Lead Generation – What is it and why business owners should care?

Lead generation is the process of converting strangers into leads, in order to build a sales pipeline.

Perhaps we should begin with a definition of a lead. A lead is a qualified potential buyer who shows some interest in your product.

Lead generation is therefore a systematic way of converting potential customers into long term clients. A Lead Generation strategy could be seen as implementing sales systems and techniques into the digital world.

Why you should you care about lead generation for your business

The buying process has changed. Think about the way in which you purchase goods or services. When you want to buy something you probably go online to search for what you are looking for.

Building long term relationships with buyers is critical to the success of your business. So businesses need to ensure they build effective digital systems that will generate loyal customers. This could include one or more of the following, a website, email newsletter, facebook page, twitter page, Linkedin profile, instagram page. You want to be communicating with, and listening to, your customers in the spaces where they are.

Businesses can’t afford to do “spray and pray advertising”- sending our messaging in mass media and hoping to reach their audience. Don’t get me wrong, there may be a place for advertising in mass media if it’s the right audience, channel and strategy for the product you are selling.

If you provide products and services to a niche audience, then you are more likely to see a better ROI if you target them more directly than mass media allows. Don’t neglect social media spaces as they are great places to create engagement and they provide targeted opportunities to reach the people that matter to your business.

Lead generation includes the process of attracting potential customers, Nurturing those customers, closing the sale then keeping the customers happy so that you can retain the customer over their lifetime.