Whether you’re a lead-generating newbie (we’ve all been there) or a pro, we’re here to help you create the lead generation strategy of your dreams this week!
Throughout this blog post, we will be breaking down the essential elements needed to develop a lead generation strategy from scratch. Lead generation looks different for everyone, but these high-level foundational steps will have you on the path toward success (promise).
Now let’s get started — there’s no time to waste!
1. Define your ICP
A lead generation strategy is nothing without a strong ICP. You can’t market to everyone — in fact, you shouldn’t.
What’s that saying? “A friend to everyone is a friend to none”?
Well for lead generation strategy purposes, that saying rings true. Marketing to everyone is a surefire way to market to no one.
You have to solidify who you’re targeting with your lead generation efforts. So for this step, we highly recommend finding out who your ideal customers are. What are they looking for? What’s the buying process like for them? What sort of content do they consume?
Now, in the ICP world you’ll also hear the term “buyer persona” — they’re interchangeable.
To help you with this essential first step of defining your ICP, be sure to check out our free Customer Journey Worksheets — they include a bonus set of ICP/buyer persona worksheets!
2. Solidify your landing pages
Landing pages are one of the best ways to convert visitors into leads — don’t sleep on this crucial step.
These specific pages are what someone lands on (aptly named) after clicking an advertisement or other digital marketing offers.
Not only do they capture leads, but they also warm up prospective customers.
And typically, when done right, landing pages are there to educate the potential lead and gather their information so they can move into the lead nurturing process.
For this specific step, you will want to do the following:
- Emphasize the offer’s value
- Make sure the messaging matches the ad
- Utilize clear & effective copy
- Encourage social sharing
- Consider implementing a software service with a powerful landing page builder (we have just the product in mind…)
Landing pages are the bread and butter of any lead generation strategy. Ensure yours are working for you, not against you, before moving on to Step #3.
3. Invest in content marketing
Content marketing is the lifeblood of any lead generation strategy. Ultimately, your lead generation abilities are only as strong as your content.
Knowing that, invest as much money, time, and talent as you can in the content marketing portion of your lead generation strategy.
For many, content marketing and the term “lead magnets” are interchangeable, but the phrase “lead magnets” is one you’re sure to come across during your lead generation strategy journey.
Content marketing/lead magnets include (but are not limited to):
- Blogs
- Newsletters
- White papers
- Social media posts
- Paid ad creative
- Emails (see step #4)
- Videos
Content is the absolute best way to generate leads in the 21st century, so if you’re looking to ramp up your lead generation strategy, consider putting most of your eggs in the content marketing basket.
4. Develop a strong email marketing strategy
In need of a palate cleanser? Here are a few email marketing facts to blow your mind before we dive into the importance of an email marketing strategy:
- 81% of B2B marketers say their most used form of content marketing is email newsletters (Content Marketing Institute, 2020)
- 37% of brands are increasing their email budget (Litmus, 2021)
- 74% of Baby Boomers feel that email is the most personal channel to receive communications from brands/businesses, followed by 72% of Gen X, 64% of Millennials, and 60% of Gen Z (Bluecore, 2021)
There’s no doubt about it…email marketing (while an essential part of content marketing in general) needs your full, undivided attention.
As you develop your overarching lead generation strategy, be sure to put plenty of time and thought behind your email marketing strategy and campaigns.
We’ve created plenty of free content about email marketing strategy and campaigns — but here’s a great place to start!
And if you’re a marketing automation user (or considering becoming one), be sure to take a look at our free white paper: Email Marketing vs. Marketing Automation.
5. Implement lead scoring
Lead scoring is a great way to identify quality leads that are likely to convert to paying customers. In short, lead scoring is the practice of “ranking the sales-readiness of a lead using a predetermined methodology” (thanks for the definition, ZoomInfo!)
Lead scoring is the ultimate bridge between Marketing & Sales; therefore, lead scoring efforts are key to any lead generation strategy.
As a marketing automation company, we also have a wide range of lead scoring resources and guides — here are just a few that will surely aid in your lead scoring efforts:
- Blog Post: Lead Scoring Tips to Better Identify Quality Leads
- Free Resource: How To: Lead Scoring — this resource will walk you through the benefits of lead scoring as well as how to implement lead scoring at your company/place of business.
- Free Resource: Lead Scoring Worksheets — these are the only worksheets you need to create a 3D lead scoring model that will maximize the quality of the leads passed on to your sales team (and they’ll love you for it).
While lead scoring is a tactic for lead generation, it is a key element of handing generated (and qualified) leads to Sales.
This brings us to our final point…
6. Devise a lead nurturing strategy
Whatcha gonna do with all these leads, all these leads inside your funnel? (name that tune!)
Nurture them, of course.
One of the most important things to do when devising any sort of lead generation strategy is to think about and decide what happens to those leads once they’re generated.
This step is crucial to turn those generated leads into paying (and returning) customers.
To help you decide on and implement a lead nurturing strategy, we want to share our free Lead Nurturing 101 Guide with you!
(You’re up to your eyeballs in free content at this point, but if you think about it, is that really a problem?).
This guide will teach you everything you need to know to take your newly generated leads and convert them into real-life customers. Hooray!
If you have any questions or concerns about lead generation or marketing automation, don’t hesitate to schedule a quick, no-commitment, 20-minute chat with our team.
We’ll be more than happy to help you out!
Cheers to your success,
Lexie Robbins
Marketing @ Net-Results
