What is lead generation, and why is it important?

June 9, 2023
Written by Mike Rux
Call Mike: (480) 319-5323

Digital Marketing Trends & Analysis

Learn about lead generation and why it is important for your business

Lead generation is the single most essential thing for a B2B organization. Your leads translate into viable clients, which gives your business the opportunity to sell products and services. The process of attracting and nurturing the interest of potential new customers is what eventually converts them to clients. If you believe deeply in your business, and you already have a sales process, an order fulfillment process, what you might be missing in your funnel, is an appropriate way to garner leads. This is where lead generation comes in. There are countless ways to develop lead generation, but here are some common ones.

 

  • Job applications – While it may not seem like a viable option, most people looking to work for your business are already customers of your business––or they want to be. Job applications living in the same place as your products and services is a key way to convert jobseekers into customers. In the best case scenario, they become both!
  • Blog posts – If you’ve been in your industry for enough years, you might think the day-to-day blogging about your business or products is pointless, but it’s not! Blog posts can bring a lot of traffic to your website as unique content, which boosts your SEO. This brings more people to you without spending any advertisement money to capture that person’s click.
  • Coupons – Few businesses are successful by selling their goods and services with no room for discount. There wouldn’t be a point to be in business if you weren’t making any money! A coupon is a sure fire way of attracting attention from would-be customers. Most people are looking for a good deal, and a coupon is a great way to attract their attention. They might have been on your site looking at your products or services for weeks, and the new coupon causes them to make the decision.
  • Live events – It’s highly valuable to businesses to be connected and serving their community. A live event gives your business the opportunity to put a proverbial name and face together. Your business’s presence can show people in your community what your values are, who you are as a business, and give you an opportunity to prove the value of your goods and services. The benefits of face to face meeting often far outweigh the costs associated with attending.
  • Online content – Online content carries significant importance to the average consumer. In this age of extreme convenience, your business needs to adapt to survive. This is why nearly every restaurant, grocery store, gas station, and more offer an application for your phone and a rewards program. While the rewards program falls under the coupon section above, the application directly correlates to online content. Having something for your prospective customers to look at online gives them an immeasurable amount of convenience.

 

Lead Generation using Social Media Platforms

What is a lead, and why should I care?

 

A lead is any customer opened line of communication establishing interest in goods or services. This can take place in many forms, but the most common is a potential customer sharing their phone number, email address, or first and last name. This intentional communication differs greatly from a “cold call” format, where a salesperson or BDC manager might reach out to a large group of potential customers regardless of previous interest. These types of leads are often difficult to turn in favor of your business, and in the current culture, they’re considered invasive and bothersome. The leads that come from lead generation focus on the potential customers that have already expressed interest or are willing to share their information to be contacted. These types of customers are far easier to cultivate than a cold call format. While there are many types of leads, the ease of cultivation changes based on the motivation of the customer, which means that no two leads are the same. Some leads are also generated from 3rd party lead gen companies such as Cost Owl & Kompareit. The important thing to remember about leads is that the ultimate goal is to change a visitor into a customer.

Why does my business need lead generation?

 

Potential customers that have never heard of your company is a stranger. However they find you, they slowly start seeing an alignment of their needs and your goods or services. When they finally decide to connect with you via sharing their personal information, this transition is much more organic and natural. This removes common objections for your sales team as well. If the prospective customer reaches out to you, their mindset is to work with you, which positions them further in the sales funnel. The success of cold calling is limiting and requires you to convince the potential customer of your company’s value before ever discussing goods or services. Why fight an uphill battle for customers that may or may not work with you rather than cultivating relationships with organic customers that are willing to reach out to you?

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