5 Places You Can Pay to Find Customers for Your Business

Word-of-mouth advertisement can only take you to a certain point when running a business. The greatest challenge South African entrepreneurs face is finding clients. There are paid customer lead platforms that can directly connect you with clients looking for your services. We will discuss five of the most reliable paid customer lead platforms, how much you will pay for their services, and what to expect on ROI (return on investment). These services are available for any entrepreneur, from plumbers and tutors to caterers, cleaners, and even consultants.

1. A Service Marketplace Called Snupit 

This is one of the most popularly used online marketplaces in South Africa. Snupit is used mostly by people looking for services, where customers post the services they need, and they are instantly connected with verified service providers. For example, when a customer posts “looking for a math tutor in Johannesburg,” Snupid will recommend you the right person to contact.

• Snupid charges through a cost-per-lead model, which ranges from R20 to R80, looking at the kind of services provided. All you have to do is buy credit packages ranging from R200 to R1000+, and the amount per lead will be deducted from your package each time you respond to a job lead.
• Snupid works best for entrepreneurs in home services like plumbing, electrical, cleaning, tutoring, catering and photography events, and professional services like accounting and legal services.
• Stupid Return On Investment: You may get 10 to 20 leads from an R500 package on leads. If you manage to convert 2 of those leads to paying jobs worth R1500 each, then you make R3000 from that R5000.
• Be alert and respond first, as customers usually pick from the first few replies.

2. For Home Services, Choose Kandua

Kandua customer lead platform is popularly used by home service providers in South Africa, e.g., plumbers, builders, electricians, and tilers. Clients post the kind of services they need on Kandua, and then they are connected with recommended service providers to choose from.

• Kandua charges R30 to R100 per lead depending on the kind of trade or service you provide.
• Kandua performs best for people who provide services such as building, renovations, plumbing, electrical work, and just fixing things around the house. Kandua is not recommended for service providers offering office jobs or tutoring services
• Kandua ROI: R1000 can get you 12 to 20 job leads depending on the services. You can easily make R15,000 from one renovation job, giving you a huge return on your investment. Get your customers to leave reviews on your services to beat competition and get more leads.
  

3. A UK-based platform that also operates in South Africa (Bark)

Compared to Kandua, Bark operates on an international level, broadening your customer lead. You can find every service you need on Bark, including personal training, photography tutoring, and life coach services.

• Bark charges service providers R50 to R150 per job lead.
• It works best for service providers doing personal and fitness services like coaching, consulting, tutoring, photography, fitness training, therapy, and event planning.
• Bark ROI: Bark is a little bit more expensive than South African platforms, yet it can give you a higher job value. A tutor may pay R100 for an R300 per hour tutoring job and continue to make more from that one student through continued booking.
• Be different from your competitors and reply with a personalized professional message to potential clients. 

4. Active Direct Marketing Through Facebook Lead Ads

Instead of customers directly reaching out, using Facebook Ads gives you an opportunity to reach targeted potential clients through paid advertising. You can choose how many people are able to see the advert in a day. 

• Facebook lead ads charge a small amount of R5 to R15 per lead, which can give you 80 to 200 leads for R1000 depending on the kind of services provided.
• Facebook lead ads work best for personal service providers such as fitness, tutoring, catering, beauty, events, and cleaning services.
• Facebook Ads ROI: You can get a massive ROI if targeted correctly, converting 10 out of 100 leads to paying clients, giving you R500 each, thus making you R5000 in returns.
• Make sure you are quick to respond to your potential clients because clients tend to lose interest after a day of no response.
  

5. Using Google Ads to Find Clients for High-Intent Services

People who go on Google Ads to search for service providers near them are already in need of the service and highly likely to hire on the spot. It’s a bit pricier than other platforms but more powerful.

• Google Ads charges range from R5 to R50 per click depending on the industry. You can get 50 to 200 website visitors for a thousand rand.
• Google Ads is suitable for high-intent service providers such as plumbing, legal, tutoring, medical, and emergency services that need to be attended to right away.
• Google Ads ROI: Not very high returns but suitable for people who need clients as fast as possible, which can eventually lead to high returns. You can make R3000 from spending R1000 for clicks on Google Ads.
• Tip: Location targeting works better since you only get clicks from people in your area that are easier to reach.

Conclusion 

The best platform for you will depend on your budget, the services you provide, and how many people you want to reach. Snupid and Kandua are best for beginners under a budget since they are cheap and can reach many local clients to work with. Bark and Facebook Lead Ads are the best options for professionals who are looking to reach a larger amount of people, like coaches, tutors, and consultants. Google Ads is efficient for high-intent service providers looking for clients who are ready to hire or buy instantly. To make steady money from investing in these platforms, make sure you turn paying leads into recurring clients. Be faster to respond, make sure you deliver quality service, and ask your customers to leave a review for more clients to locate you.