How strangers become interested parties - effective lead generation

Acquisition is a difficult subject. Nevertheless, there are ways and means to attract new prospects - and to bind them through effective lead generation.

The topic of acquisition is usually followed by groaning and clamoring. And that's only understandable. Because let's be honest: phone calls, e-mails or postal customer acquisition rarely pick you up where you are and what you need at the moment. Instead, they are time-consuming, annoying and get rid of as quickly as possible.

But from a business perspective, that doesn't make sense. So how do you bring customer acquisition to a serious and binding level?

Avoid cold calls

In order to avoid so-called “cold calls” (i.e. calls or similar in which potential prospects are contacted, regardless of their previous interest), you should concentrate on “leads” when acquiring them. A “lead”, on the other hand, is someone who has already shown interest in one of your services or a product.

But how do you get such ”leads“?

lead generation

Various tools are used in lead generation to turn someone into a prospect. These tools all have in common that appealing content on one of your platforms directs your target group there and then prompts them to take action (call to action), which usually prompts the (almost) interested party to leave their data.

But let's get to the tools. They are as numerous as the roads to Rome. However, all types of content are proven. Of course, it has to be created and meet a few requirements, such as conveying your company's message and, of course, responding to the needs of your customers. It is best to give the potential customer the feeling that they are already getting some of your service through the content. This is a good way to make the user want "more" of it. Depending on B2B- or B2C-Alignment, there are various options here, such as free tests, brochures, blogs, newsletters, e-books, vouchers or quite simply - social media interaction.

content forms

Yes, sure – it sounds banal. In fact, you can achieve a lot with these types of content. First, depending on the type of content, you can draw conclusions about the focus of prospects.

Is anyone interested in a E-book or blog post, the focus is the subject. If you deal with an offer here, it is likely that the interested party is receptive to more information about it. Tracking codes and cookies can be used to track which content was accessed.
If the interested party has already started using his contact details coupons or vouchers downloading, the interest in a product or service is clearer.
Clear interest is shown when filling in surveys, studies and in the best case application forms shown. Ready-made masks make it easy for interested parties.

Here is a brief overview of contact types and the associated interactions:

stranger	visitor	Lead	prospect	customer
blog	button	Follow up, mail	negotiation	social media
counselor	web form	To qualify	offer	Individual content
social media	landing page	CRM	CRM	Survey

Integrate lead generation

The fact that you can use these tools and, above all, the information obtained from them, in such a way that it helps you generate leads, there are effective ways of processing the data generated by the content. Of course, integration into your CRM software works best. Many modern systems offer to create appropriate forms directly from the system, which can be built into your website using code. No specialist IT specialist is required for this.

A big advantage of this approach is that you can quickly and easily create custom “call to action” forms for lead generation. For example, you can note which content the interested party has reacted to without them having to state it. However, many masks can also be created using the system so that you can request information such as industry or company size. Depending on the content, this makes sense and the data is advantageous for the further process.

With the integration into that CRM system Lead generation becomes a fixed sub-process of sales. Software that can map all areas, including marketing or customer care, is an advantage. In this way you can follow the "buyer journey" of the interested party and accompany them with the right content, via the right channels, up to a - hopefully - purchase decision.

So, shall we begin ?

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