13 Simple Lead Generation Strategies To Get More Leads [Guide]

One of the toughest things about running a business is getting a constant flow of qualified leads, which you can carefully nurture and turn into sales. Thankfully, there are a number of impressive lead generation strategies that will attract new prospects to you, and keep the tap flowing.

In this article, we’ll explore some of the most effective lead generation strategies, which you can put to effect quickly, and increase the number of leads for your business.

What is a lead generation strategy
Great offers
Create valuable content
CTAs
Pop-ups
Landing pages
Conversion-centred design
A/B testing
Better SEO
Potent ads
Newsletter
Referral program
Events
Update socials
Bonus: Chatbots

What is a lead generation strategy?

A successful lead generation strategy is an overarching plan to attract leads for your business. It’s made up of a collection of “lead magnets,” which pull prospects towards enticing offers and convince them to part with their personal information.

There are a lot of powerful lead magnets that can attract leads to your business, and a solid lead generation strategy uses the best of them, which we outline below.

The best organic lead generation strategies

1. Great offers

Offers are a highly-effective lead generation strategy. Image from Keap

One of the best lead generation strategies is to offer something valuable and enticing to the prospect. This can take many shapes and forms. An air conditioning company might offer 25% off their ducted systems during the slower winter period, to keep sales ticking over. A software company might offer ten hours of free training on their software, if you sign up before a certain date. A clothing company might offer the chance to win $100 worth of free clothes, if they answer a question correctly.

Offers are limited only by your imagination, and they are one of the most effective lead generation marketing strategies for your business. You’ll need to communicate your offer effectively, with a clear and irresistible value proposition that will hook your prospects.

2. Create valuable content

Content marketing has become a potent force over the last decade. More and more businesses are discovering the awesome potential of producing content—it’s one of the best organic lead generation strategies, and is advocated by digital marketers worldwide.

For the sake of lead generation, content is most effective when it’s relevant to your business, and valuable enough so that the prospect is willing to swap their personal information for it. This might be a comprehensive eBook, white paper, video, or webinar on a topic with good search volume, which is accessible after the prospect enters their information on your site (known as “gated” content”). It might also be an online tool or calculator that your team has meticulously designed, which solves a particular problem, and makes people’s lives easier.

You can also focus on creating content that is designed for its “shareability” on social media. These tend to be memes, “bite-sized” info, quick videos, and other forms of content that are quickly consumed, and tempting to share. If you land on an elusive “viral” piece of content, you’ve hit the jackpot.

Whatever the type of content, if it’s truly valuable to your prospects, and you market it effectively (more on this below), you’ll get new leads for it.

3. CTAs

CTAs are the method of choice for promoting an offer. Image from Xero.

Whether you’re promoting an enticing offer, a valuable piece of content, or something else, you’ll need clickable CTAs (call-to-actions) to promote it. These are often made up of a headline and text that sells your offer, and a bright button where it can be accessed.

CTAs should be included in a number of different places—on your website (related landing pages, blogs, etc.), your e-newsletter, your email signature, and on pop-ups. The more places your CTA is included, the more likely you are to generate new leads from your offer.

4. Pop-ups

Most people hate pop-ups. But they’re a highly effective lead generation strategy, especially if your offer is desirable.

Adding your CTA in a well-designed pop-up will increase the number of leads you receive. Just make sure that the pop-up doesn’t show until after seven seconds of being on the page, as Google penalises this behaviour. It’s also best to only show the pop-up once every month, and don’t ever show it again if the person has signed up for the offer!

5. Landing pages

Landing pages work as a digital salesman, promoting an offer

A landing page is a page that is designed to convert visitors to leads. It focuses on a single goal such as downloading an eBook, getting a free quote, or requesting a software trial, in exchange for the visitor’s personal information.

Landing pages that use conversion-centred design principles (more on this subject below) are potent lead generators. For a comprehensive guide on how to create them, check out our article What Goes Into A Dynamite Landing Page Design [+Examples].

