Generating Inbound Leads - How To Improve and Streamline the Process

In today's marketing strategies, the significance of inbound lead generation cannot be underestimated. The growth of many successful businesses depends on securing a steady stream of customers, which can be achieved through consistent, well-considered lead generation. 

A sales lead is a potential customer or business that might buy your company's goods or services. Once their level of interest and fit as a customer is identified, they become a prospect. Advertising, marketing, cold calling, social media, recommendations, outreach and networking, consulting, and testing items or services are all ways to gain new leads. 

These techniques don't all fall into the same category, however. You have undoubtedly heard about different customer acquisition methodologies: inbound and outbound lead generation. In this article, we'll focus on the former and explain why inbound marketing is more subtle yet more effective in attracting customers.  

What is an inbound lead?

Inbound leads are people who initiate interaction with your brand either directly or through referral channels. Strategies directed at these types of contacts are focused on delivering relevant content and engaging them through many touchpoints. 

In opposition to that, the typical outbound lead creation approach disrupts potential customers with unsolicited sales messages, advertising, or cold emails. Let's look closer at why the organic way of attracting customers is worth the resources and effort.

Why should you focus your efforts on attracting inbound leads?

Since customer-centricity is the essence of business operations nowadays, inbound marketing proves to be more effective. Its goal is to help and respond to people's needs rather than sell products and services using invasive techniques. 

In terms of lead conversion, a well-implemented inbound marketing strategy is ten times more efficient than an outbound one. So, what's the reason for this methodology's ever-growing popularity? 

Higher quality leads: These leads are more likely to convert into customers because they already showed a level of interest and trust in your business by initiating contact. This makes them more receptive to your marketing efforts. They also have a greater potential for future engagement and loyalty. 

Cost-effectiveness: Here are a bunch of statistics to prove the profitability of inbound lead generation strategies:

• Inbound marketing costs $14 less for every new customer than traditional methods. 
• After five months of persistent inbound marketing, inbound leads are 80% more affordable than outbound leads. 
• Inbound marketing typically generates results at a staggering 62% lower cost per lead than outbound marketing.

Trust-building and credibility: As mentioned before, people who engage with your lead-generating activities already have shown significant trust in your brand. They receive content that addresses their problems, give you permission to email them, and believe what you say. In return, they build your company's credibility by showing that they have faith in your actions. 

A consistent source of leads: If you use the marketing techniques right, inbound leads become reliable for businesses because they are actively searching for products or services related to their needs. This approach creates a positive experience for the prospect and builds a rapport with the company. As a result, these leads are more likely to convert into customers and continue to engage, providing a steady stream of potential new business.

How to get inbound leads: six proven strategies

We can praise inbound lead generation for its effectiveness, but implementing relevant methods is easier said than done. If you're unsure how to plan your marketing efforts, below are some strategies you can implement. 

1. Content marketing

Content marketing includes creating and promoting articles, e-books, webinars, and videos. It's one of the best ways for people to find your business. It means making and sharing material your target audience finds useful and interesting. By providing informative content, you can become a thought leader in your field and earn the trust of your audience, which can improve sales and customer satisfaction in the long run.

2. Web-based SEO techniques

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an important part of inbound marketing that helps businesses rank better on search engine results pages (SERPs). Using relevant keywords to optimize your content, you can get free traffic to your site, giving you more exposure and possible leads. Also, guest blogging can enhance your SEO by bringing traffic and valuable inbound links. Moreover, it presents an excellent opportunity to develop profitable partnerships and acquire new customers.

3. Social media marketing

According to Statista, the number of social media users worldwide will increase to nearly 4.41 billion by 2025. It would be, therefore, a shame to miss the opportunity to use these channels to attract potential leads. You can develop relationships with your followers through consistent posting and engagement and incorporate call-to-action (CTA) links in your posts to direct them to landing pages. 

