Lead Generation: What Is Your Sales Funnel?

Whatever your industry, your customers are the cornerstone of your business. Therefore, getting new customers should be one of your main goals, as this leads directly to the growth of your business.

That said, one of your main drivers of success is your ability to arouse the interest of potential customers and guide them to a transaction.

Through digital marketing applications, social media platforms, and automation software, transform prospects into profitable customers. is easier than ever. You are no longer limited to traditional methods of acquiring offline customers.

Nowadays, you can maximize all the opportunities offered by digital marketing channels through lead generation services that can help you make significant progress.

Understanding Lead Generation

Anyone, regardless of age and gender, and other relevant characteristics – who shows a particular interest in your brand can be considered a prospect.

In most cases, your prospects are generally presented by sharing their contact details, interacting with your page, or subscribing to your blog. It is essential to take note of these behaviours for your sales since each of their actions can be a direct indication of the intention to purchase.

Your website can benefit from significant traffic or your social media pages can be inundated with inquiries, but note that not all the leads you get are of equal quality.

Your potential customers may be at different stages of the sales funnel and most of them are not yet ready to close a transaction. In fact, studies show that 50% of qualified prospects are not ready to buy when they first interact with a company.

This is where the generation of leads comes in. Simply put, lead generation refers to the process of attracting, feeding, and convincing potential customers to deal with you.

When a website visitor, for example, shows an intention to purchase, marketing specialists use various methods to gain their activity.

To give you some examples, content marketing, and e-mail marketing are two simple but proven strategies in the field.

Now that the market has moved to digital space, developing a centralised and efficient lead generation strategy has become a requirement for all businesses. And, as competition is tighter now, more than ever, you need to redouble your efforts to outdo rival businesses.

Putting more emphasis on generating prospects will not only improve your customer acquisition efforts but will also help you build your brand and improve your results.

Statistics and facts in brief on the generation of prospects

Given the above points, this should be clear now that implementing a lead generation strategy will be extremely beneficial for your business. But, if you are still not convinced, it is probably best to let the numbers speak. Here are some interesting lead generation statistics that you should consider.

• B2B companies that blogged 11 times or more a month had three times more traffic than brands that barely blogged. – Hubspot
• Organizations that have between 400 and 1,000 pages of destination get six times more prospects than websites with 51 to 100. – Hubspot
• B2B marketing specialists obtain most of their prospects via LinkedIn (64%), Facebook (49%), and Twitter (36%). – IronPaper
• Since 2019, research indicates that the main strategies for developing leads are e-mail marketing (62%), content marketing (60%), and personal marketing (57%). – Tech Jury
• 49% of B2B marketing specialists say that articles are the most effective type of content for passing prospects through the – sales funnel

The Lead Generation Funnel

Each individual follows their own unique process when purchasing. But, despite these differences, all customers follow specific steps that lead to the transaction, your end goal. To help marketing specialists visualize and find ways to influence the client’s journey, the lead generation funnel was introduced.

The lead generation funnel illustrates a customer’s journey from the moment they share their information until they acquire your products or services.

• Top of the Funnel (TOFU) – This step is devoted to raising awareness. Since this is your first interaction with the visitor, your main priority is to build a sense of trust. Educating them with timely and relevant content will help you to be considered a reliable and authoritative personality.
• Middle of the Funnel (MOFU) – In the middle of the funnel, your visitors have already realized the need to solve their problems and are starting to explore their options. Providing an appropriate solution or providing something of value are good ways to move them forward towards the conversion path.
• Bottom of the funnel (BOFU) – Once the prospects have reached the bottom of the funnel, you can already call them perspectives. At this point, they are considering buying, so your goal should be to sell. By giving them case studies, demos, and price comparisons, you will reassure them that trading with you is the right choice.

Understanding the three steps in depth will allow you to guide your prospects in a purchase. In addition to increasing the chances of conversion, the lead generation funnel is also useful for optimizing the customer experience.

Comparison of inward and outbound lead generation strategies

The acquisition of leads is no different from the construction of a bridge. Customers who do not know your business are on the other side of the river, so you have to create a path for them to join you. To do this, you must develop an incoming or outgoing strategy.
Generation of incoming leads

An incoming marketing campaign aims to attract and engage visitors to your page to convert them into tracks. By providing valuable content, you can capture and feed your visitors through the funnel and possibly encourage them to make a purchase. , in the generation of outgoing leads, you take the first step. Here you are sending targeted messages in the hope of arousing potential interest.

An incoming strategy is a customer-centered approach, which means that customers have full control of all activities, which allows them to discover your business at their convenience. At the same time, outgoing traffic takes a more proactive approach in which you decide whether a customer is ready or not.

