17 Best Lead Generation Techniques for 2024

Are you ready to fill your funnel and skyrocket your sales in 2024? Look no further than these 17 lead generation techniques. From social media to email marketing, we’ve got you covered. Get ready to crush your sales goals with these proven strategies.

What is Lead Generation?

Lead generation refers to the process of identifying and cultivating potential customers for your business’s products or services. The goal of lead generation is to attract people or decision-makers who are interested in your offer and schedule a discovery call or gather contact information, such as their name, email address, phone number, or social media handles.

The process of lead generation can take many different forms, such as creating valuable content, offering free trials or demos, hosting events, running targeted ads, and engaging with potential customers through social media channels.

The most challenging part of lead generation is knowing which strategies to use for your business. So, let’s first discuss how to choose the right lead generation techniques to implement.

When generating leads, there are generally two main approaches: inbound and outbound lead generation. Knowing their strengths and weaknesses can help you optimize your strategies for better results.

Inbound Lead Generation

Inbound lead generation focuses on attracting potential customers through valuable content, SEO, social media, and engagement strategies. Your goal is to draw leads in naturally, positioning your brand as a trusted authority within your industry. Here are some key tactics:

Content Marketing: creating helpful and interesting content such as blogs, videos, and whitepapers to educate your audience and build trust throughout every stage of the buyer’s journey.
SEO Optimization: using keywords and optimizing your website to improve its visibility in search engine results and drive organic traffic to your site.
Social Media Engagement: connecting with your audience on platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to share your thoughts and engage with them.

Pros of Inbound Lead Generation

Cost-effective over time
Builds long-term relationships
Generates high-quality leads

Cons of Inbound Lead Generation

Slower to yield results (between 6-12 months)
Requires ongoing content creation and optimization
Less control over lead quality and timing

Outbound Lead Generation

Outbound lead generation, on the other hand, involves actively reaching out to potential customers through tactics such as cold calling, email outreach, LinkedIn networking, and direct advertising, enabling a more proactive approach to finding leads. Here are some defining strategies:

Cold Calling: directly contacting prospects via phone allows you to pitch your product or service and initiate conversations with potential customers.
Cold Emailing: sending targeted emails to prospects can help introduce your offerings and start meaningful dialogues with potential leads.
LinkedIn Networking: utilizing LinkedIn to connect and engage with potential customers can build professional relationships and trust over time..
Paid Advertising: utilizing pay-per-click (PPC) and display ads can quickly generate visibility and leads, targeting specific audiences.
Events and Trade Shows: attending industry events enables you to connect face-to-face with potential leads and showcase your offerings.

Pros of Outbound Lead Generation

Immediate results and quick access to potential leads (1-3 months)
Greater control over targeting specific audiences
Reaching out to people who are not actively looking for your product or service

Cons of Outbound Lead Generation

Can be more expensive depending on the strategy
Requires expertise to ensure high-quality leads and effective targeting
Necessitates a well-crafted, personalized approach that can be time-consuming

How to Choose the Right Lead Generation Technique

Choosing the right lead generation techniques requires careful consideration of your target audience, business goals, available resources, and the nature of your products or services. Here are the steps you should take to select the most effective lead generation techniques for your sales and marketing team:

Identify your target audience: Start by understanding who your ideal customer is, what they are looking for, and where they are likely to be found. This will help you narrow down the best channels and strategies to reach them. Consider using WhatsApp Business among other strategic channels to refine your outreach and engage with your audience more effectively.

Evaluate your business goals: Define the specific goals you want to achieve with your lead generation efforts, such as increasing sales, expanding your customer base, or launching a new product or service. Your goals will influence the techniques you choose.

Assess your resources: Consider your budget, team size, and available technology to determine what lead generation techniques are feasible for your business.

Research your competitors: Analyze what lead generation techniques your competitors use and how effective they are. This can help you identify gaps in the market that you can fill with a unique approach.

Test and measure: Once you have selected a lead generation technique, start small and test it to see how effective it is. Use analytics tools to track your results and adjust your strategy as needed.

Best Lead Generation Techniques

So now that you know how to sift through lead generation strategies to find the ones to fit your company, let’s go over the best lead generation techniques for 2024. First, we’ll cover the 9 must-try tactics ideal for nearly any business model, and then we’ll dive into lead generation techniques specifically for B2B companies.

1. Influence Your Target Audience with Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Word-of-mouth marketing has been around since the days of barter and trade, but it’s still one of the most effective ways to generate leads. 88% of consumers are more likely to trust the recommendations of their friends and family than they are to trust advertising. That’s why ensuring your existing customers are happy with your product or service and encouraging them to spread the word is essential.

