How to Increase Lead Generation and Boost Sales Leads

Have you been looking for ways to increase your lead generation? You’re not alone. 85% of B2B marketers consider lead generation their #1 challenge. While we all wish our business’s client base could grow at the rate of Jack’s beanstalk, the reality is that growth is much more like a potted plant: slow and steady.

If you are reading this, then it means that you are already aware of the fact that most businesses cannot be successful overnight. Increasing your lead generation efforts to boost your sales leads requires patience, strategic thinking, and lots of trial and error. So in this blog post, we will be sharing some practical tips that will help you increase your lead generation as well as other strategies that you can use right away without completely overhauling your sales and marketing department. We’ll also bust some common lead generation myths that might be holding you back from meeting your goals. Let’s get to it!

5 Quick and Easy Tips to Improve Your Lead Generation Today

First things first, you need some quick and easy wins under your belt to help build your pipeline as well as your confidence. So to start us off, we’ve compiled five quick and easy tips you can implement today that will improve your lead generation and propel your business forward.

1. Optimize Your Website’s Call-to-Action (CTA):

Your website’s call to action is a critical element in driving lead generation. Ensure that your CTAs are strategically placed and visually appealing, catching the attention of your visitors. Use compelling and action-oriented language that clearly communicates the value proposition. Experiment with different colors, sizes, and placements to find the optimal combination that entices visitors to take action and provide their contact information.

2. Leverage Social Media:

Social media platforms provide an excellent opportunity to target and engage with your ideal audience. Utilize the posting and advertising features offered by platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to reach a wider pool of potential leads. Define your target audience based on demographics, interests, and behaviors, and create compelling ad campaigns that speak directly to their pain points and desires. By harnessing the power of social media, you can attract high-quality leads and increase conversion rates.

3. Implement Exit-Intent Pop-ups:

Exit-intent pop-ups are a clever way to capture leads who are about to leave your website. These pop-ups are triggered when a visitor’s mouse movement suggests an intent to exit the page. Use exit-intent pop-ups to offer irresistible incentives such as exclusive discounts, valuable content, or free resources in exchange for the visitor’s contact information. You can significantly boost your lead generation by providing a last-minute opportunity to engage with potential leads.

4. Leverage the Power of Webinars:

Webinars are an effective tool for lead generation as they provide valuable educational content while capturing contact information from attendees. Choose a topic that aligns with your target audience’s interests and pain points. Promote your webinar through various channels such as email marketing, social media, and your website. During the webinar, deliver insightful content and conclude with a call-to-action that encourages attendees to provide their details for further engagement. Webinars not only generate leads but also position you as an industry authority.

5. Optimize Your Lead Capture Forms:

Streamline your lead capture process by optimizing your forms for simplicity and ease of use. Keep the form fields to a minimum, requesting only essential information. Research shows that shorter forms tend to yield higher conversion rates. Consider utilizing smart forms that autofill known information for returning visitors, reducing friction and saving time. Additionally, provide clear instructions and reassurance regarding data privacy to instill trust and increase form submissions.

By implementing these five quick and easy strategies, you can supercharge your lead generation efforts and start seeing tangible improvements today. Remember to continuously analyze and optimize your tactics based on the results you observe. With persistence, innovation, and a focus on providing value to your audience, you’ll witness a significant boost in lead generation, ultimately driving business growth and success.

How to Increase Lead Generation

Naturally, after implementing these lead generation improvements, you’ll want to increase the flow to your funnel. So, that’s what we’ll cover next. 

Some companies are all in on email marketing, others rely on social media and advertising, and still, many businesses thrive on customer referrals.

What Are Some Effective Tips for Increasing Lead Generation?

Now, it’s time to build on the quick and easy tips we mentioned earlier with some more advanced strategies. 

But where to start? That’s the big question going through your mind right now.

How to Increase Lead Generation

Some companies are all in on email marketing, others rely on social media and advertising, and still, many businesses thrive on customer referrals.

The fact is that all of these lead generation methods are solid strategies for any B2B company. Where most businesses go wrong is relying on just one or two to supply their whole sales funnel. Unfortunately, if one lead gen source dries up, the company’s revenue suffers.

The best way to increase your lead generation is to expand your strategies. By having a variety of tactics in your tool belt, you’ll be able to adapt quickly to market shifts, economic challenges, and competitor repositioning. If you are just starting out and looking for more traditional outbound and inbound strategies to implement, we recommend reading our lead generation guide for best practices. But if you are ready for more advanced methods that push your current boundaries, you’re in the right place.

