Everything You Need to Generate and Convert Leads

Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)

MQLs are leads who have shown interest in your product or service and are engaged with your marketing content but may not be ready to talk to sales just yet. They might have signed up for your newsletter, downloaded an e-book, or attended a webinar. This engagement signals intent, but they need further nurturing to reach the buying stage. Marketing teams work to educate and engage MQLs, helping them move closer to a purchase decision.

Sales Qualified Lead (SQL)

SQLs are leads vetted and deemed ready for direct engagement with the sales team. They have likely shown more intent than MQLs – such as requesting a demo, submitting a contact form, or asking about pricing. SQLs are typically closer to a buying decision and just need a final push from the sales team to seal the deal.

Product Qualified Lead (PQL)

Primarily used in SaaS, PQLs are leads who have tried a product through a free trial or freemium model and are actively using it. They are your most potential customers. Their engagement with the product shows a higher likelihood of converting to a paid plan.

Lead generation can be done in multiple ways. This can be done organically by word-of-mouth and accelerated using lead generation tools. Your lead generation process can be a mix of one or more of these strategies. This multi-channel approach ensures a steady flow of high quality leads while building brand visibility and nurturing interest.

1. Create Valuable Content

One of the most sustainable ways to get leads for your business is by creating valuable content. Content that resonates with your target audience. This includes blogs, videos, guides, webinars, infographics, and whitepapers that educate or entertain. By answering your audience’s common questions or solving their problems, you attract organic traffic and build authority.

E.g. Imagine a project management software company that publishes a series of blog posts on “Time Management for Remote Teams.” They also create an e-book “The Guide to Remote Work,” available as a free download in exchange for an email address. This helps the company capture leads who are interested in remote team solutions.

2. Use Social Media Marketing

According to a Sproutsocial report, “There are estimated to be 5.17 billion total social media users worldwide in 2024, with an average person using 6.7 different social networks per month”. This is amazing news for most businesses that want to leverage social media platforms.

While organic social media strategy helps your brand build authentic relationships and brand awareness, it also humanizes your brand. At the same time, a paid social media strategy drives targeted traffic and conversations and supports retargeting warm leads.

Anyway, social media allows you to reach a large, targeted audience where they already spend time. Engaging content—such as tips, insights, and discussions—builds an audience that could convert to leads. Paid ads on platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram allow you to hone in on specific demographics, technographics, interests, and behaviors, reaching potential leads quickly.

Example: A B2B software company might utilize LinkedIn ads to target individuals in specific roles, such as HR or Operations, offering a downloadable case study titled “How Leading Companies Automate HR Tasks.” This approach helps in generating leads by providing valuable content that resonates with potential customers. Additionally, organic content, such as LinkedIn posts and stories that highlight customer success stories or product tips, keeps the company top-of-mind for potential leads, enhancing lead generation and building brand awareness effectively.

3. Offer Free Trials or Demos

Businesses offer free trials and demos when they follow a product-led growth strategy.

While trying to generate more leads, free trials and demos give prospects a no-commitment way to experience your product’s value. This try-before-buy method works well, especially for SaaS and subscription-based services. Trials build trust and allow users to see your product’s benefits firsthand, increasing their likelihood of converting to paying customers.

E.g: As a part of their lead generation efforts, a CRM software company offers a 14-day free trial with access to all key features. After signup, they send helpful emails, guiding the new user on how to maximize their trial experience. By showing them the product’s value, they’re more likely to upgrade to a paid plan at the end of the trial.

4. Optimize Your Website with Calls-to-Action (CTAs)

A good CTA is a CTA that can compel your audience to take the desired action. That’s it!

While it may sound straightforward, many brands underestimate the importance of a compelling CTA, often leading to missed opportunities in guiding their audience effectively. A well-crafted CTA is crucial in leading your target audience towards the solutions they seek, helping the prospects through the lead generation funnel. By clearly communicating the next steps, CTAs play a pivotal role in converting potential leads into qualified leads, enhancing your lead generation strategy and improving lead quality.

Your website is often the first place potential customers encounter your brand. And, first impressions last. CTAs, like “Download Now,” “Sign Up for Free,” or “Book a Demo,” should be clearly visible and strategically placed on pages that attract the most traffic.

E.g. A SaaS company places a CTA on their homepage that says, “Get a Free Trial” and another on each blog post inviting visitors to “Subscribe to our Newsletter.” These CTAs make it easy for visitors to take the next step, making lead capture more effective.

5. Run Paid Ads (PPC)

Pay Per Click (PPC)n works for businesses whose lead generation strategies include online channels.

PPCs can help you with awareness and lead generation.

Paid ads can boost your visibility and attract leads faster than organic strategies alone. Pay-per-click (PPC) ads on Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Demandbase let you target specific keywords, demographics, and interests. PPC ads work especially well when you know exactly who you’re trying to reach and can offer something valuable in return for contact information.

Quickly listing down 5 benefits of PPC for lead generation:

1. Boost SEO: PPC ads appear at the top of search engine results pages or social media feeds, instantly boosting visibility for your brand.
2. Create tailor-made ads: You can tailor your ads to reach specific criteria and search behaviors, ensuring that your ads are seen by people most likely to be interested in your offering.
3. Control your budget: You can adjust budgets based on performance, allowing for cost-efficient lead generation, whether your budget is small or large.
4. Optimize everything: Refine targeting, bidding, and ad copy to improve lead quality and lower costs, after looking at the click-through rate (CTR), cost per click etc.
5. Retarget warmer leads: A great way to remind your quality leads what interested them in the first place, primarily when it comes to online lead generation.