A referral program is one way to turn paying customers into product evangelists. Typically this involves offering a discount to customers who refer friends that make a purchase.

If you’ve already tried a referral program and it was a bust, influencers can help put you on the lead gen fast track. By choosing the right platform and partner, you can gain instant rapport with your target audience.

2. Boost Organic Traffic with Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving your website and content to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). When your website appears on the first page of search results, you’ll get more organic traffic, which can lead to more leads.

There is a common misconception that volume reigns supreme in SEO. While continuous and consistent content creation and backlink building are vital parts of a solid SEO strategy, they are not the silver bullets to success. Focus on creating high-quality, valuable content based on well-researched target keywords and phrases that align with what your audience is searching for. You should also ensure that your website is mobile-friendly, has fast load times, and is easy to navigate.

Additionally, consider utilizing AI-powered tools like an AI content checker to analyze your content for quality, originality, and search engine optimization potential. This tool can help you identify areas for improvement and ensure that your content stands out from the competition.

3. Increase Your Reach with Pay Per Click Advertising

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a form of online lead generation where you pay only when someone clicks on your ad. This can be an effective way to reach a larger audience and generate more leads quickly. Google Ads and social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn are popular PPC advertising channels.

To get the most out of your PPC campaigns, you should create targeted ads that speak directly to your audience. You should also optimize landing pages for conversion and track your results so you can adjust your campaigns as needed.

4. Build Your Brand Authority with Content Marketing

SEO and content marketing often go hand-in-hand; you cannot succeed in one without the other. Your content marketing strategy should involve creating and sharing content that educates and entertains your target audience, but the content itself must be planned around your keyword research. By combining your SEO and content marketing strategy, you can build your brand authority and attract more leads to your business. Examples of content marketing include blog posts, videos, podcasts, and infographics.

5. Excite and Engage Your Followers with Video Marketing

Video content is all the rage, but is it really worth the hype? 90% of surveyed marketers said video marketing improved lead generation results. So, there’s no denying that video marketing is a powerful way to engage your target audience and generate more leads. Through videos, you can demonstrate your solutions’’ capabilities, share customer testimonials, and provide educational content in a more engaging and exciting format.

Nowadays, YouTube isn’t your only video distribution channel. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and your own websites are prime real estate for video content.

Similar to your content marketing strategy, you’ll need to optimize videos for search by including relevant keywords in the titles, descriptions, and tags. Make every video count by adding a call-to-action that encourages viewers to subscribe, sign up for a free trial, or visit your website. To keep your marketing budget in check, find ways to repurpose videos. For example, upload audio from video interviews to a podcast or use video testimonials in a PPC ad. The possibilities are only limited by your creativity.

6. Maximize Your Time and Resources with a Chatbot

In 2024, chatbot software, powered by artificial intelligence, has emerged as a pivotal tool for businesses, harnessing the capacity to deliver personalized and immediate support to potential leads, thus bolstering lead generation efforts. Chatbots are computer programs that use artificial intelligence (AI) to mimic human conversation. They can be programmed to answer frequently asked questions, provide product recommendations, and collect contact information from potential leads. It’s a very common practice called LLM fine-tuning since chatbots use large language models to operate. By providing quick and personalized support, a chatbot can build trust with your potential leads and encourage them to take the desired action, such as signing up for a newsletter or purchasing a product.

A chatbot can also be used to qualify your leads by collecting information about their interests, preferences, and pain points. This information can then be used to segment leads and tailor marketing messages to their specific needs. By qualifying leads, a chatbot can help your business prioritize its efforts and focus on those most likely to convert. In this way, chatbots have become an essential lead generation tool for businesses in 2024, helping them to streamline their sales process and convert more leads into customers.

7. Geek Out with Your Potential Prospects through Webinar Classes

Do you have a passionate pool of prospects? Webinars can be a great way to “geek out” with your prospects on topics they love while simultaneously providing valuable insights to improve their lives or businesses.

To generate leads through webinars, choose topics that are relevant to your target audience and that provide a platform for real value exchange. You can promote your webinars through email marketing, social media, and other digital marketing channels, and use them to showcase your expertise and build trust with potential leads. During the webinar, try out interactive features such as polls, surveys, and Q&A sessions to engage with attendees and offer personalized support. By hosting high-quality webinars that provide tangible value to your prospects, you can generate more high-quality, sales-ready leads.

8. Lure in New Leads with Landing Pages and Opt-Ins

Landing pages and opt-ins are critical tools for increasing the number of qualified leads in a company’s pipeline. A landing page is a web page designed specifically to capture the attention of potential leads and encourage them to take a specific action, such as signing up for a webinar or requesting a free demo. A well-designed landing page will have a clear and concise message, a strong call to action, and a form for collecting contact information. By creating a landing page tailored to your target audience’s needs and interests, you can increase the number of qualified leads in your pipeline and move them closer to making a purchase.

