What is lead generation?

Before we answer the question, is lead generation the same as marketing?

We first need to know what lead generation is. Lead generation is defined as the process of creating customer interest, and enquiries, into a business’s products and services.

The lead itself is the person who is interested in your company – so the process of lead generation involves identifying them, increasing their interest and collecting their information so that you can keep in touch, with the end goal of converting them into a customer.

Some common methods of lead generation include blog posts, competitions, coupons, events and other online content.

So… is lead generation the same as marketing?

Now, I know what you’re thinking: the above description of lead generation sounds very similar to the definition you have of marketing.

So how are they different?

Lead generation is a crucial part of your marketing strategy, but it’s not the sum total of marketing itself.

Marketing encompasses much more than just raising interest, including both satisfying and retaining customers, as well as attracting them in the first place.

This means that whilst lead generation is a crucial part of marketing, we can answer the question ‘is lead generation the same as marketing?’ with a firm no.

What about all those lead generation tools?

If you’ve ever typed ‘is lead generation the same as marketing’ into your search engine, you will probably have been offered various tools and services around lead generation to help your business.

There are lots of lead generation tools out there, many of them based on AI. It’s easy to come to the conclusion that lead generation involves buying expensive software, paying a fortune for Pay Per Click ads, or hiring a lead generation agency,

But this isn’t true – it’s totally possible to work on lead generation yourself without investing in these.

All of them have their place, and can be helpful for a business to use, but don’t be scared away from lead generation as a concept because of these tools; it’s very possible to work on lead generation organically yourself using low or no-cost strategies.

How to tie lead generation into your marketing activities naturally?

Now that we know that the answer to the question, ‘is lead generation the same as marketing?’ is ‘no’, and we also know that you don’t need to spend a fortune on lead generation tools.

I’m here to help you work out how to incorporate lead generation into your marketing strategy.

Here are my top tips to help you to tie lead generation into your business’s marketing activities:

1. Define your target audience

This is foundational for any of your marketing, but particularly in lead generation.

If a lead is defined as a person, and the collection of their contact details so that you can keep in touch with them, you need to first know who you’re hoping to reach.

Defining your target audience will allow you to work out who, and where, your ideal customer is, so that you can convert them into a lead.

I touched on this in last month’s blog, where I wrote about how to define your target audience and find the marketing platforms where your target audience is – you can read about it here.

2. Develop compelling content

The creation of content is another arm of your marketing strategy which particularly ties into lead generation.

Developing blogs, videos and articles which address the needs of your potential customers will naturally help them to become leads as they make contact with your business having seen the value that you bring.

Many businesses are now focusing on creating ‘lead magnets’ – downloadable resources, such as free guides or checklists, which can be downloaded in exchange for contact information.

3. Utilise your social media and website for lead generation.

You can incorporate lead generation into your marketing strategy for your social media by using clear CTAs (calls to action) geared towards keeping in contact with potential customers, for example creating posts and landing pages which require a response from your audience for lead capture.

You could consider creating simple, user-friendly forms to collect information from leads, again in return for a resource or as part of a competition.

This is also a stage where you might look at paid advertising through social media, as there can be low-cost ways of doing this.

These three areas illustrate how you can bring lead generation into the marketing activities which you are likely already undertaking, in order to harness your audience and nurture them into customers.

Is lead generation the same as marketing? No!

In conclusion, we’ve outlined how there is overlap between the two, but lead generation is not the same as marketing.

Rather, lead generation is a crucial part of marketing which you need to bring into your strategy to bring direction to your marketing efforts.

If you need a hand applying this to your marketing strategy, we would love to help you to think about your business’s lead generation.

You can get in contact with Ask Zoe for tailored support in growing your marketing strategy, and pick Zoe’s brains on how lead generation can be best incorporated into the running of your business.

Book a free 30-minute discovery call through our website and you can Ask Zoe for yourself, ‘is lead generation the same as marketing?’!