms. Users aren’t there to find companies or businesses unless they are searching for a specific company’s user, and for that, there’s a search bar. This is why it is hard to convert them to actual customers who will show interest in the companies’ services. Also, you’re limited by a budget.
When using lead generation, everything is organic. You aren’t forcing others to pay attention to your business but rather being there when they need you. This is why Google’s organic traffic will always beat paid ads, and the reason companies continue investing in it, which is a lot cheaper as well.
What Is Local SEO?
Don’t worry… I didn’t get it at first either. Following the short explanation, local SEO focuses on scaling businesses’ visibility on search engines. However, this is only for those who serve their communities face-to-face.
What does this mean?
Experts and professionals like painters, plumbers, and dentists (but not only them) offer their services to their local customers. Why? Because they can’t deliver them unless they are located in the same area of their customers.
To make sure those businesses get more leads, you need to rank them locally by claiming the business listing on Google to place them on Map Listings. Local SEO also involves online reviews, citation management, and how you manage your entire online presence in the local area.
If you are going to bet on lead gen, you need to adapt yourself to today’s world: The Internet.
Keep in mind that although traditional channels and methods like billboards, warm calls, and pamphlets still work, they aren’t part of your tools. Whenever someone needs a service, they go to Google and search for it.
“Dentist in Miami” or “plumbing services in Orlando,” etc. And you can keep coming up with services or professionals people need and look for. Thus, you need to make sure you’re using Google to get the companies in front of their clients.
Users will always click on the first search results (those near the top), and many of them will be either Ad links (people paid to place their websites there), Map Listing, and then you get websites. Almost all of them are your goal and where you should always aim to place yourself.
Can My Graphic Designing Business Utilize a Local Lead Generation Strategy?
If you want customers, you better know you need it. Following the previous explanation, lead gen is all about placing businesses in front of their customers, choosing them over their competitors.
Put it simply – it’s all about closing deals and having clients for those companies to make money. The main difference with the usual methods companies use for this is how lead generation approaches different channels to get them in the right place of the market to get customers.
Those channels are all focused on the Internet as most people are searching for products but also services across the net. The issue is that the Internet is way too broad, and businesses don’t know how to place themselves. They usually try, but they get one common result: losing money and time.
How Powerful Are Organic Graphic Designing Leads from Google?
For companies looking for customers, it’s everything. For you? Pretty much the same. When you build a business with digital properties, you get to make thousands of dollars a month.
This isn’t a “get started today and get rich tomorrow” thing, but it is HIGHLY scalable, and ROI + positive results are guaranteed. Learning a fairly decent and very needed set of skills to create your digital properties and start ranking them on Google is required.
I have invested in several online businesses over the years, and if there’s something uncertain, whether you will get your ROI or not, even more than the actual profit.
However, this business moved my earnings from five figures a year to a month in ONLY passive income while sitting comfortably at home.
On my laptop. Anywhere. Anytime.
You can look at one of the first sites I built back in 2016, and it continues making me over $1.000+ every month. The best part is that I don’t need to touch it or the rest I’ve built over the years, just like this digital property.
What Makes Lead Generation SO Alluring?
Here it goes: you can work from home.
The main issue with regular business opportunities is how much you need to invest in staff, equipment, or rent to have a place to sell your products or offer your services.
We all know the hassles of traditional businesses that involve regular expenses, which are extremely high. Can you afford it? I don’t think so, and even if you can, is it worth it? Now, it isn’t only about the money. You also need to put in a lot of work, and it isn’t only during the first couple of months or years. Usually, it is as long as you continue running it.
You can save yourself those headaches and bone-breaking tasks and expenses with lead gen since it is more about generating leads with digital channels—mainly websites.
Websites can be VERY cheap to build, and with many tools online, you get to do it in a couple of hours instead of days. Any virtual or digital business is scalable and won’t need constant maintenance.
So, let’s summarize this:
- You save money in regular expenses with traditional and most online businesses as what you need is yourself and digital properties (websites).
- You can bet on passive income.
- There’s no need to hire more people to get started.
- You can generate leads in multiple industries, which allows you to work on any niche you want.
How Can I Get Started in the Local Lead Generation Program?
Anyone can start and learn. That’s the beauty of this business model. I knew nothing about SEO, Map Listing, and everything I’ve mentioned so far. It is all about learning the skills, gaining experience, and deciding to take the step.
Remember that this business model will never get old as business owners are always looking for leads. They need to do business and scale their companies. Why not do the same while helping others and still making money?
You can start with this local lead generation course highly recommended for anyone wanting to grow in the business. It is a close training that will take you through each step and make sure you are able to get your ROI, profits and take control of your life.
You will be added to an incredible lead generation family ready to help you 24/7 when asking questions on the group. Anyone is welcome who’s willing to put in the work. Click here to watch the lead gen webinar.