Lead generation is an important component of the prospecting process and ideally conversion. This is the first step in the buying cycle. It allows you to broaden the scope of your market. So what does it consist of? And what process should be adopted to generate more leads?

What is lead generation?

It is a marketing term for a set of marketing strategies. It aims to obtain the contact details of the person who has shown a first interest in a product or service. The lead is in this case, more than a simple advertising contact because he already has more or less a qualification. Lead generation is mainly used in BtoB marketing. But can also be applied in BtoC. It is also known as « lead generation or leadgen ».

Lead generation is about creating a dialogue with a customer. There are several types of lead generation:

• Outdoor: trade shows and fairs (promotions, prize draws);
• Telemarketing: call centers that take incoming and outgoing calls;
• Online: websites, emails, social networks, blogs, etc. … ;
• Printing: advertisements with vouchers, etc. … .

But it’s digital and digital technology that has made lead generation easier. Content marketing and inbound marketing are the most used devices in lead generation.

On what basis should leads be generated and qualified?

Generating leads increases revenue. Lead generation can be done from two bases: demographic data and behavioral data. . Then the selection of leads is done with the technique called lead scoring.

Demographics

This is information about the identity of the lead. His sector of activity, his position, … data that will inform you about the profile of your interlocutor. This data will allow you to adopt an effective approach. This data is collected from the forms that the lead will have filled out for a download, a demo request or a registration.

A score will be established for each lead to know if they are your target audience.

Behavioral data

These are the signals observed in the behavior of the Internet user. It is a question of capturing the testimonials of interest for your site: downloads, long visit … After inspecting the lead’s focus on your site, contact them as soon as possible. Analyzing these behaviors will allow you to see where the lead is in the buying cycle. Don’t forget to rate each lead’s score, this time based on their behavior on your site.

The fundamentals of an effective lead generation

Contents

• Drive traffic: You need relevant content. What responds to the problems of the target is marketing inboud. Then relay your content on as many channels as possible: social networks, platforms, … Optimize your content using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques. Your positioning on search engines improves your visibility.
  
• Turn the visitor into a lead: add links in your content but also buttons that will call to action. The goal is to guide your lead towards a maturation for a conversion. The position and color of this button should attract the eye and curiosity of your visitor. Not all readers read to the end. So remember to put the button from the first paragraphs without hindering the reading. Each step is different: at the beginning of the purchase journey informative content such as the ebook is more interesting, while closer to a purchase the free trial is more attractive.
  
• Guide to a dedicated page: in your website create a special page or a landing page. A page that provides crucial information. This page only highlights the interest of the offer proposed by your company in exchange for contact information. Concretely, the characteristics of a landing page must contain: a clear title, a subtitle that reinforces the information, a visual (image), a clear description, a form to fill out (with the minimum of fields so as not to bore the visitor).
  
• Add value: To stand out, create premium content. Qualifying content that answers your target audience’s questions and gives them the help they need. To do this, propose concrete solutions: White paper, Ebook, essay, free training, report, studies,…
  
• Qualify the lead: in order to prioritize your leads, note them from their involvement with your site. This classification will allow you to conduct your actions on a case-by-case basis. The technique used is lead scoring. There are marketing tools that will allow you to carry out this task.

To create a successful lead generation campaign, use the right tools

Tools

To consolidate the lead generation process, your company’s marketing team must rely on a formal system: lead generation tools. Indeed, they are necessary to organize the information collected about visitors.

• HubSpot: Free software that captures contact information. It imports data from forms on the site and saves them in a database. It also allows you to create lead flows;
• Hotjar : software that records the behaviour of visitors on your site through heat maps. It also analyzes registration and feedback forms.

Your company’s marketing teams must constantly: put attractive offers, make calls to action, differentiate themselves from competitors in order to attract new customers. The basics of lead generation mentioned must continue to be refined to improve the quality of leads.