Lead generation has been always an important activity in every business since the beginning of the trade. Earlier, merchants used to travel far and wide to meet their potential clients mostly through references or need basis. But today the businesses are going online because their target customers hang-out online and spend their time on the internet. Businesses and marketers are constantly trying to devise new online lead generation techniques. So that they can fill in their sales funnel with fresh and qualified leads whom they can sell their products. The Online Lead generation has become a huge business segment in the online business world.
Meaning & Definition of Online Lead Generation
Simply putting, lead generation can be defined as the process of raising buyer interest and inspiring him to share his contact information with the company to get more details about the product or service through a phone call, email, or in-person meeting.
Then the sales representatives of the company contact these leads.
After communicating they analyze and sort these leads for their willingness to make the purchase of the product or service.
Needless to say that the most interested are the most valuable leads for the business.
To generate these leads companies use various online lead generation techniques which we will discuss further in this post.
But, it is interesting to note that 74% of marketers spend more than $50 on each lead. Whereas about 5% of businesses spend over $1,000 to generate a lead.
Hence for marketers, generating online leads is the most important and challenging task.
They have to make a proper balance between the quality and quantity of the leads.
They also have to try to generate these leads within the least possible Cost Per Lead (CPL).
The leads generated should be enough in numbers and good in quality so that the sales team can use it for converting them into customers and finally generate revenue for the business.
Online Lead Generation in the Modern World
According to various surveys, Online Lead Generation is one of the most challenging tasks faced by most marketers.
Because of this challenge and high demand for the quality leads in sufficient numbers marketers are on a continual search for different online lead generation techniques.
Unlike the traditional lead generation models like cold calling, references, cross-selling, etc., modern lead generation methods and tools are mostly online.
However, the fundamental idea of demonstrating expertise and building relationships with the leads remain almost the same.
For some industries, one method works best and for other industries, other methods might work well.
The cost and time for online lead generation depending on the type of industry, target audience, lead generation method, and lead generation channel being used.
Though, there are many different opinions regarding which online lead generation method is the best.
Some experts say that SEO is the most suitable and viable Lead Generation channel while others are of the opinion that E-mail marketing is the best online lead generation technique.
Similarly, there are some experts who say that Social media and content marketing are the most important channels for Online Lead Generation, while some experts who like paid ads to generate leads advocate PPC Ads for lead generation.
Important Factors in Online Lead Generation
But, it is to be kept in mind that every channel and every online lead generation technique is different. It depends on many factors like:
- Nature of Business
- Target audience
- Cost per lead
- Lead to conversion ratio
- Channel used for lead generation
- The time duration for lead generation
- The time duration for converting the lead into a customer, etc.
We won’t discuss these factors in detail here, but yes these factors are important to consider while generating online leads for your business.
We will discuss the top online lead generation methods which deliver a good result and that too in a very cost-effective manner.
Top Online Lead Generation Techniques
Below we will discuss some top online lead generation techniques which the marketers use to generate leads for their business.
E-mail Marketing
E-mail marketing is one of the oldest online lead generation techniques being used but it is still the best technique to generate online leads.
From students to professionals, housewives, traders, businessmen, politicians, suppliers everyone uses email if not for exchanging communication then to set up their phone and retrieve their passwords, back up their phone data, and use other phone features like maps, social media, etc.
So, technically around 92% of literate adults use email, with 61% using it on a daily basis.
Email marketing is found to be the best online lead generation technique for B2B Businesses in many surveys.
Automation tools that connect the CRM have made it even easier for marketers to send highly personalized emails to the targeted audience.
Personalized and timely emails being automatically sent to the target audience stirs a response, and this response helps the marketers nurture their leads until they convert them into customers.
Search Marketing
In the current scenario with online businesses, Organic Search Marketing is one of the most important long term Online Lead Generation strategies.
The chances of a prospective customer searching for a product or service on Google or other search engines before actually buying is very high.
People want to know every important detail about the product or service they want to buy before actually buying it.
The best place to look for information regarding the product, product reviews, features of the product, price, etc., is the internet.
And actually, 69% of people actually search for the product or services they want to buy on the internet to know more about it before paying for the same.
The products or services which appear on the first page of the Google Search Result Page are most likely to be clicked and bought by the people looking for it.
Even 85% of retailers agree that the most effective online lead generation technique or customer acquisition technique is SEO and paid ads.
Thus, Search Engine Optimization is an efficient tool for marketers that they can use to generate online leads by matching qualified clients with their online content.
Lead Magnets
Lead Magnets are a very effective and useful tool for marketers to generate online leads.
Technically, a lead magnet is a type of content or piece of useful information which marketers give away in exchange for the short personal information of the users like e-mail address, name, and phone number.
Marketers use this information captured through lead magnets to send emails, make phone calls, etc., to the people who exchange their personal information for the content they are interested in.
This also gives marketers the most interested leads to work on.
