Article | 5 minute read
What is lead generation? And how does it work?
Article | 5 minute read
What is lead generation? And how does it work?
Published: 16 February 2023
In this article:
Many salespeople and marketers daily talk about leads. But what exactly is a lead?
The short version: a lead is when you collect customer information.
At Weply, a lead is based on our customers' requirements and wishes, which is then passed on to the sales manager or an employee at the respective company.
With this blog post, we want to explain what a lead is, how you can generate them and what strategies actually work in practice.
Before we delve into strategies and channel selection, we'll clarify what the term means and how you can identify your current and future leads.
The sacred question - what is a lead?
A lead is the definition of a new potential customer, who has shown an interest in your services or products. This can be a contact from a company (B2B) or individual (B2C), depending on the market your company is positioned in.
The advantage of lead generation is that as a business owner you avoid making cold calls to people who don't know who you are or why you are calling them. We all know how that usually ends - in annoyance.
Instead, you work with those contacts who have found your brand on their own and are aware of what you have to offer.
There are several variations of leads, we will now go through the most common ones:
Marketing Qualified Leads
Marketing Qualified Leads refer to people who have engaged with your marketing activities. For example, they have downloaded a whitepaper and in exchange entered their email, or signed up for a newsletter.
This does not mean that the customer is ready to make a purchase. However, they are interested in more information about your brand, in order to make a purchase decision.
Sales Qualified Leads
Sales qualified leads are contacts who have shown a strong interest in becoming a customer of yours. For example, by downloading a price list from your website or filling in a contact form.
Service Qualified Leads
Service qualified leads refer to your current customers. This is about building a deeper relationship and converting them into loyal and returning customers.
Why lead generation?
Lead generation allows you to nurture your potential customers at an early stage. When a person shows an interest in your brand, you have the opportunity to capture them immediately, as the contact information becomes the basis for your sales department.
Lead generation saves time for sales people who don't have to look for cold prospects, and shortens the buying journey for the customer who is directly noticed.
How do you generate leads?
There are several strategies you can use to generate leads, but the process is the same regardless of channel choice or format.
- Attract: drive traffic to your website through social media, for example
- Engage: lift content that sparks an interest to learn more information on your website
- Convert: turn your visitors into leads by motivating them to give up their contact details - preferably in exchange for a service.
So the first step is to create interest-generating content that leads recipients to the next step. Content production is the foundation of lead generation. We'll look at the strategies you can use to both attract and engage your recipients to go all the way to conversion.
Lead generation strategies
Social Media
Social media marketing is an effective way to attract new contacts. Through your channels, you have the opportunity to highlight products, services, offerings, quality work or the team behind the brand.
Encourage your recipients to click through to find out more through a clear Call-To-Action. The more relevant your content is to the recipients, the more likely they are to click through to your website.
E-mail Marketing
Email marketing is an effective strategy for engaging with contacts who are already aware of your brand. Tailor your messages, campaigns and offers to the recipients.
What do they want to learn more about and what have they shown interest in before?
Blog
Blog posts allow you to promote your offers in a genuine and informative way.
For example, if you offer SEO services, you can justify all the benefits the method generates in the blog post. This will motivate recipients to want to read more and to learn about your expertise.
Through the blog, you have the opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge which will also build trust with the potential clients.
Advertising
The purpose of advertising can look different, some use it to increase brand awareness, others to drive traffic to their website or to collect contact details.
Here you have a great opportunity to generate new leads. Be clear in the ad about what your brand can offer recipients and include a clear CTA that leads them on through a simple click. Don't forget to target your ads to your specific audience.
Livechat
The purpose of advertising can look different, some use it to increase brand awareness, others to drive traffic to their website or to collect contact details.
Here you have a great opportunity to generate new leads.
Be clear in the ad about what your brand can offer and include a clear CTA that leads them on through a simple click. Don't forget to target your ads to your specific audience.
Your website can be a goldmine for lead generation, if you set the stage for it.
The most effective strategy for optimizing your website for lead generation is through a live chat. Here you have the opportunity to specify what a relevant lead is for you, so chat consultants know what to base their conversation with visitors on.
If the consultants have the feeling that the leads are potential customers for your company, they compile the relevant information which is then attached to you:
- Contact
- Company
- Telephone number
- Which page they last visited while navigating your website
The contacts referred to your business are potential leads who have shown a strong interest in your business. They have also provided their personal details, indicating that they are quite far in their buying journey.
As a business owner, you have the opportunity to save both time and money by implementing livechats into your lead generation strategy, as marketing activities are optimized and the sales process is shortened.
Want to increase your sales while optimizing the sales process?
Then lead generation is the right approach for you. There are many ways to process leads and you need to find the strategy that works for you and your business.
We hope this article has clarified what leads mean and how you can process them.
