Lead generation is the first step in turning your potential customers into paying customers, and it can be one of the most important components to growing your business’s bottom line. Whether you’re looking to sell products or services, lead generation can play an integral role in both business-to-business and business-to-consumer models, and it can benefit both large corporations and small businesses alike.
In fact, a study by the Aberdeen Group found that companies who used lead generation saw their sales increase by an average of 30 percent over their competitors’. The following are seven benefits that come from lead generation.
The following guide covers lead generation in detail.
How Important is Lead Generation?
If you want to be successful, then lead generation is one of your most important tasks. It’s really not as complicated as you might think. Before you dive into your research, here are a few quick reminders that will help get you on track. First, lead generation is how businesses bring leads into their sales pipeline.
When done right, it provides new customers who will purchase your product or service over time. Second, these leads should be people who have shown some interest in purchasing something from you in a particular niche. And third and lastly, if someone is asking for more information about your product (like a form on your website), that’s good! That means they could potentially become a client in the future! Pay attention to them!
1) Lead Generation Boosts Your Sales
If you’re getting new leads on a consistent basis, it’s highly likely that your sales will increase. If you start to identify trends in your lead flow, it will be easier to put them in touch with your best salespeople and close more deals. Plus, as leads come in for repeat customers or for prospects who previously inquired about your product/service but didn’t make a purchase—you can upsell or cross-sell additional products or services. These are called closing loops.
2) Lead Generation Improves Your ROI
When you begin generating leads, your return on investment (ROI) can increase. Your initial outlay is minimal as you start; after all, a lead doesn’t require much. However, as your business develops and establishes its name in its niche market, your lead generation efforts will become even more effective at driving revenue to your company. A lead generation strategy that helps you build brand recognition can result in long-term ROI increases and less wasted time spent chasing down potential clients who never respond.
3) Lead Generation Decreases Costs
This might seem counterintuitive, but generating leads actually helps lower your costs by giving you a way to promote and sell your products or services in an effective manner. You’ll also have a larger pool of potential customers, as well as better data about them.
This means that for every lead that comes through, you can reach out with tailored messaging based on their unique needs and interests. Because of these benefits, lead generation is one strategy for successful digital marketing campaigns.
4) Lead Generation is an Investment in Company Growth
One of the most important benefits lead generation can provide is growth for your company. No matter if you’re just starting out or expanding, generating new leads is an investment in company growth. With growing leads, you have new opportunities to bring your products and services to more consumers.
This allows for increased exposure, which means it can help grow your business exponentially over time. Since companies want to be at their best before expanding, it’s important that they invest in marketing that can generate fresh leads and grow revenue streams.
5) Lead Generation Makes You Seen as a Leader
Potential customers are more likely to trust you and pay attention to your brand if they have a history with you. For example, buying a pair of jeans at Ralph Lauren will increase your likelihood of buying something from them again versus simply seeing an ad or walking into a store.
When you generate leads for potential clients, you create that relationship from the start. And if they’re already sold on you, there is a greater chance that they’ll become actual clients. If a customer feels comfortable with you, they’re going to be much more trusting of your sales pitch when it comes time to sign contracts.
6) Lead Generation Gives You Data to Understand Market Trends
More and more, decision-makers are using lead generation as a way to gauge how their target market is responding to new products or services. One benefit to lead generation is that it provides you with a wealth of information about your market. By actively collecting leads from your target audience, you can begin to analyze trends and understand how they respond to different marketing tactics. This understanding can then be used to change course and increase conversions in real-time.
For example, if you notice one group is responding positively to an email campaign but another isn’t, you might adjust your campaign accordingly. Alternatively, if one product seems less popular than others in its category, further research might reveal why consumers aren’t buying that particular product and what could be done differently.
7) Lead Generation Is Good for SEO
There are two reasons that SEO and lead generation work so well together. First, if you do a good job with your content, you’ll get links from relevant sources. This boosts your SEO efforts and makes it easier to push out quality content over time. Second, generating leads helps you build an audience which increases brand awareness which helps with SEO.
The bottom line is that one strategy is harder without the other. If you have both going on, it’s easier to gain traction in search engines while getting more traffic through your website or landing page. That’s why we love lead generation for small businesses as one of our most effective business ideas.
conclusion
Whether you’re trying to reach a new audience or are working to sell more things, you need people with influence and authority. Real influence comes from doing your research and showing genuine interest in helping others solve their problems. Yes, it takes effort, but when done correctly, lead generation can be powerful. Learn how to do it well by thinking about what benefits your target audience wants most and how you can deliver those results—quickly. And when that happens, you’ll start turning prospects into leads—and the real business is sure to follow.