Lead Generation 101: What Works, What Doesn’t, and How to Crush It!
Supercharge Your Sales Funnel with Top Lead Generation Strategies
Gone are the days when lead generation was all about cold calling and interrupting family times! In fact, 97% of people don't like getting cold calls.
Imagine yourself at a busy market selling sunglasses. No way are you going to be able to talk to everyone in that crowd, right? Instead, you focus on people who truly need shades—those squinting in the sun. That's a lead generation strategy: finding people interested in what you have to offer.
With modern lead generation strategies, you can tap into a wealth of sales leads from top-notch prospects. If you take full advantage of these opportunities, you'll witness a significant increase in your revenue. In this post, we will talk about
- How does lead generation work?
- Strategies to generate quality leads
- Lead gen platforms to us
Keep reading!
What is Lead Generation?
Lead generation is the process of getting people interested in your product or service so you can eventually sell them. When it comes to online marketing, one common practice is to gather a visitor's contact information, also known as a "lead," through a web form.
With the rise of the internet, the buying process has changed a lot more. The rise of internet resources such as blogs, social media, and search engines has given consumers more power to educate themselves on items before interacting with sales teams.
While it is beneficial that potential customers are aware of the goods and services they are looking for, it presents difficulties for companies in terms of brand recognition. So, businesses must build a strong online footprint using direct marketing techniques like content marketing and search engine optimization.
The process of generating leads consists of two basic steps:
- Driving visitors to your website and
- Persuading them to give you their contact information.
The approach begins with figuring out how to get people to visit your website. You can start getting prospects to drive traffic in several ways, depending on your business's lead generation objectives and available funds. Here are a few ways that businesses use to drive traffic:
- Social media marketing
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Engage with your target audience on social media,
- Capture their attention through display ads, and
- Connect with Target at offline events.
Why is Lead Generation Important?
The leap from a complete stranger to a paying customer is far less forceful when a potential client has a genuine enthusiasm for your company. Inbound lead generation can make this leap easier. But do you ever wonder why creating such marketing leads is important for your business? Here’s why.
It facilitates business growth - Lead generation works by bringing in a steady stream of potential customers, which means there are always chances to grow. While new business sales can balance any current client churn or contribute to an already increasing customer base, firms without quality leads eventually stagnate and fail.
It boosts your brand value - A whopping 50% of all social media users are receptive to brand highlight postings. Once individuals come across your brand, you can provide them with additional details about your product or service's features and benefits. Lead generation for the sales team can be a great way to boost brand recognition.
It improves sales efficiency - When provided with qualified leads, sales and marketing teams perform more effectively, resulting in improved conversion rates and less time wasted on unqualified prospects. Lead scoring and tagging allow sales teams to focus on the most engaged and warm prospects.
It helps collect customer data - Lead generation presents a chance to acquire crucial marketing data from prospects, which can be useful in future campaigns. Customer data, such as requirements, preferences, and wishes, may help you customize your offering to meet your existing customers’ demands.
It strengthens brand loyalty - Businesses can create sizable communities of like-minded people interested in their goods and services by creating and nurturing leads. This community's development promotes brand loyalty for many years to come.
Top 5 Lead Generation Strategies
Lead generation campaigns can have many different parts that all need to work together. Sometimes, it's hard to discern what's working and what needs tweaking. Here are some tactics for creating online lead generation campaigns.
1. Quiz
2. Ebooks
3. Subscribe Us forms
4. Workshops
5. Free courses
Each approach has a specific function, from getting customers' attention to making a purchase.
Here comes FreshLearn, a platform that unifies these separate lead-generating technologies into one intuitive interface. Some platforms offer these tools separately, but FreshLearn combines them into a single solution that lets businesses use a full lead generation strategy quickly and effectively.
You'll save time and get more out of your marketing efforts by using a combined method that makes them work better together.
Here, we'll discuss each lead generation approach in detail and how to use them to your advantage in capturing and nurturing leads.
1. Quizzes
Have you ever tried those online quizzes that tell you which Disney character you are? or what's your persona? Aside from being fun, these games are also a smart way for lead generation companies to get lead information from people who might buy something. Let's look at why quizzes are such a good way to get new leads.
Why Does It Work?
Seriously, it's hard to stand out on social media platforms because it's so busy. Since algorithms only display your posts to a portion of your followers, how can you ensure the other followers see them? Quizzes can be quite helpful. To get around those smart algorithms, you may convert your followers into subscribers by asking them to take a quiz.
