Lead Generation: A Quick Guide and Best Strategies

As digital marketing continues to become more and more ingrained into every aspect of our lives, the way companies previously found, gained and maintained leads has shifted dramatically over the past decade. The autonomy that comes with being able to promote your message and reach your target when, where and how you see fit is great. But having leads…better yet QUALIFIED leads to come to you is even better. 

What exactly are marketing qualified leads?

In the simplest terms, these are people who have shown interest in your company through visiting your website, following you on social media or subscribing to your newsletter but have yet to become a paying customer. Qualified leads are determined by how the lead matches certain traits for your ideal customer archetype.  

Why are marketing qualified leads important?

Making sales is a common goal for any company. But a sale can only be made if companies are attracting people that want and are a good fit for their product/service. Understanding marketing qualified leads allows companies to be more effective in who they spend their resources reaching out to and building relationships with. Understanding your target marketing qualified leads (MQLs) is vital in creating digital marketing and sales strategies that turn leads into customers.

Here are 3 lead generation strategies for digital marketing:

Refine Your Landing Page

The key to any successful advertisement is knowing who your audience is. Generating qualified leads means refining your target audience even more. Match the visuals elements and tone of all advertisements, whether traditional or on social, to the demographics and behaviors of potential customers you want to have. Once you’ve mastered that, don’t leave the ad open-ended. Always create a casual call to action. Casual calls to action are more attractive for the user and makes them less likely to click away. If your advertisement asks for an email, phone number, zip code and birthdate in exchange for subscribing them to a newsletter, leads will get easily turned off. Instead, polish and incentivize your advertisement copy to express that by signing up for a newsletter, your lead will then receive a free trial or demo. 

Optimize Content

SEO is a buzz word that deserves all its recognition and glory in digital marketing. The amount of times leads “just Google” something they’re interested in is so high that a company without optimized content becomes easily missed. While consistently creating shareable content helps expand your reach, leads won’t be able to share content if they can’t find it. Creating thought leadership posts and industry blog posts are a great strategy but only if appropriate keywords are scattered throughout the headline, body of the text, URL, tags and meta descriptions. Use keywords that align with the value, product and qualifications of your lead. Having a deeper understanding of what people search for on the web will help your company generate qualified leads.

Update your Landing Page

The reason brands have been able to generate leads, turn them into qualified leads and later customers is because of how they introduce themselves. If your website is optimized to pop up first on Google search but has an early 2000s layout and vibe, you’ve instantly lost a lead. Investing in a digital marketing agency to design your website in a way that illustrates your values and crafts an experience for the user will help to generate qualified leads. Concise and refined copy (mentioned in tip no. 1) on your landing page can also result in leads completing your calls to action and sticking around your website longer. However, simple updates companies can make without hiring outside agencies include rewriting copy to be lead-centric, explaining why they need you not the other way around, and simplifying the amount of information you ask for right away.