Creating leads with minimal traffic

[MickEdwards]

I'm working for a client who is in a very tight niche.  They offer a service which can come as part of a new build or installation to an existing building.

The problem is the the traffic volumes are very targeted and very low, but a single sale can be very lucrative. Another problem is that it is very difficult to determine who the converting visitor will be as depending on the potential project it could be an owner, PM, architect, designer and on...  There are no clear cut decision makers, it's always on a case by case basis.

Because of this the client is baulking at any attempts to gather contact details because they are arguing it may not be the decision maker and in their industry they know it will cheese people off parting with contact details and it "may not be the right person anyway".

I am looking at encouraging exploring ideas based around a traditional newsletter, whitepaper, survey etc.  Has anyone else had experience in this kind of scenario where search volumes (organic, PPC) are low enough that the timeframes for testing any value become uncomfortably stretched and even then difficult to determine any general trends?

[EGOL]

If I didn't want to collect contact information, then I would put all of my efforts into creating a fantastic free content resource that clearly establishes my site and company as the ultimate authoritative source of information on this niche.

I would not hide any of my work by only sharing it with those who subscribe to a newsletter or whitepaper, etc.  This type of content is too costly to create for it to be withheld from being visible on the site and attracting traffic from search and building my credibility to people who want the information.

What I might do to acquire a following of subscribers is to publish new valuable and substantive content regularly and allow people to sign up for email notification of when new information is published.  Subscribers might be offered a special discount, free upgrade or some other item of value when a purchase is actually made.  That would lure them into a subscription as they approach the trigger point in the buying decision.

I would also use retargeting ads to keep my brand in front of the visitor after they leave my site.

[MickEdwards]

Thanks Egol, you have some good points.  There has been too much focus on determining (second guessing) where the sweet spot is, hoping that one visitor bites.  Yes retargeting seems to me to be something to follow up.

I need to do some convincing so the site becomes an unmissable source for information.  It's tricky because each of the potential key players will have different information requirements, but we have to start somewhere.