Understanding the Functions and Different Types of Lead Generation


Lead generation is one of the main goals of businesses nowadays as competition continues to rise in industry, particularly in home improvement agencies. For them, to generate high-quality and exclusive home improvement leads is equivalent to gaining potential customers and sales that can increase their revenue —the reason why most companies choose to leverage their different marketing strategies.

In fact, statistics show that 50% of marketers see lead generation as their top priority in their marketing campaigns. While varying lead generation methods are used as practical tools to market brands and sustain business leads, most marketers devise other types of lead generation strategies to attract target audiences and convert them into prospective customers.

Check out this guide to understand the functions of types of lead generation, when they are used, and how they can effectively contribute to generate leads.

Types of Lead Generation

Below are the different types of lead generation along with their sub-categories:

Inbound Lead Generation

Inbound lead generation is a marketing strategy that encourages website visitors to engage with their content and turn it into prospective leads. This is usually done through the creation and publication of relevant lead-generation content. In inbound lead gen, potential leads are contacted directly, such as through referrals and social media.

Inbound lead generation also enables consumers to control their time or channel of engagement to establish trust and relationships. It empowers audiences to make their own decisions in the lead-generation process.

However, there is also a need to do some inbound marketing techniques to convert audiences into consumers. Here’s how:

1. Content Marketing. A company needs to create and publish high-quality content that is relevant to prospects’ inquiries. This strategy can attract more visitors, especially when the content resonates with their needs and preferences.

For instance, if a business aims to generate home improvement leads , its content could be related to home renovation, home services, and its pricing. Such content will make audiences aware of and engaged with your company. Further, keep in mind that the content published shall be original and in different forms, be it photos, videos, articles, blogs, and infographics.

2. Social Media Marketing. It is one of the most effective inbound lead generation strategies as it has a vast number of users. Companies can target this audience, as the number of interactions, such as likes, comments, shares, and followers, might equate to the number of prospective leads and consumers.

3. Website Presentation. Websites are vital to any inbound lead generation strategy if you aim to achieve business success. Having a high-performing website is also an effective way to increase organic traffic and turn audiences into leads. A website allows visitors to easily read, understand, or watch content and materials that might be helpful for their needs.

4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Businesses need to be more visible and high-ranking in search engines to generate traffic and leads. Integrating SEO, whether in the form of publishing content, on-page, and off-page optimization, link-building, or keyword research, makes it much easier to attain leads. Applying SEO can easily target the right audiences once they have searched for a related keyword to a business’s product or service.

Apart from having relevant content, write an effective and compelling call to action (CTA) to make your audiences take action upon reading or watching your content.

5. Webinars. According to statistics, 73% of marketers consider webinars the most effective method to generate exclusive leads. Webinars serve as a great platform for proper promotion, be it a product or service. It is also much easier for businesses to connect with their target audiences during a webinar, which enables them to convert viewers into sales.

Outbound Lead Generation

On the other hand, outbound lead generation is a lead generation method of sending messages to a target audience regardless of whether they have expressed an interest. In this strategy, businesses actively pursue and contact audiences to convert them into leads.

Usually, outbound lead generation requires a paid mechanism. The lead generation campaign leans more on selling rather than informing and helping the audiences.

Here are some tactics on how to generate leads using outbound lead generation:

1. Cold Calling. It is one of the most popular forms of marketing and outbound channels. It is a business-to-business (B2B) lead gen tactic in which a salesperson randomly contacts potential customers to inform them about your products and services. This tactic has been proven effective, especially when the right audience is reached.

Hence, it is necessary to research, develop a captivating opening statement, and have a sense of urgency and an effective CTA when talking with prospective clients when cold calling.

2. Direct Mail. This outbound lead gen technique involves sending hard-copy emails to potential leads and clients. It was also proven effective, especially when the right message and targeting were done.

3. Referrals or Word of Mouth. It is an effective outbound lead gen method as it establishes customer trust and positive experiences in a particular product or service to engage new leads or prospects. Through referrals, leads were converted faster into paying customers.

4. Mass Email. A mass email is an outbound led generation wherein a message or promotional campaign is sent to a group of recipients. When sending mass emails, promotional materials containing products, services, and business offers were presented.

Conclusion

Getting leads is challenging, mainly because it requires a tremendous amount of marketing effort. Be it in home improvement services or other niches, success, and revenue growth are their primary goals, which is why they need to do their very best to step up their marketing game.

Businesses must consider these lead generation techniques to ensure good returns. Without considering the practice of implementing lead generation strategies, sustaining business growth and popularity is not possible.

HomeGuru Leads offers high-quality, strategic solutions to generate home improvement leads and boost your business success. We are a lead generation agency that caters to the needs of home service providers. Visit our website and contact us today!