Generating leads can be a puzzling experience for some business leaders (especially if they haven’t done it before). Grabbing the attention of people willing to buy from you is never as straightforward as it sounds.
Therefore, this guide aims to help you understand the lead generation process and how to identify your target audience. It runs through top lead generation strategies, how to use social media effectively, and how to track your customer acquisition process. Reading the whole thing will teach you how to get more leads and convert them into sales.
Understanding Lead Generation
But first, a primer: what is lead generation?
What is Lead Generation?
Lead generation is a process in sales and marketing that involves turning unknown users into paying customers. It starts with attracting interest – getting people excited about what you do – and working from there.
Most companies “nurture” their leads, guiding them through a sales funnel toward conversion. For example, campaigns might start by building awareness, getting users to complete forms, and then marketing with follow-up emails.
Leads are valuable because they represent people likely to become customers later on. As such, they are the people you want to reach most and are different from your general audience (everyone who consumes your content).
Identify Your Target Audience
Identifying leads is a two-step process: first, you must understand your ideal customer (target audience) and, then, gauge their interest.
Start by outlining your buyer persona – the characteristics of the average person who purchases from your firm. Write down their age, gender, demographics, interests, pain points, and psychological traits.
Then, create relevant content for this audience. The more you can address their needs and interests, the more engagement you generate.
The second (and slightly more complicated step) is to measure your leads’ interest level. Discovering how keen they are tells you where to direct your marketing resources.
One option is to use calls-to-action, getting users to download free trials, whitepapers, and newsletters. These show genuine interest in your products or services.
Another method is to use lead scoring. Assigning a value to specific actions can reveal how close a user is to buying. For example, a high-value lead might be someone who:
- Downloads your newsletter
- Signs up for your Discord server
- Checks the pricing page
- Consumes your blog content
- Watches your videos
- Comments on your forum posts
Applying a score to these actions can help you rank your leads, showing your sales team where to direct their efforts. Contacting leads at the top of the list might be more lucrative than those at the bottom.
Top Lead Generation Strategies
Once you know your leads inside out, the next step is to use proven strategies to grab their attention.
Most brands follow the following process:
- Lead Capture. This process encourages leads to return to your site or sign up for your mailing list instead of clicking back to search results (or another social media account).
- Lead Magnets. Lead magnets are freebies or gifts brands use in exchange for users’ contact details (such as white papers, free trials, and case studies).
- Landing Pages: Landing pages tailored to specific customers increases the likelihood of conversion.
Once this system is ready, it’s time to use other strategies.
Content Marketing: Producing content that prospective customers will consume before buying from you.
LinkedIn connections: Using publicly available information to target decision-makers on the social network, reducing time-wasting.
Pay-per-click (PPC) ads: Deploying ads on leads’ search engines like Google Ads, social media pages like Facebook and Meta Ads, email clients, and map apps.
Email marketing: Using inexpensive electronic mail to remind leads to go to your website and shop for your products/services.
Case studies: Highlighting how your business helped other clients in the past, and how they can continue to assist in the present.
Website optimisation: Creating separate landing pages for each product, ad, and lead type. (For example, B2B landing pages often look different from B2C landing pages).
Using Social Media Effectively
You can also use social media to generate leads for your business. These services are sometimes better for finding prospective customers because they collect more user information.
Advertise Your Lead Magnets
One option is to advertise your lead magnets on social media. Getting people pumped about what they can get and download on your website can attract sales and conversions.
Create Targeted Ads
Another tactic is to create targeted ads on social media. These attract users interested in your products/services, or wanting to try a free trial.
Share Testimonials
Sharing testimonials can also help on social media. Ninety-one per cent of leads read at least one review before going ahead with a purchase.
Tracking and Analysing Leads
Tracking and analysing leads is something you should do from the outset. It helps you measure the effectiveness of your marketing and improve your sales funnel.
Customer relationship management (CRM) software is the best way to chase leads. It helps you track where everyone is in the sales process, and what the next steps should be.
The most sophisticated CRMs have auto-suggest and automation tools. You can set these up to email leads on certain triggers (like downloading a demo). The software can also tell salespeople when to call the lead and what to discuss.
Tips to Convert Leads into Sales
So, what should you be doing to convert leads into sales? Here are some quick tips to get started:
- Respond to enquiries rapidly. Keen leads want to find out quickly whether you offer a high-quality service so be prompt in your response if they ask a question.
- Understand the lead’s needs. Show the prospective customer that you know what they want and can provide it. Make the value you offer clear from the first interaction.
- Show them the solution. Demonstrate the product or let them test it. Get them to experience the value for themselves to encourage them to buy.
- Get ready to handle objections. Learn the barriers to sales and help customers smash through them.
If you want to build a fully customisable client acquisition system to generate, nurture and convert leads, use Roughidea Digital. We deploy done-for-you systems that eliminate the manual work from client acquisition, whether you advertise via Google, Meta or LinkedIn. Once you launch a campaign with us, it pretty much runs itself!
