Sales Lead Generation: Best Strategies, Tools & Tips

Without a steady stream of high-quality leads, closing deals and driving revenue for your business can feel like an uphill battle.

But getting those leads is no easy feat. According to a survey, lead generation is the #1 marketing challenge faced by business professionals.

The good news is that there are ways to overcome this challenge. In this article, we’ll show you how to improve your sales lead generation process.

We’ll introduce you to proven strategies, cutting-edge tools and actionable tips to help you drive more quality leads into your sales funnel.

Ready to kickstart your lead generation campaign? This video has all the tips and tricks to help you land the best leads.

Table of Contents

• What Is Sales Lead Generation?
• The 3 Stages of Sales Lead Generation
• 7 Sales Lead Generation Strategies
• 5 Best Tools for Sales Lead Generation
• Sales Lead Generation FAQs

What Is Sales Lead Generation?

Sales lead generation is the process of identifying and attracting potential customers, or ‘sales leads,’ to your business. It involves using a mix of strategies and tools to generate interest in your products or services and then nurturing that interest into sales over time.

For example, you could host a webinar or offer a newsletter in exchange for email addresses. This would fill your sales pipeline with prospects who are interested in your business, product or industry and enable you to contact them and potentially turn them into customers.

What are Sales Leads?

Sales leads are potential customers who’ve shown interest in your company's offerings but haven’t yet made a purchase.

They are individuals or organizations that have demonstrated their interest by taking some kind of action, such as:

• Visiting your website
• Filling out a form to subscribe to your email list
• Engaging with your blog posts
• Registering for a webinar or product demo
• Downloading an eBook or report

Sales leads are important to businesses because they represent an opportunity to grow and generate revenue. However, not all leads are created equal.

Here’s a breakdown of the main types of sales leads:

• Information Qualified Leads (IQLs). Leads who are still in the research phase.
• Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs). Leads who have engaged with your marketing efforts.
• Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs). Leads who have shown a clear intent to buy and are considered ready for the sales team to engage with.
• Product Qualified Leads (PQLs). Leads who have used your product and experienced value from it.

Leads can also be categorized based on their level of interest in your business:

• Cold Leads. They have no interest in your offerings as they’ve had little to no interaction with your brand.
• Warm Leads. They have registered some interest as they’ve engaged with your brand (visited your website or downloaded an eBook) but haven’t made a purchase yet.
• Hot Leads. They have demonstrated a strong interest in your offerings and are ready to make a purchase.

The 3 Stages of Sales Lead Generation

There are primarily three key stages in the sales lead generation process: Identify, attract and convert.

Stage 1: Identify

Identifying your target audience is one of the first steps in generating sales leads.

Because, let's face it, not all your website visitors are leads.

And if you spend time going after everyone, you might end up wasting resources that could’ve been spent on prospects that are more likely to convert.

This is why it's important to narrow down your Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs):

• What are their demographics? (Age, gender, location, income level, etc.)
• What industries do they operate in?
• What are their pain points and challenges?
• What are their habits, interests and preferred communication channels?
• Where do they spend their time online and offline?

Use these findings to tailor your lead generation efforts and attract the most viable prospects.

Stage 2: Attract

Now that you’ve identified your ICPs, it's time to attract them to your business. This is where content marketing comes into play.

Create relevant and valuable lead magnets that address the needs, interests and pain points of your ICPs.This could include:

• Blog posts and articles
• eBooks and whitepapers
• Webinars and video tutorials
• Case studies and customer stories
• Infographics and visual content

The primary goal at this stage is to establish your brand as a trusted resource and thought leader in your industry.

Stage 3: Convert

The final stage of the sales lead generation process is to convert attracted visitors into actual leads. This involves promoting your lead magnets through the most effective channels for your audience, including landing pages, social media, email marketing and retargeting campaigns.

Optimize each touchpoint for conversion by crafting compelling headlines and copy, using clear calls-to-action (CTAs), designing user-friendly forms and using engaging visuals or mockups that resonate with your ICPs.

The goal, at this stage, is to make the journey from interest to action as seamless and inviting as possible.

7 Sales Lead Generation Strategies

Now that we know what sales lead generation is, let's talk about the best lead generation ideas.

Here are the top seven lead generation strategies to help you identify, attract and convert potential customers.

1. Content Marketing

Content marketing isn’t just about producing content, it's about creating and sharing valuable and relevant information that addresses the pain points of your target audience.

This will help you position your brand as a trusted resource and thought leader in your industry.

