Lead generation is the first step in the sales process. If your sales strategy doesn’t start with lead generation, you can expect to be disappointed with the results. Lead generation software and free email lead generation software is virtually everywhere on the Internet today. With so many resources, it’s important to understand how they differ and how they fit into your sales process.
Generating leads via email is a legitimate way to generate a high number of leads. This is similar to what the post office does for you, but with much more precision. The traditional method of sending letters by mail is not an effective way to get quality leads. With the use of internet and email services, you may attract potential customers who are looking for more information about your products and services. The Internet has introduced a faster and more efficient way of communicating and sharing information with people all over the world.
If you’re planning to start an online business, one of the most important things to build is an email list. Having a strong email list is an important part of the process because it lets you communicate with people who are interested in what you do. If you want to learn more about building your own list of customers, this online tool will help.
Are you interested in free email lead generation software? Lead generation is marketing’s holy grail. It’s the one thing we all strive for. The more leads, the better your sales funnel and business will be. But there isn’t a lot of information out there about free lead generation tools and websites. I aim to fix that with this article on free lead generation websites and software.
So, what lead generation tool will you try?
“If only there was a lead generation tool that would do this…”
That was you before you finished reading this article.
I get it. Lead generation is a pain.
And, the likelihood of you using every single one of these tools is slim.
But, I don’t want you to use EVERY lead generation software. Use your business goals to guide you in choosing the right free lead generation tools for your martech stack.
Here are the three kinds are lead generation tools that we believe all small businesses should be using:
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software
CRM software is an essential lead generation tool because it enables you to store data about all of your prospects, leads and customers in one place.
Through this centralised hub you can gain a better understanding of where your leads are in their buyer’s journey and how far down the marketing funnel they are.
Track the success of your marketing attempts by using a CRM to review your click-through rate on CTAs (call-to-actions), your engagement on social media and the number of people that have opened your emails.
We recommend: Hubspot
Full disclosure, we’re Hubspot Inbound certified so maybe we’re a little biased, but Hubspot has some fantastic marketing software that enables small businesses to start capturing, tracking and converting leads all free of charge.
As proponents of Inbound Marketing, HubSpot really do put their money where their mouth is by demonstrating their value to you with a number of free services that are genuinely helpful for your business’s growth.
Their CRM is completely free forever (no need to worry about a dodgy trial period) and can store as many as 1 million of your contacts.
From this CRM you can create email templates, Facebook and Instagram lead ads and even conversational bots for your website.
Additionally, HubSpot’s free Marketing Hub includes:
- Reporting dashboards that show which forms, pages, offers and traffic sources are driving the most conversions
- Mobile-friendly pop-up forms for your website
- A form collector that automatically captures submissions even if they come from a different tool
- Kickback emails to help you follow up on form submissions
- Contact and company insights including job title and social media profiles
- Integration with external marketing services such as MailChimp, WordPress, Weebly, Drupal, Shopify and Magento
For those starting from the ground up, it might also be worth checking out HubSpot Academy, where you can find a wide range of free courses and videos on lead generation.
As your business grows, you can start to explore some of HubSpot’s paid-for services such as blog creation tools, calls-to-action and landing pages. But don’t run before you can walk – try out the free version first and see if it works for you.
A wise man once said that it’s more important to work smarter, not harder. Tweet this!
Lead generation tools and software help you easily capture contact information from people interested in your company’s product or service. These are called “leads” and usually come from your website or other online sources.
The key to lead generation software is that leads are collected without any ongoing manual work from you. Essentially, these tools automate the process so you can focus on other areas of your business. Usually, this is done by offering a freebie (like a coupon, downloadable, or other enticing items) in exchange for an email address.
Lead generation tools will then collect the email address so you can follow up with your leads and begin the process to convert them into paying customers.
If you are struggling to collect leads, it’s time to bring in a new lead generation software… or past time to upgrade what you currently have. We’ve worked with loads of companies just like yours, and we’ve identified the key drivers of successful lead generation campaigns.
Why is this important? Well, you can focus on the things that really matter instead of wasting time trying to fix all of your lead generation problems yourself.
