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Generating inbound leads is synonymous with personalising content according to the buyer for better user experiences. As per the latest marketing trends, consumers prefer brands with tailored marketing offers. Every marketer must create content targeting a specific audience to increase their conversion rate.
Here the question becomes how to do inbound lead generation.
Though it is a little more complex than outbound, generating inbound leads is easy once a brand figures out its product-market fit. Layering the sales funnel with the right content and strategies is crucial in capturing, holding, and entertaining user attention for a long time. Done right, inbound lead generation allows you to establish a steady flow of quality leads while having high ROI.
Understanding how inbound lead generation works and strategies that make it more efficient is what we will discuss in this blog.
Let’s start.
What is Inbound Lead Generation?
Inbound lead generation is the process of attracting and converting website visitors into leads through targeted marketing strategies. It involves creating valuable content, such as blog posts, e-books, webinars, etc., and promoting them through various channels, like social media and search engines.
It aims to attract potential customers to your website or landing pages. Once on your page, the goal is to convert these visitors into leads by capturing their contact information, typically through forms in exchange for the valuable content you have shared with them. This process allows companies to build a database of interested and engaged prospects, which can be nurtured and eventually converted into loyal clients.
What are Inbound Leads?
Inbound leads refer to potential customers who have shown interest in a company’s products or services by actively seeking out and engaging with the brand rather than being sought out by the sales team. Such leads have a high probability of conversion and must be engaged through the right inbound lead generation strategies.
Three Main Components of Generating Inbound Leads
A sales funnel consists of three stages: awareness, consideration, and decision. By understanding the position of a lead in the funnel, it becomes easier to cater to their needs. For an efficient inbound lead generation in all three stages, different aspects of marketing must be considered.
The three main components of inbound marketing: attract, engage, and delight, must align with the sales funnel for higher efficiency.
(i) Awareness – Attract
The awareness stage is the first step in the buyer’s journey, where a potential customer becomes aware of a problem they have and starts looking for solutions. The goal of the attract component during the awareness stage is to create content that is relevant and helpful to the potential customer.
Addressing consumer pain points through various mediums, like blog posts, videos, infographics, etc., helps develop prospects’ interest in a brand. Channels like PPC ads, SEO, and social media can help brands become more discoverable and reach the right audience.
(ii) Consideration – Engage
At the consideration stage of the buyer’s journey, a potential customer has identified a problem and some of its solutions. Through the right engagement tactics, brands can acquire higher consumer confidence and win over their competitors. A brand’s positioning and messaging of a brand become crucial at this stage.
To engage potential customers during the consideration stage, brands can use lead magnets. Marketers can create gated content, such as e-books, webinars, etc., that provides in-depth information about the company’s solutions and how they solve the prospect’s problem.
By requiring visitors to provide their contact information to access lead magnets, a company can generate leads and begin to nurture the relationship through email marketing.
Overall, the key to engaging potential customers during the consideration stage of the sales funnel is to forge deeper relations with the prospects through active communication.
(iii) Decision – Delight
Delight refers to the positive emotional response a customer experiences after making a purchase or interacting with a brand. In the context of the decision stage of the sales funnel, delight can occur when a customer feels confident and satisfied with their decision to purchase a product or service.
It can be achieved through clear and transparent communication, providing helpful information and support, and delivering promised benefits. Delight can also be created through exceptional customer service, personalised experiences, and surprise bonuses or perks. Delighted customers are more likely to become loyal brand advocates and recommend the brand to others.
5 Techniques for Generating Inbound Leads
1. Capture through Content
Content marketing is a strategy that focuses on creating and distributing valuable and relevant content to attract, engage and retain a specific target audience. The goal of content marketing is to drive profitable customer action. Some examples of methods used in content marketing include:
- Blogging: Creating and publishing articles or blog posts on a regular basis.
- Infographics: Creating visual representations of information or data to make it more engaging and shareable.
- Checklists and Guides: Creating and sharing longer-form content such as e-books and whitepapers to provide in-depth information on a topic.
