Lead Generation for Brands and Affiliates: What Is It? [Strategies and Tips]
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Whether you are a brand or an affiliate, you want to sell something. And, how can you sell if no one knows who you are? So, what is to be done? How to get more people to visit your website, engage with your content, and make a purchase?
You must generate leads, i.e., find potential customers and offer them something they won’t be able to say no to. But, what is lead generation? How does it work?
In this post, we explain the meaning of lead generation and everything you need to know about this powerful business growth strategy.
What is lead generation?
Lead generation, or lead gen, is a process of attracting prospects to your business to make them interested in your offer (product or service) and converting them to buyers. The process involves collecting their contact information via an online form.
Two main types of lead generation
There are two main types of lead generation:
Inbound lead generation – when you attract visitors to your site and encourage them to share their contact information with you or exchange it for a gift (a freebie, discount, or an e-book).
Outbound lead generation – when you look for potential clients, via cold-calling or cold-messaging, and keep them actively engaged in your offer.
Why is lead generation important for your business?
Whether you’re a brand aiming to boost sales or an affiliate partnered with a business, lead gen is crucial for your business growth. It’s the core part of your sales funnel as it helps you demonstrate the value and importance of your product/service to potential customers.
It also helps build trust in your audience and allows you to educate them about your offer and make them interested in the same.
How Does Lead Gen Work?
The lead generation process is pretty straightforward. Here’s how it works in simple words:
- A visitor finds out about your business via one of the marketing channels you use (e.g. website, social media, or an ad).
- They click your CTA (button, image, or message), which takes them to your landing page.
- On the page, they leave their contact details in exchange for your offer (a freebie, an e-book, or a course).
You just got a new lead!
How to Generate Leads: The Lead Gen Process
Generating leads doesn’t happen overnight. You need to do thorough research, leverage all tools at your disposal, and follow these steps.
#1. Define Your Leads
First, you need to create a buyer persona or ideal customer profile. Then, use your lead gen intelligence tools to get more information about them, such as their demographics, work information, finances, the channels they use, as well as their goals and pain points.
#2. Choose Your Marketing Channels
Which channels you’re going to use depends on where your target audience is present. Is it Facebook or LinkedIn? Maybe they enjoy good music on YouTube?
Wherever they spend their free time most, that’s where you should be!
#3. Create Content Tailored to Prospects’ Needs
Create high-quality content that resonates with your target audience, their wants, and needs. It should be easy to read and understand, valuable to the readers, and focus on your offer’s benefits.
#4. Use a Lead Gen Database
A database containing all your leads allows you to save, study, filter, score, and organize them by type. It also allows your sales team to work more efficiently and focus on the leads with the highest chance of converting.
You can either create one yourself or use an automated CRM system.
#5. Regularly Evaluate the Target Audience
A regular evaluation of your audience helps you keep up with their needs and wants and at which stage of their journey they are. It also helps you act on time if your lead gen strategy loses traction.
#6. Track Your Lead Gen Process Success
Don’t forget to continuously monitor your efforts to identify the best channels and what you can improve.
Lead Generation Examples of Digital Channels
Did you know that many digital channels now offer lead-generation tools?
Here are the top 4 of them:
- Facebook – has created Lead Ads and has a feature that allows you to add a CTA button at the top of your page.
- X (formerly Twitter) – offers businesses X Lead Gen Cards which allow you to generate leads within your tweets.
- LinkedIn – has created Lead Gen Forms which auto-fill the user’s data from their profile when they click the CTA.
- Google – has the well-known Google Ads.
Lead Generation Best Practices & Tips
To make things a bit easier for you, we’ve compiled a list of proven lead generation methods. And, we provide you with the best lead generation tips to help you save time and work smarter. 😉
Lead Generation Methods
The most popular lead gen methods are:
Content marketing + SEO
Create valuable content for your visitors with CTAs and optimize it for search engines to maximize its visibility and drive traffic to your site.
Email marketing
Emails are a convenient way to contact leads and present your offer. You can customize your content to achieve maximum engagement and track your campaign’s success. With an average open rate between 30% and 40%, email marketing is a must for every business.
Influencer marketing
Partnering with influencers that align with your brand helps increase brand awareness and generate leads. No wonder it’s one of the lead generation methods with the highest ROI.
Social media
Everyone is on at least one social media channel, which makes this method mandatory for every business and affiliate. These channels allow for easy communication and engagement with the audience. Plus, you run ads and contests to attract prospects.
Online advertising
Ads are a great way to reach your target audience across multiple channels and search engines. They help promote brand awareness, promotions, and sales and reengage non-engaging leads.
Referral marketing
Word-of-mouth marketing helps get your business in front of a lot of people while giving you authenticity and trust.
Lead Generation Tips
If you want to maximize your lead gen efforts, consider adding these 9 tips to your To-Do list:
- Offer something free, like a free trial or a version of your product, a course, or an e-book.
- Give leads a discount code or a coupon in exchange for their contact details.
- Use the right lead gen tool for each channel.
- Analyze existing content to see which ones drive traffic, rank well, and align with the audience’s needs.
- Create offers for all phases of the buyer’s journey.
- Link your CTA to the dedicated landing page, not the homepage.
- Add links to your landing pages within your social media posts and tell the users where you’re sending them.
- Be consistent in your messages (posts, ads, articles, e-books) throughout the lead gen process.
- Adjust your lead gen strategy based on A/B test results and campaign data.
To Sum Up
Lead generation is a crucial part of your business growth. It helps you reach your target audience, increase engagement, and make them interested in your offer by providing them with valuable content.
To make the most of it, make sure you identify your audience, choose your marketing channels smart, create personalized content, and track your lead gen strategy. Also, don’t forget to use the lead gen practices that work best for your business and adjust to your prospects’ needs.
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