What Types of Lead Generation Software/Tools Are There?
Lead generation isn’t a “one size fits all” process. In fact, there are many different ways (and tools) to generate leads. They include:
- On-page Lead Generation: Drives leads directly from your website through optin forms and campaigns
- Email Marketing: Nurture those leads with campaigns to keep them engaged with your brand
- Email Address Finders: Connect with people who aren’t on your email list
- Prospecting and Outreach: Collect contact on anonymous visitors and reach out to potential leads
- Customer Relationship Management Tools: Connect and track leads throughout the sales funnel
- Sales Tools: Turn leads into paying customers while also staying in touch with existing customers
- Communication Tools: People love to chat and communicate. Use this to your business’ benefits to help generate leads
- Advertising Tools: Drive traffic to your site from places like social media and through paid ads
We know, it’s a lot. But you don’t have to use all of them to have a successful lead generation campaign.
It all comes down to the type of tools that make sense for you and the type of campaigns you want to run.
So, are you ready to get started? Let’s dive straight into our list.
Best Lead Generation Tools
Here’s a table of contents to help you navigate through this post:
- On-Page Lead Generation & Email Marketing
- Email Address Finders
- Prospecting and Outreach Tools
- CRM Tools
- Sales Tools
- Communication Tools
- Advertising Tools
- Other Lead Generation Software & Tools
That way, you can find what you’re looking for FAST.
Let’s start with the best tools for lead generation and email marketing.
On-Page Lead Generation and Email Marketing
You can’t beat on-page lead generation and email marketing for online lead generation.
If visitors are already looking at your website, they are already interested in your services or products. So, strike while they are on your site and collect that lead!
The stats show that most people welcome emails (even cold emails if they’re done right and follow the rules) from the companies they want to connect with.
That makes the combination of on-page lead generation and email marketing software the best lead generation duo. Here are some tools we recommend.
1. OptinMonster
OptinMonster is the best lead generation tool that makes it easy to convert your visitors into leads and customers.
It doesn’t matter what kind of website you run and what kind of leads you’re looking for. OptinMonster comes with the right solution for building campaigns to collect quality leads for your unique needs.
OptinMonster gives you the creative control to create eye-catching on-site lead generation campaigns like popups, slide-in windows, and gamified spin-to-win wheels. Even better? You can do it with a beginner-friendly and easy-to-use builder.
Plus, OptinMonster’s powerful personalization and targeting display rules put your campaigns in front of the right people at the right time.
In fact, OptinMonster is how AtHoc increased sales qualified leads by 141% and how SnackNation adds 1200 segmented leads every week.
Key Features:
- Reduce cart abandonment: Offer abandoning visitors a custom-tailored offer before they leave your site with Exit-Intent® Technology.
- Increase conversions and sales: Create upsell, downsell, and cross-sell offers to boost your customers’ average order value (AOV).
- Show targeted promotions: Show free shipping bars, share discount codes, promote flash sales, and more based on referral source, geo-location, previous on-site behavior, user’s device, etc.
- Targeted offers: Use what you already know about your visitors to run OnSite Retargeting® campaigns and improve conversions.
- Grow your email list: Integrate with your favorite email marketing, content management, and CRM platforms to automate your business.
Pricing: OptinMonster pricing starts at $9/month for our Basic plan, $19/month for Plus, $29/month for Pro (our most popular plan), and $49/month for Growth.Get Started With OptinMonster Today!
BONUS: Done-For-You Campaign Setup ($297 value)
Our conversion experts will design 1 free campaign for you to get maximum results – absolutely FREE! Click here to get started →
2. TrustPulse
TrustPulse is the market’s best social proof notification plugin.
Wait, social proof? Weren’t we talking about lead generation? Yes. But without trust, you will never collect leads. Social proof builds that trust.
In fact, adding social proof notifications is one of the most effective lead generation marketing tactics requiring the least amount of effort. TrustPulse will show notifications of activities taken by real people on your site, like viewing or buying products, signing up for newsletters, and more.
