Lead Generation in Digital Transformation ERA

Lead generation has taken on many forms throughout time. From mass communication through newspaper and radio in the early 1900s to the integrated marketing plans we have today. Digital transformation and rising marketing technology have significantly changed the way that companies generate leads. Today, lead generation calls for creating innovative digital strategies to maximize reach with minimal effort.

With that being said, many companies struggle to develop a lead generation plan that is fruitful, if one at all. In Hubspot’s 2018 State of Inbound survey, 61% of marketers say generating traffic and leads is their top challenge. For this article, I reached out to six of the top lead generation experts in South Florida to gain their insight on its importance and practical tips businesses can use.

Start with Determining Your Target Market

Much like any type of business plan, companies should first determine who their ideal leads are and the markets they operate in. Erik Chafin, Director of Business Development at Connections for Business, explains that his process for searching for leads first stems from identifying the target market and the activities that drive business within them.

“You can go a lot deeper than people think when it comes to searching and prospecting leads, especially if you know your target market. With some of the larger companies that my clients want to go after, like hospitality, I know what my target is and from there I can see who in my network I am connected to from a decision-making process and start from there. I always ask myself, where are we generating leads from? Cold calling, social media, speaking engagements…. What behaviors are driven and what are we doing to bring in business?”

Getting Granular with Buyer Profiles

In the same regard as knowing your target markets, getting more granular and specifying an exact buyer profile (if you’re B2B) and persona (if you’re B2C) is beneficial. It aids in establishing what leads are a good fit for your offering and a better idea of who to target. Sebastian Leon, Client Success Strategist for The Miami Herald, notes that this is one activity salespeople and marketers alike cannot neglect.

“Lead generation is a slippery slope because marketers tend to think that higher numbers mean more results. Sometimes a business’s biggest failure is not identifying which leads are truly qualified and the ones that have the biggest opportunity for growth. To combat this, marketers should spend some time analyzing their best type of leads and create buyer profiles that accurately represent the people or organizations they are trying to target.”

Develop A Strategy Based on Business Type

Lead generation tactics are not one size fits all. What may work for a business-to-business (B2B) company may not work for a business-to-consumer (B2C) company. Melanie Bernal, Strategic Project Manager of Optimization and UX for multiplica.US recommends two different strategies based on company type.

“When it comes to lead generation there are two strategies I recommend – Account Based Marketing (ABM) or Inbound Marketing and it really depends on your product and who you are trying to sell it too.

If you're marketing B2B then ABM would probably yield better results. You are serving hyper-relevant content to stakeholders and decision makers. This means you would need to do more research to try and understand them and what their pain points are and how your product could provide a solution. With B2C you definitely want to do Inbound Marketing because it'd probably be extremely time-consuming to do that same level of research on each and every consumer. Instead, you'll probably provide more general content that is still relevant to them just not as tailored.”

Understanding Vital KPIs Are Key to Attracting Higher Quality Leads

Marketing activities such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Management (SEM) are the basis of online lead generation. In fact, almost 80% of companies not meeting revenue goals attract 10,000 monthly website visitors or less. Alex Oliveira, CEO of Prediq Media, notes that understanding search KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and bidding on appropriate keywords is what his company does to help their clients generate high-quality leads.

“Lead generation is the heart of any sales and marketing team. How and where you generate leads can be the difference between growing or failing. The person in charge of your ad dollars needs to understand the CPA (cost per acquisition) and CPS (cost per sale). This is a key piece of data in order to bid on keywords and traffic channels appropriately. LinkedIn is one of the best platforms for generating B2B leads. They're not as relevant for some verticals like CPG. The cost will be much higher than most ad platforms, but you'll find a much higher quality lead. The advantage is that the professional relationship can be developed on the same platform.”

It’s Not Only About Attracting Leads But Nurturing Them Too

So, you attract the lead, now what? Lead generation is only the start of what is going to be a never-ending pipeline. Throughout the lead journey, there must be marketing activities present that keep them from dropping off. Debra Cabrera, Marketing Faculty at Florida International University, further explains this process and the importance of lead nurturing.

“What comes to mind when I think about lead generation, is lead nurturing. In layman’s terms, it’s the process which leads get tracked and converted into sales qualified leads. Also, the majority of marketing leads never convert into sales and it’s due to the lack of lead nurturing. Timely and personalized follow-ups are important and be sure to monitor customer engagement. The key is to gain the business when they are ready.”

Not All Leads, Are Qualified Leads

It’s easy for a marketer to spread their net out wide and consider any person that visits their website a viable lead. Gabor Szendrei, Digital Marketing Specialist, notes that not being able to properly filter through leads is costly and inefficient for companies.

“Leads can be...DANGEROUS! Sure, every business needs them, but there is a critical distinction that is often missed: if they’re qualified vs. unqualified. Why is this differentiation key? Because lead generation costs valuable resources - not just money - and the opportunity cost of pursuing bad leads could put a dent in your business. Loads of leads look good in a CRM or spreadsheet, but if they’re not generating results at the bottom of your funnel, beware of potential danger.”

A winning lead generation strategy in the era of digital transformation requires a large amount of time, effort, and resources during its development. However, taking an adequate amount of time to establish set the appropriate standards for your leads will only aid in the goal of maximizing results with minimal effort. It’s important to constantly observe, adapt, and optimize lead generation strategies and tactics. Much like anything else online, trends change rapidly, and marketers must be able to keep up.

Referece: Link