Despite the thriving B2C and eCommerce market today, many businesses still struggle to build effective marketing strategies, especially when it comes to the new area of B2C lead generation. However, there are many excellent B2C resources available, and they can be very budget-friendly—some are even completely free!
Today we will be looking at some of the top free lead generation tools available to B2C businesses.
What are lead generation tools?
Effective all-in-one lead generation tools are a rare find, particularly when it comes to B2C; most marketers will need a combination of several resources to meet their goals. These tools come primarily in the form of apps and software that help automate everything from content creation to website design to social media management to SEO.
How is lead generation for B2C businesses unique?
In contrast with B2B marketing, B2C campaigns tend to have shorter sales cycles, requiring a fast and powerful approach to lead generation. B2C lead generation focuses less on establishing long relationships and more on the experiential and the eye-catching.
Marketers often tap into B2C customers during their “buying phase,” so lead generation content for B2C often includes promotions, unique offers, and personal messaging. B2C lead generation initiatives also cater to a broader audience.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at some top-notch tools that won’t break the bank!
7 Free B2C Lead Generation Tools
1. Hootsuite
According to their website, Hootsuite’s Free version is “perfect for individuals who want to start managing multiple networks, schedule content, and engage with their audience—all in one place.” This software is great for management and analytics when it comes to your social media channels. While of course more limited in features than its paid counterparts, the Free plan offers up a decent amount of resources.
This includes managing 3 social profiles in one place from a choice of channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, LinkedIn, and Youtube. Other features include tracking follower growth, scheduling up to 30 posts in advance, and social media courses, as well as a variety of app integrations and 2 RSS feed integrations. The scheduling tool allows you to schedule posts to, respond from, and monitor the profiles through one platform; parameters can be set on the date and time to queue them for.
2. WordPress
A functional, aesthetically pleasing, and interactive website is crucial to a lead generation strategy. WordPress may have an established reputation as a blogging tool, but it also functions as a publishing platform and low or no-cost CMS that can be very useful to B2C businesses.
A search engine-friendly architecture can assess your site’s SEO performance and suggest improvements, while a wide range of supported plug-ins and integrations allow for impressive customization. Over 30,000 free plugins are available!
Through a great selection themes and a full toolbelt of plug-ins to choose from, even specific elements like site pop-ups and landing pages– both important for capturing leads through the site– can be tailored for free. Covering SEO optimization, content management, and mobile compatibility, WordPress is a solid all-around investment.
3. Wistia
Did you know that video marketers get 66% more qualified leads per year and achieve a 54% increase in brand awareness? As just one of many free video marketing tools out there, Wistia is a great example of how you can boost your video content without paying for expensive or convoluted software. It offers a fully customizable player– including multi-platform embedding in email, social media, and your company site– user invitations and permissions, integrations, and video tracking and analytics.
The free version of the software comes with these features as standard; though the user is limited to 3 videos, which come watermarked, they come with customizable thumbnails, interactive elements such as clickable CTAs, and a professional, ad-free player. If you’re looking for a little help managing your video without any frills, this tool is a decent way to start.
4. Klaviyo
Email may seem more strongly affiliated with the nurturing portion of a marketing campaign, but it can actually be present through all stages of the funnel– including lead generation. Klaviyo is an e-Commerce- oriented email management software that comes with a fairly generous free level of 250 contacts and 500 emails.
All the basics of an email tool are included: targeted automation based on real-time reporting, promotional campaign and newsletter creation, pop-ups and forms, customized templates, and relevant integrations. Additionally, segments from Klaviyo can be used to target your Facebook Ad campaigns. A simple drag-and-drop design makes the process non-intimidating for marketers who like having control over their email designs in a straightforward way.
5. Wix Free
Similar in many ways to WordPress, Wix Free offers a package of features in its “advanced design platform.” These include access to page templates, an image and icon gallery, mobile optimization, and access to the Wix App Market, where you can choose add-on apps to enhance your site. Free Wix users also have unlimited access to support materials through the Help Center.
One way in which Wix differs from WordPress is that its apps have more limited customizability, but are internally tested for a higher “quality guarantee.” In general, Wix is the less customizable, but user-friendlier tool, while WordPress allows directly coding within the software but is less drag-and-drop as a result.
6. HubSpot Free
Yes, HubSpot is primarily targeted towards B2B companies, but this doesn’t rule out its free-tiered software as an option for B2C marketers on a budget. The free CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software is particularly useful, with features like contact management, an integrated lead management system with call and meeting scheduling and email sequencing, a library of email templates, and variety of integrations including ones like Eventbrite and Shopify.
Meanwhile, HubSpot Marketing Free offers lead flows (aka pop-up forms) and analytics, while Sales Free includes an email sequencing tool. And if these products don’t fit your company, consider that HubSpot can still be incredibly insightful as a leading marketing educational resource, with client stories and blog posts devoted to the B2C marketing sphere.
7. Google AdWords Keyword Planner
When written content matters, so does choice of words– which is why keyword analytics and SEO are so important for B2C lead generation. The Google AdWords Keyword Planner tool is a free-to-use feature within Google AdWords for building strong keyword lists.
By using the tool, you can search for keyword and ad group ideas, see how a list of keywords might perform by examining historical trends, combine keyword lists to create new ones, and receive click/cost performance forecasts to help plan the PPC component of your campaign. Filter geographically and by comprehensive criteria like suggested bid, average monthly searches, and competition for the keyword.
These tools are just some on a constantly growing list of generously priced products which is growing by the year. While in some ways similar to its B2B counterpart, B2C lead generation needs products and educational materials products specialized to fit the needs of B2C companies — needs which are starting to be better addressed among marketing software companies.
Want to know more about the next step of the B2C buyer’s journey? Check out our Blueprint for an Automated B2C/Lead Nurturing Campaign, part of the Lead Nurturing Blueprint series.
