Lead Generation 101

How do you grow your business? How do you find people in your target market and get them to see your company? What is a tactic that is less intimidating than cold calling? Let’s talk about lead generation.

Lead Generation 101

You may be wondering, what is a lead? A lead is someone who has shown interest in your company’s products or services. We also like to call leads “qualified leads.” You may have leads when it comes to cold calling. Perhaps you see these phone numbers or addresses as “leads” before you set out on a day of cold calls. It makes sense, so it may be helpful to think of inbound marketing leads as “qualified leads.”

Your goal in lead generation is to find these qualified leads and get them hooked. Think of trying to catch a fish. You have to do a little research on what kind of fish you want so that you can have the right bait. Once you have the right worm or shiny jighead, you can attract the kind of fish you want. When they bite, you pull them in. Now, it should be noted that you are not trying to con people. Actually it is quite the opposite. You are trying to find people who would be interested in your company, services or products. Basically, people who would fall into your target market.

So, lead generation is the process of attracting and converting people into qualified leads, and then ultimately getting those people to become loyal customers or clients.

Attract

To do this, you find that bait that we talked about. Again, not in a sketchy way, but in a research-oriented way. Study your target market and find out what sort of information attracts them to your company.

Convert

Once you have your qualified lead, you want her/him to convert. Basically that means that you want s/he to take an action step that means something to your company. For example, if you are trying to grow your email list, your conversion would look like someone subscribing to your e-newsletters. Basically, you have a goal for what you want your leads to do, and if they do it, you have scored a conversion.

Close

Keeping your qualified leads can be a little tricky, but of course, it is not impossible. Remember to helpful to them and do not bombard them with 5000 emails. Thank them for converting in some way shape or form, and then do your best to keep them. Make them happy.

If you have any questions, contact us here.