A Beginner’s Guide to Generating Business Leads

Mar 15 2023 07:03:31 / By Wisoft

When a business wants to gain a new customer or a partner the first thing they need to know is if their intended target wants to be targeted. The sentence might be a bit confusing at first but we have merit. Nobody likes to be called or emailed out of the blue about a product or service that they are not interested in. In fact, receiving unsolicited communications can often dissuade them from enlisting for the said service or product.  Businesses need to tow this line very carefully. When approaching potential customers, they need to make sure that their target has a modicum of interest in what they are selling.  So how does a business do that? Simple, through lead generation. For those of you that know about it, it might even sound rather simple at first. But therein lies the nuance. Lead generation if not done properly might derail your marketing strategy and instead of doing your business good, it could do harm.  This guide is here to help out businesses of all sizes get acquainted with business lead generation and why it should be the foundation of your online marketing. 

FAQs

 

To break it down, these questions will help you understand lead generation. 

What is lead? 

To break it down, a lead is a person who is interested in your company. It can be in any capacity, whether it is to conduct business, inquires, or purchase your product or service. 

To generate leads, businesses have to simply put up surveys and boxes where interested parties can leave their information. Businesses do not approach. Typically surveys are a great form of lead generation. 

There are four kinds of leads: 

Market Qualified 

These are the people who have interacted with your marketing efforts, i.e. they have visited your site or know about your business but are not ready to make a purchase. 

Sales Qualified 

The leads that have taken action indicate that they wish to be a paying customer. For example, filling out a survey and submitting email ids for communications. 

Product Qualified 

The people who have used your customer and wish to become a paying customers. A classic example is those that have used the product/service over a trial period. 

Service Qualified 

Someone who is already using your product/ service and would like to upgrade to become a regular paying customer. 

What is the lead generation process?

When we take a visitor and direct them to the company website where they can interact and provide us key pieces of information, it is called lead generation. 

What are lead generation examples?

When we ask a visitor to fill out the information about them it qualifies as lead generation. It could also be using a trial version of a product or service. The following are more nuanced examples of lead generation:

• Job application:

When we are interested in a job, we fill out a lot of personal information. This qualifies as a lead for recruiters.  

• Content consumption

Content consumption does not indicate an interest in the company and cannot be classed as a lead. Although many businesses think it is a lead. 

• Coupon usage

However, certain people might give away their name and email id to gain access to a coupon that provides a discount on your product or service. And they may not even use it, but the information they give is an indication of interest. 

Which are the 4 steps of the lead generation process?

Now the important part is the four steps of the lead generation process. For all lead generation companies in Dubai, these steps are crucial for success. And they adhere to it rigorously. 

1. The lead will first discover your business through a marketing action. Eg, through social media, blog, or website. 
2. The next step is to engage the lead. This is done through a CTA, e.g. clicking on an image that forces the lead into action.
3. After that, the lead is shown a landing page, where you can capture information about them. 
4. On the landing page, the lead then fills out information, it could be something as simple as an email box or a survey.

And there you have it, a lead is generated. To sum it up, lead generation is the process of converting a visitor through CTA, asking them to fill out forms, and then giving them an offer. 

What is lead generation in SEO?

Now it is time to discuss business lead generation. Most of you may think that referrals and emails are the ideal way to generate leads. However, there is another method. SEO. 

Just like how we optimize website content for SEO, we can apply the same principles for lead generation. By ensuring that you follow best lead practices and have the highest quality of content, you will be able to generate leads through SEO. 

And the results may surprise you. Businesses have reported that over 30% of their leads have come through SEO. For more information, you should look into the best lead generation companies in Dubai.

How to do B2B lead generation

Businesses need to understand that B2B lead generation is far different from that of lead generation for customer acquisition. The number 1 way to generate B2B leads is through referrals. And as per the latest insights, the best way to do it is by carefully planning a marketing strategy. 

Nearly 75% of businesses have an infrastructure for B2B lead generation. They also rely on all channels and have the benefit of working with both in-house and outsourced teams for a better perspective. 

By offering a highly personalized approach along with a focus on account-based marketing, your business can capture B2B over your competitors. Account-based marketing is the key trend for this year. With a focus on using websites such as LinkedIn that helps you target important personnel and business accounts by speaking to the people directly. 

How to generate leads for financial advisors

Now for a more nuanced lead generation, especially if your business is involved in wealth creation. Financial advisors have to let the results speak for themselves. And here are 6 strategies to help you. 

1. A Robust Website is the best way to attract leads. By showing that you have spent time and money on building a professional website, visitors will see that they can trust you with their money. 
2. To convert the said visitors, your landing page needs to be very good. Adopt best landing page practices for maximum results. 
3. Now before your visitors can turn into leads, you will need to convince them. This is done best through content, and for financial advisors, blogs are the best way to go about it.  
4. Another thing that gives financial advisors authenticity is a good social media presence and constant interaction with people.  
5. Another way to increase authenticity for lead generation is through email marketing. Financial advisors want to be targeting business professionals and the best way to approach them is through email marketing.  
6. What better way to tell visitors that your work as a financial advisor is legitimate than through reviews? Asking them to leave reviews ensures that you build a base and new potential clients will get to know of your legitimacy.  

How to generate leads with content marketing

So one of the key stages of convincing a visitor and converting them into a lead is through content marketing. In fact, the process of content marketing is useful even when converting a lead into a customer. 

For business lead generation, the idea is simple, to create engaging content that draws visitors in and convinces them of the benefits and features of your product and service. Content marketing applies especially for B2B lead generation. 

As businesses are already aware of the pitfalls of lead generation, good content marketing, and high-quality pieces are necessary to draw them in. By using the best practices of lead generation and incorporating them in every module of content marketing, you will be able to maximize lead generation.  

The idea is to use the buyer’s journey and create helpful pieces of content that are designed to engage with the visitor. By deploying this strategy your business will be able to benefit heavily. 

How to generate leads from social media

In the modern day and age, lead generation companies in Dubai are well aware of the impact of social media. Living in one of the most advanced cities in the world, both socially and economically, there should be an emphasis on using social media for lead generation. 

Social media websites and applications also encourage both businesses and users to be more active. For businesses, by guiding your followers to take action through CTA in the form of swipe-ups, story replies, comments, and adding links, you can generate leads.  

The digital marketing strategy is always multi-pronged, and for good lead generation, your business needs to use social media effectively. 

Conclusion

This guide is meant to serve as a manual for lead generation. All of the practices above, if followed properly, will yield desirable results. The best lead generation companies in Dubai adhere to these practices and apply them effectively. There are always going to be subtle nuances in B2B lead generation. By carefully studying your potential clients and using all the mechanisms of social, and content marketing you will be able to generate meaningful leads.