Generating leads is often misunderstood, but it’s probably one the most significant aspects of your marketing. It’s a part of a larger plan to get those who are interested in becoming your customers. And as technology advances, lead generation techniques have also changed, and in fact, today’s approaches are more efficient for businesses just like yours. 

You’re probably thinking you have an obvious idea of how lead generation it works. However, there are some not-so-obvious things you must know when you start or optimize your current lead generation efforts. 

Let’s check out the three things you must know and what you have to keep in mind when you start generating leads.

You Must Become a Magnet 

If you hear someone say “lead generation” or “generating leads,” what do you think of? Networking? Cold-calling? If these are a part of your strategy, that’s great. However, there’s a more efficient way, and that’s to attract people to YOUR business. 

When it comes to cold-calling or seeking out your own customers you can only target one person at a time. Even then, you’ll most likely be shooting in the dark. The person you randomly call may not be interested. Heck, they might not even fit your target audience. 

That’s why building a system and value proposition that brings you high-quality prospects that are interested is much better than hunting for them. A system like this will weed out those who aren’t looking for a solution from those who are looking for your service. It will help transform your business into a magnet that attracts your target audience; those who need your help with a problem only you can solve. 

Your Target Audience Sometime Isn’t Ready 

If you’re a regular reader of Beacon’s blog, you know that we always stress the importance of defining your target audience. Trust us, it’s still one of the most important things you’ll ever do for your business. However, some business owners choose to dismiss this because they say a target audience doesn’t work. 

What’s the reason for this? You have interest from your lead generation efforts. Why aren’t they converting to customers? Despite getting leads, they’re just not ready to convert at that moment. Some of your prospects will be ready, but the majority of them will not be ready. 

You’re probably thinking, what’s the point then? Well, this is what you want. The reason? Trust. Yes, building trust and a dialogue with your leads will get them to convert. If you’re not familiar with what happens after you launch your marketing and get your results, patience will be required. Generating leads from your target audience doesn’t mean instant conversion. Treating your leads with care, and [link]nurturing these leads[link] will turn your prospects into conversions as a natural consequence. 

Build a Lead Generation Database

Now that you know you have to build trust before your prospects convert into customers, how do you keep track of them? This is why you must build a marketing system. Within that marketing system, you must have a database. This database must be able to store the leads you attract.

You must follow up and update your database as often as possible to bring your prospect through the buyer’s journey. This includes unique factors (or touchpoints) about your prospects in order to customize the experience. Customizing, organizing, and delivering that touchpoint to your prospects should be your goal with your marketing system. If you aren’t storing your leads within your marketing system then you’re missing out on money. 

The Verdict 

Randomly marketing should never be an option for you. With that being said, marketing isn’t always instant. As a business owner, whether you do it yourself or hire outside firms to do your marketing, it’s important to know the process and the expectations of lead generation. This is to educate yourself and manage your expectations when you start to build your lead lists. 

Secondly, it’s important to plant the seeds of your marketing efforts and tend to them so they grow into customers. Providing a valuable product or service is one thing, but building trust will create value time and time again. This is what you should strive for in your lead generation efforts.