Lead generation can be described as the process of attracting strangers or prospects and converting them into leads. These are people who have shown interest in your company’s products or services and are likely to make a purchase. A few examples of good lead generation tactics are job applications, blog posts, coupons, live events, webinars and other online content.

Many business owners and marketers consider lead generation a very difficult task, often because so much is at stake. After all, your business success depends largely on lead generation as more leads equal more sales.

While achieving 100% conversion rate may be the epitome of a successful marketing and lead generation campaign, it is almost impossible. Did you know that, on average, 75% of leads don’t convert into sales due to a poor lead nurturing process? The good news is, there are several proven strategies that can drastically improve your conversion rates with minimal effort (or budget).

In this article, we touch on four incredibly powerful lead generation tactics, i.e. Creating Irresistible Offers, Clear and Bold CTAs, Converting Landing Pages and Lead Capture Forms. There are many more in our free e-book which you can download free of charge. But first, read the post as it provides some additional insights to help you get started.

The Importance of Lead Generation

With the digital marketing world forever evolving, businesses must find new ways to reach potential customers. It’s more than just about finding good leads, brands must put more focus on being found. Among others, this involves creating quality, relevant content and communicating with the right people, at the right time through the correct channels.

Lead generation forms part of the second stage of inbound marketing. It generally occurs after brands have attracted a specific audience and are ready to convert visitors into leads. These are often called sales-qualified leads. Generating leads is vital component in a person’s journey to becoming a satisfied customer.

Forget cold calling, newsletters and simple email blast; the modern buyers are digitally savvy and are mostly connected. They will search online until they find what they are looking for. The better a business puts themselves out there, the higher their chances are of attracting the right kind of leads.

Brands should utilise the power of social media combined with their sales and marketing teams. Imagine a new lead visits your website after clicking through from an interesting and relevant blog post. They relate to the content so much that they immediately register for your newsletter which makes them a potentially hot lead. From there, the marketing team can start the lead nurturing process sending personalised emails with valuable content.

As a result, the leads become more engaged and you’ll be able to better identify their interests, likes and dislikes. Your sales team can now communicate with each lead on an individual basis instead of a general cold sales call.

Four Top Lead Generation Tips, Tricks and Ideas

Lead generation is the process of collecting valuable information to better understand your audience needs and preferences. While it may vary depending on the business offering, the most important bits of data to collect include first name, email address, company name and title. In addition, it helps asking a question around what type of information they would like to receive.

This process is relatively simple if you have a good marketing and lead generation strategy in place. Some of the ways to obtain the information is using forms to download content, share information for a discount and subscribe to RSS feed and email lists. If the content you provide is relevant, unique and thought-provoking, more leads will engage.

Some lead generation tactics include collecting emails in-store, setting up a WiFi sign-up form to using videos on your landing page and hosting social media contests. Let’s take a look at a few lead generation pointers.

Creating Irresistible Offers

Everyone is looking for something and if your business can offer a solution to a specific problem, you’re halfway there. Make your offers exclusive, rare, or in-demand, whether its whitepapers, webinars, exclusive memberships, free eBooks or downloads. Leads need to feel that they will benefit from working with you and not just considered another web visitor.

Clear and Bold Calls to Actions (CTA)

Call to action buttons or messages generally perform better above the fold where the users don’t have to scroll down. Heat map analysis reveal that only 50% of visitors view pages that are ‘below the fold’. This makes a compelling argument to include multiple CTA’s on your page in all the right areas. It’s vital to include a simple but powerful message in the CTA. You need to tell the leads exactly what it is they need to do or what the offer entails. This is just the tip of the iceberg as there is so much more to CTA’s which we share in our free eBook.

Create Landing Pages That Convert

Of all the lead generation tactics, good quality landing pages share top spot along with lead capture forms. It makes a significant difference in conversion rates for B2B and B2C companies. In fact, landing pages are effective for about 90% of them.

The most useful aspect is that marketers can direct web visitors to targeted pages based on the campaign without added distractions. They can gather sufficient and relevant data to make future personalised communication possible which in turn leads to increased conversions. Landing page designs do vary but for the most part, a clean, simple design with easy navigation, sufficient information and clear CTAs are gold.

All-Important Lead Capturing Forms

We now know that landing pages are essential for lead generation but what about lead capturing forms? Fact is, brands can have the best landing page but without forms, they can’t capture the required data. Implement a good data collection strategy with a stunning, practical landing page and the rest will follow. Keep forms simple, short and easy to complete. It shouldn’t look like an exam paper with right or wrong answers and 20 fields to complete.

We’ve all come across those lengthy forms we simply ignore so put yourself in your customers’ shoes. Don’t waste their valuable time and be smart! Only ask what is absolutely necessary and try to keep it down to the recommended five form fields. There are cases where more fields are required but where possible, plan to ask any additional questions at the next stage of your campaign.

Trade shows and events are particularly useful for lead generation but it does not apply to all businesses. Marketers need to think outside the box and use more creative ways to attract the right leads. Regardless of business type, you need an effective lead generation strategy. Our eBook will provide you with all the information you need to get started and then some more.

lead generation ebook

Attracting targeted visitors to your website and applying smart lead capture methods are just the first steps. Pre-qualifying your website visitors with an effective paid search campaign will give you the best chance of turning a visitor into a lead, and ultimately into a new customer.

Do you need help improving your online lead generation strategy? Have you experienced low conversion rates and need to start seeing results? Get in touch with the experts today!

 

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