Lead generation is a marketing term that describes the generation of consumer interest in a particular product. Leads are generated for purposes of sales, mailing of newsletters or any other business process that requires a list of clients or interested parties. Leads are people to talk to about products or services who may help the business to meet its goals in one way or another.
Leads can be generated using offline and online methods:
The offline methods are usually done in a face to face setting. For instance, you can go to networking events or talk to people in person. This type of lead generation is time consuming and difficult but it yields better result because people are more likely to respond if they see you in person.
This human contact is lost in online lead generation. In this type of lead generation, the internet or other technological networks are used to generate leads. This is done through a myriad of ways, one being advertising, the use of email campaigns, the use of search engines and referrals among many more.
Lead generation is an important part of business because it provides the basis for the creation of awareness of a business or brand among the people that would be interested in it. Lead generation is not simply coming up with a list of names, it requires a scientific approach and for this reason there are many businesses and computer software that can be contracted for lead generation. For individuals, lead generation requires the proper training and the relevant tools to generate leads.
One needs to know how to generate traffic to your business. One important tool in drawing traffic is the use of social media. LinkedIn, Facebook, and twitter offer great platforms for lead generation because they allow one to network with people who are in line with your interests. Individuals and companies can also advertise their products on these sites and generate a number of interested parties.
Not all leads are equal and neither will every lead become a success. From a list of a hundred, it would be considered lucky if one found five potential customers or partners. For this reason the more leads the better it is. Lead generation is the first step to achieving a business or organization’s goals because it is from these leads that one will get sales, partners, investors or any other party that is likely to propel a business.
