Lead Generation
What is Lead Generation?
This is the process of finding new people within your target audience who are potential customers. A Lead is anyone who has shown interest in your company’s product or service. You can identify someone as a lead when you have a piece of information about them whether it be their name, email or phone number. You must have a method to spark a conversation that can “LEAD” to a business relationship. This process can be done Organically (Meaning you didn’t spend a dollar to do this) or by Ad Spend which means you spent money to get this lead.
Example of Organic Lead:
Someone came across my latest LinkedIn Video and sent me a message to talk about my business services.
Example of Paid Lead:
I ran an Ad on Instagram Stories and someone clicked on my link and filled out my opt-in form. I spent $200 to run this ad and collected 70 Leads resulting in $2.85 per lead. Leads can range from a few cents per lead up to a few hundred. It all depends on your resources and strategy.
So now that you know what Lead Generation is, it’s good to know the two channels of Lead Generation . Maybe you’ve heard of the terms Inbound Marketing & Outbound Marketing.
Inbound Marketing:
You can say Inbound Marketing is in summary organic traffic. You leave a trail of information and content on your website, blog, or social media channels where anyone in your target audience can find you. You focus on creating content that will help peak interest in your leads or leave a method to learn more about your business.
Inbound Marketing factors in the following:
Attract Leads
Two Way communication
The motive is to educate, not sell
The audience decides and controls the engagement of content
Content is King
Inbound marketing sounds great since you do not spend money on expensive ads, but you still spend money on inbound marketing. It could be spending money on your content, the software to manage your content and your time spent. Nevertheless, inbound marketing is a great option because it means your leads are more qualified and fall under your target audience.
Outbound Marketing:
As a business owner, you must decide on a budget to obtain leads . Outbound Marketing is the method of spending money on paid ads, purchasing a leads list, sending physical marketing materials by mail, television ads, radio ads, etc. This is the marketing method you are most likely being targeted by. Your focus in Outbound Marketing is how much can I afford to reach my potential customers in a short amount of time.
You must decide on the following:
What is your budget
What is your Ad, message or sale
What is the call to action (what do you want them to do when they see this ad)
Who are you targeting (Demographics, size, interests, behaviors)
In Outbound Marketing it is a one-way communication, as the business owner are communicating to your potential leads. Your purpose for reaching out to them is to make a sale. You are in control on your content and with whom you will share it. This is an approach where you are reaching the masses. Budget is King in Outbound Marketing.
Which is better?
Both methods of Lead Generation are great, and both have proven to be successful for many businesses. Most companies have a good mix of the two channels of Lead Generation. Inbound Marketing is always a great way to get started in your Lead Generation, and it’s a method that shouldn’t slow down.
Right now, most leads expect a form of social proof or validation that you are an expert in your field. There must be a form of trust and authenticity in your content. There is so much noise in the online space, which is why your content matters even more. Once you build up a good following and engagement with your Inbound Marketing, you can then implement some Outbound tactics. You can create targeted Ads based on all the audience who have interacted with your business. By building trust and loyalty to your brand with your content, your leads will be easier to convert into sales when you promote your services via Outbound tactics.
In short:
Create FREE content → Build the following → Run Your Ads → Collect Leads
