Leads come up a lot when we talk about Digital Marketing, but what is it? What does it mean, and why is it important?
Let’s first define Lead. The technical definition of Lead is best summed up by saying:
A lead is someone who has shown or may show interest in your service or product offering. – The Internet
Ok, that is a good place to start but if you really need to understand this term and use it to your advantage when you encounter it in the “wild” we are going to need to do a deeper dive. Digital Marketing has a lot of jargon to navigate and it can mean different things depending on where it is being used and what your goals are. For example Lead may mean different things to an SEO (Search engine Optimizer) than it does to an SMM (Social Media Manager) and something else entirely to a website developer, app developer, or a traditional marketer. For our purposes in this article page, we are going to take the 10,000-foot view and focus on the general digital media perspective. If this leaves you with any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask! We love to respond with more specific follow-up content that may be helpful to you.
Ok, so back to “Lead” What is it? Why is it important and how can I use it to best serve my digital marketing or website management needs?
Why do we talk about Leads and use it in Digital Marketing?
Leads are important because businesses that use lead generation are more likely to make more sales by turning leads into full-fledged customers. Without it, a business will struggle to make sales and expand. A business must have a good lead generation strategy. In a sales context, a lead refers to contact with a potential customer, also known as a “prospect”.
The process of managing leads helps businesses understand which tactics are bringing in the best leads, so you can optimize your sales strategy to be both effective and efficient.
How do you generate leads?
- Find your Target Audience
- Plan your Promotional Methods to serve primarily to your target audience.
- Create a Sales Funnel page, an infographic or a strong Call top action on your landing pages.
- Send out Email Newsletter to Build Relationships and maintain top-of-mind with your active users.
- Leverage different platforms like Social Media to share your message with your audience.
- Develop a Universal Lead Definition (ULD) so you can set a benchmark for expectations and make a plan for your ROI.
- Get input from comparable sales, competitors, partners or target companies and contacts to set your expectations and goals.
- Estimate how many leads you need to generate to meet your goals.
- Determine if you need to make updates to your website to better drive traffic to your website and generating inquiries and leads.
- Consider employing a 3rd party to help with trying services like; content distribution networks, lead brokers, lead generation agencies, or list vendors.
- Consider trying outbound prospecting and generating contact leads via email and phone.
Want to implement your new knowledge about Leads in your next project or digital marketing campaign? Consult our in-house Lead expert and maximize your digital marketing skills and ROI today!
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