Lead generation

When it comes to marketing, "lead generation" refers to the process of stimulating customer interest or inquiry in the goods or services offered by a company. A consumer who expresses interest in a certain product or service and provides their contact information as well as, in some situations, demographic information is referred to as a lead.

Leads may originate from a variety of different places or activities, including digitally through the Internet, via personal recommendations, by telephone calls made by the firm or by telemarketers, via advertising, and through events.

According to the findings of a research conducted in 2014, the three online channels that generate the most leads are direct visitors, search engines, and web referrals. Together, these three channels account for 93 percent of all leads.

According to research conducted by Chief Marketer in 2018, B2B marketers ranked content marketing, email marketing, and live events as their top three strategies.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic in the year 2020, Gartner discovered a spike in social and search engine optimization for B2B marketers, whilst B2C marketers preferred digital advertising.

To facilitate the movement of leads through the purchasing funnel, lead creation is often linked with lead management. The term "pipeline marketing" refers to the coordination of these operations, which is often subdivided into a sales pipeline and a marketing pipeline.