Lead (English: Lead) is a term used to refer to a potential client who has responded to a company's marketing communication in any way. This reaction refers to the independent provision of contact information (phone number, email, social media account, etc.) for further cooperation. In theory, a lead refers to a person who is not yet a real consumer of a particular product or service but is ready to become one.
In order to obtain this information or reaction, a number of different measures are used, which are called lead generation.
Methods of attracting leads
Today, there are a number of ways to attract leads. To understand which option is right for you and your business, you need to pay attention to several factors: your budget and the characteristics of your company.
The most popular ways to attract leads can rightly be called:
- contextual advertising - using special tools provided by Google AdWords;
- Social media marketing or SMM - distributing advertising materials on various social networks;
- SEO resource promotion - creating content that will strictly comply with all SEO rules, and systematically filling your site with it. Simply put, it is to fill the site with interesting and unique thematic articles according to specially selected keywords;
- e-mail and SMS mailings— this is sending out promotional letters to a base of customers, subscribers, and so on;
- telemarketing— dissemination of information about the brand through cold phone calls;
- advertising in traditional media— television, newspapers, magazines, outdoor advertising, and other— purchasing advertising space in mass media;
- referral marketing or word of mouth— additional incentives in the form of discounts, bonuses, and gifts for existing customers to attract their friends and acquaintances to your new clients;
- placement on marketplaces and price aggregators — free or paid publication of your goods or services on publicly accessible sites that work on the “buy-sell” algorithm;
- Lead generation on the B2B principle—exchange of contacts and systematic unobtrusive advertising of your business in the form of mentions by partners.
Useful information: SEO or PPC, which to choose?
Target audience
In order to choose the most correct and effective ways to attract leads, you need to decide with a portrait of your consumer — simply find the target audience.
There are several criteria by which you can determine the target audience.
As a rule, these are:
- gender (male, female);
- age (3-15, 18-60 or youth, elderly, and so on); {{1} } religion;
- location (region of residence);
- social status (income level — average, below average, above average; position; education — incomplete, secondary, higher);
- field of activity (trade, provision of services, running one's own business, and so on);
- marital status (married, single, in a civil marriage, divorced, single);
- interests.
When "drawing" a consumer portrait, the following mistakes are often made: the criteria are set inaccurately and very vague. For example, the audience of a confectionery factory — men, women, and children from 5 to 80 years old, from all segments of the population and fields of activity. Yes, indeed, all these people can buy your product, but you should divide them into subcategories and form your own unique interaction strategy for each of them. It is also worth noting a number of things that at first glance seem insignificant. For example, a 5-year-old child can really eat candy or cookies, but the probability that he will independently make a purchase decision and, accordingly, buy your product is equal to zero. That is why you, as the person who sets the tone of communication, must take this into account.
Another important detail is a periodic review of the target audience.
Remember that this indicator can change depending on the season, the competitiveness of your product, changes in the buyer's needs, and many other indicators.
Lead generation tools
There are a large number of universal lead generation methods:
- landing page — using a landing page;
- lead magnet— a unique offer that can be "exchanged" for contacts— a discount and other preferences;
- Contact capture form— a pop-up window that makes an offer that the buyer literally cannot refuse;
- a lead generator is tools such as chat, questionnaire, automatic consultant, and more;
- a feedback form.
Lead processing and the reasons that determine their quantity
To get the most accurate information about leads, you need to use a CRM system (Amploo CRM, Zoho CRM, and others). It will not only collect leads from various sources but also store data about them. This gives you the opportunity to conduct further analysis and adjust your strategy, and as a result increase your profit without additional financial investments.
The number of leads for a certain period depends on several factors: the characteristics of the target audience (TA), the business sector, the budget for promotion and traffic purchase, and conversion of your resource.
Pros of lead generation
Thanks to lead generation, you can reach a huge number of consumers using Internet channels. You will also be able to establish a stable flow of customers, and and increase the profit of your business. Thanks to this method, you can fully control your costs, as they cannot be hidden behind empty clicks and conversions.