Example: An e-commerce platform uses Google Ads to target keywords like “affordable online store solutions.” When someone clicks on their ad, they’re taken to a friendly landing page offering a free “E-commerce Startup Guide.” It’s like giving them a helpful roadmap for their journey, while also capturing their interest as potential leads.

6. Leverage Email Marketing

Email marketing is helpful for your inbound as well as an outbound lead generation campaign. And that means it can help your marketing team as well as your sales team.

What is the difference between inbound and outbound lead generation?

• Inbound Strategy: This lead generation process draws leads to your brand through valuable content, like blogs, SEO, and webinars, allowing potential customers to find you. Inbound leads are often warmer since they’re actively engaging with your content.
• Outbound Strategy: Outbound involves reaching out to potential leads directly through methods like cold calls, emails, and ads. This approach can yield faster results but may involve colder leads.

In short, inbound is more organic and outbound is when you actively pursue to generate leads.

Email marketing can be done using a lead generation tool, commonly known as a marketing automation or email marketing tool.

This allows you to stay in touch with potential customers. Use email to nurture relationships by sending tailored messages, from welcome sequences, weekly newsletters and product updates to personalized recommendations and promotions. Building a segmented email list based on customer behaviors and preferences can improve lead quality and engagement rates.

Example: A digital marketing agency captures leads through a “Free SEO Checklist” download on their website. Once a lead downloads the checklist, they receive a series of follow-up emails sharing additional tips, case studies, and a consultation offer, gradually nurturing the lead towards a service inquiry.

7. Attend Industry Events and Webinars

In-person reach-outs are one of the most effective lead generation strategies.

Conferences, trade shows, and webinars are opportunities to network with prospects who are interested in your industry. These events provide face-to-face or virtual access to your audience, making it easier to build relationships and share information directly.

Example: A great example is Dreamforce launched by Salesforce, where many SaaS brands take their dream to serve enterprise and large enterprise organizations. This is famous for providing a platform to network and learn from industry leaders.

8. Partner Marketing

Partner marketing means building alliances who are already industry leaders or with who you can grow together.

Collaborating with a brand that shares a similar target audience but offers a complementary product or service can help you tap into new pools of potential leads. Joint webinars, co-marketing campaigns, and cross-promotions introduce your business to an audience that might otherwise never discover it.

Some of the most common ways of partner marketing are:

Affiliate Marketing

Here a partner promotes a company’s product or service through unique links, receiving a commission for any sales generated from their referrals. This is popular in e-commerce and online businesses, as affiliates can be bloggers, influencers, or websites that reach the brand’s target audience.

E.g. Amazon Audible runs affiliate program with many influencers and leaders who promote this and earn a percentage of profit per each sale.

Referral Marketing

Referral marketing relies on existing customers or partners to refer new leads. Partners receive incentives like discounts, credits, or rewards for every successful referral. This type builds on trust, as potential customers often find referrals from trusted sources more credible.

Content Partnerships

In content partnerships, companies co-create content like webinars, e-books, or whitepapers, combining expertise to reach a wider audience. Content partnerships boost brand authority while reaching potential customers through both partners’ audiences.

Co-Branding

Co-branding involves two brands collaborating on a single product or service, each adding unique value. It allows both brands to leverage each other’s reputation and reach. For example, Nike has co-branded with Apple for wearable fitness technology.

Strategic Alliances

Strategic alliances are formal partnerships where businesses collaborate to achieve a shared goal, often to enter new markets or innovate. Unlike other types, these alliances are long-term, involving extensive collaboration, shared resources, and mutual benefits.

E.g. Starbucks and Barnes & Noble
A well-known example of a strategic alliance is the partnership between Starbucks and Barnes & Noble. In this collaboration, Starbucks operates cafes within Barnes & Noble bookstores, creating a unique shopping experience for customers. This alliance benefits both parties: Barnes & Noble enhances its customer experience by providing a cosy space for patrons to enjoy coffee while reading or browsing books, while Starbucks gains access to a steady stream of customers who may purchase drinks and snacks as they shop.

After, you have generated leads, the next step is to gauge the lead quality.

Check-list to Qualify Leads

You must have heard, quality over quantity. This principle works well when a brand tries to build a healthy sales funnel.

We have curated the list of things you need to be mindful of while qualifying a lead. According to your department and requirements, feel free to customize this list.

To generate high quality leads, all teams work together (be it product, marketing or sales team), being on the same page. You can set up a system to understand where are your leads in their buying journey if they qualify. One such method is lead scoring.

What is Lead Scoring?

Lead scoring is a strategic lead generation tool that ranks potential leads based on their likelihood to convert into paying customers. By assigning numerical values to attributes such as demographics, behavior, and engagement levels, sales teams and marketing teams can prioritize qualified leads more effectively.

This lead generation process helps organizations focus their lead generation efforts on the most promising new leads, enhancing lead quality, improving conversion rates, and optimizing resource allocation. By integrating lead scoring into your lead generation strategy, you can ensure that your sales team targets high quality leads, maximizing the potential for generating business leads and paying customers.

Conclusion

In all your sales and marketing efforts to generate leads, data matters the most. It unifies strategies, enhances targeting, measures performance, improves ROI, and allows for predictive insights, ultimately leading to more effective and efficient lead generation efforts.

So, whether you’re segmenting your audience, measuring the success of your campaigns, or anticipating your customers’ needs, remember that data is your best friend. Embracing data-driven strategies not only enhances your lead generation efforts but also sets the stage for lasting relationships with your customers. With the right insights, you’ll be well on your way to turning potential leads into loyal advocates for your brand.