6 tips for creating effective lead generation campaigns

This is the 5th and final article in our Series 5, which completes our white paper on Inbound lead generation. In this final article, we share 6 tips for creating effective lead generation campaigns to boost your Inbound Marketing performance.

Here's the link to the first 4articles, in case you haven't read them :

How to generate leads
Why not just buy leads and how to qualify your leads
Lead generation trends and standards
Lead generation strategies

If you're in a hurry, you can immediately download our white paper which includes all the articles by filling in the following form so that you can read them later:

Download our white paper on lead generation

What exactly makes up a top-quality lead generation machine ? Here are a few tips for creating your lead generation campaigns .

1. Use the right tools

As we demonstrated above, the most successful marketing teams are those that use the right platform to classify and store their leads. Get to know lead generation tools and software , and familiarize yourself with them to see which would best suit your needs.

What do you know about the people who visit your website? Do you know their name or e-mail address? What about the pages they visit, their browsing habits and what they do before and after downloading your leadmagnet?

If you don't know the answers to these questions, chances are you're going to have trouble converting your visitors into leads. The good news, however, is that these lead generation tools will help you get the job done.

Using the wrong tools is like inviting friends over for dinner without ever opening the door. Arm yourself with the right resources to create touchpoints on your website and make it easy to manage your own. Here are a few examples:

CTA templates: Power Point offers over 50 free, customizable CTA button templates that you can integrate on your blog, landing pages and throughout your site.

Lead generation software: This free HubSpot tool provides you with functions for attracting leads and collecting their information. It collects data from all forms on your website and adds new contacts to your existing database. It also lets you create pop-ups, hello bars, lead flows or squeeze pages to help you convert web visitors into leads instantly.

Visitor Tracking tool: Hotjar software offers a virtual tool that creates a color map of how a user navigates your site, called a heat map. This helps you understand what your prospects want, what they like and what they do on your site. Hotjar records each user's activity and tells you which page they spent the most time on. You can use Hotjar to collect and store information entered in your leadgeneration forms, feedback forms, surveys and more.

2. Create a compelling offer for each level of interest

Just because a stranger visits your website doesn't necessarily mean they're ready to talk to your sales team or try out your product. They're normally at the primary stage of your buying journey, so they may be more interested in free content such as an e-book or guide. A prospect who is already familiar with your company and further down your lead generation path is more likely, for example, to accept a demo or free trial. Be sure to create lead magnets and CTAs for each level of interest, and promote them throughout your site.

Of course, creating valuable content that generates leads takes time. However, if you don't offer visitors anything on your site and they're not ready to buy, they may never come back. From checklists to document templates to free guides, here are 20 content ideas to help you prime your lead-generating machine.

Consider personalizing your touchpoints on your site or other platforms. This will help you increase your conversion rate. You can do this by using Smart CTAs. Smart CTAs are CTAs that change dynamically (read automatically) as the target person progresses through the buying process. They detect whether the person is a stranger, a potential buyer or a customer, and display the appropriate CTAs to maximize conversion. Smart CTAs have been shown to convert 42% more visitors into leads than basic CTAs.

3. Display a consistent message and keep your promises

The most effective lead generation campaigns are those that deliver on their promises and display a consistent message. These strategies need to be applied across all your marketing assets, from the terminology used on your website, to the design of your ads, to your product itself. Make sure you present a consistent message throughout your lead acquisition process. And offer something of value to everyone who shows interest in your brand.

Keep in mind that the features of your lead generation campaign should reflect everything else on your website, blog and especially the product you're trying to sell. Otherwise, you'll have a hard time moving your prospects along the path to purchase. Remember, your campaign isn't just about adding a new e-mail to your lead list, it's about winning over a future customer.

4. Link your CTA to a specific landing page

This may seem obvious, but you'd be surprised how many marketers don't use landing pages to promote their offers. Your CTAs are used to direct your prospects to a specific landing page, where they can take advantage of a special offer.

Don't use your CTAs to direct people to your home page, for example. Even if your CTA relates to your brand or a specific product (and not necessarily your lead magnet), you should still link it to a landing page. Together with the lead magnet, this page should offer a solution to a specific problem, which will become accessible in exchange for the prospect's information. In short, your CTA is designed to send the visitor to a page that will convert them into a lead.

5. Collaborate with your sales team

Remember the lead scoring we talked about earlier? Well, you probably won't be able to rank your leads without the help of your sales team. How will you know what qualifies a lead as a buyer without knowing whether your sales-qualified leads (SQL) have already bought from you? Your marketing and sales teams need to master your lead scoring criteria. They also need to know all the steps in your lead generation process, from marketing-qualified lead (MQL), to sales-qualified lead (SQL), to buyer. This work should be done before you even start attracting leads.

That said, establish a close relationship with your sales team and agree on the ways in which you guide leads along your acquisition funnel. Your definitions will probably need to be revised over time. Be sure to keep everyone involved up to date.

6. Use social media strategically

Many marketers consider social media to be the ultimate platform for building brand awareness, ideal at the top of your sales funnel. Nevertheless, social networks are also effective for generating leads, as the lead generation strategies above show. What's more, it's an inexpensive method. To succeed in generating leads on social networks, it's essential to implement a dedicated marketing strategy for your social media pages.

To do this, start by inserting links that lead directly to your top-performing landing pages in your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media publications. Let your visitors know that you're directing them to a special offer. That way, you'll generate even more interest.

And that's it! Now that you know more about lead generation, we recommend you try out HubSpot's free tool to put your strategy into action.

We can advise you on how to set up such a tool. We offer the first consultation free of charge.

It will help you insert simple CTAs on your site to drive conversion (or to collect information from your existing forms). It will also help you get to know your prospects better and identify your most effective content.

Do you need help with your marketing?

We're here to help!

Download our white paper on lead generation

How to generate leads
Why not just buy leads and how to qualify your leads
Trends and standards in lead generation
Lead generation strategies