This first variable may seem a bit irrelevant to you, but we've seen it make quite the difference! Generally speaking, the longer a business has been around and the more successful it is, the larger it grows. This inherently has consumers viewing your company size as a nod towards your trustworthiness. It's the digital marketing agency's job to show that you're a powerhouse, no matter how big or small you are! More importantly, you need a large enough staff to handle the leads that come in! Leads are 21x more likely to convert into a qualified lead if you respond to them within 5 minutes. Obviously, that would be quite a challenge if you only have a 3-person company! That being said, while larger companies find it easier to handle large amounts of leads, we've been able to coach our smaller clients through the process as well to get them conversion rates of over 40%. To make a long story short, customers will be more willing to trust a larger company, and more employees will spread out the workload. However, just because you are small does not mean you can't succeed!

The next factor that any reputable digital marketing agency will consider is what your target audience is. Are you selling B2C, B2B, or B2E (Business to Consumer, Business to Business, Business to Enterprise)? Why is this important? It is far easier to get lead forms filled out by direct consumers rather than businesses and enterprises. Many of the ad platforms digital marketing agencies use for lead generation are frequently visited by consumers, not necessarily by decision makers in other businesses. Knowing this information therefore also helps your agency understand which lead generation platforms will be the most beneficial to you. For example, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Google can all be wonderful for B2C lead generation. For B2B, you want to focus on Google and LinkedIn. For B2E, LinkedIn and an email campaign are the best way to go because you're targeting such professional people. It's safe to assume that a CEO of an enterprise doesn't spend his or her day on Facebook clicking on ads. You have to get your company in front of them in the most professional way possible. Consumers are more reachable and can be drawn in easier from a variety of digital advertising sources.

Slide through these screenshots of our SeedLeads Calculator to see how changing just the lead type affects overall results!

The next thing you want to consider is the industry your business operates in. Some industries are more likely to succeed with online lead generation than others, simply because of the nature of the beast. Over the years, the BusySeed team has found that industries like travel, spa/self-care, retail, restaurants/catering, and more all take the top spots for results. These are the industries that consumers most often seek out, meaning your ads have a captive audience ready, willing, and able to provide you with their information! Industries that struggle more are those that are either niche or too saturated with competitors. For example, getting leads to attend events or activities can be challenging because so many businesses are offering similar things. You will likely get a good number of leads in, but it can be hard to convert them because they may have already looked for other options between submission and when you call them back. That being said, any industry can be successful with online lead generation, your digital marketing agency will just have to get more creative!

The price your charge for your product or service can also impact the number of leads you'll receive monthly. Higher-priced products/services are seen as luxury, so consumers will really have to be after what you're offering. Yes, everyone wants to have a travel agent to plan out their trip to Europe, but sadly not everyone can afford it. While that may limit the leads you get, the good news is that those that you do are probably valid. If someone is actively looking for a travel agent, they clearly have the money to go on vacation and do fun things while they're there. You'll still occasionally get the Joe Schmoe that fills out your lead form for "fun" after seeing a social media ad, but we've noticed these occurrences drop as your price range increases. You may believe that you need massive numbers of leads in order to break even or profit from your ad spend, but that isn't true as your service increases in value. You may be spending $60 per lead and only get three per month, but if each conversion earns you several thousand dollars, it doesn't matter much now does it? Cheaper items and services need more quantity because the quality of the lead is not always the best. So long as you follow good practices and get leads to convert, you shouldn't be too worried about numbers unless they stay low and don't improve (in which case, it's time to talk to your agency!)

When you first see this question you may be thinking that we want to know what your product or service is. However, we really want to know what you're offering that will set your social media advertising apart from competitors! Any digital marketing agency will tell you that it quickly becomes apparent that consumers like free things. They need incentives to do anything for you. If you want someone to fill out a lead generation form, there needs to be something in it for them. We've had clients use many different offerings and all have worked in their own ways. Some of the most common include:

• Free Consultation
• Free Estimate
• % Off
• Special Discount Code
• Free Sample
• Etc.

When you offer something for free, you are making the consumer feel as though it's worth it to take time to fill out their form. They may have no idea how much money they're actually saving, if any, but they feel special and see a deal. If you don't have anything good to offer, your online lead generation is not going to succeed. Why? The answer is simple, a) there's no incentive for consumers to continue on through the form, and b) competitors are absolutely offering deals. Of course, you can only offer so much for free before it becomes costly for you, but you should consider at least a free phone consultation about what they're looking for. It take 5-15 minutes of your time and can help warm a lead substantially!

Money talks. At the end of the day, that's the truth. If you truly want to see results, you're going to have to put some money into it. Don't fall for agencies promising you tons of results with hardly any budget. While the ultimate goal is always to reduce your spending as much as we can, the learning and trial phases of running social media ads take time and money to get right. If you pay a bit more, your ads will reach more people, and will have more breathing room to run so that we can analyze their performance. If you try out the SeedLeads Calculator, you can very clearly see how budget affects your results. This is one of the most contributing factors, so we always like to encourage clients to spend at least $1000 towards lead gen. Play around with the calculator to see just how drastic the change in results is per $1000 extra! Keep in mind the profit that you'll get for each converted lead when deciding on an ads budget. That can really help justify the spend, even in the beginning when things are slow! You may spend $1000 with no leads at first, but if one converted lead gets you $2000, your slow month is paid back in full!

Slide through these screenshots to see how budget changes results when everything else is left the same! Keep in mind that these leads are worth $1000 - $1999, for a total possible profit of (at the least) $1,017,000!