Lead Generation

While everyone's busy connecting on LinkedIn, Google Maps is like that geeky, quiet friend who secretly knows everyone in the neighborhood. It's a goldmine for finding local businesses, complete with all the data you need to make your pitch stand out.

First things first, here are some quick tips to refine your Google search:

Use the filters as appropriate – open hours, $$ and rating (the last one will help us later)

Use Keywords – Google will find them in reviews and display as such

Use “Search this area” – Zoom in as Google only displays the first 120 results

Now you know how to do a pin-point Google search, it’s time to launch that Phantom and gather some data.

Our Google Maps to Contact Data Phantom will not only get you a host of data from Google Maps but also load the business's website (when listed on Maps) and scrape any social media handles, email addresses, or phone numbers available.

In this search for plumbers in Paris, I got a phone number for every listing and an email address in 75% of cases. In the associated CSV file, you’ll also get: Nbr of reviews, Avg. rating, Category, Address. This will come in super handy later 🌟

Check out our tutorial page to learn more about launching this Phantom and our dedicated blog article for more tips.

Details of Plumbers In Paris.
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So, I’ve got Data. What now?

Absolutely, it's not just about having tons of data. What really counts is how you use it to grow your business!

Warm up your email sender

💌 So here are some cold email tips using the above data.

Head over to your favourite outbound email tool. Sit down and start crafting your best outbound email copy. If you need a helping hand, read our guide “8 cold email copywriting tips to email leads the right way (plus 3 templates).”

Once you’ve done this, let’s add personalisation so your emails stand out!

Tip 1: Leverage poor ratings

In Google Sheets, create an emailing list with all businesses with a rating below 4 stars. Then, add to your copy, something along the lines of

“We love what you offer, but we noticed you had a rating of X on Google – it’s a tough industry isn’t it! That’s why we’ve developed (insert your value proposition)”

If your product will help with customer satisfaction, you can use poor ratings to your advantage! Just make sure you don’t sound judgemental. Mention poor reviews tactfully and empathetically and offer a genuine desire to help them!

Tip 2: Leverage lots of reviews or good ratings

Conversely, you can select and complement the best performers on their Google Maps rating. People love compliments, and you’ll stand out for having actually checked their Google Maps page.

In the same vein, lots of reviews most likely mean a successful business. It’s worth a mention as well. Get Google sheets to round the number up, and input it as a variable in a sentence like “Noticed you have over Y reviews on Google Maps – clearly, business is thriving!”

Tip 3: The fake stalker

Handle this one with care, but why not use the address as a variable? If your value proposition is that of local provider to your target leads, you can try:

“Recently, I wandered past your (insert business category) business on (insert address) street. It's great to see local businesses like yours thriving in our community.”

Most people are more likely to do business with you as a local provider that walks past their store!

📞 Get the phone out.

Would you believe it? This is actually how I first came across PhantomBuster. I used the above Google Maps Phantom, got phone numbers and spent hours cold-calling during Covid to grow my previous business.

It worked a treat. Don’t underestimate the power of cold calling when targeting SMBs. Many business owners spend a lot of time driving to locations and have time to talk! You'll have to wait for another newsletter, though, for all the tips and secrets to cold calling.

🐦 Leverage Social Media

You can also get creative and use the social media handles you’ve scrapped to personalise even further. Why not go and give your leads a follow on Instagram or send them a DM on X (Twitter)?

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Let's scale your Google Maps Game

We mentioned above that Google only shows 120 results per search. We know that’s not near enough leads for many of you.

That’s why you can use a Google Sheet with multiples Google Maps search URLs as input. Zoom until you see less than 120 results, and then move systematically across the map, copying the URL (which changes) as you move and pasting them into a Google Sheet.

If you’re more visual, our friends at “Solutions Repo” have created a short YouTube video tutorial.

Scrape multiple areas on Google Maps.
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So, next time you're hunting for leads, think of Google Maps as your local guide.

Use Phantom Buster to turn anonymous website visitors into leads

Your website traffic is exploding, but the number of leads who leave their contact details on your online form is few and far between. Sound familiar? Our Community Member, Stan, asked the Phantom Community for ideas or solutions to capture contact information from anonymous visitors. Here are the tips that were shared:

Choose a tool like Leadfeeder or Albacross which turn website traffic into company names by analysing IP addresses.
Understand the limitations of such tools, especially if your target audience is SMBs with remote workforces.
Once you have a company name, use our Company Employees Export Phantom to export the list of employees and use our AI Phantoms to segment and find decision-makers.

Find Users Based on Buyer Intent Signals

You can do this via Phantom Buster in the following four ways:

1. Engagement Analysis: Identify individuals who interact with content that aligns closely with your offerings. Pay attention to likes, comments, and shares on posts relevant to your services. You can leverage our Phantoms: LinkedIn Post Commenters Export, LinkedIn Post Likers Export, and LinkedIn Company Post Commenter and Liker Scraper
2. Content Posting: Monitor users who actively post content related to your industry. These individuals are often thought leaders or actively interested in areas pertinent to your services. Use our Phantom LinkedIn Activity Extractor.
3. Group Activity: Track new members joining industry-specific groups by using this Phantom. These users are typically seeking new solutions or expertise, making them ideal targets for focused outreach.
4. Event Participation: By launching the LinkedIn Event Guests Export Phantom, observe individuals engaging with event-related posts or attending LinkedIn events.

Direct message 2nd or 3rd-degree connections

If you want to skip the connection part, you can send direct messages to members of a group you're part of. You can automate this using the LinkedIn Group Member Message Sender Phantom.

MESSAGING GUIDELINES

1. Use Personalization

Create selected audiences based on these specific buyer intent signals. These can be membership of a LinkedIn Group, attending an event, or even commenting on a post. By choosing to engage with users based on specific signals, you can use these as ice-breakers to convey the feeling of “yes I’m talking to you, because I think “insert signal” shows that you are relevant to what we will talk about.”

Personalized messages get better response rates. When you take the time to share personal details, it shows that you care and that you want to start a genuine conversation.

And it doesn't have to be a time drain, either. With PhantomBuster, you can use personalization tags based on the data you've scraped to make every LinkedIn message resonate.

Example:

Hey #firstName#,

I saw you work as a #linkedinJobTitle# – that's awesome! Would love to connect to get your thoughts on a project I'm working on right now.

Hope we can talk soon.

-#YourName

Here is a detailed guide on automating LinkedIn messages.

IMPORTANT GUIDELINES

• Focus your message on one simple call to action. You'll be far more likely to get a reply. Provide an easy-to-grasp one-sentence value proposition with social proof.
• Make your content easy to read.
• Follow a character limit of 0-400.

Bonus: Use AI to “Understand” Your Leads Better

To go beyond #firstname# and #linkedinjobtitle# you can use AI to make sense of the data you just collected. For example, has your lead recently changed their role? Sending them a message to say congrats and maybe offering some resources will land at the right time for them.

Here's how to do it:

1. Set up the AI profile enricher Phantom and customize your prompt. This can be as simple as the one below. Be specific and straightforward and it will do the job.

2. Create a new list of people who changed jobs less than 30 days ago and use it as input to automate messages.