Generating leads for your business can be both time consuming and expensive. However, it is also an essential part of any successful marketing initiative. Many marketers do not have the time, money or resources that they need to invest in generating quality leads. This report helps you answer the question: Is lead generation worth it?
Lead generation is an effective way to improve your bottom line while increasing customer loyalty. But, many small business owners have questions about the cost of lead generation and if it’s worth it in the long rn. This article will help you understand if lead generation is right for you!
A lot of marketers struggle with lead generation. Some are afraid to make the investment and others are afraid they will invest money but not get any results. The fact is, lead generation is worth it. However, it’s also profitable if you know how to do it right. This article will be covering lead generation strategy, why it’s important, what you’ll need and probably a few things you didn’t expect. It’ll also draw from the wisdom of some other great articles on the subject in the blogosphere.
With millions of marketing articles and specific niches taking advantage of the lead generation strategy, it is obvious that marketers want to take advantage of this marketing tactic. However, there are debates if this marketing tactic is worth it or if it’s actually profitable.
What Is A Lead Generation Company?
A lead generation company does exactly what it says on the tin, it generates leads for your business. The main difference between some is whether they give you direct leads in exchange for a monetary figure, or if they work like Rainmaker SOS by building your overall network and reach.
Understanding how they operate, how much they cost, and longer-term plans are very much needed if you are looking at them as a longer-term plan.
Where Do They Add Value?
Now having a better understanding of what a lead generation company is, is now to look at where do they add value. A lead generation company is an investment of time and money so understanding where they add value is a must. Some of the key focus points include:-
Promote Your Business
This will be dependent on how they work. If you are exchanging a direct lead for money, then no they will not promote your business. However, lead generation companies who work like Rainmaker SOS will promote your business to your current network, and those who are not within it.
The promotion element can come in the form of sharing content/blogs or even promoting webinars and conferences.
Gives You Qualified Leads
One of the best things any lead generation company will do is give you qualified leads. A qualified lead is someone that has an active interest in what you are offering. This, therefore, enables your sales team to get people on the phone and get them closed. It may sound simple, but you will at least have a warmer call with this prospective person or individual.
Builds Revenue Pipelines
By utilising a lead generation business, you are most definitely going to build your revenue pipelines. Alongside reach out you may do or even organic methods, a lead generation business will give you access to potential new clients, or even those further afield. Whatever it may be, if you do what you should do with leads then you will see a return.
Establish Your Business
This links closely to business promotion. If you are working with a lead generation agency that promotes your business and its activities as well, you will see yourself established within your market.
If you can establish yourself then when you move away from the use of a lead generation business you will have a stable revenue pipeline, as well as a brand that people rely upon and trust.
So, Should You Use One?
The answer to this question is going to be purely down to your own preference and where you are at as a business. What cannot be denied is that a lead gen company will most definitely save you time. This could be a real game-changer for you as a business if you are looking for revenue to be generated on a quick scale.
What we will say is that Rainmaker SOS is unlike other lead gen companies as we also have a focus on building your network and promoting your business, with the overall goal of generating leads. This means that once you finish with us, there are also other tangibles that have been achieved which more than justify the investment you have put into us.
Should You Buy Leads From a Lead Generation Service?
When it comes to deciding whether or not to use a lead generation service, it can sometimes feel like there are too many options to choose from. Some lead generation agencies are definitely better than others, however, there are still some obvious reasons why businesses buy leads. For the most part, they take the responsibility of marketing away from the businesses themselves, meaning leads are delivered to you quickly without the need for excessive internal resources or expertise beyond simply creating a great product or service.
Sadly, life isn’t always as simple as that, and utilising lead generation companies can also have its drawbacks. Some are expensive, and offer a poor return on investment, but the most common cause for this would simply be the fact that the lead generation company being used in the first place was not a particularly good one.
Typical bad practises that are seen in substandard lead generation companies include:
- Use of leads that are not qualified. Companies will sell lead lists that are just a list of names.
- Selling “used” leads or the same leads being sold to your competitors.
- Use of unqualified leads means that your company may be unwittingly cold calling which has an exceptionally low conversion rate (2.5%) as the leads haven’t been nurtured or prequalified.
Ultimately, if your lead generation company engages in any of these bad practices, you will most likely end up wasting resources that could have been better used elsewhere. This is why it is essential to choose a lead generation company that provides a good service and generates leads which are genuinely yours.
Good Lead Generation Company Practises
So, what are some signs that a lead generation agency is a good fit for your business?
1. Mastered one or more of the primary platforms for creating qualified leads in your industry
Commonly, many companies in the B2C space are leveraging Facebook and Instagram to sell their products to generate new leads. On the flip side, B2B companies might use LinkedIn and YouTube to reach out to their target clients.
