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Lead generation is the process of attracting and converting strangers into potential customers. It is critical for any kind of business organization, be it a start-up or a conglomerate. There are a wide variety of strategies applicable to lead generation alongside knowing which activities will not help with lead generation.. Knowing where to direct your effort can make a world of difference in your company’s growth and success.

The following sections will examine activities that do not add value to lead generation, helping one to not be distracted unnecessarily and put in their efforts toward actions that will actually have an effect.

What is Lead Generation?

Lead generation is the process of attracting and identifying potential customers known as leads-those who could benefit your product or service. It includes a range of marketing tactics designed to seize the attention of individuals or businesses that may benefit from what you’re offering. The intent of lead generation is to take these prospects and eventually turn them into customers: Leads become potential buyers and are subsequently nurtured through the sales funnel. 

Usually, in lead generation, the process starts from awareness and builds up finally into generating interest; they should conceive engaging content and offers to incite the leads into taking an action. In contrast, effective lead generation strategies combine a mixture of various online and offline efforts, such as content marketing, social media outreach, building an email campaign, and paid advertisement, which works in tandem to nurture leads towards becoming paying customers eventually.

Which activities will not help with Lead Generation?

1. Concentrating only on organic traffic without a clear plan.

Many businesses focus all their work on getting organic traffic, convinced that more visitors to their site means more leads. While organic traffic from search engines is important, without a clear strategy, it will not bring you leads. Mere visits do not cut the ice. 

This implies that if your site ranks high on Google for broad or unrelated keywords, a user might click to your site but leave without any interaction. According to a survey conducted by HubSpot, 61% of marketers reportedly say that enhancing SEO and growing their organic presence is their top inbound marketing priority. That being said, without engaging content and clear calls to action (CTAs), these visitors won’t become qualified leads.

For this reason, while SEO is important, it must complement a full-fledged content strategy that leads visitors down the sales funnel.

2. Neglecting to Harness the Power of Paid Advertising

Many companies make an error by rushing toward paid advertising without realizing that they either needed something unnecessary for their business, or avoid it because of cost. Yet not spending for paid attacks will give away the chance to precisely target potential audiences in a viable capacity on who are already interested in buying something.

WordStream reports that businesses receive $2 for every $1 they invest in Google Ads. Paid advertising platforms, such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and LinkedIn Ads, allow you to target prospective leads based on particular characteristics including location, age, interests, and behaviors.

By not taking the broad stroke of getting paid ads to bypass the majority of your competition, you circle out those who could not find you otherwise except through organic methods. While paid ads, when analyzed as is, might not yield leads directly; done well, they can very powerfully increase the visibility of your brand in getting your content across to the people who would benefit most.

3. Posting Irrelevant Content

Content marketing has become one of the strongest weapons of acquiring leads but it’s not the only thing to do, sometimes businesses write articles just for publication, without considering the needs of an audience or the stages of their journey. Content that does not resonate with your target market-or which doesn’t answer their most pressing questions-will not help you attract qualified leads. 

For instance, posting generic articles on a blog or superficial “how-to” guides will definitely not appeal to prospects who are hoping for in-depth, useful information. According to CMI, 72 percent of marketers believe that providing valuable content is the tier-one lead generation strategy.

Restrict your focus to developing those kinds of content that deal with real problems your audience faces and offer actionable insights, aligned with their interests and pain points. Such types of content generate leads.

4. Relying on Social Media Posts Only

Yes, while social media is an important part of your marketing mix, plain old posts and shares won’t cut it for effective lead generation. While social platforms are great for creating awareness and engagement with your audience, lead generation truly requires more of a direct interaction.

Most people today follow brands solely to gain a deeper understanding about product offerings, according to a report from Sprout Social; 57% of people will follow from social media in any way, but only 24% are more likely to click to buy right away. This means social media isn’t going to close the deal since it’s only a piece of the puzzle.

Suppose your social media strategy is merely posting content and neither engaging with your audience nor urging them to a lead-generating process like a landing page; then you will have wasted your efforts. Social media, while valuable for awareness and community development, must be complemented with other tactics that drive lead generation directly, like lead magnets or email campaigns.

5. Using Complex Tools Without Skillful Use

Technology can definitely help streamline your lead generation process, but it is almost a waste of time and resources should you flip the coin blindly on the applicability of complex tools in your journey. Many of the more enlightened companies invest hefty amounts into expensive lead generation tools and software without the slightest awareness of how to make those do what they were targeted to do. 

An example of a solution with a variety of features for lead nurturing is a marketing automation program like HubSpot or Marketo, but don’t be surprised if you’re not able to achieve the results you hope for if you don’t have a good understanding of how to set up automated email sequences, segment audiences and measure performance.

Instead of rushing into some high-tech tool right now, begin with the basics: email outreach, clear CTAs, and truly effective landing pages. You will slowly integrate smarter tools aligned with your growth as you become comfortable enough to use them.

6. Underestimating Email Marketing

Email marketing, if done well, is fantastic for lead generation, but many organizations still do little to put it to good use. Random or irrelevant emails would not help you nurture a lead. You must say the right thing at the right time to the right person.

A report published by Campaign Monitor found that email marketing delivers an ROI of 4200%, with the average being $1 returned for every $42 spent. By ignoring or abusing email marketing, you’re missing out on an effective and personal way to engage with leads.

Email marketing effectively requires you to segment by list, personalize emails, and provide something of value. If those emails aren’t doing much to resonate with your audience, people will ignore them or unsubscribe, making all that effort in vain. 

7. Chasing After Every Lead

Not all leads are equal. Many businesses make the mistake of chasing every lead down with little regard for that lead’s quality or relevance. This is precisely where many businesses expend a lot of time and energy-wasting efforts considering that not everyone is going to be interested in your product or service.

In fact, a study by Marketing Sherpa says that 61% of marketers believe that generating high-quality leads is their biggest challenge. Not every person showing keen interest in your business is a qualified lead; some may be just window shopping or are not yet ready to decide to make a purchase.

Instead of quantity, focus on quality. A lead-scoring mechanism should be employed to ascertain each lead’s potential value relative to other leads by some key indicators like demographics, behaviors, and engagement. With this means, your sales team can concentrate on specific leads most likely to convert.

8. Overcomplicating the Lead Capture Process

Sometimes, businesses make lead generation harder than it needs to be by creating overly complicated forms or asking for too much information straight away. For a lead to be willing to fill out a long form is very unlikely.

HubSpot indicated that in its study, 55% of the analyzed forms contained 5 or more fields, which corresponds to a lower conversion rate. Forms should be short, focused, and easy to fill out. Extracting only essential information upfront (name and email address) is critical. Further details can be collected when leads interact later down your funnel.

Conclusion

Lead generation is not about doing everything, but doing the right things badly.Slighting lead generation activities that do nothing for lead generation is as critical as knowing which strategies will give results. By opting for high-value strategies-like finding your target audience, writing great content, sending out perfect emails, and optimizing your website-you can expect an increase in your lead generation efforts greatly. 

Stop with the ineffective acquaintances and spend your time and resources on the things that can actually provoke results. Realign your efforts toward what ensures success in your business, for that will assist you with number upgrades in leads.

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• digital marketing
• ineffective lead gen tactics
• lead generation
• lead generation strategy
• marketing mistakes