In
marketing
Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
, lead generation () is the
initiation of consumer interest or enquiry into products or services of a business. A lead is the contact information and, in some cases,
demographic information
Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings.
Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as edu ...
of a customer who is interested in a specific product or service.
Leads may come from various sources or activities, for example, digitally via the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
, through personal referrals, through telephone calls either by the company or
telemarketer
Telemarketing (sometimes known as inside sales, or telesales in the UK and Ireland) is a method of direct marketing in which a salesperson solicits prospective customers to buy products or services, either over the phone or through a subsequent f ...
s, through
advertisement
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
s, and events.
* In 2014, a study found that direct traffic,
search engines
A search engine is a software system designed to carry out web searches. They search the World Wide Web in a systematic way for particular information specified in a textual web search query. The search results are generally presented in a ...
, and web referrals were the three most popular online channels for lead generation, accounting for 93% of leads.
* In 2018, Chief Marketer found that B2B marketers favored
email
Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...
, live events, and
content marketing
Content marketing is a form of marketing focused on creating, publishing, and distributing content for a targeted audience online. It is often used by businesses in order to achieve the following goals: attract attention and generate leads, exp ...
as their top three.
* After the
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
pandemic in 2020,
Gartner
Gartner, Inc is a technological research and consulting firm based in Stamford, Connecticut that conducts research on technology and shares this research both through private consulting as well as executive programs and conferences. Its clients ...
identified increases in social and
search engine optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of Web traffic, website traffic to a website or a web page from web search engine, search engines. SEO targets unpaid traffic (known as "natural" or "Organ ...
for B2B marketers, while B2C marketers favored
digital advertising
Online advertising, also known as online marketing, Internet advertising, digital advertising or web advertising, is a form of marketing and advertising which uses the Internet to promote products and services to audiences and platform users. ...
.
Lead generation is often paired with
lead management Lead management is a set of methodologies, systems, and practices designed to generate new potential business clientele, generally operated through a variety of marketing campaigns or programs. Lead management facilitates a business's connection bet ...
to move leads through the
purchase funnel
The purchase funnel, or purchasing funnel, is a consumer-focused marketing model that illustrates the theoretical customer journey toward the purchase of a good or service.
In 1898, E. St. Elmo Lewis developed a model that mapped a theoretical ...
. This combination of activities is referred to as pipeline marketing, which is often broken into a marketing and a sales pipeline.
Lead scoring
Lead scoring is "an effective model that helps sales and marketing departments identify which prospects are potentially most valuable to the company and its current sales funnel." It involves a quantitative method of assigning a "score" to a lead to determine whether a lead is valid for a company's pipeline. When a lead reaches a certain score threshold, it is then sent from marketing to the sales team for examination.
A lead is determined to be sales-ready through two criteria:
* Demographic criteria: Based on data points such as age, job title, and/or company information such as company size, revenue, etc.
* Behavioral criteria: Based on actions a lead has taken, such as clicking on a link in an email, watching a video, or visiting pages on a website.
Lead qualification statuses
In a database, typically a
customer relationship management
Customer relationship management (CRM) is a process in which a business or other organization administers its interactions with customers, typically using data analysis to study large amounts of information.
CRM systems compile data from a ra ...
tool, leads are assigned a status. These statuses may vary by company, but some common terms are:
* Marketing qualified leads (MQLs) are leads that have typically come through inbound channels, such as Web Search or content marketing, and have expressed interest in a company's product or service. These leads have yet to interact with sales teams, but have met certain lead scoring criteria.
* Sales accepted leads (SALs) are
MQLs that have been examined by a salesperson and deemed acceptable by sales for follow-up.
* Sales qualified leads (SQLs) are leads salespeople have interacted with and have identified as having an opportunity for a deal to be made. Qualifying criteria include need, budget, capacity, time-frame, interest, or authority to purchase, often referred to as BANT criteria.
See also
*
Direct marketing
Direct marketing is a form of communicating an offer, where organizations communicate directly to a pre-selected customer and supply a method for a direct response. Among practitioners, it is also known as ''direct response marketing''. B ...
*
Direct selling
Direct selling consists of single-level marketing (in which a direct seller makes money by buying products from a parent organization and selling them directly to customers) and multi-level marketing (in which the direct seller may earn money f ...
*
Lead management Lead management is a set of methodologies, systems, and practices designed to generate new potential business clientele, generally operated through a variety of marketing campaigns or programs. Lead management facilitates a business's connection bet ...
*
Personal selling
Personal selling occurs when a sales representative meets with a potential client for the purpose of transacting a sale. Many sales representatives rely on a sequential sales process that typically includes nine steps. Some sales representative ...
*
Sales
Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale.
The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...
*
Customer experience
Customer experience (CX) is a totality of cognitive, affective, sensory, and behavioral consumer responses during all stages of the consumption process including pre-purchase, consumption, and post-purchase stages. Pine and Gilmore described the ...
*
Outbound marketing
*
B2B marketing
Business marketing is a marketing practice of individuals or organizations (including commercial businesses, governments and institutions). It allows them to sales, sell products or services to other companies or organizations that resell them, us ...
References
Further reading
* ''Lead Generation for the Complex Sale'' by Brian J. Carroll ()
* ''Marketing Management'' by Philip Kotler ()
* ''Marketing for Dummies'' ({{ISBN, 978-1118880807)
Sales
Customer relationship management
Personal selling
Search engine optimization