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What is Lead Generation?

Lead generation is an important term and process in marketing. There are numerous possibilities of lead generation. What they all have in common is that they all involve the acquisition of interested parties. These voluntarily provide their contact details and are therefore very likely to become customers. The generated data records (leads) enable a further dialogue to take place

  • Records qualified prospective customers with an interest in the product or company
  • Data records are provided by the user on his own initiative
  • Is fundamental for acquiring new customers
  • The ultimate goal is to obtain leads of the highest possible quality
  • Subsequently enables further dialog to be established

Functionality and process of lead generation

Originally emerging from direct marketing, lead generation is still today a central method of companies to build up databases of interested parties in significant size. Since direct customer contact significantly increases the chances for a long-term dialogue, address data of potential customers are generated both offline and online for specific target groups. First, the interest of the future customer is awakened. Then they will enter the desired contact data, e.g. on a website, in certain predefined fields. The operator thus receives a lead. Online, a variety of means such as text links or advertising banners can be used for lead generation. This can be done via all conceivable channels, including pages, webinars, e-mails and social media. Classic advertising media include incentives such as competitions or product samples. If the user could be persuaded to click, he is directed to the so-called landing page of the campaign, where he can enter his data. As a rule, the user also gives his or her consent for the contact data to be stored by the operator, etc. Leads can also be generated by creating certain interesting content for specific target groups. Examples of this would be e-books or checklists, which are only available to interested parties if they provide their contact data voluntarily. Usually, access to the desired content is granted after a double opt-in. In addition, the potential customer is encouraged to subscribe to a newsletter. Those users who are really interested will also be happy to leave their contact details

Important lead generation issues

Of course, the generated leads are only useful for the company if they are correct information and users willing to buy, i.e. leads of high quality. The quality of the generated leads is determined by a number of factors, including topicality, correctness, voluntariness and real interest in the company or product concerned. A distinction is made between cold leads and warm leads. The former consist of address data that was entered mainly to obtain certain “rewards” (e.g. downloads). Warm leads are much more valuable, because here data is provided out of genuine interest without receiving any immediate consideration. When generating leads, it is therefore also important to evaluate the leads. If you have leads of lower quality, the customer dialogue cannot be continued sustainably or even not at all. It is not uncommon for companies to incur costs when manually or automatically sorting out invented or incorrect data records. In the end, lead generation leads to the voluntary disclosure of contact data, which in turn leads to the development and expansion of the customer database, the initiation of a dialogue with the customer and an increase in sales figures. When generating leads, companies must comply with data protection requirements. Lead generation can be used in both the B2C and B2B sectors and is not limited to individual strategies or methods. After all, leads are extremely valuable new contacts, without which new customer business is usually not effectively possible. Since leads are qualified prospective customers, the company can not only secure high market shares with the right approach, but also develop a high level of awareness for specific target groups.

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