An Introductory Guide to Sales Lead Generation

What is sales lead generation? Sales lead generation is the process of identifying people likely to buy your products or services and using marketing to them to get them interested in buying. The ultimate goal is to turn each lead into a sale.

Sales are essential to your business’s success since they’re how you drive revenue. But you can’t drive sales without sales leads. People won’t buy from you until you’ve given them a reason to take interest in what you’re selling, and that’s what sales lead generation can help you accomplish.

What is sales lead generation, though? How can you generate sales leads? 

We’ll answer those questions in this blog post, so keep reading to learn more. Then, to get more helpful marketing info, be sure to subscribe to Revenue Weekly, our email newsletter!

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What is sales lead generation?

Sales lead generation is a form of marketing that aims to get people interested in buying your products or services — that is, to turn people into sales leads.

Eventually, the goal is for those people to take the next step and become customers. Of course, they won’t buy without first being interested in what you offer, which is why sales lead generation is important.

3 strategies for generating sales leads

Lead generation for sales isn’t limited to a single marketing strategy. There are a few different strategies you can use to generate leads for your business. Here are three of the best ones to try.

1. SEO and content marketing

One of the best strategies to use for sales lead generation is search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing. Technically, those are two separate strategies, but they work closely together — content marketing is where you make content, and SEO is where you get that content in front of people.

With content marketing, you develop content for your website that will draw in potential leads. Some of that content will be informational, while some will be more salesy, but it will all get people to visit your site and take an interest in your company.

SEO is how you get that content in front of people. By using SEO best practices like keyword integration, you can help it rank higher in relevant Google search results. When people search for keywords related to your company, they’ll find content from your business and visit your site to view it.

As people read your content, they’ll become more familiar with your business. After they learn more about your company, many of them will become interested sales leads.

2. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising

Another excellent strategy to use in lead generation for sales is pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. This strategy involves launching paid ads online, especially in Google search results. You can use Google Ads to create your ads and target them to specific keywords.

The convenient part about PPC is that you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. Someone might search for “best manufacturing services,” and if you targeted that keyword with one of your ads, it could show up at the top of search results for that user:

You can also run paid ads on third-party websites and social media platforms. Wherever your ads appear, they’ll link to a landing page that encourages users to convert. Even if someone doesn’t convert right then and there, they may still end up becoming a lead.

3. Email marketing

A third marketing strategy to help you generate leads is email marketing. Email marketing is what it sounds like — it’s where you send out emails to potential customers. But you don’t want to send out emails to just anyone, nor do you want to send them out to people who didn’t ask for them.

The key to email marketing is getting people to sign up for your emails. You can do this by creating email forms on your website. When people visit your site, they might be interested enough in your business or content to sign up. People who choose to sign up may already be interested enough to qualify as sales leads.

You can then send out emails to the people who join your email list, using them as a way of nurturing those leads toward a sales conversion.

3 sales lead generation tips

Now that we’ve gone over some broad marketing strategies you can use in your sales lead generation efforts, let’s look some more specific tips that you can apply to your lead generation campaigns. 

Bonus Read: Lead Generation Trends

1. Use lead magnets and forms on your website

One of the best ways to drive sales leads is to capture leads with forms on your website. We mentioned using forms in email marketing — that’s one example, but it doesn’t always have to be about email. 

Users will fill out your forms if you give them a good incentive to do so. Maybe that means offering a subscription to your email list, providing a free product demo, or allowing people access to gated content. Regardless, there should be some incentives, which are called lead magnets.

As for the forms themselves, don’t be too ambitious. If you ask for too much info, users may decide it’s not worth it. Stick with the most basic information, like someone’s name and email address.

Using sales tech options can help you create effective lead magnets. 

2. Offer chatbots and live chat options

Another way to draw in leads to your website is to offer a chat feature. It can be helpful to offer two different kinds of chat: Chatbots and live chat. A chatbot is better for users who have quick, simple questions, while a live chat service is best for users who want to speak directly to a real human.

Both types of chat can help users easily clear up any questions or concerns they have about your business, products, or services. Getting resolution on those questions can often make someone more likely to consider buying from your business.

3. Provide clear calls-to-action (CTAs)

Finally, it’s a good idea to use calls-to-action (CTAs) throughout your marketing. A CTA is where you directly encourage users to take a particular action. That action might be signing up for your emails or purchasing a product.

CTAs usually include a short sentence or blurb telling users what you want them to do, as well as a button or link they can click to do it. Whatever your CTAs say, it’s important to use them throughout your marketing — particularly on your website and on landing pages — because otherwise users won’t know what you want them to do next.

Make sure your CTAs are clear, concise, and persuasive so there’s no doubt in users’ minds about what action you’re pushing them to take. Also, make it clear to them what they’ll get out of clicking on the CTA. Don’t just say “buy our software here,” say “start driving up your revenue with our top-level software.”

Our digital marketing campaigns impact the metrics that improve your bottom line.

See More Results

WebFX has driven the following results for clients:

$6 billion

In client revenue

24 million

Leads for our clients

7.14 million

Client phone calls

Boost your sales lead generation with help from WebFX

Want some help driving sales leads for your business? You’re already in the right place. WebFX has over 28 years of experience in digital marketing, including sales lead generation. We can elevate your campaigns to new tiers of success, bringing in far more sales and revenue for your business.

Interested in partnering with WebFX for our lead generation services? Just call 888-601-5359 or contact us online today to get started!