Lead generation is one of the most commonly used phrases in the marketing world. But what is it and how can it bring more success to your business? Lead generation is a marketing art form that enables businesses to attract clients in a way that allows for strong relationships. As Kevin Michael Geary put it,
The ‘digital personal touch’ is so important because it allows a unique and impactful relationship with your business. It also allows your business to be seen in a more human way, establishing trust and allowing you to better understand them, and them you.
What is Lead Generation?
Lead generation is the crossroads that links your attracted audience to becoming converted buyers. In simpler terms: what people see, hear about, or come across your business, and how do they become paying customers? This is how you form relationships with potential customers or clients in a way that makes them aware of your business, what you do, sell, or offer, and what it means to work with you. A “lead” in marketing is anyone who shows interest in your product or service, plain and simple. Generating these leads is all about the strategies that your company focuses on to create these relationships.
The idea of lead generation can be weaved into everything you are a part of. What you say, how you say it, the images and videos of your company, your branding, sales messages - everything. When you are passionate about what you do, people become more engaged and are more open to creating a relationship. But this relationship requires nurturing to be worthwhile to both you and the customer. Lead generation is all about creating unique ways to attract people to your business.
Why is Lead Generation an important part of Digital Marketing?
Lead generation and digital marketing go hand in hand. The importance of lead generation is quite simple: it’s all about understanding what your potential clients want. If you’ve developed strong buyer personas, you’ll have a great foundation to start with. Creating more leads means creating opportunities for your potential clients through the marketing funnel and into the sales pipeline. You can't convert contacts without first getting their attention, educating them, and being an industry resource - all of these are aspects of lead generation. Successful lead generation strategies promote stronger relationships with your clients. The continuous development of this personal relationship will encourage the client to be more invested in who your business is and what you offer.
3 Keys to Successful Lead Generation Strategies
It is important to remember that lead generation is about creating a unique relationship with your clients in an organic way. Lead generation, like building a home, is a process. The buyer of a home is not ready to move in the first time they see a home. They have lots of decisions to make before they will commit to buying the home. Similarly to this, the process of lead generation takes time and hard work. Most customers are not ready to purchase something the first time they encounter your page. You need to create a relationship with them. They need to have perspective into your brand to continue along their individual path of the buyer’s journey. Once you can understand the buyer’s journey and identify the ideal buyer persona for your company, you can begin to pinpoint and develop the best lead generation strategies for you. The three key steps behind every lead generation strategy are quite simple.
Know Your Client
Start by identifying your buyer & knowing who they are. Being able to figure out what makes them different from others, knowing their interests, and what makes them tick.- Speak Their Language
The second piece requires further development of understanding your buyer. You need to be able to converse and market to them in a way that is comfortable to them. Adding a personal tone to your material is a great start. This will look different depending on your business, but it is fundamental to be able to connect to your clients on their level.
- Focus and Segmentation
This third step is all about organizing the information you gathered in steps one and two. You should always be continuing to develop these steps and the information they encompass. Once you have this information you can begin to analyze how your customers differentiate from each other and what you can do to further personalize their experiences and cater to their individual needs. Ask yourself what are they thinking? You will then have different sectors of clients you can better assist because you have a more specific outline.
5 Lead Generation Strategies
Knowing who you are as a company is the first priority in lead generation. How are you supposed to tell others who you are as a brand without knowing yourself? There are several methods of lead generation based on who you want to reach. The trick is finding the platforms that work best for your company. Here are 5 lead gen strategies we recommend focusing on in 2022…
1. Email Marketing
According to a recent study done by Ascend2, email marketing is still one of the most effective channels for lead generation. With worldwide email usage reaching more than 3 billion users, it’s a no-brainer to build a strong plan here. You can curate leads by developing an individualized experience of the sale cycle by tailoring to the interests and position of the client in the buyer’s journey.
Email marketing - when done well - can speak to all three stages of the buyer’s journey, but most importantly the consideration segment. You can send segmented emails for intentional targeting and information-sharing. Marketing automation is a great tool that can be used for email marketing and can greatly enhance your customer’s experience.
2. Content Marketing
In the same report, Ascend 2 found content marketing is the second most effective method for lead generation. Content marketing generates three times as many prospects as outbound marketing but costs 62% less. This is one of the most challenging channels to use for lead generation because of the difficulty that comes with reaching the right audience at the right time. In order to reach the intended audience (on their social feed, through their search engine, etc.) you have to balance being relevant and a solution - all at the right time. You guessed it - a buyer persona is a great tool for helping guide you. In 2022, video marketing is going to be a massive part of content marketing because it allows for a different level of personalization we mentioned at the beginning of the blog. Successful content for lead generation is all about creating irresistible offers at every stage of the buyer’s journey.
3. Social Media Marketing
With 3.6 billion people using social media worldwide, it's an ideal channel for businesses to reach and attract leads. In this day and age, social media plays an essential role in creating a robust inbound strategy. Social media is tailored specifically for creative content - photo, video, link sharing, and more.
Creating engaging, interactive content that your viewers find impactful can set you apart from the rest. This can be done by sharing user testimonials and reviews, being a resource for common questions or issues, and being fun and relatable. While ‘hard selling’ isn’t always ideal on social media, sharing your solutions and offerings in the right way can be very rewarding. Determine your social voice and posting guidelines, and have fun
4. Landing Page and Web Optimization
According to CrazyEgg, you have 15 seconds to connect with the site visitor before they decide to look elsewhere. Personalized CTA’s convert 202% better than normal CTA’s. Leverage the research you have (or can gather) and use demographics and psychographics to achieve personalized CTA’s through marketing automation. You can use smart CTAs, A/B testing, and change placement and design to pinpoint what converts at the highest rate.
You can also improve user experience with optimization by ensuring your site has a mobile-friendly experience. In fact, 37% of consumers are more likely to buy on a mobile responsive site. The importance of mobile optimization is only growing, so make sure your CTA’s are cohesive and easy to use on this platform as well.
5. Search Engine Optimization
Did you know 31.24% of all clicks go to the top organic search result? These potential site visitors are actively looking for your company, so you need to be able to engage with them. In 2022, it is important to remember that optimizing keywords is a great way to reach potential customers having the problems you can solve. Making sure your meta descriptions are an accurate look at the pages and blogs you’re optimizing and promoting will put your best foot forward and potentially increase clicks.
the Importance of Lead Generation
Lead generation is a key focus in the marketing world. Hubspot- says that 61% of marketers consider generating traffic and leads to be their biggest challenge. This data gives some insight into the emerging lead generation trends in 2022 and emulates the importance of lead generation. Here are a few stats indicative of the potential strategic lead gen efforts have:
- 91% of marketers say that lead generation is their most important goal - HubSpot
- 53% of marketers spend at least half of their budget on lead generation - Ruler Analytics
- 80% of marketers believe marketing automation generates more leads - Hubspot
- Content marketing generates 3x the leads in comparison to outbound marketing - Content Marketing Institute
As you can see, lead generation can help you create better relationships with both current and prospective clients. In 2022, these relationships will benefit directly from the lead generation strategies of email, content, social media, web optimization, and search engine optimization. While developing strategies specific to you, remember to think about your client, speak their language, and then segment your audiences. You will, without a doubt, set your business apart by elevating your marketing game in 2022.
