To survive and grow in the e-commerce industry, you need people who are interested in your products or services – not mere website visitors. But how do you know who is who? The answer is related to the term lead. Many of us have heard this term in the context of customer acquisition, but what exactly does it mean?
What is a lead?
A so-called “lead” is a person who shows interest in your company’s products or services by providing at least some basic information that indicates a potential interest in buying from you. For example, they have interacted with your website by sharing your contact information or subscribing to your blog. But not every website visitor is automatically a valuable lead.
Generating leads is critical to business processes because it is the first step in the sales process. Potential customers are made aware of your website, your product through targeted actions and in the further course contribute to the success and growth of the company. The generic term for this method is inbound marketing. But how exactly do you generate leads in inbound marketing and are all leads equally valuable?
Are all leads the same?
Of course, not all leads are the same. A distinction is made between three types and is based on the so-called lead generation funnel:
At the top of the funnel is the IQL (Information Qualified Lead). It is also called a cold lead because it is at the beginning of the buying process and is about to fall into the funnel. The lead has landed on your website and should now – in exchange for personal data – be provided by you with helpful information on a topic relevant to the lead.
In the center of the funnel is MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead). He is also called a warm lead because he already has sustained interest in a company. After the prospect identifies your own problem, look for ways your company can solve that problem for you. Now, by repeatedly delivering useful content or posts to these leads, these leads evolve to the final stage, hot leads.
At the bottom of the funnel are the valuable SQL (Sales Qualified Lead). They are also called hot leads because of the length of time you interact with them, they are seriously interested in your service or buying a product. A SQL is therefore given from marketing to sales.
How do you generate leads?
Several methods can be used here, such as content marketing, email marketing, contests. But direct conversation with potential leads or paid ads and referrals are also methods of lead generation. Here we have summarized a few lead generation tips for you:
1. you choose your advertising media and align your advertising activities. Here, think about both your budget and where your target audience and potential customers are on the web, but also what best suits your business.
2. create value-added content by giving valuable information about you or your product that provides your potential customer with solutions to their problems and proves that you are the ideal partner to handle the problem. Videos are also a great way to introduce your service or performance to potential customers.
3. create subscriber forms to provide potential prospects with newsletters and other interesting articles. With the help of the stored data, they get important information about their website visitors and turn them into IQL leads. Lead magnets lurking with an irresistible offer are also fantastic ways to gather initial information. For example, grant exclusive access to a video guide. We at Erklärungsvideo will be happy to create this for you.
4. launch a blog where you write interesting and relevant articles for your target group that give your customers valuable tips away from your core business 😉.
These were our lead generation tips. If you need help creating informative and high-quality video content for lead acquisition, just contact us. We are experts in the field of explainer videos and are here to help and advise you throughout the entire process of creation.
