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In a landscape rife with over-saturation and hyper-competition, today’s marketers are putting more emphasis on lead generation strategy. Recent data shows that “lead generation is the 3rd most important metric used when measuring the effectiveness of content marketing strategies”. And it’s about time.
Marketing qualified leads (or MQLs) are leads who have shown interest or interacted with content in the past. While every marketer has a different scoring system to determine which leads are “marketing qualified”, placing a higher focus on these leads is smart marketing.
But how can you spice up your lead generation strategy to convert more than your competition?
We’ve gathered leading insights and examples, so you don’t have to search for more answers. From key collaborations to optimizing paid ads to making the most of owned media, you’ll find what you need to generate more quality leads below. But first…
Quick Refresh: Lead-Gen vs. Demand-Gen
Lead generation and demand generation are both critical for the health of your content marketing strategy. But there are subtle differences between the two that could make all the difference in your results.
This graphic visual understanding of the nuance that appears at different stages of the buyer funnel.
Let’s dive into the lead-gen tactics that will help you nail that bottom part of your funnel.
Collaborate With Your Sales Team
Lead-gen marketing is a team sport, and you want sales on your team. Think of it like a relay race. You each have a role to play, and neither can win without the other.
Ensure your sales team is on the same page as lead-gen and content marketing teams. Set cross-department goals, communicate clearly between teams, and trade insights and best practices so everyone benefits.
Doing so prevents the all-too-common problem of overwhelming leads with messaging by ensuring nurture streams don’t clash with sales outreach.
It also means you’ll be more equipped to score leads so both teams can target them effectively. How are teams categorized these days? Salesforce identifies the following five types of leads:
Experiment With Impactful Content
Your lead generation campaign comes down to the quality of your content. Users will look at your offer and ask, “Is this worth my time and/or contact information?” Your job is to make it a no-brainer.
Start by experimenting with different lead magnets, a tool that offers a resource in exchange for a prospect’s contact information, and see what resonates with your audience.
There’s lots of room to play with your content. Lead magnets could be any number of formats:
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Audio
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Branded webinars
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Case studies
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eBooks
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Free trials
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Group access
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Infographics
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Templates
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Worksheets
Experiment with themes, channels, and ungated content. (You won’t want to have all of your content behind a lead-gen form).
Try finding a happy medium like Zaius did. In its video campaign, Zaius embedded forms into each video instead of locking the whole content piece behind a form, encouraging people to subscribe—without requiring it.
(Oh, and fun fact: 87% of video marketers say video has helped them generate leads.)
Create Thoughtful Email Nurture Streams
Email gets a bad rep. It’s kind of like Halloween candy. There’s always too much of it, but you still expect it (and often can’t get enough of it).
So, despite our love-and-hate relationship with email, it remains a top resource for lead-gen marketing. (especially when you consider there are four billion daily users.) Be thoughtful with your nurture streams by considering where a lead is coming from, their lead score, and their preferences.
In the example below, the present an intriguing point of view, creating a curiosity gap with the audience. Stepping into the reader’s shoes, showing how they can benefit, and subtlety placing their brand in a positive light. Not to mention eye-catching graphics and a seamless UX.
Want to create winning nurture sequences? Save our best practices for tips on nailing the visual experience, personalizing your emails, and more.
Use Data and A/B Testing to Optimize Paid Advertising
Running data-backed lead-generation ad campaigns is a reliable way to move leads through your funnel. The good news is a solid chunk of marketers feel confidence about their audience data.
44% of marketers say their data about their target audiences is high quality.
With your data, you can target the right audiences, choose the best channels, establish the ideal frequency, and of course A/B test appropriately. After all, A/B testing leads to higher ROI (QA, A/B, and spam testing your emails lead to a 28% higher return) and gives you more data to enlighten in future campaigns. A win-win!
A/B testing provides the chance to get creative (and get to know your audience even further). You can A/B test anything from the color scheme in your lead form to font styles to CTAs to button shapes. Have some fun generating leads!
While considering some best practices on A/B testing from top marketer Neil Patel:
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Test early and test often.
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Pay attention to the hard data vs. your “gut instinct.”
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Test ad variations simultaneously to minimize time-based factors that could skew results.
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Test one thing at a time to pinpoint what affects your ads’ success.
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Ensure you let your tests run for long enough to collect enough results to get accurate results.
🌟 For more on Neil Patel, find out why Neil Patel Digital was named one of the springboard Top 50 Content Marketing Brands of 2023.
Make The Most of Your Owned Media
Hear that? Your alarm clock says, “Don’t sleep on your in-house ad space!”
Your owned channels are full of untapped potential to generate leads. Why? Any visitor to your channels is already warm because they’re engaging with your content. This presents another opportunity to woo them.
Consider adding the following to your owned channels—from website to social to events—where it makes sense:
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Embedded forms
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Full-screen ads
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Sticky bars
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Pop-ups
Presenting related content will boost your chances of conversation.
Think about it. If you’re a retailer and a user is looking at winter coats, chances are a summer sale pop-up won’t convert. Or if you’re a financial services company and a user is seeking out content about opening a business bank account, having a full-screen ad for a personal savings account won’t jive either.
Check out this example of a pop-up from Hubspot that prompts visitors with downloadable content related to the page’s topic.
Cross-Promote With Like-Minded Brands
Ultimately, all brands want qualified leads. Brands are discovering the value of teamwork and dipping their toes into cross-promotion.
Cross-promotion is a cost-effective way to reach new audiences and enhance your brand’s credibility. (When you partner with the right brand, of course.)
Do your research to find a partner whose brand is well-liked and has a similar audience and values. Ensure, too, that both brands stand to gain something from a lead-gen marketing campaign before proposing a cross-promotion.
Cross-promotion could look like:
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Co-hosting a webinar
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Creating bundled deals
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Co-hosted social media ads
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Referral or affiliate programs
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Co-hosted email campaigns
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Partnering on an eBook (like below!)
Generate Leads — And Leave An Impression
Following these led-gen tactics will give you a noticeable edge and help you secure leads…but we’ll leave you with a few more timely tips.
Make an even better impression by pumping up your personalization.
Sixty percent of demand generation marketing respondents said optimizing audience targeting to reach the right leads was their top priority for their organizations, with creating more personalized campaigns coming in second at 34%.
— studioID’s 2024 Content Marketing + Demand Gen Predictions Survey
Many B2B experts predict hyper-personalization in lead generation will be the *key* to success in 2024, suggesting that “beyond names, AI will personalize content to individual buyer personas and their specific needs.”
Don’t forget about where you guide your leads, either. Now’s a good time to add some TLC to your lead-gen form to optimize conversions.
Finally, add automation to your lead-gen strategy — if you haven’t already. Demand-gen marketers will look to AI for help. 41% of demand-gen marketers say they’ll leverage AI by enhancing targeting and personalization. But understanding that training AI to spot patterns – and even interact with customers – will be the key
Dig into the full results of our 2024 Content Marketing + Demand Gen Predictions survey to uncover the trends, strategies, and themes set to rule this year.
