Lead generation… it’s a necessary evil in the sales and marketing world. Necessary because you need a constant inflow of new customers to ensure business growth — you can’t rely solely on existing customers. Evil because it’s a difficult process, and success doesn’t come easy. Non-active buyers are complacent or haven’t become aware that they have a need, and they require sales and marketing to get in their face to attract, educate and motivate them. But according to MediaPost, only 16% of marketers rate their lead generation efforts as extremely effective. This article takes a look at the two biggest hurdles to lead generation and provides insight into how to overcome them and keep your sales funnel full.
Hurdles to Lead Generation
In our experience, there are two primary reasons marketers struggle to generate quality leads.
- Most Marketers Take the Same Old, Tired Approach — They buy a lead list and let sales and marketing club it to death with cold calls, email blasts or whichever new sales channel they think will work with messaging focused on themselves.
- Marketers Rely on Marketing “Experts” That Tell Them What They “Should” Do — Some so-called experts are guilty of forcing “templated marketing” onto their clients. They push to do email, push to buy Facebook ads or push to increase your focus on LinkedIn. They push the things they have had success with in the past… which would make sense if every company sold the same thing to the same people, but that’s not the case! Each business is unique, and every buyer is unique. Just because a marketer has had success using specific tactics for other companies doesn’t mean they will get the same results for your company.
You can market using just about any channel. Digital channels include Paid Search (Google Ads), Video, Social Boost and Email Marketing. You can also utilize traditional channels like Direct Mail, Print Ads, Outdoor Signage, Telemarketing or Tradeshow. However, the channel doesn’t matter if your buyer isn’t there. In the same respect, the messaging and calls to action you incorporate don’t matter if they don’t speak directly to your buyers’ needs.
How to Increase Lead Generation Success
In order to generate leads, it’s crucial to target the RIGHT leads on the RIGHT channels with the RIGHT messaging. To do so, the key is to develop a research-backed strategy BEFORE going to market. By doing this, you will save money because you are marketing more efficiently, and you’ll also greatly increase your response rate for the non-active buyers.
What, specifically, should you do during the strategy phase? Our blog includes several articles filled with helpful information. Here are some of the most relevant:
- Find More Customers Like Your Best Customers
- How to Get the Most Out of List & Data Services
- An Overview of Persona Creation
- Why You Should Be Doing Buyer’s Journey Mapping Before You Begin Marketing
- Validate Your Hypotheticals with Voice of Customer
Have additional questions about lead generation or want to learn even more? Call us at 815.431.1000 or submit this form to contact us. You can also visit the Demand Generation section of our blog.