Don't hesitate to contact us if you want to know more about how Weply's live chat is the ultimate conversion tool!
Published: 16 February 2023
In this article:
Many salespeople and marketers daily talk about leads. But what exactly is a lead?
The short version: a lead is when you collect customer information.
At Weply, a lead is based on our customers' requirements and wishes, which is then passed on to the sales manager or an employee at the respective company.
With this blog post, we want to explain what a lead is, how you can generate them and what strategies actually work in practice.
Before we delve into strategies and channel selection, we'll clarify what the term means and how you can identify your current and future leads.
The sacred question - what is a lead?
A lead is the definition of a new potential customer, who has shown an interest in your services or products. This can be a contact from a company (B2B) or individual (B2C), depending on the market your company is positioned in.
The advantage of lead generation is that as a business owner you avoid making cold calls to people who don't know who you are or why you are calling them. We all know how that usually ends - in annoyance.
Instead, you work with those contacts who have found your brand on their own and are aware of what you have to offer.
There are several variations of leads, we will now go through the most common ones:
Marketing Qualified Leads
Marketing Qualified Leads refer to people who have engaged with your marketing activities. For example, they have downloaded a whitepaper and in exchange entered their email, or signed up for a newsletter.
This does not mean that the customer is ready to make a purchase. However, they are interested in more information about your brand, in order to make a purchase decision.
Sales Qualified Leads
Sales qualified leads are contacts who have shown a strong interest in becoming a customer of yours. For example, by downloading a price list from your website or filling in a contact form.
Service Qualified Leads
Service qualified leads refer to your current customers. This is about building a deeper relationship and converting them into loyal and returning customers.
Why lead generation?
Lead generation allows you to nurture your potential customers at an early stage. When a person shows an interest in your brand, you have the opportunity to capture them immediately, as the contact information becomes the basis for your sales department.
Lead generation saves time for sales people who don't have to look for cold prospects, and shortens the buying journey for the customer who is directly noticed.
How do you generate leads?
There are several strategies you can use to generate leads, but the process is the same regardless of channel choice or format.
- Attract: drive traffic to your website through social media, for example
- Engage: lift content that sparks an interest to learn more information on your website
- Convert: turn your visitors into leads by motivating them to give up their contact details - preferably in exchange for a service.
So the first step is to create interest-generating content that leads recipients to the next step. Content production is the foundation of lead generation. We'll look at the strategies you can use to both attract and engage your recipients to go all the way to conversion.
Lead generation strategies
Social Media
Social media marketing is an effective way to attract new contacts. Through your channels, you have the opportunity to highlight products, services, offerings, quality work or the team behind the brand.
Encourage your recipients to click through to find out more through a clear Call-To-Action. The more relevant your content is to the recipients, the more likely they are to click through to your website.
E-mail Marketing
Email marketing is an effective strategy for engaging with contacts who are already aware of your brand. Tailor your messages, campaigns and offers to the recipients.
What do they want to learn more about and what have they shown interest in before?
Blog
Blog posts allow you to promote your offers in a genuine and informative way.
For example, if you offer SEO services, you can justify all the benefits the method generates in the blog post. This will motivate recipients to want to read more and to learn about your expertise.
Through the blog, you have the opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge which will also build trust with the potential clients.
Advertising
The purpose of advertising can look different, some use it to increase brand awareness, others to drive traffic to their website or to collect contact details.
Here you have a great opportunity to generate new leads. Be clear in the ad about what your brand can offer recipients and include a clear CTA that leads them on through a simple click. Don't forget to target your ads to your specific audience.
Livechat
The purpose of advertising can look different, some use it to increase brand awareness, others to drive traffic to their website or to collect contact details.
Here you have a great opportunity to generate new leads.
Be clear in the ad about what your brand can offer and include a clear CTA that leads them on through a simple click. Don't forget to target your ads to your specific audience.
Your website can be a goldmine for lead generation, if you set the stage for it.
The most effective strategy for optimizing your website for lead generation is through a live chat. Here you have the opportunity to specify what a relevant lead is for you, so chat consultants know what to base their conversation with visitors on.
If the consultants have the feeling that the leads are potential customers for your company, they compile the relevant information which is then attached to you:
- Contact
- Company
- Telephone number
- Which page they last visited while navigating your website
The contacts referred to your business are potential leads who have shown a strong interest in your business. They have also provided their personal details, indicating that they are quite far in their buying journey.
As a business owner, you have the opportunity to save both time and money by implementing livechats into your lead generation strategy, as marketing activities are optimized and the sales process is shortened.
Want to increase your sales while optimizing the sales process?
Then lead generation is the right approach for you. There are many ways to process leads and you need to find the strategy that works for you and your business.
We hope this article has clarified what leads mean and how you can process them.
Don't hesitate to contact us if you want to know more about how Weply's live chat is the ultimate conversion tool!