marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to empha ...

, lead generation () is the initiation of consumer interest or enquiry into products or services of a business. A lead is the contact information and, in some cases,

demographic information Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as ...

of a customer who is interested in a specific product or service. Leads may come from various sources or activities, for example, digitally via the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a ''internetworking, network of networks'' that consists ...

, through personal referrals, through telephone calls either by the company or telemarketers, through

advertisement Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

s, and events. * In 2014, a study found that direct traffic,

search engines A search engine is a software system designed to carry out web searches. They search the World Wide Web in a systematic way for particular information specified in a textual web search query. The search results are generally presented in a l ...

, and web referrals were the three most popular online channels for lead generation, accounting for 93% of leads. * In 2018, Chief Marketer found that B2B marketers favored

email Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" mean ...

, live events, and

content marketing Content marketing is a form of marketing focused on creating, publishing, and distributing content for a targeted audience online. It is often used by businesses in order to achieve the following goals: attract attention and generate leads, exp ...

as their top three. * After the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

pandemic in 2020,

Gartner Gartner, Inc is a technological research and consulting firm based in Stamford, Connecticut that conducts research on technology and shares this research both through private consulting as well as executive programs and conferences. Its clients ...

identified increases in social and

search engine optimization Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website or a web page from search engines. SEO targets unpaid traffic (known as "natural" or " organic" results) rather than di ...

for B2B marketers, while B2C marketers favored

digital advertising Online advertising, also known as online marketing, Internet advertising, digital advertising or web advertising, is a form of marketing and advertising which uses the Internet to promote products and services to audiences and platform users. ...

. Lead generation is often paired with lead management to move leads through the

purchase funnel The purchase funnel, or purchasing funnel, is a consumer-focused marketing model that illustrates the theoretical customer journey toward the purchase of a good or service. In 1898, E. St. Elmo Lewis developed a model that mapped a theoretical ...

. This combination of activities is referred to as pipeline marketing, which is often broken into a marketing and a sales pipeline.

Lead scoring

Lead scoring is "an effective model that helps sales and marketing departments identify which prospects are potentially most valuable to the company and its current sales funnel." It involves a quantitative method of assigning a "score" to a lead to determine whether a lead is valid for a company's pipeline. When a lead reaches a certain score threshold, it is then sent from marketing to the sales team for examination. A lead is determined to be sales-ready through two criteria: * Demographic criteria: Based on data points such as age, job title, and/or company information such as company size, revenue, etc. * Behavioral criteria: Based on actions a lead has taken, such as clicking on a link in an email, watching a video, or visiting pages on a website.

Lead qualification statuses

In a database, typically a

customer relationship management Customer relationship management (CRM) is a process in which a business or other organization administers its interactions with customers, typically using data analysis to study large amounts of information. CRM systems compile data from a r ...

tool, leads are assigned a status. These statuses may vary by company, but some common terms are: * Marketing qualified leads (MQLs) are leads that have typically come through inbound channels, such as Web Search or content marketing, and have expressed interest in a company's product or service. These leads have yet to interact with sales teams, but have met certain lead scoring criteria. * Sales accepted leads (SALs) are MQLs that have been examined by a salesperson and deemed acceptable by sales for follow-up. * Sales qualified leads (SQLs) are leads salespeople have interacted with and have identified as having an opportunity for a deal to be made. Qualifying criteria include need, budget, capacity, time-frame, interest, or authority to purchase, often referred to as BANT criteria.

Lead scoring

Lead qualification statuses

See also

References

Further reading