What Are Some Effective Tips for Increasing Lead Generation?

Where to start? That’s the big question going through your mind right now.

Whatever your lead gen strategy, whether it be outbound outreach or inbound marketing, content is king. But it seems daunting to make a dent in the vast digital ecosystem of content, with elementary-age YouTubers taking home more than 1% of Americans and over 2 million active podcasters uploading content daily. How can you compete with creators who have been carving out their niche in their respective channels for years?

Let’s put things in perspective. Only .6% of people in this world are content creators. That’s 50 million out of 7.753 billion people. Since we are focusing on lead generation, if we narrow it down to consumers only, that jumps to a whopping 1.4%. Now, those are some odds stacked in your favor. See, you don’t have to have the biggest audience, you just need the audience looking for your content.

Still, it’s undeniably challenging to get noticed. Search engines, social media platforms, and even email service providers have algorithms that can prevent your content from ever reaching your target market. What you need in your life is lead generation diversification. Below are ways to harvest some low-hanging leads that are ripe for the picking.

Give Some TLC to Your Homepage and Other Website Pages

When was the last time you gave your site a second look? 81% of purchasers start their search for a solution online, so your homepage is often your brand’s first impression. Is it a good one? While visuals are important, don’t skimp on the message. As Donald Miller says, “If you confuse, you lose.” Analyze how you describe your company. If you jumped up from your ergonomic chair right now, pulled in a person off the street and asked them to make heads or tails of what you do and who you help, would you be satisfied with their answer? If not, focus on creating a clear value proposition, plan, and call-to-action.

Once your homepage is honed in, branch out to your other website pages. To improve your SEO ranking, focus each page on one primary keyword phrase while using keyword variations, related search terms, and Google’s “People Also Ask” questions. Not only will this help you increase your traffic, but you’ll also improve the quality of your content so you can generate more leads organically.

Collaborate with Influencers and Other Companies to Host Webinars

Why compete when you can collaborate? There will always be someone out there with more subscribers, supporters, followers, fans, and so on. While you could spend your time wondering how on earth they attracted so much attention, it’s a much better use of your time to borrow that attention by co-hosting a webinar. You just have to package your presentation in a way that’s valuable to both the audience and the potential partner.

The fact is, it’s hard enough to create content that continuously converts. Influencers and brands are often on the hunt for new ways to increase traffic and keep their followers engaged. And for most marketing teams, combining forces for special webinars and events with someone outside their organization is a welcome change. It’s a win-win situation. You get to speak to their audience with assumed authority, and they get to introduce a new, exciting topic to their fan base.

That’s not to say you won’t get some “no’s” as you look for collaborating companions. To increase your chances of matching with a suitable webinar partner, keep your sphere of influence in mind. If you are in the beginning stages of marketing, look for nano-influencers —people with 1k –10k followers — or smaller complementary companies to work with on your next webinar project. As you grow, you can explore partnerships with more established influencers and brands.

Build Up Your Email List through Newsletter Sign-Up Forms, Lead Magnets, and Special Offers

Many business leaders overlook the power of an email list because they believe they must create a lot of content before successfully growing their audience. But building an email list through newsletter sign-ups and lead magnets is key to any successful business, especially if you want to increase your lead generation. You don’t need a library of marketing materials or an extravagant budget to get started; you just need a solid offer. In fact, 61% of consumers surveyed want to receive special offers and promotions from companies they engage with, which is why a solid landing paging goes a long way. The great news is you can get started for free with tools like Woorise, ConvertKit and Unbounce.

And because having an email list allows you to send customized and targeted emails to your subscribers based on behaviors, not only will this help you increase your sales, but it will also help nurture relationships with leads and current customers.

Spend More Time On Social Media

I know; it seems counterintuitive. Every time management guru on the planet will tell you to abandon your social media accounts for the sake of productivity. But with some self-control and profile pruning, you can stay focused on lead gen instead of getting lost in your feed.

Let’s be honest with ourselves; most of our time on social media is aimless wandering. No real rhyme or reason. Just a distraction to get us through the boring bits of our lives. In Traffic Secrets, Russell Brunson challenges his readers to cut out the distractions and fill their feeds with content from influencers and competitors. Doing this gives you valuable insight into industry trends, consumer demand, and lead gen strategies on each platform.

What’s more, you don’t have to spend much time on social media to see results. As you discover the patterns and see what’s working for others, you’ll spend less time researching and brainstorming and more time developing and executing. As your audience and traffic grow, you’ll find your own way of creating new content ideas and eventually become an influencer in your niche.

