Lead generation is an important part of modern marketing, specifically digital marketing in the Philippines, and businesses. It’s imperative for generating demand, building brand awareness, nurturing customers, qualifying leads, and driving revenue—the ultimate goal of any business.
And to make the most out of lead generation, it will be essential to understand its workings, strategies to use, and what assets can be put in place to ensure it succeeds in improving your brand’s digital performance.
Fortunately for you, this guide will offer you a crash course into the practice of lead generation. Of course, this will include all there is to know about it—what a lead is, the process involved in generating leads, its types, strategies you can use, reasons why it should form part of your marketing strategy, and more!
Let us get started!
What is a Lead?
For those still not familiar, a lead is a word used in marketing and advertising to describe potential consumers. They are individuals or organizations that have expressed interest in a product or service that an entrepreneurial entity provides or offers.
They can come from a variety of sources—online sign-up forms, trade shows, cold calls, and even from website visits.
Need an extra hand generating leads for your business? NAD knows how! Contact us to learn more!
4 Types of Leads Based on Qualification
As you already know, leads do not come in a set form. Since they can originate from a variety of places, they’re differentiated based on their level of qualification and where they are in the buying process.
To help you understand better, the main types of leads are:
- Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)
The term marketing qualified leads refers to contacts who have engaged with your marketing efforts but aren’t ready to receive a call from your sales team.
- Sales Qualified Lead (SQL)
To qualify as a sales-qualified lead, your contact must have expressly indicated that they are interested in becoming a paying customer by taking specific actions.
- Product Qualified Lead (PQL)
Contacts who have already tested out your product and taken steps to show interest in becoming paying customers are what’s known as product-qualified leads. If a company provides a trial of its product or offers a free or restricted version, this is where sales teams come in. An example of PQLs is when somebody utilizes the free version but then asks about features that are only available when they upgrade to the full, paid version.
- Service Qualified Lead
Leads that have been assessed by customer service as being interested in becoming paying customers are known as service-qualified leads. An example of this type of lead is a customer who has expressed an interest in upgrading their product subscription to their customer service representative. Upon receiving this expression of interest, the customer service representative will pass this on to the appropriate sales staff or representative.
How to Know Which Leads Should be Pursued
For consistent sales and business growth, you need to generate a healthy pipeline of leads. However, not all leads are created equal. In order to determine whether a lead is qualified, you should examine a few key factors:
- Fit
Fit is the most important criterion for determining whether a lead is qualified. The prospect must require the product or service you offer in order to be recognized as a qualified lead. Additionally, they should be looking for a solution like yours and have the budget to buy it.
- Authority
The next guideline to assess if a lead is suitable is their level of authority. This indicates that the individual must possess the capacity to take decisions within their company. Additionally, they should be responsible for the project or initiative that your commodity or service applies to.
- Timing
The third factor you should check when checking whether a lead is qualified is the timing. This entails that the lead should be ready to purchase either immediately or shortly. They should have an established timeline for their project and your product/service needs to accord with this schedule.
If a prospect meets these three qualifications, they are considered a suitable lead upon which you can focus your sales process and increase the chance of success in striking an agreement.
After determining whether a lead is qualified, the next step you should take is to score your leads. But what does this process entail?
Lead Scoring
When it comes to generating leads, many different elements are taken into consideration such as the product being sold and who the target audience is. But one of the most critical components in this journey is lead scoring. This process assigns a numerical value to a potential buyer based on the following factors:
- Demographic Information
- Employment status
- Online Habits and Behavior
- Email Engagement
- Social Engagement
All of these factors will help you determine and decide how sales-ready a lead is.
Want help with your lead generation? Reach out to NAD for expert help!
Why is Lead Scoring Important?
Lead scoring is an invaluable tool for any company that wants to generate more sales-ready leads. It helps you prioritize and focus your outreach efforts on the leads that are most likely to convert, rather than wasting time on those who aren’t as likely to buy.