Incoming campaigns have much longer schedules, as marketing resources such as blog articles can generate prospects long after they are published. Outgoing tactics are limited, but costs are fixed and can be effective when done right. In general, incoming marketing is known to provide better results, but taking advantage of both approaches will help you achieve the growth of your business.

First steps with the generation of leads

] You want to increase your client acquisition rates? We have what you need! Here’s how to start the generation of lead in four simple steps.

1. Create a buyer character – Whether you opt for an outgoing or incoming marketing campaign you must create a buyer character, a semi-fictitious representation of your ideal client. It can serve as a guide in developing strategies and help you identify the avenues on which you devote the most time and energy.

• Set your goal – Getting results starts by setting the right goal. Ask yourself: what would you like to accomplish given your current situation? Increase your total number of prospects by 50%? Generate twice as much income for the quarter? The data is the fuel of any marketing campaign and setting targets will allow you to measure your performance and make adjustments if necessary.
• Choose the right channels – Are your customers the most active on social media? Do they prefer to be contacted by e-mail? Connection with your prospects begins by choosing the right channels. Taking note of their preferences and activities online and offline, as well as diversifying your tactics will help you build a targeted lead generation campaign.
• Create a database and a segment – When collecting prospects, remember to create a database and segment correctly. Since your prospects are at different stages of the funnel, segmentation will help you personalize your approach, ensuring that everyone receives the right marketing message at the right time.

Once you have distinguished the prospects that need to be fed, it will be easier for you to influence their purchasing decision.
Generating leads for small businesses can be a demanding task, but returns are worth it. If you have just started one recently, be patient, because getting results will take time, but it is probably one of the quickest and most effective ways to achieve growth.

Qualifying Your Leads

Lead Qualification helps you determine the probability of someone buying. Not all of the leads you get are the same, and as your time, energy and resources are limited, being able to distinguish your most promising contacts can make all the difference in your sales. Here are four ways to qualify your prospects :

• Analyze the information about the company – If you are a B2B company, you must examine the profile of an organization before sending promotions. Taking into account essential factors such as the size of the company and the sector of activity will help you determine whether these are qualified prospects or not.
• BANT method – BANT refers to the budget, authority, needs, and timing of a prospect Collecting the necessary data through an investigation or interview will help you determine the probability that a contact buys.
• Buyer Profile – Once the contact has submitted their details to you, you must compare their profile to that of your ideal customer. If they are aligned, you can label this individual as a qualified prospect and feed him accordingly.
• Lead Scoring – This method involves assigning a score to each engagement activity between your prospect and your marketing resources. The more the prospects often interact with your blog, your social media pages, and your campaigns by e-mail, the more they get a high score and the more they are ready to take the next step.

If a prospect meets the necessary criteria, you should change your efforts to push this wire into the funnel. But, if a prospect is not admissible, save your time and your energy by focusing on others.

Use of SEO to generate prospects

Optimizing search engines (SEO) is one of the best ways to generate prospects. By ranking yourself at the top of the search engine results pages (SERP), it will be so much easier for potential customers to find you. Here are some tips on how you can use SEO for the generation of prospects.

• Be compatible with mobiles – When you create your destination pages, remember to optimize for multiple devices, as this can help improve your results. Statistics show that 61% of mobile internet users are more likely to contact a local company if they have a site suitable for mobiles.
• Optimizing meta descriptions – Meta descriptions do not necessarily influence your search for engine classifications, but this can significantly affect your click rate. To write a convincing one, make sure it summarizes the content of your page and includes all the necessary keywords.
• Stay generous with links – To date, bond creation remains one of the best ways to boost your domain authority. Keep a generous approach when applying links to your site, but be careful enough not to overdo it.
• Take note of the buyer’s intention – Understanding your prospects goes beyond the construction of buyer’s personas. Taking note of the obstacles they face or identifying what they want to know about a particular subject can help you determine the type of requests they will make. This will help you determine the keywords to align with your product and service pages.

Use of content marketing to generate prospects

Content marketing is at a record level, as more and more companies are starting to see what it can bring to the table. It is estimated that 91% of B2B marketing specialists use content to reach new customers. Take a look at these tips for more information!

