Running a successful business means always having a steady flow of new leads for your product or service. Without them, growth stalls, and your business could end up stuck.
Need a hand?
That’s where our guide to the best lead generation ideas comes in.
Marketing and sales teams often invest countless hours and dollars into lead generation. They create valuable content, launch ad campaigns, send emails, prospect on LinkedIn, and make videos.
We know…it’s a lot to handle!
But let’s be real: you don’t have endless time or money to chase every possible lead generation idea. You need strategies that deliver results right now.
So, how about we cut through the clutter?
We’ve organized this guide into key categories. Think of it as your go-to menu of lead generation tactics that can help your business grow.
Let’s start.
Table of contents
What is Lead Generation?
Lead generation is all about finding people or companies that might be interested in your product or service. It’s the process of getting their attention and, ideally, getting their contact information.
Think of it as the first step in turning a stranger into a potential customer. By generating leads, you’re building a list of people who are interested in what you have to offer.
But, we’re sure you already know this so there’s no point in continuing on what’s lead generation, really. Let’s get straight to the point and see what are the best lead generation ideas.
Best Lead Generation Ideas – See What Works in 2024
Let’s discuss the best way to generate new leads in 2024. These lead generation ideas for B2B use content marketing to bring in a steady stream of leads.
Let’s face it: this type of marketing is a great way to get your brand noticed early in the buyer’s journey.
1. Go for Helpful Videos and Guides
Helpful videos can solve real problems for potential customers in a format that’s both entertaining and easy to digest.
Take Wistia, a video hosting and analytics company, as an example. They offer a series of educational videos for companies that need help shooting their own videos.
Because Wistia is a video hosting platform, creating content solely about how to use its product would only appeal to existing customers.
In that light, they probably increased their conversion rate as people would find it helpful to watch these videos.
2. Consider Offering a Free Product Demo
Most SaaS companies ask you to schedule a call to see a customized product demo. While this can work, most prospects don’t want to wait – that’s a fact. They want to see the product in action right away.
That’s where an on-demand demo comes in. Just look at how SurferSEO did their ‘’free demo’’ banner, it’s quite tempting:
Here’s why on-demand demos rock:
- On-demand demos let prospects explore your product at their own pace.
- This flexibility makes it easier for them to engage and get interested because it fits their schedule.
Great, but what makes a great on-demand demo?
Easy, here’s a couple of things to include:
- Show how your product solves problems
- Highlight the user experience
- Add social proof
- Finish with a clear call to action
Most importantly, offering an on-demand demo gives immediate value and helps you gather leads from interested prospects.
3. Optimize Your Website to Target More Leads
What’s the first thing that goes through your mind when you land on a certain website? That’s right, the layout. That’s why the first impression is so important.
You want to make it a breeze for visitors to become leads. That means making sure lead capture actions, like forms, are easy to spot and fill out.
Sprinkle some powerful call-to-action phrases throughout your website to kick your lead generation efforts up a notch. Phrases like “Get Started Today” or “Claim Your Free Trial” can really get visitors excited to take that next step.
Here’s a good example from Automateed:
See how they created an engaging button at the center of their website. Plus, the layout is clearly optimized to attract users to sign up.
4. Run Regular Promotions or Sales
If getting more eyes on your marketing is a small business challenge you can relate to, this B2B lead generation idea is just what you need. Regularly showing off your best products or services with a sale or promotion is a surefire way to catch your audience’s eye and guide them smoothly down the sales funnel.
For example, you could have your audience sign up for a special promo code to gain access to a flash sale. Take a look at how these guys did it at NordVPN.
To be honest, getting 74% off is a big deal.
5. Use LinkedIn Long-form Updates to Get More Leads
Long-form updates are all the rage on LinkedIn, and they’re also a surprisingly effective way to generate leads.
Just scan your feed, and you’ll probably see a few updates with dozens of likes and comments. These posts are created to drive engagement, which helps get your update noticed by even more users.
Here’s a couple of tips on how to do it perfectly:
- Start with a hook: Kick off with a short, catchy hook to draw readers in.
- Tell a story: Transition from your hook into a compelling story.
- Keep it visually appealing: Break each sentence or two into its own line to make the update easy to read.
- Boost engagement: Add a link in the first comment instead of in the actual update to get more engagement.
- Be authentic: Make your update genuine, value-driven, and engaging.
Once you’ve built an engaged audience on LinkedIn, you can start using other lead generation tools to convert more of your growing audience into leads for your business.
Conclusion
This may seem like a lot, but we’re really just scratching the surface. There are countless ways to generate leads, and the key to a successful lead generation strategy is finding the channels and campaigns that work best for your brand.
It’s all about refining and testing as you learn. Keep experimenting, stay flexible, and you’ll discover the best methods to grow your business.