6. Conversion-centred design

Conversion-centred design is a framework that focuses on high conversions for pages. Its principles allow you to create web pages that skillfully convince people to complete the form on the page, in exchange for something valuable.

There’s seven principles in total, which we explore in detail in this article:

Create focus
Build structure
Stay consistent
Show benefits
Draw attention
Design for trust
Reduce friction

7. A/B testing

A/B testing is a method that tests two versions of something (version A, and version B) against each other. It’s used across a variety of marketing techniques, including print ads, emails, and web pages.

A/B testing allows you to slowly hone your design by testing one thing at time, so that you can determine a clear winner, and use that in the design going forward. You might test two versions of a page’s headline, body copy, imagery, or placement of a form. Or you might test two versions of a promotional email’s subject line, to see which has better open rates.

By A/B testing individual elements and identifying the winners, you’ll eventually have a design that is highly effective at generating new leads.

8. Better SEO

Impressions in Google Search Console

Organic traffic can be one of the most cost-effective lead generation strategies and is achieved primarily through good SEO. When you focus on improving the ranking of your website (and individual pages), the results can be tremendous.

SEO is a complex topic, and we cover it in detail in our other articles. But the main practices for good SEO are:

Targeting relevant keywords for your business
Good design, and modern coding practices
Writing valuable content

SEO is also a time-consuming process, so we recommend hiring a team of professionals to help.

9. Potent ads

High-quality ads that convert is another effective lead generation marketing strategy for your business. With a good understanding of how to create relevant, high-converting ads for your target audience, you’ll likely receive a lot of new leads for your business, and see an excellent return on your investment.

Advert writing is a skill in itself, but the main idea is to tap into one of your prospect’s needs, and clearly answer that need with your offer. You can promote these adverts across Google’s vast Search Network (search engine listings, remarketing on other websites, YouTube, etc.), as well as social ads, with Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram being the most popular. This includes Facebook boosted posts, which we cover in this article: How To Boost A Post On Facebook.

But digital ads aren’t right for every business—you could save a lot of money by calculating your potential ROI before you start creating adverts. We explore how to do this in our article on Google Ads Measurement.

Newsletters with valuable content can be impressive lead generators

If you’re producing regular content, what better way to promote it than a monthly newsletter? This is not only a great way to get more eyes on your content, but also a powerful method for getting new email addresses, which you can also use to market your wonderful products or services.

Pop-ups are a great way to promote your newsletter, and you should also include adverts throughout your blogs themselves, in the footer of your website, and in your email signature (if appropriate).

11. Referral program

Money makes the world go round, and few of us would turn down the chance to make a little extra. A referral program can be a cost-effective way to generate new leads, while rewarding your current customers for their loyalty.

Referral programs can include a fair amount of extra work—you’ll need a system that tracks and records new referrals, and a process for paying for them. There’s software that does this for you, but you’ll need to factor in the costs to determine if your final ROI is worth it.

12. Events

If you have a team of skilled individuals who are great at their job, why not create a company event and share their knowledge with locals in the same industry? Dedicated professionals understand the importance of personal development, and by inviting them to your company, you’ll not only be getting potential new leads, but you’ll also improve your reputation by demonstrating your expertise.

13. Update socials

Like it or not, social media remains one of the most powerful lead generation strategies—billions of people use it!

When you’re promoting a special offer or a valuable piece of content, you can generate new leads from social media by sharing it as a post, a story, or adding it to both your personal and business profiles. The more people see it, the more leads you’ll get.

Bonus: Chatbots

Let’s be honest—most chatbots are pretty annoying. But if they’re well-designed, they can be genuinely helpful, and also double-up as a highly effective lead generation strategy.

A couple of common ways to gather new leads:

Add a “Can you please confirm your email address, in case we get cut off?” message. People want to get their question(s) answered, so will most likely give you their email.
If you have a valuable piece of gated content such as an eBook, you can program your chatbot to promote it.

Once you have your email addresses, you’ll want to ensure that your email branding is on point. Check out our guide on How To Create An Email Signature for your business, which works across every major app and device.