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With the rise of new digital technologies, the internet represents an important part of the market. In order to develop an effective marketing strategy, lead generation is one of the best assets of a business. Indeed, being present online is not enough to promote an activity. There are certain techniques that must be used to convert visitors into customers .

Definition of Lead Generation

The term lead generation or lead gen is mainly used in the B2B world. In digital marketing, a lead refers to a sales contact. This is a person who appears to be interested in the services or products offered by a business. In order to develop sales , a lead generation strategy should be employed , an important step in the customer acquisition process.

This term, derived from the English lead generation, refers to a set of techniques to attract visitors to your website. By providing information about them, these people help to feed your database and integrate the list of your contacts. The objective of lead generation is therefore to find interesting prospects, which can then be transformed into customers .

Thanks to the lead scoring technique , you can classify contacts according to their interest in your services. Leads can be categorized in particular into:

• Disqualified lead, a contact who is not of sufficient interest in your products and / or services. It is therefore useless to make him a commercial proposal.
• Informative lead, a term for anyone looking for information on your website. However, she may not be interested in your services or products.
• Sales lead, relating to anyone showing a real interest in purchasing one of your products or services.

This ranking allows you to develop a marketing strategy adapted to each type of lead . Indeed, it is more beneficial for the company to concentrate its efforts on people potentially interested in the products or services offered.

Who Is Lead Generation for?

Lead generation is intended for all players in the B2B world. This technique is accessible to everyone, whether for very small businesses, SMEs or large commercial groups. It is enough that your company benefits from a lasting offer.

However, note that some products or services sell poorly on certain distribution channels such as the internet. In this case, it is recommended to define a marketing strategy adapted to your activity .

The lead generation strategy can also be suitable for companies working in B2C. Moreover, the cycle between a production company and a consumer is shorter.

Why Do Lead Generation?

Lead generation is a strategy increasingly popular with companies for the many benefits it provides.

Lead Generation Helps Control Marketing Costs

Compared to traditional marketing strategies, lead generation is an inexpensive technique. This is done on the basis of a comparison between a television ad and a network marketing campaign. Indeed, publishing online will be less expensive than appearing for a few minutes on the air.

Even if some lead generation strategies require a higher or lower investment, you can still benefit from interesting spinoffs . It's also easier to measure the impact of a lead generation by counting the number of contacts converted to customers. Moreover, this process automates actions , which will allow your employees to save time .

Have an Interesting Return on Investment Thanks to Lead Generation

The main goal of lead generation is to attract leads, but not just all of them . These are people who are potentially interested in your offers. By working on your relationship with these contacts, you can easily convert them into customers. To do this, show them the added value of your services on their business . Since you know the expectations of your prospects, you can easily adapt your future strategies to meet other needs.

Lead Generation Helps Improve Company Awareness

Different techniques are available to generate as many leads as possible. In particular, you can use the publication of relevant and unique content. The objective is to establish your notoriety, by highlighting your expertise . Moreover, offering quality publications ensures you a better place on search engines, which allows you to gain a head start over your competitors.

What Are the Tools for Generating Leads?

Lead generation can be done through two techniques: Inbound and Outbound Marketing .

Inbound Marketing Tools to Generate Leads

The Inbound marketing is a technique to attract and retain a visitor to turn into lead . With a well-defined strategy and better marketing targeting, you can even guarantee conversion of customers into ambassadors.

The tools to create high traffic

To attract visitors, blogs and social networks are your best tools . However, having a blog is not enough, it must also be widely visible. For this, it is necessary to master SEO techniques . The principle is to provide quality and relevant content that meets the needs of readers.

As for social networks, opt for channels that bring together professionals. As you operate in the B2B world, you will be more likely to attract leads on platforms like LinkedIn .

Tools for converting visitors into leads

To convert the visitor into a lead, you need to collect information about them. Be aware that B2B customers are less willing to give out their contact details. So you need to prepare content that will interest them. Thanks to a landing page , you can offer downloadable content such as a white paper devoted to a specific product. In exchange, the visitor will have to fill out the form you offer.

However, visitors don't just land on your landing page by accident. You'll need CTAs to guide them there. To acquire more leads, use tools like HubSpot , WordPress or Plezi.

Outbound Marketing Tools to Generate Leads

Outbound marketing is a lead generation technique based on paid campaigns. The principle consists of associating ads on sites visited by Internet users. They then allow you to attract visitors to your site (people who, at the base, do not know of its existence). For this, you have a few tools at your disposal.

Google ads

Google Ads allows you to generate ads at the top of the search page listing. By bidding on keywords related to your activities, your offer will appear at the top of the list in the results of the Internet user's request . The ad will then aim to attract them to your site.

LinkedIn Ads

The LinkedIn platform also offers a paid marketing campaign targeting a specific audience. Moreover, this network allows you to generate advertisements in different formats . To do this, create your campaign manager account and define your goals.

Examples of Lead Generation

In the case of a company producing personalized packaging, for example, to promote your business, your products should be offered to catering professionals. Thus, it is recommended to use lead generation.

You probably already have a sales target to reach your turnover. To do this, thanks to the lead generation, for example write blog articles about the benefits of using personalized packaging. At the same time, offer a guide to download, in exchange for the user's contact details.