Here are a few ways you can use content marketing to generate leads:

• Write engaging, problem-solving blog posts. Identify common challenges faced by your target audience and create in-depth, SEO-optimized articles that provide actionable solutions and attract organic traffic. Add calls-to-action (CTAs) to your blog posts, such as signing up for a newsletter or downloading an eBook to encourage readers to take the next step.
• Create valuable lead magnets. Craft high-quality lead magnets that address specific pain points of your target audience. Offer them in exchange for contact information, like names and email addresses. Don’t forget to promote your lead magnets through your blog, social media, landing pages and email campaigns.

Check out this fashion industry report template by Visme:

Customize this template and make it your own! Edit and Download

Round up your findings, industry trends, top performers, best social media channels for promotion, future projections and more using this report template. The more valuable your lead magnet, the more leads you’ll generate.

• Host educational workshops and webinars. Narrow down topics that resonate with your target audience and showcase your expertise by hosting live or pre-recorded webinars. You can invite industry experts or partner with other businesses to make your online events more special.
• Produce informative videos. Create engaging video content, such as tutorials, product demonstrations, expert interviews, or thought leadership pieces that address your target audience's needs and interests. Share videos on your website, social media channels and YouTube to reach a wider audience, and add CTAs to guide viewers to your website or landing page.
• Leverage case studies and customer success stories. Showcase real-life examples of how your products or services have helped customers achieve their goals. This not only demonstrates the value of your offerings but also helps build trust and credibility. Share these success stories on your website, blog, social media channels or even in sales collateral to attract and convert potential leads.

Check out this SaaS marketing case study by Visme:

Customize this template and make it your own! Edit and Download

It features terrific colors, icons, bite-sized text boxes and mockups to break down the problem and solution. It also uses data widgets to highlight the results, including ROI and conversion rates.

Content Marketing Best Practice

Promote your content through multiple channels, such as email, social media, paid advertising and influencer partnerships to maximize visibility and reach. Invest in SEO to help your content rank for the right keywords and search queries. More on this in the next section.

2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your website and content to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) for relevant keywords.

It allows you to attract organic traffic to your website and increases your chances of generating high-quality leads.

Here are a few SEO tactics you can use to generate leads:

• Conduct thorough keyword research. Identify relevant and trending high-volume keywords that your target audience is using to search for products, services, or information related to your business. Use these keywords to optimize your website content, meta tags and URLs.
• Create SEO-optimized content. Craft engaging, value-driven content that naturally incorporates your target keywords. Also, write clear, captivating titles and create keyword-rich meta descriptions that drive clicks.
• Optimize your website's technical elements. Improve your website's loading speed, mobile-friendliness and overall user experience. Ensure you add SEO-friendly URLs and make your site easy to navigate.
• Build quality links. Add strategic internal links to improve user experience. Additionally, acquire backlinks from reputable websites in your industry to improve your website's authority and rankings.

SEO Best Practice

Monitor and analyze SEO performance to continuously improve your strategy. Use tools like Google Analytics, Semrush or Ahrefs to keep an eye on rankings, traffic, and other lead generation metrics. Conduct regular SEO audits to make sure everything is on track.

3. Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is all about promoting your offerings and connecting with your audience.

If done right, it’s one of the best lead generation examples to increase your brand awareness, drive website traffic and capture prospects.

Here are some social media marketing strategies to help you generate leads:

• Be present on the right platforms. Identify the social media channels where your audience spends most of their time and focus your efforts to maximize your reach and visibility.
• Create engaging, trending content. Craft content that’s not only informative but also has the potential to go viral. Use eye-catching visuals, unique headlines, trending topics and hashtags and compelling CTAs to encourage engagement and grab audience attention.
• Engage with your audience. Respond to comments, messages and mentions, participate in conversations, organize contests and giveaways and encourage user-generated content.
• Run targeted ads. Create targeted ad campaigns to reach your ideal customers. Test different ad formats, targeting options and messages to optimize your ad performance.
• Collaborate with influencers. Partner with influencers that align with your target audience. Collaborate on sponsored content, product reviews or social media takeovers to expand your reach.
• Analyze and refine your social media strategy. Track performance metrics, such as reach, engagement and click-through rates to make data-driven changes to your social media strategy.

Social Media Marketing Best Practice

Use a mix of content types, such as images, GIFs, stories, short-form videos, long-form videos and live streams, to break the monotony and keep your audience hooked. Stay on top of the latest trends and adapt your social media strategy accordingly. Just make sure you stay on-brand.

4. Email Marketing

Email marketing is a great way to move website visitors further along the sales funnel. Studies show it drives 50% more sales than any other lead generation strategy.

It works by attracting prospects through lead magnets and email opt-in forms. You can then store your lead's contact information and send them relevant and timely emails to nurture and convert them into customers.

