Almost 90 percent of shoppers research their purchases online before buying a product or service.

It’s such an overwhelming majority and it just goes to show the potential businesses have of generating leads online.

Unfortunately, many businesses have yet to master the process of finding relevant leads and bringing them inside the sales funnel.

So, if you want to close more sales, start by using the following six tips to help you generate leads with digital marketing.

1. Content marketing

Business customers and consumers want information that can guide their upcoming purchases. Purchasing something for the first time requires a significant amount of research, and that’s why content marketing is such a great tool for pulling in leads.

So, use content marketing to demonstrate that you, your business, and your brand have expertise in your field. As you publish videos, articles, and blogs, demonstrate your awareness of your customers’ pain points, and offer meaningful solutions.

Rather than overtly pitching sales, position your brand as the natural solution.

2. Email marketing

Spam gives email marketing a bad name. However, despite its age and negative publicity, email marketing gets results. Now, thanks to technology, you can get better results via audience segmentation.

Essentially, you can personalize your email marketing messages by sending personalized messages to groups of similar recipients. Consequently, you can make your brand relevant to more people.

3. Paid social media

Most social networks provide paid advertising systems that you can use to connect your business with relevant users. Most people have a Facebook account, so start your paid social campaign with Facebook Lead Ads.

This type of advertisement creates a fast, easy way for users to share their contact information with you without having to visit your website. So, advertise your newsletter or special deals to entice your audience into taking the next step.

4. Organic social media

Most people log in to their favorite social media sites to socialize. So, if you use your business’ social media profiles to connect with users on a human level, you can earn their trust. Rather than bombarding your followers with special offers, talk to them about their desires and challenges.

Also, post valuable content that helps them solve real-world problems, even if they choose to not buy from you. Moreover, show that your brand is a team player by sharing and commenting on your followers’ content.

5. User engagement

Consider installing a chatbot on your business’ website to interact with users. Simply by providing a warm greeting and helpful instructions, you can increase the amount of time people spend interacting with your brand.

Also, you can use your chatbot to automatically open a form or a chat box that visitors can use to sign up for your email list

6. Third-party tools and platforms

Choose one or more free or premium tools that can help you find opportunities to connect with potential customers. For example, you can use Ahrefs, a paid tool, to discover connections between websites and their users.

Using the information provided by that tool, you can find opportunities to expand your audience through blogs or other marketing content.

Solutions to generate leads via digital marketing

Overall, the above tips present only a handful of the myriad available solutions for generating leads with digital marketing. So, as you implement your new knowledge, stay alert for other creative ways to increase the number of leads your business collects.

In the end, your efforts will lead to sales growth and a profitable future.

This guest blog article was written by Austin Winder, a public relations specialist and contributing author for Digital Marketing Training Group. He lives in Memphis and graduated with a business and marketing degree from the University of Memphis.