Machines that make work easier have allowed man to travel further, invent, and produce more than any other species on earth. Are there lead generation machines that can, in turn, ease the process of capturing profitable leads for business growth?

The world of marketing is slowly abandoning old school high-cost lead generation processes for practices that are more efficient. As an illustration, cold calling, the bane of most marketers, is a gut-wrenching process that has very low returns. Data shows that this lead generation strategy has a success rate of less than 0.3%. In contrast, email marketing has a click-through success rate of 2.6%.

The lead generation ideas that I am about to propose to you below succeed where cold calling fails because they’re bursting with top-notch lead capture ingredients. You can equate them to perfect marketing machines that contact leads that have an interest in your brand. 

With them, you can say goodbye to unnecessary interactions that add very little value to your potential customers. Use them, and you will no longer be that hapless marketer who initiates a sale with a prospective client at the worst possible time. If you are that rare breed of successful cold callers, these processes below will amplify your business’s bottom-line as well.

Create premium gated content

The savvy marketer knows that fantastic ad impressions and all the web traffic in the world have very little meaning if they cannot capture valuable new leads. A long and expensive cold call list will not bring home the bacon if all you have done is spent time disrupting and annoying people that are not interested in your products. 

Marketers generally love to talk about their brands, products, or services. Today’s customer, however, is more informed than ever. The information that they need to make a purchase is available online. 

Influence their purchase decisions by giving them information that adds value. As a rule of thumb, avoid content that cites you as the only expert in your niche. It’s neither convincing nor trustworthy.

Resolve this challenge by creating premium, well-researched e-books, whitepapers, podcasts, or software tools that provide valuable information from renowned thought leaders in your niche. 

This content will eliminate the conflict of interest brought on by myopic sale focused content. Your premium content users will willingly become high-quality sales leads in exchange for the value that your content offers them. 

Collect “best of” opinions from niche influencers

One reason why most cold calling techniques fail is that they are sales focused. The days of the long sales speech are gone. Thanks to exploitative advertising techniques of the past, customers also do not trust the marketer’s word anymore.

Today an insurance marketer, for instance, will receive more attention from his potential clients if he can articulate the value of his product. They will, however, trust his word more if he infuses authority and trust into his communications.

You can communicate value to your leads in exchange for their attention by feeding them with valuable data from trustworthy influencers in your niche. Avoid the untrustworthy sales pitch when approaching a business or personal brand whose opinion has some clout. 

Potential customers will see their name and pay attention to your content. 92% of marketers vouch for influencer marketing effectiveness since it has an average engagement rate of 5.7%.

Combine lead capture forms with video marketing

Lead generation is a significant challenge for marketers. 80% of marketers with lead generation strategies in place also say that these lead capture processes are only slightly effective. Marketers can solve these two problems by initiating video-based lead generation strategies. 

Video is an efficient and convenient form of content for the customer. It is also versatile, attractive, and extremely shareable content. Optimised video marketing will make a highly effective lead generation process because:

• Including the word “video” on your subject line can increase your open rates by 6%
• Video not only improves SEO but informative, high-quality videos with calls to action will increase lead generation effectiveness
• 85% of marketers use video as a marketing tool

Like many marketers, you might be wary of gating your video content behind a lead capture form. This strategy can adversely affect its engagement and conversion rates. Fortunately, you can utilize a less distracting hybrid approach that embeds forms within your videos that encourage leads to subscribe for more high-quality content. 

Grab their attention with optimised email marketing

Email marketing might be old, but it is a tried and tested method of generating high-quality leads. Did you know that on average email marketing has ROI of $38 for each $1 spent?

A 3,800% return on investment is no mean feat! Therefore, while video, influencer, and other forms of novel marketing might seem more contemporary, you will be missing a fantastic opportunity if you ignore this trusted lead capture method. 

Optimise and segment your emails then personalise them to grab the attention of your reader. Make offers that your leads won’t be able to resist, and your lead generation machine will drive your revenue through the roof.

Share your customer’s stories

This lead generation strategy is highly effective because it focuses on the customer’s experience on the product. It is therefore not off-putting or salesy and will delight the loyal customer whose story features on your blog, website, or social media handle. 

You can leverage the power of video and capture customer stories that narrate the different aspects of the complete customer journey. This aspect will keep your content emotional and engaging, which should help you garner more leads in the absence of a call to action. 

All you need to do is add subtle references to your product or service. That will generate implied CTAs, which encourage your viewers to take a step into your marketing funnel. 

The expectations of today’s customers have changed, and the lead generation strategies above will help you address their demands. Embrace them and access high-quality leads that will keep your business’ revenue stream bubbling with life. 

Do you have any other lead generation strategies that increase brand loyalty and customer lifetime value?