If you are struggling to find the time, you can also team up with companies that offer social media management services to handle posts for you. Just make sure that you are still heavily involved in the creation process, or you may end up with generic posts that fail to capture interest and push your ranking down in social media algorithms.

How to Ensure Lead Generation Success for Your Sales Team

Support = Success

It’s not enough to implement new lead generation strategies and assume that action will equal attainment. Your sales team needs a solid foundation to achieve your company’s lead gen goals.

Focus on Lead Quality Over Quantity

Even though this article is based on increasing lead generation, when cultivating leads for your sales team, it’s essential to remember that quantity doesn’t necessarily mean quality.

Unfortunately, Most sales reps concentrate so much on chasing quantity to meet quotes that they lose all focus on quality. This can seriously impact your overall sales results. Companies that focused on lead quality rather than quantity typicallygenerated more sales than those focused on quantity alone. This is because less time is wasted on the wrong prospects.

Your main goal should be to find high-quality leads. If you can do this, you’ll be far ahead of your competitors. There’s no point in generating leads if they’re unlikely to result in actual sales.

Avoid low intent lead generation strategies like giveaways and contests that have no relation to your brand or pay-per-lead services that bribe purchasers into a meeting with gift cards.

To find high-quality leads, there are a few key things you can do:

1. Define your target audiences and buyer personas.
2. Create a lead generation roadmap and process plan.
3. Develop a lead scoring system to help you quickly recognize best-fit prospects.
4. Track your sales funnel and cycle with lead management software.
5. Identify roadblocks in your sales processes to streamline and speed up conversion.

Focus on Content Quality AND Quantity

We have already talked a little about how important content is, but most people underestimate how much content should be published. Here are some guidelines to help you build a content calendar that helps you generate leads.

• Blog Posts – two to four times per week
• Facebook – three to five times per week
• LinkedIn – once per day
• Instagram – two feed posts per week and two stories per day
• Twitter – one to two times per day
• TikTok – one to three times per day

Talk about a full calendar; I guess you best get to it…

But seriously, no one person could produce content for all these channels on their own. If you are a small team or just starting your lead gen journey, choose two or three channels you can confidently master. You’ll want to create quality designs, infographics, and videos to go along with blogs and posts. Keep in mind that your posts don’t have to be on par with Fortune 500 companies. The value of the contents is more critical than its package.

Use Automation to Your Advantage

Your number one priority when generating leads should be to uncover areas where your sales reps need help. Once you’ve done this, the next step is to use automation to your advantage.

80% of marketers noticed an increase in leads after incorporating automation. In addition, companies found a 20% boost in productivity after automating lead generation processes.

So many of the manual and repeatable processes in marketing and sales can be automated through various platforms. From data enrichment to lead nurturing, if a task can be completed online, it can most likely be completed without a great deal of human intervention.

An advanced lead management system can tag incoming leads based on attributes and behaviors, add them to a campaign, and alert your team to each lead’s priority based on a scoring method. This eliminates the need to manual review and research new opportunities as they arrive.

Look for opportunities like the one above to improve your team’s workflow and increase your lead generation efforts.

The first is to use automation to generate leads. The second is to leverage a sales application that connects to your CRM. Automation can help you generate a large volume of leads without taking up too much of your team’s time. What’s more, the quality of these leads will be much higher.

Double Down on Effective Leads Generation Strategies

If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. It’s surprisingly easy to be distracted from a winning strategy when so many self-proclaimed experts are offering “the next best way” to generate leads. Even if your current methods are working, we all want the shortcuts that get us “12 appointments in ten days with just 20 minutes of effort.” But the fact of the matter is that there are rarely any shortcuts when acquiring new customers.

Don’t be afraid to try something new, but stay the course with what works. If you can, increase your investment in the winning strategies to see how scalable the process can be. Set a budget for testing alternatives so you have plenty to keep your current strategies afloat without disrupting the flow.

How to Measure the Success of My Lead Generation Efforts

If you’re in marketing, you’ve likely heard the phrase “lead generation is like dating. You need to put in the work to make it successful.” It may sound cheesy, but it’s so true. Lead generation can be challenging and time-consuming – but also exciting and rewarding when things are going well. But how do you know whether your lead generation efforts are truly effective? When it comes to lead generation, there is no single right answer. The success of your efforts depends on numerous factors, including the type of business you run, the target audience you’re looking for, lead nurturing programs you have set up, target market frequency, call targeting strategies, and so much more. The good news is that many businesses struggle with lead generation at first before discovering the strategies that work best for them.

Still, there are some practical methods of testing your current efforts to see if there is room for improvement.