By displaying actual activity from real people, you will build trust with visitors.
Key Features:
- Real-time event tracking
- Smart targeting to boost conversions using advanced targeting rules and timing control
- Flexible design options to match your site’s branding
- Actionable analytics to get the stats you need to boost conversions
- Easy setup on any website with no coding needed
Pricing: The pricing plans start at $5/month for up to 2,500 sessions!
3. SeedProd
SeedProd is the best landing page builder on the market. Create beautiful landing pages using only a drag and drop builder (and no coding) in only a few minutes.
With a beginner-friendly drag and drop builder, you can create various pages for your site. Whether it’s for sales, maintenance, webinar, or optin campaigns, SeedProd has your back. But, with 150+ landing page templates, you don’t even need to worry about designing responsive and mobile-ready pages. All the hard work is already done for you.
SeedProd strong arms the conversion game by integrating with many email service providers and protecting your pages from spam, bots, and other fraudulent entries.
Key Features:
- Edit content in real-time and preview your website exactly as your visitors would with its live preview
- Put your website into coming soon, 404, or maintenance mode and go live whenever you’re ready, all with one click
- Compatible with any WordPress theme and helps you ensure your website matches your branding
Pricing: SeedProd’s yearly pricing starts at $39.50 for their Basic package, $89.55 for their Plus package, and $159.60 for their Pro package.
4. WPForms
WPForms is an easy-to-use form builder that adds simple lead generation forms to your website.
With 300+ pre-built templates, you can get the proper form on your site in just a few clicks.
While forms are limited in targeting rules as opposed to tools like OptinMonster’s popups, they are still an excellent and reliable way to generate leads.
Key Features:
- Drag and drop builder to make customization easy
- Mobile-friendly forms let you collect leads from any type of visitor
- Instant notifications allow you quickly respond to leads
- Smart conditional logic guides you through creating high-performing forms
Pricing: WPForm’s yearly pricing starts at $39.50 for their Basic package, $99.50 for their Plus package, $199.50 for their Pro package, and $299.50 for their Elite package.
5. Constant Contact
If you have a more extensive contact list or simply prefer a MailChimp alternative, try Constant Contact. It’s a fantastic email marketing platform that will help you stay connected with your leads.
Constant Contact has an incredibly easy-to-use and lightweight interface. And, as one of the largest email marketing services globally, Constant Contact can offer great deliverability rates.
Their drag and drop editor and email newsletter templates give your emails a polished and professional look, impressing your leads.
Key Features:
- Integrates with other lead generating tools, so you start emailing leads right away
- Marketing automation sends pre-designed emails to increase engagement and drive sales
- Easy-to-read reports track email success in real-time
- Simple contact management tools give you the power to sort, add, and manage your email contacts
Pricing: Constant Contact’s email marketing pricing ranges from $20/month for Email to $45/month for Email Plus. They do offer a free trial.
6. Sendinblue
Sendinblue is a complete marketing automation platform that combines both email marketing services and SMS messages. In addition, they offer a drag & drop builder that you can use to create highly-engaging emails, build automated workflows, and segment users.
Sendinblue can be your home for almost anything email marketing. From automation, segmentation, and email design tools, Sendinblue has it all.
It also offers builders for Facebook ads, landing pages, and signup forms.
Key Features:
- Customizable dashboard based on your business
- All-in-one marketing suite
- Email heat maps so you can visualize how your contacts engage with your email
- A/B testing so you can test different emails to see which resonates best with your contacts
Pricing: Sendinblue does offer a free plan for unlimited contacts and up to 300 emails a day. Their paid plans range from $25/month for their Lite package to $65/month for the Premium package.
Once you’ve chosen your email marketing tool, make sure to check out our email marketing guide to get started with email lead generation.
Email Address Finders
Sometimes you’re going to need to connect with people who aren’t on your email list. That means finding their email address and contact details. This next batch of tools will help with that.
7. Hunter
If you want to do a quick email search, Hunter is a valuable tool. Just type in the domain, and it’ll find the email address pattern.
