Lead generation

For a business to grow, one of its basic goals is to acquire new customers. Lead generation is the strategy it uses to locate, target, and nurture leads (potential customers).

How it works

The purpose of generating leads is to find consumers who may need or want to buy the product a business is selling. Sales teams do not want to waste resources on people who have no interest in the product in the first place, so the process of lead generation helps to define and capture the potential customers who seem most inclined to become actual customers—known as high-quality leads. To generate leads, marketing and sales departments typically collaborate on a campaign, offline or online, designed to identify and recruit promising customer prospects. Acquiring contact information is the first part of the process. Converting leads into sales is the next step.

Lead-generation process

Generating leads is a multi-step process that involves sales, marketing, and customer service teams working together to plan, design, produce, test, and refine a campaign.

Plan the approach Set goals and parameters, including expected return on investment (ROI) and number and quality of leads.

• REVIEW OBJECTIVESCheck that they are realistic;
  compare with previous efforts.
• PLANNING Ensure that sales, marketing, and customer service are working together.
• AUDIT Assess current lead generation.
• SYSTEMATIZE Integrate customer relationship management (CRM) software to manage the leads.

Identify target customer Define the characteristics of the customer the business is aiming to capture in as much detail as possible.

Design campaign Craft a multi-channel message to entice the lead to opt in and give contact information.

• BIG IDEA Devise a compelling message to engage and entice leads.
• RESEARCH A certain which media and touch point are most effective.

Produce campaign Create and deliver materials for each medium involved in the campaign.

• SEO/PPC Integrate search engine optimization (SEO) efforts and pay-per-click spend
• EMAIL BLASTS Include a benefit for the recipient and a call to action
• TELEMARKETING Review key message and call script with customer service team.
• Trade show invite potential lead to visit the company and meet face to face.
• ADVERTISING Generate broad interest with ads on selected media.

Test campaign Monitor the initial hours and days of the campaign and make any corrections that are needed.

Measure Track and measure the response from the various campaign activities to gauge effectiveness.

• RESPONSE RATES Tally how many leads have been generated so far.
• QUALIFIED LEADS Determine percentage of initial contacts with purchase capability.
• CONVERSION RATES Calculate percentage of web visitors converted to leads.
• ANALYZE PERFORMANCE Identify adjustments needed to keep campaign on track.

Refine Fine-tune the filtering process to ensure that leads being generated are high quality and likely to buy.

B2B LEAD GENERATION

Most businesses selling to other businesses (B2B) identify lead generation as one of their most important digital marketing priorities. But which tactics do they find most effective?

TOP FIVE STRATEGIES FOR LEAD GENERATION

❯ Create content such as a viral video or a newsworthy business report that takes leads to a sign-up page.

❯ Use both online and offline channels, as most customers will respond to just one channel.

❯ the customer touchpoint— the point at which a customer comes into contact with the product—before, during, and after purchase. Touchpoints may range from online reviews to billing.

❯ Tailor the call to action to the channel, such as inviting trade show visitors to enter a competition.

❯ Design effective opt-in web forms to capture data, such as asking customers to sign up for updates.

NEED TO KNOW

❯ Owned media Channel owned
by a business, such as a website, blog, or social media profile

❯ Attention, interest, desire, action (AIDA) Model for effective marketing messages

❯ Cost per lead (CPL) Amount it costs the company to acquire one potential customer