Track Your Site, Landing Page, and Thank You Page Traffic

Back in the day, B2B lead generation relied on outbound marketing – direct mailing lists, cold calling, and email campaigns. Since the rise of the digital era, both inbound and outbound lead generation strategies have been incorporated simultaneously to maximize customer acquisition. But because inbound marketing material distribution is not as controlled as outbound outreach, it has become vital to track website and landing page traffic to measure success.

By monitoring organic and paid traffic, you can determine if your message resonates with your target audience in a way that drives conversions. It’s not enough just to drive traffic to your pages. You also have to pay close attention to bounce rates which can indicate exactly where you are losing out on opportunities.

To put this in a real-world context, if you notice that an ad or button on your site attached to a landing page has a low click-through rate (CTR), you may want to change your hook or creatives. However, if you have a high CTR but very few people are making it to the “thank you” page, you know you have to adjust your sales copy or offer.

You can track your traffic in various ways, from Google Analytics to Meta Pixel. Let your lead generation strategy determine your monitoring platform, not the other way around.

Look at Your Social Media Metrics Like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter

While it’s helpful to keep an eye on your competitors’ social media accounts, it’s even more important to look at the social media metrics of your own business. What are your reactions, followers, and views like on LinkedIn? Are you gaining any momentum on Facebook and Twitter? Are your Instagram stories reaching a new audience? If not, brainstorm ways to improve your social media metrics with your marketing team. Consider partnering with an influencer or complementary brand, as we mentioned earlier, to build up a following.

Yes, the algorithms can be brutal, but it comes down to engagement. If you can find the content and branding strategy that works for your company, then you can generate a multitude of leads on social media.

Compare Increased Sales Leads to Marketing Leads

It’s essential to look at the success of your lead generation efforts compared to your overall sales numbers. If lead generation produces new sales leads that translate into more revenue, then congrats, it’s working. You do, however, run the risk of generating a load of marketing-qualified leads that will never become sales opportunities.

(If you are unclear about the difference between a marketing and sales-qualified lead, we have a guide that can help you break down the qualification process for marketing and sales-qualified leads.)

To prevent your team from generating too many leads that don’t fit your buyer personas, determine which content draws in the wrong prospects and realign the message. The best marketing material repels people that are a poor fit while enticing your ideal clients.

Segment Sales Numbers by Lead Generation Strategy

Do you know where your leads are coming from? Segmenting sales data by lead generation strategies can help you recognize where your success is coming from and signal where you have a chance to optimize your approach.

The more specific, the better. Don’t just attribute your leads to outbound and inbound marketing. Label each campaign based on the sales channel, target audience, market region, buyer journey stage, and marketing material, if applicable.

Some Common Lead Generation Marketing Myths: Dispelled

There are many marketing myths, but some are so persistent that they deserve to be debunked. The fact is, some marketing myths are born out of a kernel of truth. So, we made it our goal to explain why these falsehoods stuck around and how you can avoid the pitfalls that so many others have fallen into over the years.

Let’s look at the top four marketing myths that are harming your lead generation efforts and how you can leverage the lies for your benefit.

You Don’t Need a Blog to Generate Leads

There’s a common myth out there that blogging is not the best way to generate leads for your business. Some believe that ads and landing pages are a much more effective use of time. Others believe blogging is outdated, saying that vlogs have replaced the written word. The latter is most certainly a valid argument. Only 10% of messages through text are retained compared to a 95% retention rate for messages received through video formats.

But contrary to this statistic, a study by Marketo discovered that businesses that blog generate 67% more opportunities than those that believe the myth that blogs are no longer relevant.

Blogging can be an excellent way for you to build your brand, establish yourself as an expert in your field, and be discovered through search engines. You can also use blogging to generate leads through its ability to engage your audience and nurture strong relationships with your target audience.

Publishing your blog to your site is just the beginning. Put the written word to use by sharing it on your social media accounts, distributing it in your newsletter to your email subscribers, and linking it in with your outbound campaigns.

Lead Generation is Simply a Numbers Game

At one point in time, the “sales is a numbers game” theory was at least somewhat accurate because data was disseminated and often inaccurate. You would make 100 calls and expect to get one sale. You had no choice but to waste time manually weeding out 99 bad prospects to find the one good one. But with lead databases powered by intent signals and advanced targeting features in advertising, sales success these days is more heavily dependent on strategy than serendipity.

While some might find debunking this myth discouraging, it should be encouraging. It means that you and your team can control the outcome of your performance. Chance has very little to do with the matter. Instead of increasing the quote on the number of leads contacted, you can look at other factors that might be hindering your conversion rate. By optimizing your performance, you can boost your sales leads without heaping on a heavier workload or hiring more team members.