Hunter also includes a confidence rating, so you know if the email is likely to be correct.
That makes Hunter one of the best email finder tools on the market.
Key Features:
- Email verifier checks the validity of any professional email address in bulk
- Browser and Google Sheets extensions
- Gmail integration to send cold email campaigns
Pricing: Hunter’s pricing depends on the number of requests you make. It’s free for up to 25 searches and 50 verifications per month. Paid plans start at $49/month and range to $399/month for the Enterprise plan.
8. AeroLeads
AeroLeads provides a Google Chrome extension to help you search various professional websites like LinkedIn for sales leads.
All you have to do is add a name and company to your AeroLeads account. The tool will then find their business email addresses and other contact details.
AeroLeads will add these leads to your email marketing lists, so you can start working on those leads right away.
Key Features:
- Chrome extension makes searching simple
- Export data to a CSV file or transfer to email marketing tools
- Verified business emails also come with job titles, company, website, location, and LinkedIn URL
Pricing: AeroLeads offers a limited free plan to help you get going. Their lowest tier is Take Off, which is $49/month for 1,200 records. After that, plans go up to Enterprise, priced by special quote.
9. Voila Norbert
Voila Norbert promises to help you find and verify email addresses to help you do everything from collecting leads to building business relationships.
You can search in bulk for prospects with a CSV file. The tool also integrates with a wide range of CRM software to make storing and sorting email lists effortless.
All things considered, it’s a solid lead generation tool.
Key Features:
- Collect verified emails to lower the amount of bounced emails
- Removes duplicate email addresses, invalid formats, and bad domains
- Provides additional details about each contact like job roles and social media profiles
Pricing: Voila Norbert’s pricing ranges from their Valet package at $49/month for 1,000 leads up to their Counselor package at $499/month for 50,000 leads with a few options in between.
Prospecting and Outreach Tools
Want to turn more of those contacts into leads and sales? These (mostly) automated lead generation tools will help with that process.
10. D&B Hoovers
D&B Hoovers claims to have the world’s most comprehensive business database. You can use it to build targeted lists of new prospects.
Hoovers’ database includes company information to help you have more relevant conversations with those prospects. That aids you in turning more prospects into leads and sales.
This information can help guide your marketing decisions to deliver more relevant communication with your leads.
Key Features:
- Filter prospects to engage the most promising leads
- Send leads directly to your CRM tools
- Real-time trigger alerts
- Dynamic lists constantly update your contacts, so you always have valid contact information
Pricing: You can try Hoovers for free though you’ll need to contact their sales team for more pricing information.
11. Datanyze
Datanyze focuses exclusively on B2B contacts. With their Google Chrome extension, you can get a plethora of contact information, including email, direct dial, and mobile numbers, all without leaving your browser.
Then, you can export those to your CRM software for management and follow-up.
You can use Datanyze stress-free as they promise refunds for any inaccuracies within their database.
Key Features:
- CCPA and GDPR compliant
- Target specific industries for B2B leads
- Capture contact information while you browse business websites and LinkedIn
- Icebreakers help you start meaningful conversations
Pricing: You can start with a free demo of their software. After that, you’ll need to contact their sales team for a pricing plan.
12. Lead Forensics
Sometimes you can miss out on good sales leads because you don’t know everyone who visits your site.
Lead Forensics aims to solve that problem by getting contact details for anonymous website visitors. You can also use lead scoring, so you spend your time on those most likely to convert.
You’ll also receive contact data of key contacts that match your target profile to help continue to grow your leads list.
Key Features:
- Uncovers the identity of anonymous website visitors and turns them into leads
- Provides full contact information, including business names, identities of key decision-makers, and more
- Integrates with many of the top CRMs
Pricing: You can begin with a free trial of Lead Forensics. After that, you’ll need to work with their sales team to get a package and pricing plan that’s right for your business.
13. Growbots
Know the market you want to target? Just tell Growbots, and it will choose your best prospects from a database of more than 200 million contacts separated by industry.
With Growbots, you can quickly contact the right decision-makers and follow up automatically.