Training video series, Surveys, Free trial, Webinars, eBooks, White papers are some of the Lead Magnets which are widely used to generate online leads.
Below is an example of the lead magnets which are used by the companies in order to attract people and nurturing them to become customers.
LEAD MAGNETS | ||||||||
| Content Bait | Widgets | Quizzes | Live Demos | Webinars | Free Trials | Contests | Special Offers | |
| Target Audience | B2C, B2B | B2B, B2C | B2C, B2B (rare) | B2B | B2C | B2B, B2C | B2C, B2B | B2C, B2B |
| Customer Concern | Lack of information wants to learn | Wants to compare but not ready to buy | Boredom, curiosity | Looking for product information | Lack of information wants to learn | Wants to compare but not ready to buy | Boredom, desire | Price concerns |
| Your Solution | Education | Custom offer | Amusement | Personal approach | Data, education | Product Trial | Prizes | Coupon, gift, etc. |
Optimization of the Website
Most websites are designed to share information or sell products, but the problem with them is that they cannot generate online leads.
Actually the websites should be designed in a way which makes the visitors understand the content, understand what problems the products or services can solve and also the website should allow the user to navigate intuitively in order to make a decision like buying a product, filling up a form, asking for more information, booking a service, etc.
Read How to Design Websites to Deliver Results You Want for information on effective website design.
If the visitors do not understand the services provided or the problems that can be solved with the services, they will quit the website and go on another website.
Digital Marketers & Web Designers should keep the customer, his experience, his journey, navigation, etc., in mind while building a website.
Similarly, they should make and optimize the website to be responsive to any device.
Navigation, product placement, color scheme, menu, content, buttons, CTAs should all be built in a manner that motivates visitors to respond to the website and the CTA in a positive way.
Adding personalized CTA-tools, Landing pages, Thank You pages, doing enough A/B tests, etc., are some of the great ways to increase Online Lead Generation through Websites.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is a good way to generate online leads for your business.
Though, many marketers and reports say that Social Media channels are the least effective Lead Generation mediums.
But there are many marketers and businesses who argue that Social Media Marketing is the best online lead generation channel.
Those who fail to generate quality leads from Social Media Marketing have a poor social media strategy that’s why they fail to generate leads from it.
The key to generating online leads from social media is to make the right connections, share the right and timely information, engage with your audience, and motivate them to convert into a customer and loyal for your brand.
Recommended: How to Convert Social Media Followers into Customers?
Choosing the right social media channel for your business is important in this regard. Next, your social media marketing strategy should be able to engage your audience and interact with them.
Also, you should set SMART social media goals and identify KPIs to Track Success for effective Online Lead Generation.
- Awareness: How many people you make aware of about your brand.
- Acquisition: What is the growth of your online community i.e., social media followers?
- Engagement: How successfully you are engaging with your audience?
- Satisfaction: What your audience feels about your brand?
Social Media Marketing can be a great tool to generate online leads for your business, but for that, you need to have your social media strategies well thought out and well-executed.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is one of the best online lead generation techniques which many businesses undermine. No matter what your business type is, content is still the King.
Blogging which is a form of content marketing still stands as one of the primary means through which marketers drive interested people to their lead capture pages.
Blogging allows you to cover a lot of topics that resonate with your target audience and make it easy for them to find you online with your content.
Every business has a different type and different set of customers, so, the content should be created keeping in mind the buyer personas.
The most important thing while creating content is to test what does and doesn’t work so that you can gradually refine your lead generation over time.
For instance, video content may be more beneficial if you are a film making company, whereas for a financial firm infographics might be the best type of content to generate leads.
Pay-Per-Click Ads
Pay-per-click ads are the most efficient and fastest ways to generate leads.
But, the problem with the PPC ads is that they are very expensive, and you need to have expertise in handling PPC ads otherwise you might end up wasting your money in generating wrong leads.
While running PPC ads you should choose your target audience as per your buyer persona.
Choose your keywords very carefully, write your ad copies to attract the attention of the users, and most importantly the landing pages of your website you are using to generate online leads should be responsive, fast to load and beautifully designed to inspire the visitor to take an action you intend him to do on your website.
Recommended: Pay Per Click Marketing: How to Get Best Results?
Referral Marketing
Referral marketing is one of the most used Online Lead Generation techniques usually by e-Commerce companies and software companies. Companies offer some discounts or other benefits to the existing customers to refer their friends.
Referral marketing is usually cheaper and more direct in nature because existing customers advocate for the brand.
They refer the brand to their friends and when those friends make a purchase on the website the referrers get their discount coupon or cash incentives.
Summary
Online lead generation sometimes can be a tedious task and especially when your marketing strategies are not well thought out.
Properly integrating all the above mentioned online lead generation techniques can help marketers generate quality leads in enough quantity.
But, you should also keep in mind to do the A/B tests for your lead generation techniques to put your efforts on the best channel and technique to generate leads for your business.