Moreover, quizzes offer valuable insights. In contrast to static lead magnets like downloaded PDFs, quizzes reveal something about the person who answers them. Discovering their interests, challenges, and aspirations will enable you to customize your inbound marketing strategies.
Oh, and here's the best part: quizzes actually help in qualifying leads. Quizzes ask smart questions to see if a prospect is really interested, has the budget, and fits with what you're giving, so you don't waste time on people who aren't fitting.
Success In Action
Leads.PH used Outgrow to make an interesting case study. ==The quiz "Which Kind Of Whisky Drinker Are You?" got over 53,000 leads for their client Single malt. PH. With engaging visuals and an easy-to-understand quiz style, this interactive approach achieved an impressive 34% conversion rate.== The quiz drew in many people, helped with consumer research, and raised brand recognition, leading to more accurate retargeting based on survey results.
Lead Generation Tools
Did we manage to persuade you that a quiz for the lead generation process would be excellent for your website? If so, good! If you are looking for some ideas, here are two platforms:
Interact Quiz Software
If you want to create engaging quizzes like the ones on BuzzFeed, Interact Quiz software is for you. It offers easy-to-use quiz software that helps you grow your email list and connect with your target audience.
With Interact, you can create fun quizzes that entertain your visitors and collect email subscribers along the way. Want to recommend specific products from your e-commerce store? No problem. Interact lets you do just that. Whether it's finding the perfect lipstick or the best dog lead, their quizzes have you covered.
Now, let's weigh the pros and cons of using Interact:
Pros:
- Simple to use, even for those without experience.
- Many industry-specific templates and quizzes are available.
- Easy lead management and integration with various email marketing and CRM solutions.
Cons:
- Lacks brand personalization.
- Offers a basic lead scoring system without category recommendations.
- Only multiple-choice, true/false, and image/GIF questions are available.
- The basic plan doesn't have many features.
LeadQuizzes
LeadQuizzes is a popular choice for businesses seeking quiz software to generate leads. As the name suggests, it's all about capturing more sales-qualified leads for your business while engaging your audience effectively.
With LeadQuizzes, simplicity is key. While their landing pages may be basic, they get the lead capture done when it comes to entertaining your audience with fun quizzes. Plus, their drag-and-drop lead form builder makes it easy to create the perfect quiz, form, or survey.
Let's take a closer look at the pros and cons of using LeadQuizzes:
Pros:
- LeadQuizzes has several capabilities for collecting and marketing qualified leads.
- The easy drag-and-drop builder lets you personalize a template to match your brand.
- Have quiz templates for ideas or customize them to match your brand.
- Integrations with leading email marketing and CRM solutions.
Cons:
- Despite being functional, results and landing pages lack intriguing customization possibilities.
- Not a flexible platform for online learning or staff training quizzes.
- Analytics can be less extensive than other quiz-building software.
- Some existing customers may find LeadQuizzes pricey for what it delivers.
2. Ebooks
Your company might benefit greatly from an eBook if you want to boost brand recognition and convert more quality leads. 51% of B2B lead generation today use eBooks as part of their content marketing, according to the Content Marketing Institute.
eBooks can cover various topics, from industry best practices to product or service information, case studies, troubleshooting, and useful industry tips. Ebooks also let companies connect with a specific group of people based on where they are in the buyer’s journey.
Why Does It Work?
An eBook is a source of detailed information about a particular topic, involving very deep insights into the matter. This makes it the best way to attract potential customers, as it might be possible that they are looking for knowledgeable sources on the respective topic.
They are also incredibly convenient. Ebooks are in a digital form and are available through several devices. They can be read anywhere you are, so one cannot say they failed to read due to some busy schedule.
Additionally, eBooks are cost-effective. They can be widely distributed with minimal printing or shipping costs and extend your marketing dollars, allowing you to track their performance well. With the Download Monitor, you can keep an eye on every download and conversion for well-informed marketing decisions.
Ebooks can be a very useful way to find new quality leads. By requesting the visitor's contact information in exchange for your eBook, you may build a database of potential customers to whom you can send follow-up emails.
Ebooks can easily be shared with others. You can do this through social media, email shots, and presentations to further their reach and lead generation process. This all combines to make them a powerful choice for your marketing needs.
Success in Action
Martin Wales, president of free-ebooks.net, gives an outstanding example of using eBooks to generate leads in his book, "The P.U.M.P. Marketing System." It was actually transcribed from a training session that he did and has shown to be very effective.