By assigning a score to each lead, you can quickly identify which ones are more promising and concentrate your efforts accordingly.
Now that you’ve got an in-depth idea of what a lead is and how you can qualify them, let’s move on to the process of generating them.
What is Lead Generation?
Now that you have a better understanding of what a lead is, it’s time we take a look into lead generation.
Lead generation is a process that involves locating potential customers, motivating them to interact with your company, and nurturing these connections for the people to make purchase decisions. It is a necessary aspect of sales and without it, companies would have difficulty getting new customers and expanding.
Typically, lead generation starts with an attempt from marketing to pull the attention of possible clients. This could be accomplished through an ad, a piece of writing on a related subject, or some material posted on social media sites. After someone has reacted positively towards this initial marketing tool, they become leads–individuals who could be converted into paying consumers.
Why is Lead Generation A Must?
Lead generation is a crucial tool for any business hoping to acquire new customers and increase revenue. Without it, companies would be presented with the difficult task of finding potential buyers. Not only does lead generation facilitate the targeting of particular consumer groups or social media demographics, but also substantially boosts the chances of making a sale.
Other advantages stemming from this process include, but are not limited to:
Enhanced Sales: Lead generation can be beneficial in boosting sales and revenue. By focusing on potential customers with your promotional activities, chances are more likely to make the sale.
Cost-Efficiency: Lead generation is a cost-efficient method of finding new clients. It is usually more economical than conventional marketing approaches such as TV or print ads.
Greater Productivity: Lead generation is an efficient way to locate new customers. Usually, organizations have to contact multiple people to find a few prospects regarding traditional advertising and marketing tactics. However, by leveraging lead generation, businesses can direct their campaigns to a targeted audience which results in time and money savings.
To learn more about narrowing down your ideal customer, read our blog on how to define your target audience.
Enhanced Customer Retention: Additionally, lead generation helps develop customer loyalty too! When consumers have a positive experience with an organization they are more likely to do business with them again.
Generating leads is an essential aspect of any organization’s sales cycle. Through lead generation, companies can increase their sales revenue, reduce costs and build customer loyalty.
Realized how important lead generation is for businesses today? Do it too with the help of NAD! Chat with us now!
Lead Generation: The Process
Depending on the industry and the company, lead generation processes can vary. There are, however, some general steps involved in the lead generation process, including:
Identifying the target market: Through conducting market research, businesses will be able to identify their target market. By doing this, they can generate leads that are more likely to convert into customers.
Generating leads: After determining your target audience or consumers, the next step is to generate leads. To achieve this, companies can use various marketing activities, including creating informative website content, conducting online or offline advertising campaigns, and using lead capture forms on their website.
Nurturing leads: Once you’ve generated and qualified your leads, you need to nurture them by offering relevant information and engaging with them regularly. You can do this via email marketing, social media, or other forms of communication.
Converting leads into customers: The last step in the lead generation process is converting leads into customers. Creating special offers and providing information about the product or service are examples of sales techniques that will help you do this.
The Two Types of Lead Generation
Lead generation comes in two forms: inbound and outbound.
Inbound lead generation focuses on creating relationships with potential customers through online channels, such as websites, blogs, and social media. This way, you can build trust before they’re ready to make a purchase. On the other hand, outbound lead generation is a more direct approach where you actively seek out leads using cold-calling, direct mail, or lists of leads.
To get the greatest success from your lead generation efforts, it’s best to use a combination of both inbound and outbound strategies – this way you can develop relationships through inbound methods before contacting prospects through outbound actions.
Strategies Under Inbound Lead Generation
In order to entice potential customers and turn them into sales, companies often use various types of inbound lead generation approaches. Here are some of the most successful tactics currently used:
- Content Marketing is an effective method of inbound lead generation as it gives possible leads valuable material that can assist with their buying decision. Companies can establish trustworthiness and reliability with potential leads by producing and circulating helpful blog posts, infographics, eBooks, or other forms of scroll-stopping visual content for social media – something which can eventually result in a sale. A creative agency in the Philippines will be able to help you out with this if content creation is not your forte! You can also get ideas by reading our blog about different social media content ideas!