Opt-ins are another essential tool for increasing the number of potential customers in your company’s pipeline. Like landing pages, an opt-in is a form that asks visitors to provide their contact information in exchange for something of value, such as a free e-book or template. The main difference between an opt-in and a landing page is presentation. While a landing page is an entire web page, an opt-in can be as simple as a call-to-action button or a pop-up.

Once you have collected contact information through land pages and opt-ins, you can use it to follow up with leads, send them targeted marketing messages, and encourage them to take the next step in the buying process.

9. Keep Your Brand Top-of-Mind with E-Newsletters

E-newsletters are one the most popular forms of opt-in email marketing. Despite the name, they are much more than a summary of your company’s latest activities. E-newsletters are a way for you to provide extra value to your loyal subscribers. By sharing valuable content and exclusive promotions through your e-newsletter, you can keep your brand top-of-mind and turn opt-in leads into paying customers over time. E-newsletters should be a core component of any lead generation campaign, helping to nurture leads and drive sales over the long term.

Best B2B Lead Generation Techniques

While B2B companies can certainly gain momentum with the top 9 lead generation techniques on our list, the complexity of B2B purchases requires specialized strategies.

The following 8 lead generation techniques are proven to speed up sales cycles and increase conversion rates. If you’re generating leads for a B2B company, you won’t want to miss out on these sustainable and scalable strategies.

10. Target Key Decision-Makers Through Account-Based Marketing

With the shift to a consumer-led rather than a company-led purchasing process, account-based marketing has become the preferred B2B lead generation strategy for many revenue teams. Account-based marketing (ABM) involves targeting specific accounts and decision-makers with marketing materials tailored to their unique needs and interests. ABM is important for several reasons. First, it allows companies to focus their marketing efforts on high-value accounts, rather than trying to reach a broad audience.

Second, ABM helps to build stronger relationships with target accounts. By focusing on the needs and interests of specific accounts, companies can develop a deep understanding of their challenges and goals. This allows them to provide customized solutions and build trust and credibility with those accounts over time. By building strong relationships with target accounts, companies can increase their customer lifetime value and drive long-term revenue growth.

When employing ABM strategies, using buyer intent, technographic, and psychographic data is important for building good lead lists and creating personalized campaigns that connect with potential leads by knowing their behavior, preferences, and technology use.

Buyer Intent Data: reveals when prospects are actively researching or showing interest in a product or service, helping you prioritize leads likely to convert.
Technographic Data: highlights the technology that target companies use, so you can customize your messages to fit their needs.
Psychographic Data: offers insights into the values, interests, and motivations of your audience, enabling you to personalize messaging that enhances engagement and conversion rates.

By integrating these data types into your lead generation efforts, you can create highly targeted and relevant campaigns that stand out in a crowded marketplace, ultimately improving your success in both inbound and outbound strategies.

11. Fill Your Funnel with New Prospects Through Outbound Emails

Even with the overwhelming use of social media and search engines, outbound email marketing is still a top lead generation strategy in 2024. By using email as an outreach tool, your company can reach more potential leads and open up more one-on-one conversations. Outbound emails are often personalized based on the recipient’s interests and preferences, resulting in higher open and reply rates. With advanced prospecting and personalization tools available, businesses can reach the right people with the right message at the right time, making outbound email marketing a highly effective way to generate leads and drive sales.

In addition to its efficiency, outbound email marketing is also cost-effective and scalable. With the right platforms, people, and processes in place, businesses can send out large volumes of emails to potential leads without incurring significant costs. This makes outbound email marketing one of the most productive lead generation strategies for businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises.

12. Link Up with Your Ideal Clients Through LinkedIn Networking

Networking on LinkedIn using Sales Navigator and direct messaging can be a highly effective way to connect your business to more of your ideal clients and increase the likelihood of conversion. Sales Navigator is a tool that allows you to identify and target potential leads based on specific criteria, such as industry, job title, interests, and even members’ LinkedIn activity. By using Sales Navigator, you can build a list of potential leads who are highly relevant to your business and who are more likely to be interested in your products or services.

Once you have identified potential leads through Sales Navigator, you can use direct messaging to reach out to them and build relationships. Like email, direct messaging allows you to communicate with potential leads on a one-to-one basis, but with the added transparency of professional profiles, which can help to establish trust and credibility. By offering valuable insights and information, answering questions, and providing personalized suggestions, you can nurture these relationships over time and move potential leads closer to closing.