That's been downloaded over 46,000 times, just showing how providing more resources to links with tips and free video training can draw and cultivate targeted prospects without overtly selling services.
Lead Generation Tools
Let's look at some incredible ebook creator programs that may assist you in making visually stunning material, instructive tales, and practical instructions that will captivate your readers and make them want more.
Adobe InDesign
Adobe InDesign ranks among the top tools used in the design of e-books—probably the best one to consider, especially if you need an executive appearance and intricate designs. This is, therefore, a favorite tool for many graphic designers and publishing professionals who need detailed control over, for example, layouts, text placement, and embedding of images and videos.
Pros:
- It’s great for complex designs.
- Works well with other Adobe tools, perfect for a streamlined workflow.
- Supports multiple formats ensuring your eBook looks good on all devices.
Cons:
- It can be tough to learn, not very beginner-friendly.
- You’ll need to pay a monthly fee, which can add up.
- Needs a good computer to run smoothly, which might not be practical for everyone.
Calibre
Calibre is far more than an application to read eBooks. It manages and, if necessary, creates eBooks. It's designed to be a solution for eBook fans in search of a reliable way to manage their digital library and, of course, to let them do some editing or converting of eBooks. This, in turn, can improve lead quality.
Pros:
- It’s free to use, which makes it accessible to everyone.
- Supports Many Formats: Great at handling various file types, which means fewer compatibility issues.
- Good at Converting: Excellent for changing eBook formats without hassle.
Cons:
- The design features of this can never match those of highly specialized software, such as InDesign.
- At times, it is not a very friendly interface. It sometimes even feels somewhat outdated and overrun.
- A bit slow sometimes, mainly on large lots of books and very large files.
3. Subscribe Us Forms
Subscription forms are an excellent way of marketing and maintaining a continued relationship between companies and their potential customers. Instead of closing the conversation upon making a sale, these forms open up communication with the customer to further engage and commit to a subscription for something else, in this case, updates or services.
If businesses encourage consumers to subscribe, they can learn a lot about their consumers' tastes and behaviors to improve lead quality. This data is like a mine of gold for more targeted advertising.
For example, if a company realizes that a large number of its subscribers are interested in healthy eating, it should, at its best, respond by offering tailored content or services, such as subscriptions to a low-calorie meal plan.
Why it Works
This sort of targeted marketing ensures the offering resonates well with the target group, benefiting them in engagement and conversion. Beyond that, it is regular in nature; subscriptions help build strong, trusting relationships.
When a business constantly adds value that aligns with customer interests and needs, credibility and trust are built. This builds customer loyalty and encourages subscribers to refer the brand to others.
In addition, this personalized experience through individualism makes the subscriber feel exclusive and understood, thus improving their overall experience with the brand. Personal touches further drive engagement and make the potential customers the brand ambassadors, sharing about the positive experiences.
Finally, the subscription's consistent contact offers a steady stream of quality leads. Compared to one-time transactions, a subscription requires the client to be actively interested and involved in maintaining a robust lead generation funnel. The pool of new leads grows as more people subscribe, creating a snowball effect that can increase the brand's reach and impact.
Success in Action
Uber does a great job of segmenting the leads, as drivers and passengers, early in the lead generation process. Just like an elearning platform customizes its approach for instructors and learners through the initial subscription, Uber’s Sign-up forms help tailor its services to each group. As a result, this approach streamlines the user experience and optimizes lead generation.
Lead Generation Tools
With so many online form builder options, knowing where to begin might be confusing. We have simplified it for you. Here are two platforms to consider.
Google Forms
Marketers typically choose Google Forms as an easy and quick way to develop a subscription form. Its ease of use and integration into the Google ecosystem make it stand out. With Google Forms, users can create a form with just a few clicks, making it perfect for simple jobs like event registration or polls. You can easily gather and organize data using its interface with Google Sheets and similar applications.
Pros:
- It's easy to put up any form because it's so user-friendly.
- Google Forms is free; anyone can use it.
- Integrates with Google services to facilitate data analysis.
Cons:
- It lacks the features of more specialist form tools.
- There are few aesthetic customization possibilities.
- Google Forms may cause data security and privacy issues for individuals.
Zoho Forms
For organizations in need of an effective form builder, Zoho Forms offers a more comprehensive option. Since it's part of the Zoho suite, which has everything from CRM to project management, it works well for businesses that are already using Zoho.
