What is lead generation?

Lead generation is the process of attracting leads (which are your potential customers) into a contact management or a marketing software with the hope of nurturing them throughout the buying process to help convince them about what your company offers and then converting them into a paying customer. 

For example, a website visitor who fills in your contact form to know more about your products and services becomes a lead for your company. Typically, a Customer Relationship Management tool such as Melivo Dynamics CRM is used to centralize, track and manage leads.

Why is lead generation important for my business?

Generating a constant flow of high-quality leads is one of the most important responsibility of a marketing team. Actually, a well-managed lead generation process is like the fuel that will allow your company to deliver great performances - leads bring meetings, meetings bring sales, sales bring revenue and more work.

Channels of lead generation

Broadly speaking, there are two channels of lead generation: inbound and outbound.

Both channels are obviously aimed at generating leads for your business. But there’s a slight difference in the way they work.

The outbound method involves a proactive attempt to reach out to your audience. This usually begins with purchasing lead lists. You then contact these leads by calling them directly (cold calling) or sending them physical mails (direct mail). For a wider reach, businesses look beyond lead lists and use billboards, print ads, television ads, and radio ads. The emphasis here is on budget, media connections, and how much marketing muscle you can flex.

In outbound lead generation, your pitch is quite apparent and there are no efforts made to educate your audience.

The inbound method attracts leads using online content. You create a website, or you write a blog, and you optimize it for online search through SEO (search engine optimization) techniques. This means the content has the appropriate keywords and answers the questions your target audience is asking. When your content is easily discoverable and begins to engage your readers, they become your leads. Depending on how you interact with them from then on, they can become your customers too.

In inbound lead generation, you educate your target audience through a carefully planned content strategy. This takes time and involves very little budget spend. Two keywords here: content and SEO (search engine optimization). And the domain is largely digital.