Future-Proof Your Business with Online Lead Generation for 2024

Did you know that 54% of businesses allocate half of their marketing budget to lead generation? While it seems like an enormous expense, it’s imperative—because lead generation is what sustains a business. Lead generation is like a fishing rod that catches prospective clients, which gives a business what it needs to stay alive. No matter how great your product or service is, if you lack leads, you won't have customers, sales, or revenue.

It is critical to have a lead generation strategy in place to grow your customer base and help your business scale. Online lead generation boosts consumer interest in your products or services by increasing their visibility to potential customers. Before making a purchase, buyers typically browse online, read reviews, and look into what the competitors can offer. Learning how to attract this online traffic and turn it into tangible leads is vital to growing your business.


Future-Proof Your Business with Online Lead Generation for 2024:


What is a Lead?

A “lead” is a person who shows interest in the product or service of a business. These possible buyers usually hear from a company after engaging with them, such as by subscribing to their newsletter, responding to a survey, or signing up for a product trial.

Let's say you participated in an online poll about a new scented shampoo. A few days later, you'll likely get an email from the brand, inquiring about your experience with their hair product. Business-wise, the poll results give the company information about you that they can use to tailor their initial message to your specific needs.

Leads are an integral part of the larger ecosystem that consumers go through en route to becoming customers. However, every lead is different depending on how they qualify and where they are in the buying journey.

Several types of leads vary by qualification and interests.

The common types of leads based on qualifications are:

Types of Leads Based on Qualifications

  • Marketing qualified leads (MQL): These are people who have engaged in your marketing team's programs but are still hesitant to talk to a salesperson. They need to be nurtured to turn into actual customers.
  • Sales-qualified leads (SQL): These are people who have the need or desire to purchase. For example, they initiate contact by completing a form to get more details about your product. SQL prospects are typically the easiest to convert.
  • Product qualified leads (PQL): These are people who have tested your product or service and expressed interest in becoming paying customers. PQLs are those who participated in a product trial or a limited-access service with an option to upgrade.
  • Service-qualified leads: These are people who have expressed an interest in becoming paying customers of the company's service team. For example, a lead informs the company's customer service representative that they want to upgrade their product subscription. The representative will then refer the client to the sales team.

The common types of leads based on interests are:

Types of Leads Based on Interests

  • Hot sales leads: These are people who are currently looking for a specific service to address a need that your product or service can fix.
  • Warm sales leads (Inbound): These are people who have shown an interest in your product or service but have no immediate need for it or a particular time frame to make a purchase.
  • Cold sales leads (Outbound): These are prospects who have shown little or no interest in your product or service. You may have only recently obtained their contact details via an opt-in form on your website.

What is Lead Generation?

Lead generation is a vital component of the sales funnel. It involves attracting potential customers and capturing their interest through the act of nurturing them as a lead. The primary objective of this process is to convert these potential customers into paying ones. Effective lead generation strategies can engage and entice a target audience to willingly provide their information. Whether customers discover your business on their own or with your assistance, anyone who expresses interest is considered a lead.

There are two main types of lead generation: inbound and outbound. Inbound lead generation refers to potential clients who are drawn to your business through your marketing initiatives. They show their interest in your product or service through engagement, such as submitting an inquiry form, asking for a demo, or completing a survey. On the other hand, outbound lead generation delivers messages to your target audience, whether or not they have shown interest in your brand. The process includes cold calling, mass emailing, and direct advertising.


What is The Best Approach to Take: Inbound or Outbound?

Both inbound and outbound marketing have advantages and disadvantages. Outbound techniques are more effective for short-term goals, while inbound methods are effective in the long term. Inbound lead generation allows people to choose how they want to learn about your business. You give leads an active role in how they engage with your brand. On the other hand, outbound lead generation lets you decide when and how to communicate with people about your business. You get to set up engagements with leads at your convenience.

Outbound methods like advertising and cold calling can be quite pricey, demanding a significant investment. Alternatively, inbound marketing offers a cheaper cost per lead and becomes more cost-effective over time as the results tend to be sustainable.

Different types of businesses benefit from different ways of finding new customers. Industries like SaaS, B2B, and eCommerce do best when they use inbound lead generation. Others, like real estate and insurance, do better when they use outbound lead generation.

The nature of your business and its goals will help you choose which road to take. If you have the resources and staff, you can start with outbound lead generation to see results quickly. On the other hand, when you gain more customers through inbound lead generation, you can focus less on outbound marketing.


What Are the Steps Involved in Online Lead Generation?

Your call-to-action (CTA), landing page, and promotional deal all play a role in bringing leads to your business’s doorstep. Generally, it goes like this:

Step 1: A prospect learns about your business through your marketing channels, such as your website, eCommerce platform, or social media pages.

Step 2: The prospect is then prompted to engage with your product or service by clicking on the CTA.

Step 3: When the CTA is clicked, the prospect will be directed to a landing page with a compelling deal in exchange for their contact information. The deal is an incentive like a free eBook, product trial, or free downloadable templates.

Step 4: To receive the promotional offer, the prospect must provide their information by completing a form. Upon submission, the prospect is then officially considered a lead.

Collecting the prospect's contact information is just the first step. Converting a lead into an actual paying customer requires several touchpoints. As such, nurturing is necessary to establish a connection with the lead. This is achieved through constant engagement and communication, which primes the lead to making a purchase. You can manage your leads in a customer relationship management (CRM) software program for easier lead nurturing.