13. Warm Up Cold Leads Through Cold Calling

Outbound email outreach and LinkedIn networking are revenue-generating machines on their own, but when you combine them with cold calling, you have a recipe for some serious success.

We know what you’re thinking: cold calling is dead. But take it from a lead gen agency that’s been on the frontline for over a decade: cold calling is very much alive. The trick is not relying on cold calling as a stand-alone lead generation strategy. That’s why we always include cold calling as a part of our multichannel outbound campaigns.

Cold calling can be particularly useful for warming up leads because it allows businesses to engage with potential customers directly and establish a personal connection. However, it’s not usually advisable to call a prospect without first reaching out through other channels. That’s where outbound email outreach and LinkedIn networking come in. By only calling leads that have opened an email or accepted a connection request on LinkedIn, sales professionals have a viable reason for reaching out via phone. Prospects are also much more likely to stay on the line if they recognize the caller—even if that recognition is vague.

Additionally, by using a multichannel approach, businesses can ensure that they are reaching potential customers through several touchpoints, increasing the chances of conversion.

14. Showcase Your Customers’ Experiences Through Case Studies

There’s no better way to showcase the power of your product or service than through real-world examples. By featuring customer success stories in your marketing materials, you can demonstrate the value of your product or service in a way that resonates with potential customers. This can be especially effective in industries where trust and credibility are crucial factors in the decision-making process, as it allows potential customers to see how your product or service has helped others in similar situations.

Case studies highlight your unique selling points and differentiate your company from competitors. By focusing on specific customer needs and how your product or service addresses those needs, you can demonstrate the amazing features and benefits of your offering. This can position your business as a leader in your industry and give potential customers a compelling reason to choose your product or service over others. In addition, case studies can be repurposed across various marketing channels, such as social media, email marketing, and website content, providing businesses with a versatile asset that can be used to attract and convert leads.

15. WOW Your Wondering Prospects with Data-Driven White Papers

You can generate more leads by sharing data-driven white papers that impress and delight prospects. White papers are detailed reports that provide valuable information to potential customers about a particular topic or issue. When created with data-driven insights and analysis, white papers can be a productive tool in your lead generation tool kit. By providing prospects with actionable information, you can establish your brand as a thought leader in your industry and build trust with potential customers.

Data-driven white papers are particularly effective because they provide evidence-backed insights exhibiting your business’s expertise. White papers can also address common pain points or challenges that potential customers may face, providing valuable solutions that can be implemented immediately. When created with a lead generation strategy, use white papers to capture contact information from potential customers in exchange for access to the report. This contact information can then be used to nurture leads and move them further down the sales funnel.

16. Convert More Prospects into Purchasers Through Lead Nurturing

Persistence is the process that turns prospects into purchasers. It’s why lead nurturing may be the single most important lead generation technique you can double down on in 2024. The process of lead nurturing involves building relationships with potential customers through targeted and personalized communication that addresses their specific needs. By providing value at each stage of the buying journey, businesses can establish trust and credibility with prospects and ultimately convert them into customers. Lead nurturing helps to ensure that potential customers are engaged and interested in a business’s offering, increasing the likelihood of a successful sale.

Lead nurturing is also important because it helps businesses to stay top-of-mind with potential customers. It can take time for a prospect to move from initial interest to a purchasing decision, and during this time, your business needs to remain visible and relevant.

17. Scale Your Pipeline Faster Through a Lead Generation Agency

And last but not least, we look at one of the most cost-effective and efficient ways to scale your company’s pipeline—hiring a top lead generation agency. Lead generation agencies specialize in identifying and qualifying potential customers for businesses using a variety of methods, such as cold calling, email outreach, and digital marketing. By outsourcing lead generation to an agency, your team can save time and resources that are better fit for other critical areas of your company’s operations.

Lead generation agencies have the talent and technology to identify and target high-quality leads more likely to convert into paying customers. They also have access to data, analytics tools, and transaction categorization systems that can help businesses optimize their lead generation strategies, manage their financial data efficiently, and improve their ROI. By working with a lead generation agency, you can benefit from these resources without investing in them yourself, making it a cost-effective way to scale your pipeline.

With the right agency partner, your company can generate high-quality leads and ultimately drive growth and success.

Want to know just how cost-effective hiring a lead generation agency can be? Check out our ROI calculator.

What’s Next?

Generating leads is a crucial part of any successful sales strategy. By focusing on the 17 lead generation techniques outlined in this article, you can improve your chances of success and grow your business in 2024. Whether you’re just starting out or expanding your market share, there’s a lead generation strategy out there that can help you achieve your sales goals. So don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things–you never know what might work until you give it a try!