Here’s a list of email marketing strategies you can use:

• Personalize your emails. Instead of sending generic emails, address recipients by their names. Beyond that, tailor your email design and content to resonate with the specific demographics, interests, needs and behaviors of your audience.
• Use email automation to your benefit. Create hyper-personalized email campaigns, such as welcome sequences and abandoned cart reminders with email automation tools like Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign.
• Use responsive email design. Make sure your emails open nicely on both desktops and phones. Use mobile-friendly email templates, and optimize your email images and content to load fast and easily across all devices.
• A/B test your email campaigns. Play around with different subject lines, visuals, content, CTA placement and more to see what drives the best open and conversion rates.

Email Marketing Best Practice

Create engaging email opt-in forms that captivate visitors and make it easy for them to fill out their information. Visme’s lead forms, for example, are proven to drive higher conversion rates with the help of animated characters you can customize for your brand.

Here’s a lead magnet form template from Visme you can use right away:

5. Networking & Partnerships

Building relationships with other professionals and organizations in your industry can help bring more exposure to your business. Here are a few ways you can leverage networking and partnerships to generate leads:

• Attend industry events and conferences. Participate in trade shows, workshops, and seminars relevant to your industry. Present your offerings, share your expertise and seek collaboration opportunities.
• Co-host webinars and podcasts. Join online events as a speaker or host by partnering with like-minded brands. This is a great way to build authority, create brand awareness and reach a larger audience. Visme’s webinar presentation templates can help you take your online events to the next level.
• Use referrals and affiliate programs. Set up a referral system to encourage previous buyers to refer new leads to your business. You can also collaborate with influencers in your space to promote your offerings and reward them via an affiliate program.

Networking & Partnerships Best Practice

Maintain open and honest communication with your partners. Outline the terms of partnerships, including goals, responsibilities, and outcomes upfront. Keep your end of the bargain and come prepared to any events. A great experience for both parties will increase the chances of the partnership lasting longer.

6. A/B Testing & Optimization

A/B testing allows businesses to compare two or more variations of a landing page, email or advertisement to identify what works best. It’s an important element of conversion rate optimization.

Here are some areas to test and optimize to generate more sales leads:

• Landing pages. Create different versions of your landing pages with different headlines, colors, images and CTAs to determine which combination drives the highest conversion rates.
• Lead magnets. Test different types of lead magnets, such as eBooks, checklists or templates, to find out which ones perform the best.
• Forms and CTAs. Experiment with the conversion rate of your lead generation forms by switching up colors, fonts, number of fields, CTA copy and placement, and other elements.

A/B Testing & Optimization Best Practice

Test one variable at a time to pinpoint exactly what made a difference in your conversion rates. Remember to run your tests long enough to collect enough data to make informed decisions.

7. Analyzing Sales Lead Generation Efforts

Regularly measuring the effectiveness of your sales lead generation efforts helps you understand what's working and what's not.

Here are a few ways you can analyze and improve your sales lead generation efforts:

• Identify your lead sources. See where your leads come from—organic search, paid advertising, or social media. For example, if a major chunk of leads come from paid sources, then you need to focus on improving your lead magnets.
• Review lead scoring metrics. Analyze the quality of your sales leads by assigning points to them based on their characteristics and behaviors. This will help you identify leads that are most likely to convert into customers and those that need more nurturing.
• Track your conversion rates. Focus primarily on Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL) to Sales Qualified Leads (SQL) conversion rate and lead-to-close ratio. The former will help you measure the quality of leads generated by marketing efforts, and the latter will highlight the effectiveness of your sales process. If you’re seeing poor results, consider developing a feedback loop between your marketing and sales teams so everyone’s on the same page.

Analyzing Sales Lead Generation Efforts Best Practice

Present metrics and key findings to your sales team, management or stakeholders with comprehensive lead generation reports.

Use Visme to create visually engaging reports packed with data visualizations, interactive links, images, embedded videos and more. Browse through our library of report templates, pick one that matches your design aesthetic, apply your branding, download them as PDFs or publish and share them online.

5 Best Tools for Sales Lead Generation

There are plenty of lead generation tools out there that can help you generate and manage sales leads. It really comes down to the capabilities you’re looking for and whether it meets your budget.

Here are 5 sales lead generation tools to consider:

*Disclaimer: The comparisons and competitor ratings presented in this article are based on features available as of April 26, 2024. We conduct thorough research and draw on both first-hand experience and reputable sources to provide reliable insights. However, as tools and technologies evolve, we recommend readers verify details and consider additional research to ensure the information meets their specific needs.

