Lead generation is often considered complex involving several steps which can be a cumbersome process. So in this article I will help condense the entire lead generation campaigns process into two aspects only – namely targeting and content. If you can get the right pitch in form of an engaging content before your target audience through effective mediums, then you have hit the nail on the head.
Targeting
There are two basic ways you are target your audience – accounts based or profile based.
Accounts based marketing or, database marketing is a technique where you first build a list of customers you want to target which could include contact details, company details and any other piece of information important for you to segment your customer. One disadvantage of this technique is that the list needs to be refreshed every time you want to run a campaign. Also the worthiness of the list reduces over time as people switch jobs making their contact emails and perhaps phone number redundant. Therefore you might also want to consider building a list of just the companies, without any contact details and using advanced targeting tools to target the right designation in your chosen list of companies.
Profile based targeting on the other hand does not require a list and works on setting the criteria to target your audience based on demographic and professional attributes such as job title, industry, company size, seniority etc. While working with profile based targeting it is important to create multiple segments of your prospects based on industry, etc. and split test them regularly to explore the best performing set of audience.
Content
Content mainly refers to the ad copy format but can also include landing pages, whitepapers or any other promotional material that you might want to use. The content format mostly depends on your marketing message, product positioning, audience awareness etc. For example, if you have developed a new tool which can help HR professional reduce their recruitment time, then explainer videos with a lead generation form is a must. Videos work well for most of the ad types. Also care for the video format thinking about whether you want to target people on desktop or mobile as vertical videos work better on mobile while landscape videos work better on desktop.
Depending on your campaign you might also want to build a landing page with more information for your customers. A good converting landing page has micro / macro conversion points and triggers that indicate purchase intent of the visitor.
The wider spectrum of lead generation can be a more complex long term strategy driven by SEO, and social media marketing. Email marketing is usually used to nurture leads rather an as an acquisition tool and must be used to supplement all lead generation or otherwise campaigns. However if you are focused on a short term campaign to drive leads to your business then the above two things will suffice provided you have the basic social and web hygiene in place.