- Social Media Marketing generates leads by way of creating and sharing engaging material on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn businesses have access to a bigger audience of prospects. Furthermore, advertising on social media may also be utilized to create personal connections with leads which could help build credibility and trustworthiness. We recommend partnering with a social media management agency in the Philippines if you plan on going this route. To know other ways to use social media for your business, read our ultimate guide to social media for businesses blog.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can raise your chances of appearing on the search engine results page and reaching your intended audience by optimizing your website for keywords that potential leads are searching for. SEO services in the Philippines can help you with this, especially if you’re not proficient in the field.
- Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising – like the ones we’ve listed above – is another great way to generate leads. By bidding on the appropriate keywords and phrases, you can position your ads before those who are already interested in what you have to offer.
Strategies Under Outbound Lead Generation
Companies can use various outbound lead generation approaches to reach potential customers such as:
- Email Marketing is one of the most economical techniques for doing this, as businesses can get their message across to a broad range of individuals without having to spend much money on advertising.
- Cold Calling is another option, but this approach has the risk of being intrusive and thus turning off some people.
- Direct Mail is a third technique that may be effective in connecting with an intended demographic; however, it involves significant costs.
Do you want to make use of inbound and outbound lead generation for your brand? NAD can do it for you! Talk to us now!
5-Step Guide to Building an Effective Lead Generation Strategy
Generating leads for your brand can be a difficult and laborious challenge, as it involves persuading potential customers to buy your product. It is essential to have the right preparation in place when attempting this task, as it necessitates strategic planning and assessment, plus continual optimization.
If you’re looking for help with such an important part of your marketing plans, use this step-by-step guide to craft and implement a successful lead generation strategy for your brand right away.
Step 1: Set Your Objectives
The objective of your lead generation campaign can fluctuate according to what you desire to obtain. For instance, you may be aiming towards generating a certain number of leads or raising the revenue per lead. Nevertheless, whatever goal/s you set ought to be SMART.
To elaborate, SMART stands for
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Realistic
- Time-bound
Step 2: Determine Your Campaign’s Target
When considering who to target in your lead generation effort, choose those with who you can provide solutions through your products, advertising, and other resources. It may be beneficial to consider an existing list of contacts or identify a new group of prospects. Take the time to evaluate who they are and what their requirements are.
Step 3: Pick the Proper Platform
Selecting a specific media platform for your lead generation endeavor is paramount. This allows you to focus on the audience that you intend to reach and follow the progress of your campaign closely. Additionally, it facilitates achieving a broader reach and more successful lead generation results.
Read our blog about the top social media sites in the Philippines to learn more about what fits your business’s needs!
Step 4: Offer Something of Value
Having an attractive offer for your lead generation campaign is a critical factor in encouraging people to join and buy. An attractive offer should be tailored to your target market, as well as provide something of value. Doing so will help you stand out from competitors and create more quality leads that can convert into sales.
To make it happen, you need to create a landing page with the offer and call-to-action and promote it on various platforms such as blogs, websites, or social media. This will bring in potential customers who can then be considered “hot leads” for further marketing activities.
If you need help with starting a website, you can read our blog on making a website for your brand or business.
Step 5: Build a Communication Strategy
The success of your lead generation campaign is highly dependent on how you follow up with leads; this includes what material you will share, who will reach out to them, and the quality of your proposals.
In order to create a successful lead generation campaign, you must have an in-depth knowledge of your company, the audience you’re trying to reach, various channels of communication to capture and filter leads, attractive incentives, and irresistible calls to action.
This understanding will allow you to craft an efficient lead generation campaign that caters both to your needs as well as those of your target market.