1. Visme

Visme is an all-in-one visual content creation platform that comes with an online form builder. You can create various types of forms using pre-built templates, including:

• Contact forms
• Email signup forms
• Lead forms
• Popup forms

So, what makes Visme stand out from other lead generation tools? For starters, the forms you create can be brought to life with interactive 3D characters and customizable animations.

Not only do they look good, they also work like a charm. Visme’s forms have been proven to drive up to 2x conversions and up to 3x newsletter signups.

But that’s not all. Visme is more than just a form builder. Browse thousands of templates across 40+ categories. Create presentations, ebooks, reports, email newsletters, social media graphics, sales one pagers, blog graphics and more to level up your lead generation efforts and attract more potential customers with beautiful, engaging content.

Customize everything in the drag-and-drop editor, use built-in graphics and design assets, apply your branding across all your projects, share them online and even track analytics to see how well your lead magnets and other materials perform.

Features

• No-code form builder with interactivity and animation
• Built-in library of free images and videos, icons, fonts and illustrations
• Collaboration tools for team projects
• Built-in analytics to track engagement and conversion
• AI tools for generating images, text and documents
• Dynamic fields to automatically personalize content for different users
• Multiple sharing options—download, link, embed or add to QR code
• Integrations with tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, Zapier, Mailchimp, Google Analytics and more

Pricing

• Basic: Free
• Starter: $12.25/month
• Pro: $24.75/month
• Visme for Teams: Request for pricing

2. Salesforce

Salesforce is one of the world’s best CRM software that helps businesses efficiently manage customer interactions throughout the lead generation process.

Features

• Contact and lead management for efficient sales processes
• Automated lead scoring and assignment for prioritizing high-value leads
• Customizable dashboards
• Automated workflow for streamlined sales operations
• Detailed reporting and analytics

Pricing

• Starter Suite: $25/user/month
• Professional: $80/user/month
• Enterprise: $165/user/month
• Unlimited: $330/user/month
• Einstein 1 Sales: $500/user/month

3. HubSpot

HubSpot is an incredible lead generation software that offers a comprehensive suite of tools, including content creation, email marketing and social media management.

Features

• Intuitive, user-friendly interface
• Email marketing and automation tools
• Automated lead scoring and nurturing workflows
• Detailed reporting and analytics

Pricing

• Free tools: $0
• Starter: $15/month
• Professional: $1,080/month
• Enterprise: $4,000/mo

4. Marketo Engage

Adobe Marketo Engage is a powerful marketing automation platform that allows businesses to attract, nurture and convert leads through personalized, cross-channel campaigns.

Features

• Personalized email marketing and automation
• Uses AI to deliver personalized experiences to sales leads
• Integrated social media management and analytics for cross-channel engagement
• Robust account-based marketing capabilities
• Seamless collaboration between marketing and sales teams
• A/B testing and optimization features

Pricing

Marketo Engage doesn’t publicly disclose its pricing. Their plans are as follows:

• Growth
• Select
• Prime
• Ultimate

5. Seamless.AI

Seamless.AI is a super helpful B2B lead generation website. It allows businesses to quickly find and verify phone numbers, email addresses and other contact information of leads.

Features

• AI-powered lead search
• Chrome extension for on-the-go prospecting
• Instant alerts for company updates
• Personalized lead recommendations

Pricing

You can get started with Seamless.AI for free.

They offer three paid plans, but you have to contact the sales team for a custom quote:

• Basic
• Pro
• Enterprise

Sales Lead Generation FAQs

Maximize Your Sales Lead Generation Efforts with Visme

Generating high-quality leads should be a top priority for your business. The lead generation strategies above will help you attract and convert visitors into prospects.

But capturing leads can be tough, especially without the right technology by your side. Thankfully, you have Visme to help you out. Enhance your sales lead generation efforts with our drag-and-drop content creation tool and form builder.

Design engaging ebooks, whitepapers, reports, presentations, worksheets, videos and all kinds of lead magnets in minutes. Use ready-made templates, built-in graphics, AI design tools, branding tools and more.

Better yet, capture leads easily with Visme’s interactive forms. With animated characters, customizable gestures and branding capabilities, our lead forms will help you convert more website visitors into business opportunities.

Find out more about how Visme can help your sales team generate leads, nurture them to conversion and close more deals.

Written by Zain Zia

Meet Zain: freelance writer for B2B SaaS by day and YouTube content creator by night. He specializes in transforming complex, technical ideas into simple, engaging and actionable content. When he’s not working, he’s busy being a dad, playing soccer or planning his next family trip around the world. He’s currently based in Antalya where he lives right next to the beach. Connect with him on LinkedIn or check out his portfolio.