Lead generation is something many companies spend a significant portion—if not all—of their marketing budget on. But why is it so important, and how can a CRM system help you attract new customers? In this article, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about generating and managing leads.
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What does lead generation mean

Lead generation means generating or attracting leads. A lead is someone who has shown interest in your product or service but is not yet a customer. For example, someone who signs up for your newsletter, downloads a free ebook, or requests a quote via your website.

You give something away for free in order to attract potential customers and collect their details (such as email address, name, or phone number) so that you can guide them further in their customer journey.

Why is lead generation important

According to a study by Emerce.nl, around 51-100% of the marketing budget goes to generating leads. That alone indicates that lead generation is quite important.

Why is that? Well, the more you know about potential customers or website visitors, the better you can approach them. Otherwise, you know nothing about them. You don’t know what they’re looking for, and before you know it, they’re gone. That’s not what we want.

With lead generation, you collect data from people who are already somewhat interested. This allows you to build a list of “warm” leads, which you can target with content, offers, or a personal message.

This increases the chance of conversion—and therefore your revenue.

How to generate new leads

There are many ways to attract new leads, both online and offline. It doesn’t officially fall under the term “lead generation”, but if you make new contacts at a conference or meeting, you can certainly consider them as leads.

Here are a few popular ways to collect leads online:

  • Free giveaway (lead magnet): A white paper, e-book, checklist, free trial lesson, or template in exchange for an email address.
  • Newsletter: Valuable content via email, exclusively for members.
  • Social media ads: With a campaign on Instagram or LinkedIn, you can target people who fit your target audience.
  • SEO and blogging: Blogs on topics your target audience is searching for. This attracts organic traffic (without paying for it) to your website.
  • Webinars and workshops: Webinars and workshops are a good way to share your knowledge and collect contact details at the same time.

What’s the difference between lead generation and acquisition

Lead generation and acquisition may seem the same, but there is a difference.

  • Lead generation is attracting interested people and collecting their contact details.
  • Acquisition is following up on those leads with the goal of closing a deal.

You can compare it to dating. Lead generation is the first meeting at a party and exchanging phone numbers. Acquisition is the first date, and if there is a connection, perhaps a relationship.

Which lead generation strategy is right for me?

The lead generation strategy that best suits your organization depends on your target audience, your offering, and your own preferences.

Here are some examples of strategies used by different types of organizations:

  • Service providers: offer a free e-book or intake interview in exchange for an email address.
  • Webshop: give a discount on the first purchase when signing up for the newsletter.
  • NGO: collect emails via an online petition or campaign page.
  • Government agency: allow citizens to sign up for a digital newsletter about subsidies or regulations.
  • Large company: offer a white paper or demo after filling in company details via a landing page.

There are countless examples, but the most important thing is that you offer something valuable that suits your organization and target audience.

How does a CRM help with lead generation

And even more importantly: once you start collecting leads, you need to organize and centralize them. Otherwise, it quickly becomes chaotic, especially if you work with multiple people.

  • Where do they come from? What stage are they at? Have you already been in contact with them? What was their response? All this information can be easily collected in a CRM system.

A CRM system is (online) software that you can link to other programs, such as email marketing, support, and sales tools, etc.

In your CRM system, you can see exactly who you spoke to and when, what their interests are, and where they are in the customer journey. You can also share this information with colleagues, and it makes following up on leads much easier.

FlowQi is a good example. Our CRM system is practical, intuitive to use, and designed for organizations (large and small) that want an overview at a glance.

You can immediately see:

  • How your leads are performing;
  • Where in the funnel your leads are dropping out;
  • What you can improve in your process.

This allows you to quickly adjust and refine your strategy.

Test FlowQi’s Lead Generation tools

Every business, whether you are a freelancer or run a large organization, needs to expand its customer base. After all, without customers, you have no business. With lead generation, you steadily and automatically build up a large list of potential customers.

With a simple and effective CRM system, such as FlowQi CRM, you make it a lot easier for yourself. Want to see how our software works in practice? Sign up for our BETA Program and try all our tools for free.