Every business relies on customer support and revenue. It’s what powers the engine of a business, driving it forward.
Harvesting this source calls marketers to listen to the murmurings of those who pass by the vehicle. Marketers need to pay attention and distinguish the groups of people who walk by without looking, the ones who stop and stare, as well as the ones who take a step closer and ask questions.
The ability to convert consumer interest into a paying customer is key to a brand’s capacity to expand – the essence of a lead generation campaign.
What is a lead?
A lead is a person who shows interest in a brand’s products and services and who has the potential to become a paying customer as a result.
What is a lead generation campaign?
A content strategy focused on gathering leads, a lead generation campaign is a way of using advertising and marketing materials to warm up potential customers to a business. It nurtures consumers throughout the digital sales funnel, where they feel empowered to make a purchase.
Key benefits of a lead generation campaign
- Builds a loyal customer base
- Creates storytelling opportunities
- Demonstrates unique selling point (USP)
- Expands marketing to attract target consumers
- Grows a brand’s following
- Improves cash flow
- Leverages consumer interest
- Positions a brand as a thought leader
Lead generation process
The process of generating leads involves a strategy using a particular media source and an offer to create consumer incentive.
It typically happens like this:
- A visitor discovers a business through a marketing channel (e.g. website, blog, social)
- Visitor clicks on the call-to-action (CTA) – an image, button or message that prompts a user to take action (e.g. start your free trial, register now, etc)
- CTA takes a visitor to a landing page – a web page designed to capture lead information in exchange for an offer (e.g. ebook, course, free trial)
- On the landing page, a visitor completes a contact form in exchange for an offer
- After completing the form, the individual can now be classified as a lead
- The business can now assess the visitor’s suitability for their offering (“qualifying a lead”)
- If the visitor is classed as qualified, the business will reach out with more materials, offers and personalized messaging to nurture the visitor into further contact with the business, including purchase
A clear goal directs a successful campaign
In today’s digital age, a user’s social media feed is littered with a swarm of influencers and businesses, all competing for attention. This crowding has forced users to become skilled at blocking content and messaging which doesn’t resonate with them.
Because a lead generation campaign requires marketers to consider the needs, pain points and values of their target audience, a lead generation campaign can help businesses distribute content that’s more relevant and engaging. Users are more likely to support a business when they can demonstrate they have a solution for their problem through content marketing.
Leveraging the consumer interest which stems from the distribution of more targeted content requires marketers to have a clear campaign goal. While the overarching goal to acquire more leads will always be, types of lead generation campaigns can vary.
Examples of lead generation campaigns include:
- registration drive for a webinar or event
- accelerated product sales
- increase in consultation bookings.
Once the object of a lead generation campaign has been set, the desired outcomes of the campaign need to be mapped.
This mapping needs to include:
- campaign timeframe
- desired actions of leads (e.g. register for a webinar)
- how lead results will be recorded
- metrics which define campaign success (e.g. click-through-rate, number of registrations, number of engagements, etc)
- number of leads expected
- revenue per lead
- target audience
- when results will be evaluated.
Desired outcomes of a lead generation campaign need to be tailored to what’s feasible for the business. For instance, it’s unrealistic to set a target of 8000 leads if a company only has 80 followers on social media and caters to a niche market.
With this in mind, it’s important to consider that one lead generation campaign is unlikely to earn all of a business’ key results instantly. A step-by-step approach to lead generation is more likely to unlock sustainable growth. So, assess priorities and perform lead generation campaigns in stages.
Evaluate campaign target
A target audience can come from a current list of contacts or an entirely new target group. Either way, marketers need to identify who these groups are, their pain points and how the business can answer their questions with content.
Today, businesses can generate leads through:
- competitions / giveaways
- content marketing (e.g. blogs, thought leadership articles, etc)
- email marketing
- paid advertising (social, e.g. TikTok ads and search, e.g. microsoft ads)
- search engine optimization (SEO)
- webinars.
Marketers should harness the channels where their target audience is and use that to inform a multi-channel approach. This multi-channel approach is likely to expose more people to a business’ products and services.
Build a communication strategy
A lead generation campaign is intended to inspire a network of people to support a business, and communication plays a key role in building that bridge. Communication encapsulates the first touch-point prospective buyers have with the business. That’s why the communication portion of a lead generation campaign should never be an afterthought.
A communication strategy should include:
- lead contact process
- messaging matrix (to inform campaign content and ensure it elicits the right response)
- posting frequency
- type of campaign material (e.g. carousel ads, blogs, social reels, etc).
Develop an offer
The offer (aka lead magnet) is the steak of a lead generation campaign. It’s how a business incentivizes users to share their contact details.
Offers typically include things like:
- free consultation
- free download to a guide
- free product demonstration
- value package.
Before an offer can be promoted, a landing page needs to be made. A landing page, as explained earlier, is where a prospect lands after clicking the CTA, having been prompted by an offer. It’s often customized to the specifics of the lead generation campaign. The landing page then directs users to fill out a contact form in exchange for the offer.
Once the landing page is produced, the offer can be promoted through blogs, organic social, webpages, email marketing and paid advertising. If the offer is the steak, the promotion channels are the waitstaff sharing information with potential diners.
Nurturing: The hidden stage of the campaign cycle
A lead generation campaign doesn’t end at the accumulation of leads. As lead information enters the business, it needs to be tracked and segmented for nurturing. Although it can be done manually, an automated system needs to be in place for a business to scale. This brings us to customer relationship management (CRM).
A CRM system can collect and store information on leads after they complete a contact form, including email, phone number, postal address, and download activity from the company website. A CRM system can be customized according to the information a business needs to qualify leads for nurturing.
Nurturing encapsulates the pointy end of a campaign process, where a business engages in one-to-one contact with leads – usually through sales consultants or customer success specialists. The nurturing stage typically consists of answering questions about products and services (as it relates to the user’s needs) and clarifying whether they’re a good fit to be a paying customer.
A lead generation campaign represents a pivotal opportunity to capitalize on consumer interest, enabling businesses to expand their customer base and drive greater growth.
Throughout the campaign lifecycle, how can marketers track the success of their efforts? Are they achieving desired numbers? Is the campaign contributing to follower growth? Is content reaching target users?
The answers can be found when marketers connect their accounts in the Digivizer platform. This digital performance tool allows marketers to side-step the struggle of having to extract performance data from multiple channels. With Digivizer, digital performance insights across all marketing channels can be found in one place instantly. Sign up for free and experience this.