2. Mastered the art of customization.
Many companies come off robotic and impersonal when in reality, marketing is aimed at people, and therefore they want personalised messaging, tailored to their needs. Customisation and personalisation of your lead generation campaign, such as through marketing campaigns that are targeted to a specific segment or individual have a 14% improved click-through rate and 10% higher conversions.
3. High-quality, exclusive leads
A high-quality lead is one that has been generated exclusively for your company, unlike those which have been generated at random and shared with potential competitors like we mentioned above. An example of a high-quality lead is one that has willingly signed up for more information about your company at a web event. A truly great lead generation company will have contacted the lead, making sure they fit the needs and financial commitments and turning them into a sales qualified lead. 46% of marketers with well-planned lead management strategies have sales teams who follow up on more than 75% of leads.
4. Technology is up-to-date
A good lead generation company will have great technology that makes use of robust digital tools that agencies utilise to find, track, and manage the different aspects of their service. It is essential that whatever they are using can be easily integrated into your selected CRM.
As you can see, the question ‘is lead generation worth it’ is not a simple one. Employing the services of a lead generation company may not be the right choice for your organisation, however, if you choose the right company that utilises good lead generation practises, it can be a significant step towards helping your organisation grow.
If you’re looking to accelerate your business’ growth with sales-ready leads, book a demo with Dolead today.
HOW A GOOD LEAD GENERATION COMPANY PROVIDES LEADS GENERATION SERVICES
Lead generation companies have typically mastered one or more of the primary platforms for creating qualified leads in your industry or vertical. Depending on your potential client, the audiences you need to market to could be primarily on a specific platform. For example, many companies in the business-to-consumer space are leveraging Facebook and Instagram to sell their products to generate new leads. On the other hand, business-to-business companies might use LinkedIn and YouTube to reach out to their target clients based on the type of conversations and content shared on those platforms.
Lead generation services happen in many ways. At their simplest, it includes organic traffic and paid advertising to generate sales leads.
Organic traffic coming in from anything you are doing to get your message out doesn’t cost money. This might include social media profiles, word of mouth referral campaigns, etc.
Paid traffic is just what it sounds like, which is when you are using a paid service to promote your product or service. These typically include newspaper, radio, television, and, more recently, social media advertising on platforms like Google, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest.
A crucial part of running a successful business is tracking the sales and revenue generated back to the different sources you are using to generate traffic and exposure. By monitoring your KPI’s, or Key Performance Indicators, like lead source, closing ratios, and ROI (return of investment), you can figure out which parts of your marketing machine are working effectively. Understanding your numbers and increasing your marketing ROI could be a make or break for your business.
For example, you could be running a million-dollar-per-year business, making most people assume you are doing great. However, if it costs you $100,000 per month to generate $1,000,000 per year in making sales, you are losing a HUGE amount of money each month. That’s why you need to understand inbound lead generation and the value of quality marketing for your business.
WHAT IS ROAS, AND WHY IS IT ESSENTIAL TO LEAD GENERATION SERVICES WITHIN YOUR BUSINESS?
ROAS, or Return on Ad Spend, is a critical KPI when building your lead generation machine. As you can see in the above example, spending $100k per month for marketing to net around $80k per month is creating a $20k per month deficit. At that rate, I suspect the business in this example is going to be in trouble before they know it, especially if they’re not paying attention to the P&Ls.
When you’re investigating lead generation companies and if they’re worth it, you may want to discuss their case studies and previous client successes in your industry. Understand that lead generation is never a guarantee. Just because a campaign worked for company A in their market, it does NOT mean that the same campaign will work for company B.
You will want to look for a lead generation company with a strong history of success in your industry or vertical.
Conclusion
Generating leads is a “necessary evil” in the business world. Lead generation isn’t a topic that’s ever considered “fun”, but it’s something that we all need to do in our day-to-day jobs. Unfortunately though if you’re spending your time generating leads and chasing down the people who fill out those forms then you’re probably not spending enough time on what matters most, making sales! But, is lead generation worth it?
Yes, lead generation is worth it. Lead generation is the process of acquiring and developing a potential client into an actual paying customer. Businesses use lead generation in order to reach more customers and sell more products and services. They offer different ways to get leads. Call-in centers if you have your own product or service, data lists through telemarketing firms, and direct mail campaigns are all some advantages that a company can use if they are interested in generating leads. There are also disadvantages to lead generation. The biggest disadvantage is the time it takes to build up a list of people who would buy their product or services. If a business decides to hire someone from outside of their main staff, that can be very expensive.