Zoho Forms is quite adaptable and can be used for various business needs. It becomes even better when you add sophisticated features, logic rules, and payment connectors to your forms.
Pros:
- Complex features such as logic rules, payment gateway integration, and multi-page form creation are abundant.
- It has various customization options to meet your branding demands.
- Works well with other Zoho apps and external services to optimize processes.
Cons:
- It may get pricey if you want to use all its premium features.
- Due to its many features, it may take longer to master.
- Complex forms and several integrations might decrease response times or cause minor issues.
4. Workshops
Virtual workshops are one of the key strategies for companies to bring in more leads, and learn, and collaborate with others in the post-pandemic period. These internet-based sessions of interaction and invention are accessible to and efficient for people from anywhere.
Given the current state of affairs, when face-to-face contact is extremely rare, digital marketing channels offer the most secure and effective means of reaching out and making relationships. Online workshops allow companies to reach more people than they could at a live event, using the same time and resources.
Why It Works
Virtual workshop events differ from live events in their longevity of lead generation strategy. A workshop recording may have separate purposes. A sales team might leverage those recordings into cold calls to establish expertise and show value.
The same content can be reused to re-engage with prospects who have lost their initial interest or those whose questions have been left hanging by keeping the conversation alive and active.
These recordings are also a boon to companies generating leads. You can take key segments and put them in targeted campaigns, multiplying the utility and reach of the original content. This utility makes webinars and virtual workshops not an event but a persistent asset in the marketing toolkit.
The rise of remote work is likely to increase the value of virtual workshops even more. As work evolves, they are essential for companies that want to maintain a competitive advantage and high-performance standards.
In reality, they serve as much more than just a meeting space; their capabilities extend from tools that facilitate efficient cooperation to interactive features that captivate participants. They serve as a center for learning and innovation, bringing in all the leads and allowing your organization to expand despite geographical barriers.
Success in Action
Aldric Chen, a consultant sales trainer, recently admitted to finding leads in his training workshops. He shared his experience from a product training where he realized his 50+ workshop attendees could be his next best leads. He says the attendees come prepared, knowing the agenda and eager to learn how the product can benefit them, much unlike the unpredictability of cold calls.
Lead Generation Tools
Do you want to find effective solutions to increase lead capture and your company's profitability? Here are some suggestions if you're looking for a good virtual workshop platform.
Zoom
With its intuitive interface and fast rise to prominence, Zoom is quickly becoming a popular choice for online conferences and seminars. It streamlines virtual event hosting, so even those without a coding background can do it. When leveraging events for b2b lead generation, simplicity of use is crucial for engaging a wide audience.
Zoom's design makes it easy for hosts to run meetings. It has tools like breakout rooms for talks with smaller groups, polling for quick feedback, and screen sharing to improve presentations. These elements are essential for lead capture methods since they keep engagement levels high.
Pros:
- It's simple for hosts and attendees, lowering entrance barriers.
- Works well on several platforms, ensuring accessibility.
- Offers many interactive opportunities to engage workshop attendees.
Cons:
- Despite advancements, security issues may persist.
- With bigger groups or weak internet connections, video quality may degrade.
- Multi-person meetings in the free tier have a 40-minute restriction, which may not be enough for lengthier workshops.
Webex
Webex, developed by Cisco, is well-liked due to its extensive set of capabilities that meet the demands of businesses and professionals. Larger companies that care about data security and lead management software synergy choose this product because it is built to be secure and works well with other business tools.
Webex's broad features are perfect for in-depth, organized seminars. It can manage many participants simultaneously, provide detailed statistics to monitor participation and provide advanced scheduling choices. For enterprises handling sensitive data, its strong security features secure all communications.
Pros:
- Its strong security features fit data-protection-focused businesses.
- Full of features for a customized workshop experience.
- Easy integration with other corporate apps improves workflow.
Cons:
- The vast capabilities might overwhelm beginners, requiring training.
- It costs more than other sites most of the time, especially when you need extra tools.
- Often involves software installation, which may not be convenient or quick.
5. Free Courses
As part of your digital marketing plan, you can offer free online courses to attract new leads. Offering a free mini-course on your sales page is a great way to get possible buyers who are interested in your field but are still weighing their options.
By offering these freebies, not only can you attract potential customers who may not otherwise buy from you, but you can also collect their contact details to use for future marketing campaigns.
Why Does It Works?
The free courses provide an edge over the competition. Giving the course away for free allows you to reach a massive audience, both domestically and abroad, as more and more people are looking to the internet for educational options.