How to Generate Qualified Leads: the Detailed Guide

Lead generation is a crucial step for any business wishing to achieve a rapid return on investment. What digital marketing techniques help generate qualified leads? Discover through this article the different steps to take into consideration in order to optimize your generation of qualified leads.

What Are the Fundamentals of Effective Lead Generation?

The main goal of a lead generation campaign is to attract visitors in order to convert them into qualified leads . This conversion requires the adoption of a well-defined marketing strategy while providing high added value content. Here are the essential steps to follow to generate leads quickly:

Identify Your Target

Identifying your buyers personas is a crucial step in successfully generating qualified leads. Analyzing your target's demographic and behavioral data helps you tailor your inbound marketing strategy to your needs. Indeed, each premium content offered must respond to a specific problem of your buyer persona.

Generate Qualified Traffic

Every leadgen process begins with adopting a strategy of driving traffic. This action requires the creation of premium content that meets the needs of your target. Your main goal is to write SEO content that catches the interest of visitors and share it on your blog or other distribution channels.

Convert Visitors Into Qualified Leads

Converting visitors into qualified leads is an important phase in any lead generation process. Adding a " Call To Action " or CTA button helps transform a simple visitor into a prospect. Your article should then arouse his curiosity and motivate him to click on a CTA button to discover the solution to his problem.

Create an Optimized Landing Page to Obtain "Hot" Leads

The landing pages are used to provide high-value information. Your target audience must discover the interest of your offer through this page. A landing page is used to encourage your target to fill out a contact form in exchange: 

• premium content to download
• making an appointment
• registration for a webinar .

Only an optimized landing page contributes to the conversion of a visitor into a qualified lead.

What Content to Use to Generate Leads?

The diversification of SEO media and content offers the possibility of attracting different targets. The needs vary from one future client to another. The offer of several premium content thus contributes to the generation of qualified leads.

To encourage visitors to provide their contact details , lead campaign experts advise:

• provide a white paper, e-book or guides to download;
• organize webinars / conferences to respond to target issues;
• provide free training;
• subscribe to a newsletter ;
• create a comparison of customer cases and benchmarks;
• present studies focused on the needs of audiences.

As part of the generation of qualified leads, it makes sense to allocate a budget for the sponsorship of your content on social networks.

At the end of your article, add a link pointing to your landing page that will allow you to download the content . Each article must add value to your offer, in order to encourage your buyers personas to provide their contact details in exchange for content.

How to Generate Leads With Inbound and Outbound Marketing?

The Marketing Inbound and Outbound marketing can generate traffic and qualified leads. The techniques used to promote lead generation are different.

Generate Leads With Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing consists of attracting leads by publishing relevant content on different distribution channels. This marketing strategy helps to establish a lead scoring in order to classify the targets according to their degree of maturity and customer cases. A high maturity lead quickly turns into a customer, unlike a cold prospect.

All content must match a target 's buyer's journey , so that the target can enter the conversion funnel. If you want to succeed in generating qualified leads by implementing an inbound marketing strategy, you must follow the following steps:

• establish an inventory: this step consists of analyzing the needs of consumers and checking the offers of competitors;
• determine KPIs : the analysis of each key performance indicator or KPI contributes to the optimization of marketing campaigns according to the needs of your targets;
• create targeted content: information relating to the demographic and behavioral data of your buyers personas contributes to the creation of relevant content;
• distribute on social networks: sharing dynamic and premium content on several channels promotes the generation of qualified leads.

The inbound marketing strategy also ensures a long sales cycle process. You must therefore retain your customers in order to maintain the customer relationship. Let them know about each product or service to promote in order to keep the conversation going and build trust.

Generate Leads With Outbound Marketing

Outbound marketing aims to contact customers who may be interested in your products or services. This strategy consists of soliciting prospects by sending a personalized message or promotional content.

This outbound marketing technique requires a mastery of communication strategies in order to transform a cold prospect into a hot prospect.

Here are the most used techniques to generate leads with Outbound Marketing:

• cold emailing;
• cold calling or cold calling;
• display ads;
• press releases.

Digital marketing professionals recommend combining inbound marketing strategies with outbound , in order to maximize the results of a leadgen campaign.

What Advice to Optimize Lead Generation?

The success of a lead generation depends on several parameters. Considering these tips will help you optimize your lead-gen process and ensure a long-term sales cycle.

Lead Magnet: Create Content to Download

In order to convert visitors into qualified leads, create several premium downloadable content on your website. The more relevant content you have, the more you will be able to generate qualified leads.

Take Care of the Contact Form

Limit the number of mandatory fields on your registration form . Just ask for useful contact details and important information. The ideal is to offer a short contact form, to be completed in less than 3 minutes.

Optimize Content With Seo Writing

The SEO plays an important role in generating qualified leads. Add relevant keywords to each of your articles to increase your brand visibility. Create a meta description for each article, in order to attract more visitors and convert them quickly.

Conclusion

Lead generation is a business strategy aimed at maximizing the conversion rate of site visitors to customers . To succeed in this area, do not hesitate to develop commercial leads, to bet on the automation of actions and to use the various tools at your disposal.

You have the choice between Inbound and Outbound marketing techniques. The goal is to offer content that meets the needs of your prospects. Thanks to controlled costs and a rapid return on investment, this technique is much more advantageous than a traditional marketing campaign .