Lead generation is the process of attracting and converting strangers and prospects into someone who has indicated interest in your company’s product or service. Some examples of lead generators are eBooks, white papers, free consultations, coupons, product demonstrations, blog posts, live events, how-to and trend guides and even how-to buy pages.
Lead generation is about finding unique ways to attract people to your business. You want to offer them enough information to get them naturally interested in your company so they eventually warm up to the brand enough to want to hear from you.
To understand the basics of lead generation, read this blog.
How to Generate Leads
- First, a visitor discovers your business through one of your marketing channels, such as your website, blog, or social media page.
- That visitor then clicks on your call-to-action (CTA) — an image, button, or message that encourages website visitors to take some sort of action.
- The CTA takes your visitor to a landing page, which is a web page that is designed to capture lead information in exchange for an offer.
- An offer is the content or something of value that’s being “offered” on the landing page, like an ebook, a course, or a product selection guide. The offer must have enough perceived value to a visitor to merit providing their personal information in exchange for access to it.
- The form on your landing page consists of a series of fields that collect information in exchange for the offer. Forms are typically hosted on landing pages, although they can technically be embedded anywhere on your site. Once a visitor fills this out — voila! — you have a new lead! (That is, as long as you’re following lead-capture form best practices.)
Lead Generation Strategies
Online lead generation encompasses a wide range of tactics, campaigns, and strategies depending on the platform on which you wish to capture leads.
Let’s dive into lead generation strategies for a few popular platforms.
1. Facebook Lead Generation
Facebook has been a method for lead generation since its start. Originally, companies could use outbound links in their posts and information in their bios to attract strangers to their websites. But when Facebook Ads was launched in 2007, and its algorithm began to favor accounts that used paid advertising, there was a major shift in how businesses used the platform to capture leads.
Facebook created Lead Ads for this purpose. Facebook also has a feature that lets you put a simple call-to-action button at the top of your Facebook Page, helping you send Facebook followers directly to your website.
2. Twitter Lead Generation
Twitter has Twitter Lead Gen Cards, which let you generate leads directly within a tweet without having to leave the site. A user’s name, email address, and Twitter username are automatically pulled into the card, and all they have to do is click “Submit” to become a lead. (Hint for HubSpot users: You can connect Twitter Lead Gen Cards to your HubSpot Forms. Learn how to do that here).
3. LinkedIn Lead Generation
LinkedIn has been increasing its stake in the advertising space since its early days. When it comes to lead generation, LinkedIn created Lead Gen Forms, which auto-populate with a user’s profile data when they click a CTA, making it easy to capture information.
4. PPC Lead Generation
When we say pay-per-click (PPC), we’re referring to ads on search engine result pages (SERPs). Google gets 3.5 billion searches a day, making it prime real estate for any ad campaign, especially lead gen. The effectiveness of your PPC campaign relies heavily on a seamless user flow, as well as your budget, target keywords, and a few other factors.
Tips for Lead Generation Campaigns
- Use the right lead generation tools
- Create amazing offers for all stages in the buyer’s journey
- Keep your messaging consistent and deliver on your promise
- Link your CTA to a dedicated landing page
- Use social media strategically
There you have it! Now that you know more about how to generate leads for your business. Download our complete guide to generating inbound leads, where we share: How to Generate Leads, How to Qualify Leads, Lead Generation Benchmarks, Lead Generation Strategies and Lead Generation Campaign Tips.
We also recommend you try HubSpot’s free lead generation tool. Use it to add simple conversion assets to your site (or replace your existing forms) to help you learn more about your site visitors and what content prompts them to convert.