Content marketing is used to educate, inform and engage potential customers throughout the buying process, build trust, and establish the brand as a thought leader in the industry. It helps in driving website traffic, lead generation, and building strong relationships with customers.
2. Leverage Social Media
I recently read the book “Show Your Work” by Austin Kleon. I would like to share some of my notes from it:
Make yourself findable, and be open about what you are working on. Don’t wait for Eurekas.
No matter how many informative blog posts, webinars, or checklists you create, if you are not marketing them properly, you are doing nothing. For this, social media comes to the rescue.
Social media marketing is the process of promoting a product, service, or brand through various social media platforms. A strong social media presence helps create a dependable community ready to give you feedback and share queries. It makes a brand more accessible to its audience and boosts consumer trust.
It’s also relatively low-cost, making it accessible to businesses of all sizes. Platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter work well for B2B sites, whereas Instagram and Facebook are great for B2C brands.
3. Nurture Your Leads
Lead nurturing is the process of building relationships with potential customers who have expressed an interest in a company’s products or services but are not yet ready to make a purchase. The goal of lead nurturing is to keep leads engaged and move them further down the sales funnel until they are ready to make a purchase. Some examples of methods used in lead nurturing include:
- Email marketing: Sending targeted and personalized emails to leads with valuable content, such as industry insights or educational resources.
- Retargeting: Using cookies or pixels to serve targeted ads to leads who have visited the company’s website.
- Lead scoring: Assigning scores to leads based on their level of engagement and interest and prioritizing follow-up efforts accordingly.
Lead nurturing helps companies to establish trust and credibility with potential customers and to differentiate themselves from competitors. It also allows companies to stay top-of-mind with leads and to gather valuable information that can be used to personalize future interactions. Overall, lead nurturing can increase the chances of converting leads into paying customers.
4. Leverage Personalised Landing Pages
Personalised landing pages are web pages that are tailored to the specific needs and interests of an individual visitor. They are typically used in PPC campaigns designed to increase conversions by providing a more relevant and engaging experience to the users.
Such landing pages can be built by understanding the buyers’ personas a brand wants to target. A unique landing page for a specific set audience help to improve conversions by delivering a tailored message to the needs and interests of the visitor.
Suggested Read: Landing Pages Explained With Simple Examples
5. Guide Prospects with the Right CTAs
Calls-to-Action (CTAs) are an important element of any marketing or sales strategy. They are buttons, links, or other prompts that encourage visitors to take a specific action, such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or downloading a whitepaper.
CTAs play a crucial role in inbound lead generation by providing a clear and direct way for visitors to take the next step in the buying process. Here are a few ways CTAs are important in inbound lead generation:
- Help in converting website and landing page visitors into leads by providing an easy way for them to sign up for a newsletter, schedule a consultation, or download a whitepaper.
- Increase the visibility of the action you want visitors to take, making it more likely that they will do so. It can help to increase the number of leads generated from a website.
- Assist in tracking the effectiveness of a lead generation campaign by tracking clicks and conversions. Businesses can use this data to optimise their CTAs and improve their lead generation efforts.
- Can be used to segment leads based on their interests and behaviour, allowing businesses to personalise their follow-up efforts and increase the chances of converting leads into customers.
By including well-designed, action-oriented CTAs on a website, businesses can improve their inbound lead generation efforts and ultimately increase conversions.
Ready to Generate Inbound Leads
Inbound lead generation takes a lot of planning and effort to show results finally. From understanding the sales funnel to making it more apt for personalised marketing is what efficient inbound lead generation demands.
Through relevant content generation, distribution on crucial channels, and lead nurturing, brands can take the first step forward in making their sales funnel more targeted and effective.
Utilize the chance to access the accompanying PDF guide, which provides a wide range of Lead Nurturing Ideas to empower marketers and entrepreneurs in formulating effective lead nurturing campaigns with well-defined goals in sight
If you want to know more about lead nurturing, check out this guide: B2B Lead Nurturing: The Ultimate Guide
Also Check:
What are Unqualified Leads: Identification and Management
Lead Nurturing Email Examples: Successful Samples to Follow
B2B Conversion Rate Optimization: Strategic Success Tactics