So, the physical and financial barriers that used to exist for old-fashioned face-to-face events have actually disappeared, as anyone with internet access can join.
Aside from that, taking advantage of free courses is a great way to get a head start in your profession and create content credibility with the company. The free course will serve as a portfolio, demonstrating your expertise and teaching style and making selling your premium product easy.
Also, because online courses are so inexpensive to administer, they are a great way to generate leads directly. Once you've established a variety of free online courses, they may keep bringing in quality leads indefinitely without spending a dime, in contrast to most traditional marketing tactics.
Your market presence will rise, and you may interact with and nurture prospective leads until they are ready to buy.
Success in Action
Copyblogger’s Free Email Courses are a prime example of using educational content for lead generation. They attract and engage their target audience by offering valuable email courses at no cost.
These courses gather email addresses and build trust, moving potential customers down the sales funnel and fostering a base of loyal followers. This method proves that providing quality, relevant content can be a powerful tool in capturing leads.
Lead Generation Tools
Nowadays, sharing knowledge is as simple as uploading a video to YouTube. But to learn more about a subject, make money, build a group, or expand your business by offering online courses? That requires a more powerful configuration to assist with creating course pages, developing a curriculum, and advertising your course. Here are few such platforms.
Udemy
Udemy attracts diverse users, from individuals looking to enhance their skills to major organizations looking to train their staff. It is a flexible platform for hosting and selling online courses. Udemy lets educators and experts develop and sell courses on various topics. The diversity of authors who create content on Udemy helps maintain a rich course library, which can generate leads for teachers.
If you're trying to generate leads using Udemy, you can use its massive user base. An instructor's profile and exposure can skyrocket once their course is up on Udemy since it can reach students worldwide. Udemy also heavily markets courses using algorithms based on browsing and enrollment history.
Pros:
- Visibility increases with millions of potential students.
- Teachers and students may easily create and participate in courses on the site.
- Udemy offers promotions and tailored course suggestions to boost enrollment.
Cons:
- Udemy takes a cut of instructors' course profits; how much of a cut depends on the course's discoverability.
- Coursemakers lack control over price and user data, which can hurt student relationships.
- New instructors may struggle to stand out on the open platform due to course competition.
Skillshare
Skillshare is a popular choice for workers in creative fields like writing, graphic design, and photography because it focuses on creative material and useful skills. This tool allows students to watch instructional videos, work on projects, and get peer feedback in a community-based learning setting. Lead generation strongly suits Skillshare's business as it fosters a community around teachers' brands.
With Skillshare's subscription model, teachers may earn money while students can access various courses for a set price. So, students can try out different classes without paying extra, which may make them more interested. For teachers, this means a consistent stream of students without having to market each class separately, which is great for attracting and retaining students.
Pros:
- Promotes instructor-student connections through project sharing and discussion.
- Student involvement increases since they can take all courses at one price.
- Targets creative, interested audiences, ideal for specialist issues.
Cons:
- The amount of time students spend viewing your courses determines earnings, which might vary.
- The platform controls the user experience, restricting teachers' course customization.
- Though fantastic for unique material, narrow specialization could involve strong rivalry in popular topic areas.
What Next?
So, you have successfully learned how to generate leads and even have some of the top platforms to begin with. However, lead generation is just the beginning. Not all leads yield revenue. Do you know that 80% of your fresh leads may not convert to sales? Yes, that is why lead nurturing is important.
You must keep working even after your lead generation efforts to convert those warm leads into paying customers. Effectively nurtured leads, in fact, show a 20% increase in sales. You can do this by quality follow-ups through multiple targeted emails. This way, you push your quality leads from the top to the bottom of your sales funnel. Here’s what a basic sales funnel looks like.
Wrapping Up
It takes a lot of effort to generate leads, but the effort is worthwhile. There are many ways to generate quality leads; the key is to figure out which lead gen channels work best for your company. We know we gave you an overwhelming list of platforms you can use for your lead generation! It could also be difficult to manage data using different lead generation strategies.
But what if you could use all the lead generation strategies in one place? Yes, with FreshLearn, you can create quizzes, ebooks, subscription forms, workshops, and free courses in a single platform.
You can also generate and nurture your sales-ready leads by sending them a predetermined set of emails using workflows and marketing automation tools. For instance, if someone signs up for your magazine, they will receive four emails over a few days. Our No-brainer and higher package clients can enjoy this exclusive reward!
Do you look forward to generating high-quality leads? Try Freshlearn today!
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