For many point of sale (POS) resellers, generating qualified POS leads to fill your sales pipeline can be a challenge.  Below are ten proven marketing tactics that can help your organization uncover additional sales opportunities:

1. Optimize Your Website for the Right Key Terms

Over 80% of people looking for a product or service begin that search online. Are you positioned to be found?  The number of technology companies that either do not have a website or have one that is not up to par is quite surprising.  Take the time to create a professional looking website—after all, it is your virtual business card.

Make sure the content of your website uses SEO (search engine optimization) tactics that optimize the pages to appear in search results for related keyword terms and phrases. Incorporating the right keywords and internal linking structure to your product pages, blogs, and pillar content turns your website into an inbound marketing tool that ensures when a potential customer is looking for a “POS system” in your area, your business will be found.

2. Create Educational Content

More than 95% of first-time visitors to your website are not ready to buy. They are in the information gathering, problem solving or research phase.  In order to keep your brand top of mind to customers in this stage of the buying cycle, develop content like whitepapers, e-books and checklists that are free educational assets. These materials should present value so that individuals at the top of the sales funnel are willing to fill out a form to download the resource. While developing educational and informative content takes time, having assets like this on your website will position your company as an industry thought leader. Additionally, your business will capture POS lead opportunities that otherwise may have gone unnoticed, allowing your team to nurture them down the sales funnel.

3. Execute Outbound Marketing

Outbound marketing is a tactic that carries your message to a broader audience in hopes you can connect your brand with new potential prospects—or strengthen your presence with current ones. Outbound marketing casts a wider net, and allows you to potentially reach an audience you may not have targeted before. Outbound strategies can include sales literature, email campaigns, digital advertisements (social, pay-per-click, etc.), video demonstrations, and showcasing your products and services at a trade show.

4. Benefit from Manufacturer and ISV Relationships

Vendors are usually a great source for POS lead referrals. Take the time to understand what your business may need to do to receive leads. Realize that your ability to receive leads may rely on networking and relationships you have with manufacturer and ISV partners. The downside: many vendors require that you follow up on leads handed off and report feedback, so make the effort to do so or your lead source may quickly dry up.

5. Use Pay per Lead Programs

There are several companies whose primary business is to generate online leads for POS systems (and other product categories) and sell those leads for profit.  Often, these lead generation companies allow customers to build a profile of the type of lead they are interested in purchasing. Filters can be set so that leads can be purchased in a certain geographic region, by business type (think retail, restaurant, etc.), or by product interest (think hardware, software, total system).  In addition, any POS leads purchased that have false contact information like a bad phone number, contact, etc. can be returned for credit.  The downside: many of your competitors may be also be purchasing these leads—which can lead to potential price wars and lower margins.

6. Leverage LinkedIn Connections

LinkedIn is the ideal social network to capture POS leads if you are social-savvy. Make sure you have an individual profile and a business profile that is professional and easy to read. Then begin cultivating your connections, and engaging with clients, networks, and groups. Keep your conversations meaningful and celebrate the successes of those in your network. Leverage LinkedIn’s article tool to further the reach of your blog content to a wide network, while growing your own credibility as an industry expert.

7. Develop Strategic Partnerships

Most resellers are geographic in nature, typically cultivating opportunities in a certain city, state, or region.  Have you ever considered developing strategic partnerships with other companies that offer supplies or services to retailers or restaurants in your area? Often in the sales cycle, a new business will purchase equipment, merchandise, and supplies to kick start their operations first. What typically comes last is technology.  Create partnerships with retail store and restaurant equipment suppliers.  They are good sources for new stores, store redesigns, and POS system leads.

8. Offer Direct Engagement

The way you engage with your POS leads is important to your success. Many resellers choose indirect engagement, like a FAQ page where customers can look up the information they need. While this is still helpful, it would be wise to consider a more direct approach like a chat box. Customers can ask the questions they need and get the answers immediately without having to sift through a list of questions. This also allows you to provide better customer service and foster relationships built on trust right off the bat.

9. Discover Marketing Automation

There are innovative tools that can help you automatically generate more POS leads and then market targeted messages to those leads. Since POS system sales cycles are lengthy in duration, keeping your products and messaging at the forefront of your potential customers is key. Marketing automation allows you to easily and “automatically” send specific messages to a targeted audience based on actions they have taken on your website. Send follow up emails, encourage further engagement, and build trust in your brand easily and effectively.

10. Know When to Ask for Help

Implementing any of the above strategies can go a long way towards capturing POS leads. It’s also critical that you are consistent with your efforts. You can’t just send out one or two emails and expect a full sales funnel. Using a combination of these methods in your marketing strategy will maximize your chances of not only generating more leads, but ultimately closing the sale. It can be a full-time job in itself to keep up with these strategies. If you don’t have the in-house resources to market yourself the way you want, seek out an agency that specializes in your industry.

SkyRocket Group has over fifteen years’ worth of experience in marketing for the point of sale and payments industries. As an agency specializing in technology solutions, we not only speak your language, but help make your brand, products, and services easy to find, and hard to forget. For more information on how you can boost your marketing efforts and capture more POS leads, contact SkyRocket Group today!