What is Lead Generation?

What is lead generation, and what is lead? How will it improve your business, and what sales lead generation tools should you use?

By

Gabriel Pana

September 30, 2024 4:00 PM

5 min read

Image Credits:

Freepik

Lead generation marketing is a key part of the sales procedure of many important companies. Lead generation marketing is the process of gaining the interest of potential clients in order to raise future sales profit.

What is a Lead?

Leads represent any group of people or companies who have manifested some kind of interest in a business’s products or services but haven’t yet made an acquisition. To understand better what is a lead, think about a lead as a part of a company’s public, also known as potential public - they haven’t interacted with the brand, but have given reasons to believe they may be interested in doing it in the future. 

Marketing Lead vs Sales Lead

A marketing-qualified lead is considered more likely to become a customer than other leads. This happens because they manifest a deeper interest and can respond better to lead nurturing, even though they may not be prepared to purchase. As the leads proceed further in the sales cycle, most often as a result of lead nurturing, they can be fully passed to the sales team. 

On the other hand, a sales-qualified lead is closely ready to make an acquisition but may have more doubts or needs that have to be dealt with by the sales team. At this stage of the sales cycle, the advertising staff keeps nurturing the connection. A strong marketing-sales alliance might result in more productive lead generation and larger conversion rates. 

The evolution of lead generation and sales 

Lead generation marketing was used to represent purchased lists that would include names, and sales agents telephoned people at home. Fortunately, this is history due to technological progress, which now allows us to generate leads according to some specific insights and standards. 

Companies nowadays have the ability to collect data about leads or potential customers and then adapt their marketing and advertising campaigns to their needs and desires. The customer’s acquisition journey has significantly modified with the expansion of the Internet and the greater accessibility to information.

This is important because, in the past, it was an ordinary practice for sales agents to interact with less educated leads. This would lead to lower productivity and a waste of energy and resources. 

Current leads are much more knowledgeable - they can use lots of online information resources, such as blogs, social media, search engines, and other channels to become aware of a product or service before getting in touch with a sales agent of a company. This is also done through a competitive analysis. This enhances the company and product credibility and increases the chances of a potential purchase. 

These alterations in the acquisition trip have also impacted the positions of sales and marketing teams when it comes to lead sales. In the past, the two different teams had certainly distinct roles - the marketing team would come up with the list of leads, and then the sales team would try to find and implement ways to convert those leads into clients. 

However, today is not the case anymore. Instead of just handing over a list of leads from one to another, the teams collaborate to discover which leads are the best to work with throughout the sales campaigns. 

What is B2B lead generation?

B2B lead generation is the process of determining the perfect potential buyers for your product or service and alluring them to make an acquisition. Sales and marketing teams utilize various B2B lead generation tactics to attract interest from this potential audience. This happens because future success depends on creating interest from the right sources, and B2B lead generation is a critical first step. 

Most companies adopt several different tactics that will create lead generation -- all included in a great sales or marketing strategy. This allows them to touch many diverse targeted customers located in different stages of the buying process. These lead generation strategies might include:

  • Social media outreach
  • Email marketing 
  • Content marketing 
  • Event marketing 
  • Website optimization

B2B lead generation refers to people, organizations, or businesses that have the possibility to transform into customers for B2B products or services. Generally, these leads are from other companies instead of individuals (B2C). However, sometimes, some personal contacts and autoload micro businesses can also represent B2B leads.

B2B sales leads aren’t essentially harder to find than B2C leads, but they might be way more difficult to qualify and convert. While B2C leads will always be individual persons, B2B leads might be somewhat of an enigma. Most traditional B2B lead generation tactics only lead to common contact emails. 

B2B lead generation is important for both sales and marketing teams because it provides leads to flow through the sales cycle - shortly, it provides conversions, customers, and business. 

Lead Generation Tools

A lot of companies use different AI-powered or insight-collective tools for lead generation. Lead generation tools are software that you can use to turn people who haven’t heard of your brand into customers. 

Lead generation tools help you attract customers into your sales cycle by providing you with their contact details, such as phone numbers and email addresses. Lead generation tools are great crowbars that you can use to obtain high-quality leads. 

They eliminate the dull work by:

  • automating the lead generation process;
  • producing lead magnets;
  • providing conversion rate insights and analytics;
  • helping you produce superior forms or automating the lead follow-up process. 

Some good examples of 2024 lead generation tools are Matomo, HubSpot, Leadfeeder, and OptinMonster.

Create a Lead Generation Strategy with Traction Keys

Are you ready to take your business to new heights through ongoing collaboration? Our dream team focuses on building a successful lead generation strategy that can improve help your business growth. Whether you’re looking to launch your business or rebrand your existing company, we provide top-class solutions that will set you apart from your competition.

Contact us today to get a personalized quote for your business needs, and let’s start building the path to your next level of success together

By

Gabriel Pana

September 30, 2024 4:00 PM

5 min read

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