You Can Completely Automate Your Lead Generation Marketing Strategies

Yes, it is true that a significant portion of the lead generation process can and should be automated to boost productivity. But even though purchasers spend less than 20% of their time speaking with sales representatives, 85% desire that the vendors have a solid understanding of their company.

The problem is when sales representatives rely too much on automation to convert leads into customers, they miss the opportunity to develop the kind of relationships that result in lasting partnerships.

To balance digital and human interaction, find places in your sales process where your team can make meaningful connections with your leads, especially as prospects inch closer to the consideration and decision phase.

Cold Calling is Dead

Cold calling is dead is arguable the most prevalent and persistent marketing myth.

Cold calling remains a valid lead generation strategy because it has changed drastically over the last few decades to keep up with prospecting trends. Gone are the days when you smile and dial all the phone numbers on your lead list one by one.

Cold calling is most effective as a supplementary outreach for a broader multichannel outbound approach. For example, we call prospects that have previously interacted with a touchpoint such as an email. The narrative seems much less interruptive when you save cold calling as a way of connecting with leads that have already engaged with your marketing content. You can assume an informative approach to take the pressure out of the conversation.

If you are still a bit leary when it comes to adopting cold calling into your outbound marketing, consider this statistic: 69% of decision-makers accept at least one call from a potential vendor a year. Strategic cold calling can help you open doors that might have otherwise been shut by relying on email, social media, and inbound marketing alone.

Are there any lead generation strategies I should avoid?

“Outdated lead generation tactics like mass blast cold emails and telemarketing can drain your budget and ruin your brand reputation. These strategies are too generic to grab the attention of today’s digital buyers and too time intensive to be cost-effective. To maximize ROI, you need targeted campaigns executed through multiple channels with personalized, informative, and engaging content.”

Vito Vishnepolsky, Founder and Director

FAQs About How to Improve Lead Generation

1. How to Increase Sales Leads?

   We’ve talked a lot about improving lead generation, but we know the ultimate goal here is to increase sales leads—particularly sales-ready leads. First and foremost, you have to prioritize an effective lead qualification and nurturing processes. Carefully analyze and evaluate incoming leads to identify the most promising ones, ensuring that you focus resources on leads that are most likely to convert. By implementing lead qualification processes and leveraging customer data, you can determine the level of interest and readiness to purchase for each lead, allowing you to prioritize your efforts and allocate resources accordingly. Through targeted nurturing campaigns, personalized communication, and timely follow-ups, you can engage leads and guide them through the buyer’s journey, ultimately increasing their readiness to make a purchasing decision.

2. Why is lead generation important?
   Lead generation is the key to your company’s growth and long-term success. Without continuous lead generation, your revenue stream will dry up quickly. While referrals and word-of-mouth marketing can generate a significant amount of buzz and business, more intentional lead generation tactics like email marketing and social selling are essential to fill your funnel with a steady flow of qualified leads. 
3. What are the types of lead generation?
   Two types of lead generation are used to classify all strategies: inbound and outbound. Neither is better, but both work harmoniously to attract, engage, and nurture leads throughout your pipeline. 
4. How can I generate leads quickly?
   For B2B companies, outbound outreach is the fastest way to generate leads. Also known as cold outreach, these lead gen campaigns develop brand awareness and interest through targeted messaging sent to your ideal prospects. A multichannel approach through emails, calls, and LinkedIn produces the best results.

Resources You’ll Love

• The 10-Step Process to Successfully Generating Leads + the 5 Best Strategies
• How to Qualify Sales Leads: The Ultimate Guide to Sales Lead Qualification
• Sales Lead Prospecting: 6 Proven Strategies For Finding and Converting Better Leads
• 7 Cold Sales Outreach Automation Tips for Closing More Deals in Less Time
• How to Hire an Experienced Outsourced BDR Team to Help Increase Your Leads

Conclusion: Making Lead Generation Work for Your Company

Increasing your leads and boosting sales is a crucial part of any company’s growth strategy. Though the principles are easy to comprehend the execution is becoming increasingly complex as technology advances and privacy regulations tighten. What worked twenty years ago is no longer valid. Eventually, the way we generate leads today will also be obsolete. But these shifts should result in innovation, not indecision.

Individuals will always have problems and companies will always have solutions. As long as you are continuously striving to bring value to your potential customers and build meaningful relationships, you and your team will find ways to make your lead gen efforts a success.