• Create a distribution plan – If you want your content to go very far, you need to determine where to promote it and who you should share it with. Using social media platforms and newsletters by e-mail will ensure that your content reaches as many looks as possible.
• Diversify your content types – Blogs can be a proven lead generation practice, but that doesn’t mean you just have to trust it. If you want to take full advantage of the benefits of content marketing, you need to explore different types of content.
• Case Studies – By examining an in-depth situation and providing the necessary solutions, you can show them that you are a reliable figure in your industry.
• eBooks – Electronic books are long-term content that deals in detail with key topics. There is no question that it can be very discouraging to produce, but it is an excellent main magnet once developed and distributed correctly.
• Infographics – Infographics can condense complex information and present it in a visually attractive way. If you tend to blog about complex concepts and data, using graphics and graphics will allow your readers to better digest information.
• Videos – About 66% of consumers prefer to watch a video about a product than to read about it. Given this figure, video marketing can be extremely beneficial for your content strategy. If you plan to adopt it, it is essential to know the different types of video content.
• CTA strategically placed – Instead of letting your readers find out what their next steps are, you can link them to specific parts of your site, such as your newsletter subscription or your pillar page. This will effectively guide them to purchase and significantly increase your chances of a sale.

Social media have evolved considerably in recent years. Originally designed as networking sites, platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn have become powerful lead generation tools. Nowadays, being present on one or two platforms can offer companies sales opportunities. Consult these tips on how to transform social networks into an engine for generating prospects :

• Create unique hashtags – Brand hashtags can help potential customers remember your business or campaigns. In addition to improving your visibility, the hashtags you choose will also be essential to building your brand identity.
• Participating in live events – Responding to comments kindly or responding quickly to requests can help your brand appear more accessible, but these methods have their limits. If you are looking for new ways to interact with your audience, you can start by organizing live events.Many brands organize webinaries, question and answer sessions, and reviews to capture the interest of customers. So you should also consider these options.
• Organize a competition – You want to market a new product? Try to organize a competition. Many of your customers would be happy to participate in your video or photo contest for gifts, so use this factor to strengthen your presence in the market.

Also, take the time to learn social media tools. Automation programs, social listening applications, and content planning software can make all the difference in your workflow.

Use of PPC to generate prospects

Clic payment advertising (CPC) is a great affordable way to generate prospects. Unlike referencing and content marketing which will take some time to display the results, the PPC allows you to reach customers instantly. Create an effective SEM strategy taking note of the advice below.

• Create specific destination pages – Do not make the common mistake of directing your visitors to a generic home page. Your destination pages and your search announcements go hand in hand. Therefore, if your visitors find themselves in an irrelevant part of your site, chances are they will bounce back. This will not only waste conversion opportunities; it will also be difficult for your budget.
• Watch the campaigns religiously – Once you have started your campaign, remember to always follow the necessary advertising statistics. Since PPC is not a unique thing, taking note of key performance indicators such as the conversion rate will let you know if you need to make some adjustments.
• Write a killing advertising text – Just like billboards with big slogans, your Research Network announcements must have a good copy. An ad copy that has the benefits of your offer and includes consumer intent has higher click rates.

Despite what PPC can bring, many are still hesitant to invest in an SEM plan. When done without care, it can exhaust your savings quickly. But, as long as you follow best practices and use the necessary SEM tools, you can count on PPC to constantly generate sales opportunities.

Use of email to generate prospects

Despite the introduction of instant messaging platforms, email is still one of the most powerful communication channels. With more than 3.9 billion users worldwide, you can reach new customers by adding it to your lead generation strategy. To start, here are some simple tips for successfully marketing by email:

• Exploiting the power of automation – Adapting an e-mail marketing strategy does not mean that you have to compose and send thousands of emails manually daily.Now that the email automation software has entered the scene, you can have a has-free experience and program robots to send your promotions. This will allow you to generate more prospects while giving you more time to focus on other important issues.
• Segment your mailing lists – In an era where customization is essential, sending a personalized marketing message can help you with the e-mails worth the click. There are many ways to consolidate your mailing list, but the most common are based on demographic data, online behavior, and interests.
• Use triggered emails – If you have a prospect that consults your product catalog or that has registered for your newsletter, you should hammer your starting point with a triggered email. Sending specific emails whenever a visitor behaves, in particular, will significantly improve your conversion rate.

Over 80% of business owners rely on e-mail marketing for their customer acquisition and loyalty efforts. This statistic directly indicates why this chain is one of the most powerful.
If you are not yet convinced, you miss a ton of opportunities to develop your business. Now that brands can use all kinds of email marketing tools you can save more time and resources while getting as many results as possible.

Ready to capture prospects?

Attracting new customers is a challenge for each company. Fortunately, the world has become digital and marketing innovations have made interactions with customers much easier. Digital channels can offer several chances of conversion, but in the end, their capitalization always depends on you.

If you want your business to reach new heights, it is essential to know how to capture and nurture the interests of customers. With a complete lead generation strategy, this feat can be easily achieved.

Recommended reading;
https://www.income.tube/sales-funnel-affiliate-marketing/
https://www.income.tube/inbound-marketing-how-to-create-an-effective-landing-page/