How Does Lead Generation Help Small Businesses?

Lead generation, particularly inbound marketing, benefits small businesses as it:

Benefits of lead generation for small businesses

Develops brand familiarity

Online lead generation initiatives give your brand visibility and generate interest in what you have to offer. When a prospect has brand awareness, they develop trust in your brand, giving them the assertion to exchange their contact information for an incentive, which can lead to a future purchase.

Creates avenues for business growth

In addition to providing you with a list of potential customers, lead generation can create additional avenues for business growth, such as establishing partnerships and collaborations with others.

Upgrades the quality of sales leads

Choosing inbound lead generation initiatives over purchasing leads results to higher-quality leads, which contribute to enhanced customer value and business growth.

Broadens the customer base

Lead generation can introduce you to previously untapped customer segments.

Tailors marketing per segment

If you intend to target multiple demographic segments, you can create lead generation campaigns that are tailored to each segment.

Helps to exert authority

Creating high-quality content may boost your online exposure through organic reach, resulting in a rise in website traffic, social network followers, email subscribers, and, ultimately, consumers. When you have a significant following, potential customers can perceive you as an authority in your field, making it simpler for them to trust your brand.

Boosts revenue

When done correctly, lead generation enables you to prioritize revenue-generating endeavors such as converting new leads into loyal customers or cross-selling products to existing customers.


How To Generate Leads Online?

Effective strategies for online lead generation

Here are some simple but effective strategies for generating online leads:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Your website, blog, social media channels, and aggregator platforms are all great online avenues you can use to attract potential customers who are doing research online. Incorporating pertinent keywords into your content can increase its search engine indexing, resulting in improved rankings for various search terms. By providing valuable content that helps address their needs, you can potentially convert them into paying customers seeking related products or services.


Content Marketing

Content marketing is a great tactic for attracting qualified prospects to your landing page. By creating compelling and relevant content like blog posts, tutorials, white papers, how-to guides, and FAQs, and making it easily accessible on your website, you can attract potential prospects and showcase your industry expertise.

To convert these leads into customers, you can include CTAs throughout the page that encourage visitors to provide their contact information in exchange for additional relevant resources, such as e-books and reports. If your content effectively addresses their specific needs, they are more likely to respond positively to your offer.


Email

Email marketing is an excellent way to keep in touch with your existing customers and subscribers. Since they have already shown some interest in your product, there is a better chance that they will be open to what you have to say. In this strategy, your CTA needs to jump off the page.


Blogging

Producing blog posts that are relevant to your potential customers' search queries and interests can drive free traffic from various search engines. To capitalize on this traffic, add compelling CTAs to your blog posts to convince visitors to act and generate leads.

One of the key advantages of using blog posts to promote your product is that you can tailor the entire piece to achieve your desired outcome. For example, in exchange for contact information, you provide a video tutorial on how to prepare Japanese cheesecake. Make a blog post that explains each step of the process to make your CTA more compelling and relevant.


Social Media Marketing

By using your social media presence, you can effectively build your following and urge them to take specific actions. Incorporate a CTA into your bio, captions, and posts. Using free social media management tools that enable you to publish content on various platforms simultaneously is a great way to streamline your social media marketing efforts.


Webinars

Webinars that address the problems of your target consumers are an excellent way to generate leads while building a more personal connection with your audience. If a viewer finds your webinar helpful, they're likely to provide their contact information at the end of the webinar to receive information about your related product or service.


Newsletters

Weekly or monthly correspondence is a great way to keep your leads engaged. Set newsletter standards so that those on your list know what to expect from you and when to expect it. The newsletter enables you to keep them updated on new product launches, promotional offers, polls, and other information.


Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Ads

PPC advertising generates leads by displaying ads when prospects search for relevant keywords. It helps in increasing brand recognition, driving traffic, and boosting sales. It’s especially key to target the right keywords, particularly long-tail ones, that are unique to your product to optimize your PPC campaigns. It is also vital to write persuasive ads that demonstrate the benefits of your product or service.


Product Trials

Offering free samples of your product or service can help you surpass several sales barriers. Once a lead has begun using your product, you can entice them with additional offers or resources that encourage them to take the plunge.


Website Optimization

One of the keys to increasing conversions is to optimize your landing page. It's the best spot for convincing your visitors to take action, which is why enhancing and streamlining your landing page is crucial.

When you create landing pages for specific customer segments, you can speak directly to their needs and earn their trust. This results in greater lead generation and sales.


Final Thoughts

Online lead generation is the most effective approach for businesses to consistently attract new customers. These days, consumers have more power than ever to influence market trends. With just a few clicks, they can find out about several choices to fix the problem they have, check our customer feedback, and compare prices. This means businesses need to proactively connect with their target audience online and provide valuable content to pique their interest and help them through their buying journey.
Start generating leads online using the information and strategies outlined above. Study each of them and then choose the one that best fits the needs of your business.

About the Author
Geri Mileva, an experienced IP network engineer and distinguished writer at Influencer Marketing Hub, specializes in the realms of the Creator Economy, AI, blockchain, and the Metaverse. Her articles, featured in The Huffington Post, Ravishly, and various other respected newspapers and magazines, offer in-depth analysis and insights into these cutting-edge technology domains. Geri's technological background enriches her writing, providing a unique perspective that bridges complex technical concepts with accessible, engaging content for diverse audiences.