As reported by Hubspot, “61% of marketers say generating traffic and leads is their top challenge”. Whether you talk about B2B business or B2C, in online business world entrepreneurs tend to refer to their future customers as leads. And usually online entrepreneurs try their best to reach specific groups of potentially interested people and generate valuable leads for their businesses.
However, reaching right people and convincing them to purchase is not a piece of cake. If it is not taken seriously, it may result in severe consequences when it comes to business performance and reputation. Only if you follow the best lead generation practices you have chances of succeeding.
Once you read this article you will know:
- what is lead generation,
- how to generate leads,
- what are the best lead generation ideas,
- how to plan successful lead generation marketing.
61% of marketers say generating traffic and leads is their top challenge
What is lead generation?
Lead – generic vs marketing definition
As mentioned before – the term lead can refer to a consumer that may be interested in a product or service you offer and dispose of a specific amount of money enabling them to purchase. It is a generic definition, but in the digital marketing world, the term has slightly evolved.
When digital advertisers or online entrepreneurs talk about leads, they rather refer to a person who leaves their personal data (name and surname) and contact details (email address, mobile number) on a business website, or who signs up for a newsletter. What should be emphasized here is the fact that all this data is quoted voluntarily, and is usually provoked by some kind of inducement or a top-notch offer.
Lead generation
In the digital marketing world the overall activities resulting in obtaining personal data and contact information of potential clients (or at least trying to do so) is called lead generation. To put it briefly, lead generation is just a process of getting new leads (customers) for your online business.
There are dozens of available tools enabling you to achieve your business goals, but you need to always have in mind that the essence of lead generating is reaching the right target group who might be interested in purchasing products or services you offer. What is more, if you appropriately target your campaign, you may acquire customers who were not even aware that they needed your solution. However, there is no point in collecting data from absolutely not interested random people, as they simply won’t bring any value to your online business.
How to generate leads?
Generating leads is strictly related to conversion. When potential clients visit your website, they often take specific actions such as signing up for a newsletter, purchasing, leaving personal data and contact information, downloading coupons, or signing up for a webinar. The higher the conversion rate is, the better, as it is a great indicative of successful (or the opposite ;-)) marketing and web design. In other words, high conversion rate means that people desire what you have to offer and go for it.
![lead generation process](https://landingi.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/pasted-image-0-1-1.png)
Source: http://licensemedicine.com/
In order to generate valuable leads for your online business, you need to go through the lead generation process step by step.
Step 1: Potential leads identification
By using a request of quotations or a demo free version of your product you may define the level of interest in your product or service, and create a customer target profile.
Step 2: Implementing sales funnel or marketing funnel
Sales and marketing funnels are on the lips of literally every single digital advisor. No wonder – they are highly efficient and prominent tools that can turn your newborn business into a lucrative undertaking.
Step 3: Dividing your potentially interested customers into groups
Divide customers into groups based on their age, gender, interests, wealth, geographical location or even marital status, and improve personalization of your lead generation campaign.
Step 4: Action
Take appropriate actions in order to encourage all the members of the groups to choose your offer. It can be done by sending a personalized and convincing message, offering discounts or coupons. Only if you get interest of your potential customers and inspire trust, they will be prone to leave their personal data.
As you can see, generating leads is based both on scrupulous definition of target customers and creating messages showing your leads-to-be that your solution is an absolute necessity in their lives.
What are the best lead generation ideas?
Since you already know what lead generation is and how to generate leads, let’s now check where you should look for them. There are numerous sources of leads and lead generation ideas, and you should choose the ones most suitable for your business.
Landing pages
These are standalone websites created specifically for marketing purposes. They should be rich in valuable content and their messages should encourage visitors to take a desired action such as purchasing or signing up for a newsletter. A crucial element of every single landing page is a CTA button (Call-To-Action), and every decent landing page has to include one. If you haven’t designed landing pages ever before, the best idea is to use a landing page builder that makes the process carefree and easy even for newbies.
Guidebooks
If you are an expert in your field (especially in a niche area), you can try to create a guidebook with practical and highly useful information. It can serve you as a lead magnet on your landing page (providing you send the guidebook in exchange for a email address). Or you may just try to sell it right away, as those who are interested in your niche will most probably bump into it while researching the Internet.
Social media
Platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest offer endless possibilities when it comes to lead generation. According to Hootsuite, “One billion people use Instagram every month (and half of them use it every day)” – which makes a business profile on social media a necessity for every single online business. Remember about systematic posting, responding to comments and sharing your successes. Being active on socials can truly assist you in reaching new heaps of potentially interested customers.
One billion people use Instagram every month (and half of them use it every day) #socialmedia #leadgeneration
CLICK TO TWEETHow to plan successful lead generation marketing?
Lead generation marketing can significantly impact on your online business performance and help you with outperforming your competitors. If you approach the subject in a professional and state-of-the-art manner, it can genuinely bring measurable benefits to your business. It is worth mentioning that building prominent lead generation marketing is not only a time-saver for digital marketing gurus but also a huge money-saver for you.
Hence, it is essential to plan your lead generation marketing carefully. In order to do this, you need to have in mind:
- finding out who exactly your target audience is, what problems they have, what solution you offer and consequently creating a customer base,
- adjusting marketing actions to precisely chosen groups. According to MarketingProfs, “marketers who segment their email recipient lists achieve 39% higher open rates, 28% lower unsubscribe rates, 24% better deliverability”. The more personalized and tailored to customers’ needs your message is, the more interest you get from your potential customers”,
- high quality communication – make sure that any type of communication that reaches your customers, whether it is by a landing page, a business website or a newsletter, is understandable, useful and clear for your target audience,
- the purpose of each marketing actions – since lead generation marketing aims at increasing sales, you need to think about the purpose of marketing actions you take. Make sure than lead generation campaign ideas are accompanied by clear vision and appropriate measures to check their effectiveness.
Marketers who segment their email recipient lists achieve 39% higher open rates, 28% lower unsubscribe rates, 24% better deliverability.
CLICK TO TWEETSumming up – effective and professional lead generation marketing makes a huge impact on your online business and helps it to thrive. It can provide you with benefits on many levels. If you take care of it appropriately, the odds of reaching the right people with the right message in the right time are in your favour.
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