What tools should you use to generate qualified leads for your business?

You want to find new clients but don’t know how to go about it? The web is full of opportunities to find leads or potential customers; but how do you choose the most efficient method? Based on our experience and expertise, the first question you need to ask yourself is whether you want to generate leads (more commonly known as "lead gen") or have access to leads that are already in the consideration stage (i.e. “warm leads”). In order to make your decision process easier, this article offers an analysis of each tool to guide you through finding out which process suits you best.

Lead Generation

Methods for Lead Gen:

Facebook or LinkedIn Ads: Facebook or LinkedIn lead ads make lead generation easy by offering people who click on your ad a pre-populated form with their Facebook or LinkedIn contact information ready to be sent to you. With just one click of a button, members instantly send you their information, and your business gains leads.
Google Ads: By using the right keywords, targeting the right people, and defining a relevant landing page, a Google ad campaign can also help you attract and get the contact information of many interested prospects.
Email lists: Paying for access to email lists of professionals who are part of your target audience can also be a very good approach to find new prospects. This way, these professionals feel like they are being contacted individually through customizable emails.

Advantages and disadvantages of Lead Gen:

First of all, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google ads require upfront work: you have to think of the general idea, write the text, imagine a visual, and establish a campaign strategy. This work requires manpower that must be paid for, either in-house or by outsourcing and collaborating with a digital marketing agency, such as Middle Agency. Then, you have to pay the platform for the placement of the ads. This budget is variable, but generally speaking, an ad must be online for 15 days, with a minimum budget of 20$ per day, to start generating worthwhile results. Finally, it is necessary to contact potential prospects that match your criteria, to sell them your product or service or convince them to buy or sign, which is also a step that takes time, money and energy.

Secondly, if you choose to purchase a bank of email addresses from professionals who are part of your target market, you can also generate relevant leads. However, this purchase represents additional costs and the time spent writing the emails, sending them, and responding to them, is also expensive. All these methods will help you generate new leads. They may seem time-consuming and costly, but in the long run, they will pay off. Indeed, this will allow you to create your database of potential customers that you can contact whenever you want.

Why are leads valuable?

For a company, a database represents money. Money in the short term, if the leads convert, but more importantly money in the long run: the bigger your database, the higher your chances of getting investors and converting prospects. The leads generated by your advertisements or other lead gen strategies will give you a lot of information about the profile, profession, and expectations of your target customers. With this information, you will be able to analyze your offer and understand if you are meeting the needs of your target audience. Moreover, you will also have a way to contact them: an email address or a phone number. This way, you know exactly who to address and you can create a community of people interested in your services.

Warm Leads:

Methods to find warm leads

helloDarwin, powered by helloDarwin: This platform allows its members to find a company in need to find a provider for their projects: from web development to marketing, or even video production. From its network of potential partners, the platform selects the projects that best fit the services you offer and puts you in touch with them.

Advantages and disadvantages of Warm Leads:

helloDarwin plays a much different role than the previously stated methods: the platforms allow you to be connected directly with people who are looking for your service. This lead is ready to be converted, without the need for upfront work or paid labor. If you are looking for customers quickly and who are ready to sign right away, then helloDarwin is the adequate solution. However, this strategy is more about quality than quantity: it will not allow you to create your long list of potential customers, but rather to find a few highly motivated clients. The cost of getting in touch with a lead on the helloDarwin platform is therefore very quickly paid back when compared to other methods that require labor costs, time spent on creating advertising campaigns, and energy spent on generating leads.

Why are warm leads valuable?

The lead gen that we have previously mentioned allows you to generate income in the long run but requires a large investment of time from day one. Conversely, the warm leads offered by helloDarwin allow for immediate financial results but require a monetary investment from the start. Having access to warm leads is very valuable. As said previously, these individuals or companies are ready, they do not need to be convinced of their needs since they are looking for what you offer. This strategy is extremely effective in meeting your immediate needs.

You now have all the tools to make an informed decision. Do you want to do lead gen: contact several people, present them your offer, convert them into customers; or do you want to have direct access to a few customers already very interested in your offer?

If you would like to have the opinion of professionals on the subject, do not hesitate to contact the Middle Agency team for a free 30-minute exploratory meeting, to help you make your choice. The Middle Agency is a Montreal-based agency made up of six women who are passionate about digital marketing. We focus our efforts on establishing marketing strategies, creating content, and launching ad campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. The agency is recognized for creating high-value content and having a great attention to detail. In addition, we base all our recommendations on our famous automated dashboards.

Related Tags

Marketing

Advertising

Website Optimization

Lead Generation

About the author

helloDarwin

We create successful business alliances through tailor-made partnerships. Web marketing, video production, ERP/CRM integration... Whatever professional service you need for your business, helloDarwin helps you find the best service providers for your project. Free of charge, without any obligation and within 48 hours on average. We help you find grants, loans, aid and assist you throughout your digital transformation.