How Can Lead Generation Service Benefit Your Business?

In this blog, we will discuss what a lead is and how the lead generation service benefits the business along with various lead generation methods.

A lead is a potential customer who has shown interest in your brand by taking some action. The leads are generally classified into Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) and Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs) under the terms of marketing and sales characteristics. MQLs are the potential prospects that can be persuaded whereas SQLs are the customers who have engaged with your business.

What is Lead Generation?

Lead generation is a process of stimulating and capturing interest in a product or service to develop a sales pipeline. It allows the companies to nurture targets until they are ready to convert. More than half of marketers believe that lead generation is a key pain point for their company.

A visitor to your website who hasn’t taken the desired action counts can also be considered a lead. Lead generation does not necessarily mean that there must be a conversion. The number of people who have engaged with your business to decide on whether to make a purchase or not is the number of leads generated.

Methods / Types of Lead Generation

Lead generation has been around for a long time, but methods have changed from simply finding a customer early in the sales journey and sending the sales team their way. The methods for generating leads typically fall under the umbrella of advertising, but may also include non-paid sources such as organic search engine results or referrals from existing customers. The competition and technological advancement have prompted companies to think beyond traditional marketing methods including lead generation through email marketing.

The lead generation strategy differs based on the size and type of industry. The strategy followed for lead generation for small businesses will not work for large businesses. Similarly, the strategy for lead generation for real estate agents will not suit lead generation for technology companies

Mentioned below are some of the methods of lead generation apart from the traditional methods such as outbound via email & phone, events, branding & advertising, direct mail, referrals and PR.

• Lead generation through internet marketing offers very accurate tools, and effective communication with the audience and helps to measure user engagement & loyalty through emails, PPC advertising, social media, messengers, chatbots, web push notifications and search engines.
• Lead generation using Google ads helps to deliver high-quality traffic to your business which will help in generating leads.
• Lead generation using social media marketing is part of every marketer’s strategy and a good next step to move beyond brand awareness and engagement. Social Media helps to find new leads and also helps to keep in touch with potential customers.
• Local lead generation is a more narrowed down and targeted lead generation effort. 
• Website, simple and informative than jargon-filled or complex, allows downloading valuable information and request for a proposal will impact dramatic results.
• Industry Research Reports, White Papers, E-newsletters, Online Marketing Videos and Blogs with SEO-compliant content would help in traffic to your website thus helping to increase interest, trust and confidence in your service/product.
• Webinars: potential customers will find great value in such informative sessions. It will also develop trust and confidence in your services/products which will aid in converting to a sale.

Lead Generation Based on Business Type

The lead generation methods will vary based on the type of business. The key difference and similarities between the B2B and B2C lead generation methods are:

1. Sales cycle length:  The contracts with business (B2B) are usually much larger than the contracts with the customer (B2C). Hence, B2B lead generation activities require elaborate investments, time and resources than B2C lead generation
2. Unique content: B2B customers are more knowledgeable as they have done enough research before making a purchase decision. Hence it is important to have a unique inbound lead generation strategy in place to have valuable content like case studies, infographics and white papers to push them along the sales funnel. Lead Generation content for B2C often comes in the forms of promotions, unique offers, and personal messaging.
3. Scope of Audience:  A good B2C lead generation initiative has to grab a customer’s attention amidst noise from competitors since it caters to a broad audience. The B2B segment demands a more proactive and personalized approach since the audience scope is smaller and more precise.
4. Social Media: The B2B lead generation services leverage LinkedIn to reach decision-makers and influencers in the business territory since it is the social media hub of professionals and business executives. The highly visible top three platforms: Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are generally used to reach out to B2C audiences.

Though the aim of both B2B and B2C lead generation is a sale the B2C lead generation strategy is more on attracting a vast audience. However, the B2B strategy would be more focused on building rapport with prospects. This is to ensure top-of-the-mind awareness about their service/product while making a purchase decision.

Cost and Implementation of Lead Generation Service

The cost and Implementation of a lead generation service is depending on factors like the type of target audience, market size, etc.

There are B2B and B2C lead generation companies that offer affordable lead generation services these days. Listing down some of the costs heads applicable for lead generation activities:

• Media (Placement and Distribution) Cost of reaching the potential audience of a digital campaign.
• List Purchase: Cost of buying or renting a telemarketing/email list and a third-party address list for direct marketing.
• Agency and Labour: Cost of hiring a lead generation agency, to assist you with the digital marketing strategy for lead generation
• Campaign Creation: Cost of developing an effective digital marketing campaign.
• Incentive: Cost of immediate rewards like coupons or discounts to high-quality prospects before buying behaviour.
• Miscellaneous: Costs of managing a digital marketing campaign aside from the ones explained above.

Role of Digital Marketing Agency in Lead Generation

Digital marketing agency plays a vital role in the development and implementation of lead generation activities. There are many Digital Marketing Agencies that provides various type of lead generation service including SEO lead generation services.

The professional agencies assist their clients to connect with their customers through appropriate channels, i.e. Omnichannel / multichannel/single-channel and offer the best lead generation services. Digital Marketing Agencies also offer lead generation services in Dubai like inbound marketing, SEO, PPC, Online advertising and Social Media. Many of them also help customers with SEO-compliant website design and development.

This article explains a few important benefits of Lead Generation but it is much more than the above. The days of customers voluntarily looking for the companies are getting diminished due to stiff competition. It is high time for the companies to go out and find potential customers to make the business profitable and stay above the competition.