Growbots also includes testing so you can check which approaches are most effective.
Key Features:
- Access to over 100 million contacts
- Only pay for the leads that fit your business
- Self-updating database
- Email marketing capabilities, including automation
Pricing: Growbots’ pricing starts at $49/month for their Outreach plan and goes up to $199/month for the All-in-One package.
CRM Tools
You can’t do a roundup of lead generation software without including tools for customer relationship management (CRM). These tools help you connect and keep track of prospects and sales leads throughout the sales pipeline. Here are our picks.
14. Overloop
Overloop is a CRM with a special focus on email address prospecting, conversations, pipelines, and workflows.
A drag and drop dashboard helps you see all of your pipelines at a glance, giving you an excellent business overview.
Overloop’s automation is also built on a visual dashboard, so you can put your sales prospecting on autopilot. Best of all, it integrates with a range of services to get contact information automatically.
Key Features:
- Find email addresses either individually or in bulk
- Turn these emails into cold emails, all in the same tool
- Track email campaigns with in-depth data
- Automated workflows reduce repetitive tasks
Pricing: Overloop is free to start as a CRM. Starting with email automation and tracking is $70/month. Email finder credits start at $39/month for 250 credits, ranging to $299/month for 10,000 credits.
15. Pardot
Pardot is a well-known lead generation tool that helps you manage and qualify sales leads. By qualifying leads, you can rest assured that you’re always talking to the best leads.
Pardot includes fine-grained segmentation and marketing automation for better communication with your future customers.
There are also tools within Pardot to help you with landing page design, embedding forms, and email management.
Key Features:
- Lead nurturing and qualification tools help you find the best potential customers
- Detailed data that lets you customize the user experience
- Separate tools based on industry
Pricing: Pardot’s pricing ranges from $1,250/month for their Growth plan, $2,500 for their Plus plan, and $4,000 for their Advanced package.
How does a lead generation platform work?
Lead generation isn’t a one-size-fits all approach. Depending on if you’re a B2B or B2C business, you’ll use lead generation programs differently. Some lead generation tools are meant to increase customer engagement, while others help you streamline the sales call process.
But no matter which approach is best for your business, the idea is the same. Get your name out to customer leads, and attract them to your door before they go to the competition.
Lead generation can include a lot of different tools, but here are some of the most popular ones:
- Content creation tools: Some lead generation platforms offer templates for creating content like blogs, white papers, infographics, and e-books. Sharing this kind of content on your website and across social media channels boosts engagement. And it establishes you as a knowledgeable source in your industry. You can also require viewers to submit contact information before accessing long form content like e-books or instructional videos.
- Lead nurturing tools: Once someone enters your pipeline, it’s vital to keep the engagement going to turn them into a marketing qualified lead. Lead generation lets you gather enough information to target your contacts with personalized messaging via email campaigns or phone calls.
- How to score leads: Lead generation systems can calculate and assign a numerical value to your contacts. The higher the score, the more likely that contact is to make a purchase. Leads are scored based on several variables, including industry, website activity, and company size. Trying to manually score your leads would be an exhaustive task, which makes it one of lead generation’s most powerful and time-saving tools.
- Lead distribution: Once your program has identified a high-value lead, their information is automatically passed along. Right to the appropriate sales representative to follow up and continue building the relationship.
- Sales analytics and reporting: The simple act of using lead generation isn’t automatically going to boost profits. You’ll need to look at your analytics and reporting to see what’s working and what isn’t. Putting the effort into checking your analytics and making adjustments to your process may take some time, but it’s a necessary step in ensuring your lead gen software is working for you.
Conclusion:
Email marketing has a way of making the most successful marketers, who are the ones who practically live off it. Lead generation is an easy concept yet many marketers make huge mistakes that cost them revenue.
Lead generation is a critical part of any business’s growth strategy, but it can also be a difficult process if you don’t know what you’re doing. There are plenty of lead generation techniques that you can try (email marketing, social media, content marketing, etc.) but they often take time to deliver results. If you want to use free email lead generation tools, you can get quick access to potential customers and sales leads right away.