Lead generation is the process of raising buyer interest and gathering inquiries from prospective purchasers, often in the form of names and contact information. These leads are then qualified for their ability and desire to purchase your products and services. Many of you know that generating leads is one of the most important objectives in marketing. But did you know that only 1 in 10 marketers say their lead generation efforts are highly efficient and effective?
Every business is different, but that’s not to say that we can’t all follow a few general guidelines to help inform our lead generation efforts.
The best lead generation campaigns contain most, if not all, of the following components. From a tactical perspective, a marketer needs four crucial elements to make inbound lead generation happen. These include:
- Offer: An offer is a piece of content that is perceived high in value. Offers include ebooks, whitepapers, free consultations, coupons and product demonstrations.
- Call-to-Action: A call-to-action (CTA) is either text, an image or a button that links directly to a landing page so people can find and download your offer.
- Landing Page: A landing page, unlike normal website pages, is a specialized page that contains information about one particular offer, and a form to download that offer.
- Form: You can’t capture leads without forms. Forms will collect contact information from a visitor in exchange for an offer.
Tips for Lead Generation
Website visitors need clear directions
Be absolutely clear and simple! Examine each page of your website and all landing pages and discern if it would be clear to a prospect what their next step should be.
Doing a lot with a small budget
As the old saying goes, more is less. Learn to focus on things like your targets, implement strategic programs, and measure the results to know where you should continue your efforts.
Social media is crucial
Your website and Search Engine Optimization alone will not drive traffic to your websites and it’s about time that companies dispelled this notion. Social media is where everything is at and it’s absolutely essential that your embrace it.
Map Out Your Buyers Personas Know exactly who you’re selling to! A deep understanding of who your buyers are is not only important for the foundation of the business but also for effective marketing. Selling a product or service to an unknown buyer is challenging. It’s even more challenging in online marketing if you do not know who your ideal customer is. Tap into user historical data, map out a persona and target it!
Build Your Marketing Assets
Owned media is the most important marketing asset a company can have. In addition to owning it, meaning it’s not leased or rented, you have something that never loses value over time. Hence the reason why it’s a valuable asset!