HubSpot defines lead generation as “the process of attracting and converting strangers and prospects into someone who has indicated an interest in your company’s product or service.” Lead generation strategies include content marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, referral marketing, and product trials. Here are 5 lead generation ideas that get the best results.

1. Create a free tool

As a marketing professional, you most probably use free tools such as HubSpot, Moz, Grammarly or Unbounce offer.

You can also provide a relevant free tool for your audience. Creating free and interactive tools is popular because it can generate lots of qualified leads.

For example, MobileMonkey developed a Free Keyword Tool for the Wordstream website. Marketers use it to research and prioritize new keywords in just a few minutes. Larry Kim, CEO of Mobile Monkey, says they generated a huge number of leads as a result.

2. Optimize your SEO to attract more leads

You need to make sure people find you through search engines easily. For that, you need to choose your keyword for every landing page and optimize that page around that word. If you use too many keywords, you can lose your authority and relevance of your page. 

You can break down your content into topic-based clusters such as a “pillar page”.

Neil Patel says: “Pillar pages are beneficial to your website because an organized website ranks better in Google and helps visitors navigate your content.”

Creating a pillar page helps your SEO as it acts as the main hub of content for an overarching topic and multiple related pages link back to that pillar page. Thanks to all that linking action, search engines see you as an authority on the topic. As a result, the page ranks higher for the topic it covers. 

HubSpot has seen an increase in their rankings when they used more internal links.

3. Provide valuable content to generate more leads

Blog posts, podcasts, and eBooks help you build trust with your audience and increase brand awareness. Email newsletters are also great for sharing high-quality content with your leads. 

Develop a content strategy that supports building thought leadership, driving traffic, and nurturing sales. You can establish yourself as a thought leader or industry expert in your area by providing valuable content to your audience. 

For example, Oberlo provides educational ebooks for its target audience. In order to download ebooks, visitors give their email addresses. Later on, they’re introduced to Oberlo’s product and are converted into the product leads.

4. Design user-friendly landing pages for social media ads

Your landing pages for social ads need to be visually appealing and easily scannable. If you include a form, keep it simple and short. Make sure your CTA (call to action) button is attention-grabbing.

Remember, your landing page is the sales pitch. You need to make it compelling, clear, and irresistible.

If you offer a free service/product on your ad, your customers will expect the same offer when they go to your landing page. Customers get frustrated when they are directed to a landing page about a paid version, contrary to the offer in the ad.

HelloFresh, a meal-planning service gives a special offer of three free plates on their Instagram ads. They repeat the same offer at the top of the landing page, delivering on that promise.

5. Create An Email Course to Generate Leads

An email course is like getting access to a real class for free. If your audience is too busy for long content formats, you can send them valuable insights as quick bites.

You can create an email course for in-depth topics that are helpful for your audience. Henneke Duistermaat, the founder of Enchanting Marketing, gives away a 16-part free snackable writing course in exchange for an opt-in. You also get two bonus guides and a web content checklist.

Henneke created this email course to repurpose blog content into smaller, more digestible pieces. The email course helps people get the same valuable information that’s on Henneke’s blog, and it helps her generate new leads to engage with over email.

Lead generation is a challenge for marketers as there are millions of free resources out there already competing for attention.

Whichever lead generation strategy you try next, make sure the content is useful to your audience so they’ll come back craving for more.

At Response DGA, our team is aligned to deliver success to our clients. We pride ourselves on the work that we produce for our great clients. But, we don’t just want you to take our word for it, check out some of our client case studies.