Lead Generation - Business Development

If you’re a business leader who hasn’t updated your lead generating activities, or if you’re planning to start a business in the future and you aren’t clear on what lead generation is, it’s something that you certainly can’t afford to overlook.

Lead generation is the key to finding potential customers. In the digital marketing sphere, there are various ways of capturing leads, understanding whether or not they’re qualified, nurturing them, and converting them to customers.

We’ve created this comprehensive guide to help leaders clarify, refine, and evolve lead generating activities in order to ensure that you’re on the right track toward an optimal conversion rate.

What is Lead Generation?

If you’re running a business, you should already at least have some idea of what you’re doing to find customers. But in the digital world, there are so many options that you may not even know about or that you’re already doing.

A “lead,” as you probably already know, is simply someone who shows interest in what you have to offer. They may come through because of a:

• Referral
• Targeted offer
• Coupon
• Email signup
• Valuable blog content
• eBook

The key to knowing what you’re doing with company lead gen is truly understanding how you’re using your sales funnel, in the context of your particular company, and how it’s currently working. That will vary based on industry, sales cycle, sales strategies, demographics, competition, and other aspects of your business.

The evolution of lead generation (outbound v. inbound)

Lead generation falls into two categories: inbound and outbound. There are still some outbound activities that can be effective — cold “emailing” via LinkedIn or ads on TV, for instance — and they are not entirely out of the picture. But they do need to be used more strategically than ever before.

This shift came along with heavy internet use because internet activity is about people finding you, and not the other way around. Customers want to choose your brand or product, rather than being sold it. They’re typically more educated and aware of the choices they have. Plus, they can get almost any product or service they want, at virtually any time.

In that light, businesses must understand how to stand out in a crowded marketplace and be the product or service that people choose.

Important Tactics For Lead Generation

Social Media Lead Generation

You certainly need to pay attention to SEO and social media for B2B in just about every sphere. Anyone can tie social media activities to blogs and landing page-based lead generating actions. And B2B marketers will want to have a clear understanding of how to use professional social media sites like LinkedIn to draw in leads.

One of the tricks here is to have a clear understanding of how much energy to focus on the first two phases of the buyer’s journey (lead generation) versus nurturing and retention. Many new leads won’t be ready to purchase, so it’s crucial that sales teams and managers have a handle on how to build trust — and social media is essential for brand building, awareness, and trust.

Sometimes, though, companies that spend too much time at the top of the funnel get in the cycle of lead generation but then never actually convert those customers. Thus, it’s essential to have a clear picture of where your own “cold, warm, hot” phases are and how they happen.

Content Marketing

Content marketing works across the board and may involve many strategies. These sources of information should educate and entertain your prospects. You need to appeal to a variety of content consumption habits and preferences. Your marketing content may include e-newsletters, white papers, video blogs (vlogs), blogs, and webinars

Content is so useful because it works for you. You can offer it to prospects through email campaigns, or they can find it on their own through your website, social channels, or ads, and it works to convince and convert them without you having to break out (and potentially bore them with) the standard pitch.

Types of lead generation content

You won’t find that just one type of content will skyrocket your lead gen efforts. But a combination of the most useful, entertaining, and informative pieces will get you the attention you’ve been looking for. Depending on your business and the information you need to convey, you can try a variety of content formats.

Blogs

Blog posts are wonderful ways to interact with buyers. They’re super valuable because you can do whatever you want with them: create evergreen posts, create long-form pillar content, create snippets out of existing posts, or even create simple, short clips you can use to intrigue readers into following you for more detailed information.

Video

Video is huge right now, and it’s not slowing down. Even if you’re not tech-savvy, your team can create small videos that add variety to your content offerings. Make a short clip demonstrating how to use your product or service. This video will help your clients and your marketing efforts at the same time. You can even share webinars to inform professionals about new developments in your industry or within your business. Videos are a fantastic way to spread information quickly and effectively.