What is a lead, lead generation, and lead marketing

It works similarly online. While browsing the internet or clicking on ads, many users come to your website. Some leave quickly, while others stay because you’ve caught their interest—perhaps even enough for them to leave you their contact information. An anonymous user becomes a lead.

What is a lead

The term lead is used in sales and marketing to refer to a potential customer who has shown interest in your product or service. This places them at the starting line of the sales process. They’re not your customer yet, but you’ve got them hooked—and if you continue to engage with them effectively, they’ll likely become a customer over time.

Lead Generation and Lead Generation Marketing

Even acquiring a quality lead (lead generation) is no easy task. There's an entire marketing discipline dedicated to it—lead generation marketing. It involves various tactics for attracting potential customers and preparing them for conversion. These include:

• content marketing (articles, newsletters, videos, podcasts, and more),
• SEO strategies,
• PPC ads or social media advertising,
• cold calling or cold emailing.
  
  

Once you've drawn in an anonymous user, it's time to offer the next lure. That’s where lead magnets come in—benefits you offer in exchange for contact information. Common lead magnets include:

• newsletter subscriptions,
• e-book downloads,
• discount coupons,
• courses or webinars,
• templates, guides, or checklists.
  
  

To learn how to proceed, check out the dedicated article 10 Ways to Find Leads.

Lead Management

After acquiring a lead, the next step is lead management—nurturing the relationship with potential customers. This is your opportunity to showcase the strengths of your products and reinforce your brand as an authority in the field. Your goal is to turn the new contact into a lead who actively consumes your content and, when ready to buy, chooses you.
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You can maintain awareness with the lead by:

• occasionally sending emails with tips or interesting content,
• requesting a connection on LinkedIn,
• sharing valuable educational content on the platforms where the lead is active,
• targeting them with remarketing ads,
• working on branding and PR so they notice you in as many places as possible.

Lead Scoring and Lead Classification

The key lies in understanding your potential customer, their needs, and what stage of the purchasing process they are in. Just because someone starts subscribing to your newsletter doesn't necessarily mean they want to buy from you. Maybe they were just interested in your articles. If they download the Pricing or submit an inquiry, they're much further along the path to a Deal.

To estimate how far along the purchase path Leads are, we use lead scoring. It allows you to categorize Leads as follows, and work with them accordingly:

• Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL) – these are Leads that need to be prepared for a purchase, for instance by sending them articles to help them get to know you better, remember you, and think of your products when they're ready to buy.
• Sales Qualified Leads (SQL) – these Leads are already ready to buy and just need the right nudge, such as offering a discount or proposing a personal meeting with a consultant.
  
  

We’ve described the process of lead scoring in detail in the article What is lead scoring and how to use it.

A CRM system helps you keep track of your Leads. It will give you a clear overview of each Lead and which stage of the business process they’re in. That way, you can better judge how to proceed and what your chances are of closing the Deal. Every good CRM system can be tried for free.