Two online users encounter the same paid ad in Google. The first user, Allison, has never heard of the business and quickly exits the ad.

The second user, though — Keaton — pauses. He’s visited this company’s site before, and he does need that product… so he clicks.

What made the ad effective for Keaton but not for Allison? The answer is that Keaton was already a lead. Leads are people who express interest in your business — and generating them is an essential part of any marketing plan.

But what are lead generation campaigns, and what forms can they take? We’ll answer both of those questions below. Read on to learn more, and then subscribe to Revenue Weekly for more digital marketing tips from the agency with over 500 client testimonials!

What are lead generation campaigns?

In short, lead generation campaigns are marketing efforts that aim to turn people into leads — that is, people who are interested in your products or services.

Lead generation campaigns explained

Have you ever watched a TV show or movie where a detective or FBI agent says, “We’ve got a lead?” They’re indicating that they have something to work with as they launch their investigation. A lead may only be a single clue, but it could result in them closing the case.

In marketing, leads have a similar meaning. Just as FBI leads can result in crimes being solved, marketing leads can result in conversions for your business.

A marketing lead is someone who expresses an interest in your products or services. So, why are they so crucial to have? The answer is that without leads, you’re going to have a tough time driving conversions.

Think about it. What sort of ad are you most likely to click? An ad for a business you’ve never heard of and don’t care about? Or an ad for the business whose site you were browsing last week in search of a new faucet? Probably the latter.

You’re not going to have much luck converting someone who isn’t already a lead. If you want to get someone to buy from you, you first have to get them interested in what you’re offering.

That’s the idea behind lead generation. Generating leads involves taking people who’ve never heard of you and catching their interest, all in the hopes that they’ll decide to buy from you down the road.

How can you get more leads for your business?

It’s easy enough to talk about generating leads, but what does that look like in practice? What lead generation strategies can your business employ?

Below we’ll cover five of the best ways you can get more leads!

1. Write blog posts

If you don’t have a business blog on your website, you might want to consider starting one. Blog posts are a fantastic way to attract people to your site and turn them into leads.

You should aim to write about topics related to your business and match common search terms on Google. Start off by brainstorming some things you could write about that are relevant to what you sell.

Then, use a tool like Google Trends or KeywordsFX to see which ideas generate high search traffic.

From your research, you can compile a list of keywords to write about. Write a blog post based around each one, making sure to include the keyword in the title and a few times in the body text. That way, your blog posts can rank in Google search results where people will find them.

As people are drawn to your site to read your compelling blog content, they’ll develop a familiarity with your business, and hopefully an interest in what you sell.

2. Craft multimedia content

Blog posts aren’t the only type of content you can use to draw people to your site. After all, some people won’t be interested in reading a page full of text. Compelling multimedia, however, is a different story.

When you create multimedia content for your business, you have an opportunity to reach people you might not interest with your blog posts. Videos, in particular, are a great way to catch people’s eye. You can publish videos on YouTube as well as on your own website.

Other multimedia content you can create includes things like images and infographics. Some of your multimedia can be mostly informational, like your blog posts, while others can be more salesy.

3. Build email lists

When you generate leads, it pays to do it in a way that makes it easier to convert them later on. For example, if you can get people to give you a way to contact them when they become leads, that would be fantastic.

Well, guess what? That’s exactly what happens when you make an email list on your website.

An email list is just what it sounds like — a list of email addresses belonging to your company’s leads. But you don’t obtain these emails by stealing or buying them. Instead, you build out your email list by getting users to give you their addresses on your website.

 

 

You can do this in different ways, be it a pop-up or a call-to-action (CTA) at the end of a blog post. Either way, when you ask for users’ emails, be sure to offer them something in return, like special offers or a newsletter.

Many users will voluntarily sign up for your emails, turning them into leads and giving you a perfect way to push them toward converting down the road.

4. Launch paid advertising campaigns

Another way to get more leads is to launch a paid advertising campaign through Google Ads. With pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, you can display ads at the top of relevant Google search results for users to find.

 

 

Within Google Ads, you can come up with a list of keywords to target your ads toward. Then you can bid on those keywords. With a high enough bid and good enough Quality Score (Google’s assessment of your ad quality), you can get your ads appearing in search results.

While PPC is a great way to drive conversions, it’s also helpful for generating leads. If a user sees an ad for your products or services, they may not buy them immediately, but they could still retain that information for later, when they are looking to buy.

5. Market through social media

When you market to people, you often have to meet them where they are. So, where are people most commonly found online? In many cases, the answer is social media, where the average user spends 28% of their Internet time.

By launching a social media account for your business, you can get more leads in the form of followers when you post engaging content like multimedia. You can also use social media to share blog posts, drawing people to your site through a new medium.

On top of having a social media account, you can use paid social media advertising to place ads for your business directly in social media users’ feeds.

Let WebFX give you a boost with generating leads

Need help getting your lead generation campaign off the ground? Let WebFX give you a hand! With more than 20 years of experience, we’re the experts in bringing in new leads for businesses.

Our lead generation services drive results. If you don’t believe us, just take a look at the 6.3 million leads we drove for our clients within the past five years alone! We brought each of those clients success in their marketing, and we can do the same for you.

To get started with us, just call 888-601-5359 or contact us online today!