6 Lead Generation Techniques That Will Bring The Best Results

“We’re running out of leads”! That’s a common issue faced by several organizations when it comes to raising sales. The real joy for a salesman is to get a concrete lead in hand. Lead generation has marked its presence in the business of sales since the time trade began. The era when merchants used to visit places to make contacts with potential buyers in order to expand their business. However, in the present corporate world, lead generation itself is considered to be a major business segment.

In simple terms, the lead generation process can be described as increasing the interest of the buyer and generating inquiries from customers, in terms of name and contact details. These leads are further being analyzed and organized for their ability to get converted into sales.

Approximately 74% of marketers invest $50 and above in each lead generation whereas only 5% are seen to invest $1,000 and more. Thus, lead can be considered as a stand-off between quality and quantity. The endpoint is that your lead generation techniques should be enough in both qualities as well as quantity so that it can be utilized for fetching customers and generate money.

As per Hubspot’s State of Inbound Report, lead generation is seen to be one of the most difficult challenges faced by marketers. Due to this challenge, marketers are constantly in search of newer lead generation techniques.

Unlike the primitive methods used by marketers to generate leads, the modern lead generation tools and methods are available on the internet, although the basic idea of validating expertise and developing relationships remain the same. However, marketers should always keep their focus on how they are using a lead generation channel rather than what channel they are using.

There are various opinions when it comes to choosing the best lead generation channel. As per Hubspot’s research on B2B lead sources, SEO is the most effective channel for lead generation on the other hand Chief Marketer’s data claims that E-mail marketing is the most suitable method. Moreover, according to other surveys, content and social media are the best platforms for generating leads.

1) Email Marketing

92% of internet users access email, with 61% using it on an average day. Source: Pew Research

Although 23 years have gone since the introduction of e-mail, it still occupies the top position in the marketing list of B2B lead generation strategies. Moreover, we cannot ignore the fact that it has undergone several changes through the process of automation. Hybrid tools like marketing automation simplify the process by linking to the CRM which allows marketers to send emails to highly targeted customers and generate revenue in the process.

• 5 Proven Email Marketing Tips

2) Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

In the present business world, search engine optimization is considered one of the best lead generation strategies (for the long-term). These days, maximum searches regarding any product or service take place through Google. According to the Search Engine Watch survey, about 85% of retailers considered search marketing as the most significant technique to acquire customers. In short, Search Engine Optimization can offer tools for marketing that marketers can utilize to match suitable customers with their online content.

• SEO Tricks to Improve your Website Ranking

3) Lead Magnets

A lead magnet is a process through which content is exchanged for an e-mail address. It can be very effective for marketers who are trying to generate leads. Some of the most popular lead magnets are Webinars, Training video series, eBooks, Surveys, and Whitepapers.

Almost all companies or websites prefer using it for getting an authentic e-mail list for lead generation. These days, e-mail inboxes get so much overloaded with newsletters, emails, and offer ads that lead magnet must be really stellar to make people include one more to their inbox. Just sending invitations to sign up for your newsletter isn’t enough to fetch proper results. Lead Magnet, however, works by valuing something in order to receive value for something- here it means the details of the customer.

4) Website Optimization

There are several websites that have been designed in a firm-centric, jargon-filled manner rather than making it lead generation friendly. If your visitors get confused about what services you provide or what problems could get solved through your services, it is quite natural that they will move away from your site. Thus, it is very important for marketers and designers to optimize a website in a way that brings visitors and makes them respond to business positively.

Including Landing pages, CTA-tools, performing enough A/B tests, Thank you pages, etc are among the few ways to enhance online lead generation via websites.

5) Social Media Marketing

When it comes to social media marketing, there are opinions that consider it the least effective in terms of lead generation. However, marketers say that it is due to a lack of proper social media strategies companies fail to get leads through social media. QUALITY and REACH are the prime factors that matter the most in social media. Moreover, the tone of conversation greatly varies from Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn. Hence it is all about setting the right connections with the right people.

Evaluating the SMM KPIs to identify success levels for better lead generation.

• Awareness: How far could your brand’s messages reach?
• Acquisition: Relating to the growth of your community online
• Activation: How much are you successful in getting engaged with your community?
• Satisfaction: What does your audience feel about your business?

• Best Social Media Optimization Tools

6) Content Marketing

Content is always at the ace position, no matter what your business type is. Blogging is a significant medium through which both B2B as well as B2C marketers can drive leads. Although blogs may not generate a lot of direct leads it is certainly an effective medium to drive leads to websites indirectly. This is mainly because blogs enable creating a huge range of keyword-friendly content that can easily appear in the search engines and attract quality leads to your site.

Another most significant reason for using content is to judge what works on your site so that you can improve the process of lead generation in due course of time.

• Top 10 Benefits of Content Marketing

Merging All Lead Generation Techniques Together

Often marketing can seem a long process and hence the best lead generation idea will be to merge all these techniques in the right proportion so that every marketer can reach their ultimate goal. However, you need to combine the lead generation techniques properly as per your campaigns on different channels so that it results in a perfect lead generation.