How strangers become interested parties - effective lead generation

Acquisition is a difficult topic. Nevertheless, there are ways and means of attracting new prospects - and retaining them through effective lead generation.

Versino Financial Suite for SAP Business One Finance

The topic of acquisition is usually followed by moaning and grumbling. And that's only understandable. Because let's be honest: calls, emails or customer acquisition by post rarely pick you up where you are and what you need. Instead, they are time-consuming, annoying and are turned away as quickly as possible.

From a business perspective, however, this is not the point. So how do you take customer acquisition to a serious and binding level?

„Avoiding cold calls

To avoid so-called „cold calls“ (i.e. calls etc. where potential interested parties are contacted, regardless of their prior interest), you should concentrate on „leads“ in your acquisition. A „lead,“ in turn, is someone who has already shown interest in one of your services or a product.

But how do you get to 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 move on to the tools. There are as many tools as there are roads to Rome. However, all kinds of content are proven. This must of course be created and meet a few requirements, such as conveying your company's message and, of course, addressing your customer's needs. It's best to give the potential customer the feeling that they are already receiving something from your service through the content. This is a good way to encourage the user to want „more“ of it. Depending on B2B- or B2C-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. But you can actually achieve a lot with these forms of content. Firstly, depending on the type of content, you can draw conclusions about the focus of the interested parties.

If someone is interested in a E-book or blog postthe focus is the topic. If an offer from you is dealt with here, it is likely that the interested party will be receptive to more information about it. Tracking codes and cookies can be used to track which content has been accessed.
If the interested party has already started to register using their 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

There are effective ways of processing the data generated by the content so that you can use these tools and, above all, the information obtained from them to help you generate leads. Of course, the best way to do this is to integrate it into your CRM software. Many modern systems offer the option of creating corresponding forms directly from the system, which can be integrated into your website using codes. This does not require a specialised IT expert.

A major advantage of this approach is that you can quickly and easily create individual „call to action“ forms for lead generation. This way, for example, you can note which content the prospect responded to without them having to specify it. However, many forms can also be created using the system to query information such as industry or company size. This makes sense depending on the content and the data is beneficial for further processing.

With the integration into that CRM system Lead generation will become an integral part of the sales process. Software that can map out all areas, including marketing and customer service, is therefore advantageous. This allows you to track the prospect's „buyer journey“ and guide them with the right content, through the right channels, towards a – hopefully – purchase decision.

So, let's get started 😉

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