The Best Techniques to Boost Your Lead Generation

What is a Lead?

A Lead is anyone who shows interest in a company's product or service in some way. Leads typically hear from a company or organisation after initiating communication (by submitting personal information for an offer, trial, or subscription) rather than receiving a cold call from a stranger.

Let's think in practical terms: you fill out an online survey to learn more about how to care for your car. A day or two later, you receive an email from the car company that created the survey, telling you how they could help you look after your car. This process would be much less intrusive than if they had called you out of the blue, right? This is what it means to be a Lead.

From a business perspective, the information the car company gathers from your survey responses helps them tailor that opening communication to address your existing problems – and not waste time calling drivers who aren't interested in car services at all.

Now that you know what a Lead is, it's time to answer another key question…

What is Lead Generation?

Lead generation is the process of attracting and converting strangers and potential customers into someone who has shown interest in your company's product or service. Some examples of lead generators are job applications, blog posts, coupons, live events, and online content.

These lead generators are just a few examples of lead generation strategies you can use to attract potential customers and guide them towards your offers.

So, basically, lead generation is a way to gather potential customers for your business and put them on the path to eventually making a purchase. Simple, isn't it?

The Lead Generation Process

Now that we understand lead generation better, let's walk through the steps of its process.

First, a visitor discovers your business through one of your marketing channels, such as your website, blog, or social media page. That visitor then clicks on your call to action (correct term: CTA) – an image, button, or message that encourages website visitors to take some kind of action. That CTA takes your visitor to a landing page, which is a web page designed to capture key information in exchange for an offer.

Note: an offer is content or something of value that is being 'offered' on the landing page, such as an ebook or a course. The offer must have enough perceived value for a visitor to provide their personal information in exchange for access to it.

Once on the landing page (official term: landing page – read more here), your visitor fills out a form in exchange for the offer. (Forms are usually hosted on landing pages, although they can technically be embedded anywhere on your website). And voilà! You have a new Lead. That is, as long as you follow the best practices for capturing Leads from the form. See how it all fits together?

To summarise: the visitor clicks on a CTA that takes them to a landing page where they fill out a form to get an offer, at which point they become a Lead. Simple, isn't it? Now you must be wondering: but what are the best techniques to boost my lead generation? We can help…

Techniques to Boost Your Lead Generation

Lead generation encompasses a wide range of tactics, campaigns, and strategies, depending on the platform on which you intend to capture Leads. So, let's dive into lead generation strategies on some widely used online platforms.

• Facebook Lead Generation

Facebook has been a method of lead generation since its inception. Originally, businesses could use outbound links in their posts and information in their bios to attract strangers to their websites.

However, when Facebook Ads was launched in 2007, and its algorithm began to favour accounts using paid advertising, there was a major shift in how businesses used the platform to capture leads.

Facebook created Lead Ads for this purpose. Facebook also has a feature that allows you to place a simple call-to-action (CTA) button at the top of your Facebook page, helping you send Facebook followers directly to your website.

• Twitter Lead Generation

Twitter has General Lead Cards, which allow you to generate leads directly from a tweet without having to leave the site.

The user's name, email address and Twitter username are automatically pulled into the card, and all they have to do is click 'Submit' to become a lead.

• LinkedIn Lead Generation

LinkedIn has been increasing its share of the advertising space since its early days. When it comes to lead generation, LinkedIn created Lead Gen Forms, which populate with users' profile data when they click on a CTA, making it easy to capture information.

• B2B Lead Generation

B2B is a particular business model that requires a specific approach to lead generation. SEO is the primary resource for capturing business leads, closely followed by email marketing and social media. But of course, effectiveness varies depending on the marketing channel being used.

• PPC Lead Generation

When we say pay-per-click (PPC), we are referring to ads on search engine results pages (SERPs). Google receives 3.5 billion searches per day, making it a top-quality source for any advertising campaign, especially for lead generation.

The effectiveness of your PPC campaign depends heavily on a continuous flow of users, as well as your budget, target keywords, and a few other factors.

Tips for Lead Generation Campaigns

In any lead generation campaign, there can be many moving parts. It can be difficult to tell which parts of your campaign are working and which need some fine-tuning. What should really go into a top-quality lead generation engine? Here are some tips for building lead generation campaigns.

• Use the right lead generation tools

The most successful marketing teams use a formal system to organise and store their leads. That is where lead generation tools and lead generation software come into play.

What do you know about the people visiting your website? Do you know their names or their email addresses? And what about the pages they visited, how they navigate, and what they do before and after filling out a lead conversion form?

If you do not know the answers to these questions, you are likely struggling to connect with the people visiting your website. These are questions you should be able to answer – and you can do so with the right lead generation tools.

There are several different tools and templates that will help you create various lead generation resources to use on your website. Here are some tips for lead generation campaigns:

• Create compelling offers for every stage of the buying cycle

Not all visitors to your website are ready to speak with your sales team or see a product demo. Someone at the beginning of the buyer's journey might be interested in an informative piece like an ebook or a guide, while someone more familiar with your company and closer to the end of the journey might be more interested in a free demo or trial.

Make sure you are creating offers for each stage and providing CTAs for these offers throughout your website.

Yes, it takes time to create valuable content that educates and nurtures your leads through the funnel, but if you offer nothing to visitors who aren't ready to buy, they may never return to your website.

If you want to take personalisation a step further – which will help increase your conversion rate – try using smart CTAs. Smart CTAs detect where a person is in the buyer's journey, whether they are a new visitor, a lead, or a customer, and display CTAs accordingly. Personalised CTAs convert 42% more visitors than basic CTAs.

• Keep your messaging consistent and deliver on your promise

The highest-converting lead generation campaigns are those that deliver on their promise and create a seamless transition. Make sure you are presenting a consistent message throughout the entire process and providing value to everyone who engages with your lead capture.

The aspects of your lead generation campaign should mirror everything else on your website, in your blog, and within the product you will eventually try to sell. Your campaign should be about more than just getting an email address – it should be about winning a new customer.

• Link your CTA to a dedicated landing page

This may seem obvious to you, but you would be surprised how many marketers do not create dedicated landing pages for their offers. CTAs are meant to send visitors to a landing page where they can receive a specific offer.

Do not use CTAs to take people to your homepage, for example. Even if your CTA is about your brand or product (and perhaps not an offer like a download), you should still send them to a specific landing page that is relevant to what they are looking for and includes an opt-in form.

• Stay flexible and constantly evolving

Your lead generation strategy needs to be as dynamic as the people you are trying to win over.

Trends change, opinions change too… so it makes perfect sense that your lead generation marketing should also adapt. Use A/B split testing to see which CTAs perform best, which landing pages convert better, and which copy captures your target audience. Experiment with changes in layout, design, UX, content, and various advertising channels until you find what works best.