Ep. 361: How to Let the Best Leads Find You (with Chris Smith)

Privacy in the Digital Age

What’s a Marketer to Do When You Can’t Track Users?

Who should listen: Small business entrepreneurs who struggle to attract leads now that consumer privacy laws and regulations are peeling back once reliable tactics and tools.

Key idea: If small business owners are to have a fighting chance in an environment where consumers’ digital privacy is given priority over attempts to track consumers’ online activity, then they must create a digital marketing strategy that prioritizes high-quality inbound marketing.

If you’re a small business owner who is struggling to adapt to a new world where tracking consumers’ online activity is largely prohibited or at least severely restricted, then this week’s interview with Curaytor co-founder Chris Smith is one you don’t want to miss.

Curyator is one of the INC. Magazine’s 500 fastest-growing companies. Chris is one of the American Marketing Association Foundation’s 4 Under 40 Emerging Leaders. Together with his business partner, Jimmy Mackin (who we’ve also had on the podcast), they are well-respected influencers among marketers in real estate and other industries.

During his interview, we ask Chris to talk about a host of topics, including:

  • his dual background in sales and marketing (it’s rare to find someone who loves and is good at both);
  • the biggest challenges facing marketers;
  • whether he recommends real estate agents use inside sales agents (ISAs) or chat bots run with artificial intelligence; and
  • his Billion Dollar Sales Script and its incorporation of “power questions.”

But perhaps Chris’s most valuable advice is about strategies that marketers can use in light of newer consumer privacy restrictions. For example, what are marketers to do, now that retargeting leads is exceptionally difficult, if not impossible? Chris’s suggestion?

Stop chasing leads and attract them instead.

Inbound marketing: How to encourage leads to come to you

Here’s a simple truth . . . salespeople don’t want to chase people, and people don’t want to be chased.

So, instead of chasing down your next lead, Chris suggests you let your next lead find you.

The way to do this is to have a robust inbound marketing strategy that allows for outbound sales activities. Such a strategy gives marketers a chance to attract well-qualified, interested leads, while giving salespeople a chance to do what they do best—sell.

When you examine how digital privacy protections have curbed online marketing, an inbound marketing strategy is pretty much the only viable option that can produce leads who are willing to engage with you, your product/service, and your company. Consider these numbers:

  • 89% of desktop users and 96% of mobile users refuse to allow cookies.
  • 4 billion robocalls are placed every month.
  • Each phone receives 200 robocalls a year.

As Chris observes, it’s no wonder people no longer answer their phones without first screening their calls.

An inbound marketing strategy that supports your personal branding, produces relevant content, demonstrates your expertise, and includes channels like blogs, podcasts, and e-books, can open a world where you no longer need to chase leads.

When you listen to Chris’s interview, you’ll hear him speak about the type of content that attracts people to a brand, why it’s critically important that the content you share be about what you love and know, and how to take your popular content and niche market it to a more local audience. It’s information you’re going to use immediately, so don’t miss it.

Please enjoy this episode, and we’d appreciate it if you would give us a 5-star rating and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. (Not sure how to leave a review? Click here.)

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