As the Vice President of Marketing at HubSpot Kipp Bodnar says:
“Leads are the metric that, as marketers, we rely on. Because leads mean money.”
That being said, before we answer the original question above, let's reevaluate it.
While it’s vitally important to obtain leads, keep in mind that not all leads are created equal.
A more pertinent question would be:
How do I generate more QUALIFIED leads?
Meaning leads who are interested in your product and have the most potential to convert into customers.
The answer is simple: Go Inbound.
Marketing has changed with the rise of technology and Inbound strategies have helped marketers adapt to this new world. We already know that the old style of push marketing has lost relevance and that Inbound Marketing is shown to be a far more effective way to reach your audience of potential customers.
But not only will Inbound attract your audience more effectively, it will convert them on a larger scale too.
The leads you generate through Inbound Marketing typically find you via the remarkable content you’ve published - they are already interested in what you are saying and have a natural (and not forced) desire to keep up with you.
They also tend to reach out to you for more information by way of filling out forms to receive content offers. Their interest only increases over time as you call them to action through lead nurturing emails and continue to court them with more relevant content in the form of whitepapers, case studies and guides.
It is important to nurture your leads by answering their questions about products and services, providing what they need, and offering more as you continue to gather information about them and the relationship between the two of you builds.
The steps to do this are relatively simple but it’s crucial to get them right. There are four (4) vital elements of an Inbound Lead Generation strategy:
An offer is presented in the form of content. More specifically, a piece of content your potential lead needs to solve a problem. It should contain information they need or be something of value so they will be willing to give you their contact information in order to obtain it. Examples of offers include: coupons, guides, and eBooks.
A call-to-action is an invitation to get your offer. Usually your call-to-action will be a link or button taking the lead to a landing page where they can find out more about the offer before downloading it.
A landing page is where your lead “lands” after clicking on your call to action. It contains detailed information about the offer, highlights its benefits and ultimately drives the lead to download the offer by entering their information via the next vital element: the form.
Through the form on your landing page, you exchange your offer in return for your lead’s contact information. Capturing that information is essentially them giving you permission to continue to court them through lead nurturing emails that deliver additional content.
Since this is just a beginner’s guide, I’ve only outlined the basics. In upcoming articles I’ll delve deeper into lead generation and show you other ways you can utilize the elements above to optimize your lead conversion rates.
Until then, download our free whitepaper “8 Critical Ingredients of a Digital Marketing Plan.” It’s got tons of information to help you get started generating leads and increasing revenue.