4. Email marketing

This marketing strategy involves sending targeted and personalized emails to potential prospects who have shown interest in your product or service. By providing valuable content in your messages, you can build trust with your audience and encourage them to take action, such as making a purchase or subscribing to your newsletter. It's important, however, to only target people who have already interacted with your offer.

5. Referral marketing

This method involves incentivizing your current customers to refer new clients to your business. You can generate leads at a low cost by providing rewards or discounts to customers who refer new businesses. This strategy also provides social proof, as potential customers are more likely to trust their friends’ and family's recommendations.

6. Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is a way to sell your product or service by working with people with a large social media following. Incorporating influencer marketing into your marketing strategy can be a powerful way to build trust among the audience and achieve a high return on investment (ROI). This is because influencers have a devoted following who believe in their recommendations, which can help you generate high-quality leads and increase your conversion rates. 

Streamlining the process of generating inbound leads

As a business owner, generating inbound leads can be a daunting task. In today's competitive market, it is important to carefully plan this process to ensure you get the most out of your efforts. With the right strategies, you can effectively generate quality leads that will convert into loyal customers. So, let's dive into some ways to improve the process of generating inbound leads.

Use a lead magnet: A lead magnet is an incentive you offer your website visitors in exchange for their contact information. The lead magnet could be a free e-book, a webinar, a discount, or any other valuable content, appealing to your audience. By offering a lead magnet, you can capture the contact information of your website visitors and nurture them into becoming customers. 

To create content that will actually convert, you need to remember these 4 rules:

• Learn about your consumers' struggles.
• Provide useful information to address those issues.
• Make an engaging sign-up form.
• Filter your leads so you can tailor your interactions with them.

Optimize your website for conversions: Work on your site. Make sure it's easily navigated, and the content is relevant to your target audience. Use clear and concise call-to-actions to guide your website visitors toward your lead magnet or your products and services. But that's not all. 

You can also create targeted landing pages and optimize your website speed and mobile responsiveness. Don't forget to measure performance - track and analyze website data to continuously improve lead generation efforts.

Personalize your outreach: Generating inbound leads involves connecting and building relationships with them. Therefore, you can't afford to send mass emails without targeted messaging. You will lose your potential prospects' interest. Instead, personalize your landing pages (text, images, CTAs), products, services, and communication. Your leads share their personal information, so use it to enhance the quality of your interactions.

Take advantage of marketing automation: With inbound marketing automation, you can, for example, send each lead a personalized email with content that fits their interests based on the actions they've performed on your website. This method gives the inbound consumer information relevant to their circumstances and meets their needs by answering their questions and solving problems. 

Marketing automation tools can help you streamline this process and manage other lead-generation activities, such as lead scoring or web result tracking. 

Use a call-back widget: A call-back widget is a tool that allows website visitors to request a call-back from your sales team. This option makes engaging with your sales team easy for website visitors. It can also increase your conversion rates significantly, as many website visitors prefer to speak to a live person before making a purchase.

How to increase inbound leads with CallPage's call-back widget

If you want to convert website visitors into leads, CallPage has the solution made for you. As a provider of automatic call-back solutions, the company takes pride in being the industry leader and has helped businesses generate up to 75% more inbound calls from their website visitors.

The CallPage widget allows the user to request an instant call or set the option of scheduling one at another time. This tool can automate the process while improving the customer experience, resulting in more calls and sales. Instant call-backs, meeting scheduling, scoring-based lead qualification, and distribution are only some of the benefits enjoyed by the companies that added the widget to their site. 

Conclusion

Inbound leads are more likely to turn into paying customers because they have already shown interest in a business's goods or services. Since they researched the business, they have a higher conversion rate and are of better quality. By creating valuable content that attracts these leads, companies can also build their brand reputation and show that they are thought leaders in their industry.

Generating inbound leads is becoming an integral part of successful marketing campaigns. The six tried-and-true methods presented in this article can help any company increase the quality of received leads, boost its return on investment, and establish a reliable pipeline of potential customers. 

If you're looking for an effective lead-generating tool for your website, try CallPage during a free trial!