LEAD GENERATION
The marketing process of capturing attention in a product or service is called Lead generation. It is a means of generating consumer interest and usually takes place on digital channels. The term lead refers to prospective customers and is sometimes also named contacts; they will typically have already opened communication with your business. Working with leads is essentially a digitalised, more attuned version of cold calling to only people that want to hear from you!
Why is it important?
Having a positive reputation and presence online is vital for your business to bring in custom. In today’s world of constant online information, it is important to bring your business into that sphere professionally and effectively. By utilising lead generation, you can communicate efficiently with potential customers who have a real interest in your work and are more likely to work with you or make a purchase. The purposes of having lead information are to open communication further and can be used for a number of marketing strategies including list building, e-newsletter acquisitions, or loyalty/ reward programs. By streamlining your ads, you are being cost and time effective.
Options
The way that leads are sourced vary greatly. There are three main ways. These include Cost per thousand, Cost per click, and Cost per Acquisition. This is a quick overview of those three options. Cost per Thousand uses a pricing model that charges for the number of times that your advertisement is viewed. The downside to this is that you will be charged even if the target audience is not clicking on the advertisement. The option that overcomes this issue is Cost per click. This is when you are charged only when a consumer clicks on your ad and sees your information, an example of this is Google AdWords. Finally Cost by Acquisition charges only by lead. So you only pay when somebody registers their details with you. Our experts will be happy to go through more details with each of these options and together you can decide how best to boost your lead generation and build a bigger customer base!
Example
One of the clearest ways to describe lead generation is through an example. Let’s say that you’ve taken an online survey to learn more about how to build a wall. A day or so later you will receive an email from the wall building company who had placed the survey online checking in to see if you would be interested in their services. This process is far more effective (and less intrusive to the customer!) than if they’d just contacted a bunch of random email addresses. That’s the perspective as a lead. From the business side the information that you’ve collected allows you to be much tailored in your advertising approach to an individual and not waste time contacting people who are not interested in your product or service. Leads are part of the cycle of transitioning consumers from visitors of your site to customers. It facilitates that gentle nudge to remind them how great you are!