You’ve done all your homework by scouring the latest analytics reports and creating buyer personas. Your content is top-notch. You have a call-to-action on every page. Your website looks stellar. You’re active on social media. So why aren’t the leads flooding in as they’re supposed to?

This scenario is more common than you’d think, given all the knowledge about what does or doesn’t work to drive more prospects through the sales funnel. Inbound marketing consultants will tell you: there is always another level of engagement to tap. We’ve got the secret sauce to spice up your inbound marketing strategy. Try the following “next-level” inbound marketing tips that have worked for clients in the past.

7 Inbound Marketing Ideas To Increase Leads

Pay To Play On Social Media.

The dirty secret about free social media sites is that they are not really free for businesses if you want to be seen. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn all offer paid advertising options.

• On Twitter, you’ll want to choose Promoted Tweets to get people to view your blogs or visit a website / landing page. A promoted Followers account is a good option if you want to increase brand awareness by adding more followers. You can also pay for Twitter video ads.

• On LinkedIn, you can choose between a Banner Ad that puts your text on the side of the screen along with a picture, a Sponsored Update, which shows up directly in users’ feeds (rather than on your own LinkedIn page) and Sponsored Post, which appears on your own page but also shows up in user feeds. Direct Sponsored Content lets you test ad performance and determine which channels are providing the most leads.

• On Facebook, you’ve got: Facebook Ads, which appear on the right side of a user’s newsfeed; Sponsored Stories, which shows users which of their friends have engaged with your brand; Promoted Posts, which gives an announcement or offer greater visibility; Sponsored Apps, which appear more prominently in the app search; and Sponsored Events, which shows ads to people who are likely to attend it.

You might like: 3 Tips For Developing A Corporate Social Media Strategy That Is Worth Every Cent

Retarget your prospects through Google and social media.

Retargeted ads are sent to people who have visited your website but does not convert to a sale or people who are listed as a lead / contact in your database who have not engaged with your page in a while. A retargeting campaign anonymously follows web users, waiting for the right moment to suggest a relevant blog post on your site or a particular product. Less than 2 percent of website visitors convert the first time they come to your page, so retargeting is a worthwhile way to follow up with prospects and make a positive impression through fortuitous timing.

– Start with this page to learn more about how Google remarketing works.

– HubSpot also provides a helpful guide for retargeting through Facebook.

– You can also create retargeted ads through Twitter.

Image Source: Contently.com

Get the word out on mainstream media. 

If you ever peruse websites like CNN, Slate or ESPN, surely you’ve noticed article suggestions from the likes of Outbrain, Taboola or other paid content discovery platforms. Like Google Adwords, you set a budget and pay per click for exposure on mainstream media sites. You’ll want to unearth your most riveting or controversial photos, articles, videos and slideshows for these ads. We’ve read of at least company enjoying an astounding 238% ROI using native ads!

– To get started, check out the video tutorials available on Outbrain’s site.

– Visit Taboola and send them a message to start your campaign.

– Check out other small players like Polar, Gravity and nRelate.

– Sign up for Google AdMob.

– Peruse Digital Marketer’s quick guide to creating native ads in less than 60 minutes.

Catch visitors before they go with exit-intent popups.

Exit-intent popups that appear when people attempt to leave the page have gained popularity in recent years. Brian Massey claims that 10-15% of people about to leave your site will respond to a well-crafted message. The value of keeping people on your site longer is that they could be persuaded to learn more about your company (and eventually buy).

Options for pop-ups include:

– Newsletter signup

– Social network opt-ins

– Event promotional offer

– “Notify me” feature

– Coupons or free shipping offers

– Redirects to relevant content

Here’s a great article all about exit-intent popups. Also, check out these effective examples.

Image Source: Contentari.com

Create a quiz to bring in leads.

Think quizzes are for bored teenagers? Guess again! Here are a few stats to consider:

– The most-read article on the NY Times website in 2013 was, in fact, a quiz.

– Over an 8-month period, 8 in 10 most-shared pieces of content were quizzes.

– Uberflip received 1 lead for every 10 people who finished their quiz.

– Fit Marketing had 858 people finish their quiz and saw a 12.7% conversion rate.

– Kettlebell Fever saw a conversion rate of 20.3% for their quiz!

– 75% of the people who start a quiz finish it.

– The average person spends 2 minutes and 27 seconds interacting with your brand.

Every day, we see friends sharing quiz results on social media. Creating a quiz related to your business is easy with a free tool like Qzzr.

Repurpose and optimize off-site content. 

Breathe new life into old content by repurposing old blogs as infographics, YouTube videos, SlideShare presentations and third party articles. Optimizing this content with long-tail keywords and meta data builds even more brand awareness, fosters credibility and stretches your company’s reach across platforms.

Ask for inbound marketing assistance.

If you’re not getting the results you anticipated, it may be time to call in the big guns! As an inbound marketing agency, our goal is not to come in and shake up your entire system — but, rather, to take an objective look at the data coming in to assess what’s working best and what could be improved. We are happy to provide training in any area of inbound marketing and email marketing automation or lend you the talents of our established full service team of copywriters, SEO experts and social media marketers.

Contact Mod Girl Marketing for more information and a quote on our personalized inbound marketing solutions.