5 ways to create a successful lead generation strategy

The audience does not expect the same things they expected before. With so much information at their disposal, their demands have changed. Now the task of marketers is to earn the attention of the audience, not to buy it. This means great lead generation strategies that meet the target customers’ needs. 

Sure, all this is easier said than done. To create a truly powerful lead gen strategy, you need to work hard. You need to optimize, innovate, and convert the visitors into long-lasting leads. Thankfully, there are five excellent ways that’ll help you execute a great strategy for this purpose.

1. Search Marketing

Once again, you are looking at a long-term marketing strategy, one that’s been there almost since the very beginning. Ranking high in search engines is significantly more important today than it was in the past, and all that determines all that matters still rounds around search marketing. 

The secret everyone knows of is search engine optimization. It’s based on keywords, design, content marketing, social media usage, conversion rate optimization, and many, many other things. 

Before you use tools to convert visitors into leads, you need to have the visitors to convert. Without search marketing as the biggest tool up your sleeve, everything that follows will fail. 

2. Content Marketing

In 2012, content marketing brought a 10-figure growth to the companies who interacted with Xerox’s microsite. In return, they got over a thousand schedule appointments, twenty thousand new contacts, and $1.3 billion in pipeline revenue.

These numbers get you really excited about content marketing, don’t they?

But, the question that arises here is: how can you use content marketing to generate more leads? 

Your first step is to learn all you can about the current trends and strategies used by the so-called ‘marketing wizards’. When you know what works for others, you know what your audience wants or expects. 

However, the trick isn’t to be a copycat. Most marketers are, which is why the competition has become almost unbeatable. With so many people doing the exact same things with their marketing content, how do you expect to stand out?

You stand out with experimentation, creativity and diversity. Use the common tactics and mix them with the uncommon ones. Testing the ground helps you gradually refine the generation of leads, which is where content marketing really pays off.

3. Automated Email Marketing

You may see this as just one of the many channels marketers use to convert visitors, but considering that it is one of the very few that have stood the test of time, it is certainly effective. The email has been a part of our internet experience for over two decades now, and yet it still takes the highest spot on the marketers’ lists. 

That means a lot, and it should definitely mean a lot to you when executing your lead generation strategies. Sure, the goal isn’t to stay in place and just use email marketing as it is, but to transform and adapt to the latest trends. 

‘’The greatest thing about email marketing is that it can be tweaked to your benefit. Right now, it can be combined with automation, which has proven to be the fastest-rising, excellent marketing tool for, well, everyone.’’ – says Joe Wilson, expert at ProEssayWriting.

Not sure what to do? The current trend is a combo between traditional email marketing and automation. The tools for the latter make it all easier and more convenient for the sender by cutting down the time spent on sending targeted emails. It helps connect with the CRM in the process of personalizing and targeting the messages, which would be impossible to do in such a short amount of time with the previous, human-handled email marketing methods. 
These are just two of the many benefits of automated email marketing.

4. Social Media

Social media has been the hype for quite a while now. If you are talking about the lead gen essential methods, this is definitely one of them. Some find it controversial, but no one doubts its effect on the audience.

Start with social media advertising to influencers – you have the strongest tools at your disposal to both get the brand out there and convert visitors into leads. Social media can help with all of this, including the search engine optimization process. 

The bottom line here is, this is not just any channel for lead generation – it is THE channel of the decade. People love it and use it constantly and eagerly. If you don’t, your chances at generating leads are slim to nothing. There might be a couple of thousands of businesses who enjoy the self-promotional success, but the majority tap into the social media powers to transform their visitors into thousands and millions' worth of leads.

At this instance, the most popular social media platform that helps marketers generate leads is LinkedIn. Did you know that a risk management company generated over two million dollars in pipeline by using LinkedIn as the core of their lead gen strategy?

5. The Four L’s

Lead generation nowadays has four L’s – the basis for generating more leads every month. All of these are based on a single thing – content. With great content in your hands and the use of these methods, you can generate traffic and convert visitors into leads. Here they are:

Lead Capture

Getting the visitors to your website is all about SEO and marketing. But, getting them to return to it is all about design and content. If you don’t capture the information they need with the content, they won’t come back for more. Before you ask customers to act on your offer, you need to offer them something. 

Lead Magnets

Lead magnets are part of the tools you use to create a lead capture. Converting visitors into leads isn’t simple, and getting them to look at your content is just the starting point of it all. It takes a lot to get there, and when you do, it can take less than a minute to lose your visitors without any success. Without lead magnets, everything you’ve done until this point is worthless.

Lead magnets are the things you use to provide value in exchange for something. You give something and you get something. Using lead magnets will provide you with useful information about the visitors, such as an email address, subscription, or a social media follow. Such magnets include free trials, webinars, bonus tips, eBooks, discount codes, video training, etc. 

Basically, these are your free offers that entice visitors to give you something in exchange for something from you.

Landing Pages

These serve a grand purpose in capturing leads for you, as well as turning them into customers. They are used to capture the attention and information from the user in exchange for something. 

A click-through page can be used to attract and entice visitors, as well as provide them with enough information to make a purchase. The core is a call-to-action, but not a traditional one. Instead of focusing on providing comprehensive information, they narrow down to a single goal. 

Lead Scoring

The last of the four L’s is lead scoring – the part of the automation software that prioritizes leads according to engagement levels. It is the tool you use to learn which of your visitors are most likely to make a purchase, as well as figure out which of your strategies are most effective. If you use this tool, you’ll be ahead of 79% of B2B marketers. Getting real-time feedback on the responsiveness of your visitors is essential to getting more leads. 

Are you ready to get started? Get all the insight and experience you can out of these five methods and dive into the successful waters of lead generation marketing. Good luck!