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So you’ve got your business off the ground and it’s starting to grow – congrats! As it develops further, you’ll quickly realize that keeping the growth going requires a consistent and reliable stream of new leads. That’s where lead acquisition comes in.
This process is all about getting new potential customers into your sales funnel, but it differs from other steps in a company’s customer acquisition journey in that it’s specifically focused on the very top of the funnel.
What is lead acquisition? Why do you need to know about it? And how can you make sure you’re doing it effectively?
In this post, we’ll go over everything you need to know about lead acquisition, from its definition and purpose to the different ways you can go about acquiring leads for your business.
What is lead acquisition?
Lead acquisition is the process of identifying and targeting potential customers who could benefit from your product or service and then getting them to raise their hand and express interest by providing you with their contact information.
It’s all about generating awareness and interest in your company, and it’s a crucial step in the customer acquisition journey.
But wait, this sounds an awful lot like lead generation, is it the same thing? Am I writing two different posts about the same concept here?
Lead Acquisition vs. Lead Generation 🤔
Lead generation is the process of creating awareness and interest in your company to spawn leads through outbound means, while lead acquisition is the start of the process of actually converting those leads into customers by getting their contact information.
A good way to think about the difference between the two is that lead generation is what you do to get someone to raise their hand, while lead acquisition is what you do to get them to give you their contact information.
Why is lead acquisition important?
Lead acquisition is important because it’s the first step in the customer acquisition journey – and you can’t get to the next steps (converting leads into customers) without it.
Lead acquisition also allows you to:
- Nurture leads with targeted content: Once you have a lead’s contact information, you can start sending them targeted content that will help move them further down the funnel.
- Get insights into what’s working (and what’s not): By tracking your lead acquisition efforts, you can get valuable insights into what’s working and what’s not. This allows you to adjust your strategy accordingly and get the most out of your marketing budget.
- Improve your customer acquisition costs: Effective lead acquisition can help you improve your customer acquisition costs by ensuring that your sales team is only spending time on qualified leads.
Basically, lead acquisition is important because it’s part of the foundation on which everything else is built.
5 lead acquisition strategies that’ll improve your business
We’ve established what lead acquisition is and why it’s so important for business. Now, let’s take a look at some strategies that you can use to acquire more leads for your business.
1. Segment your leads
One of the best ways to improve your lead acquisition efforts is to properly segment your leads. (Tap the link 👈to learn everything you need to about segmentation).
That said, segmentation is the understanding that not all leads are the same, so you need to sort them out accordingly.
Divide your leads by:
- The classics: Demographics, Psychographic, Firmographic, Behavioral, etc.
- Weak interest signals: Target people who showed interest in your brand by following your LinkedIn company page, participating in your LinkedIn live, etc.
Quick Tip 💡
La Growth Machine now allows you, in just one simple click, to target those people who have interacted with your brand content, whether they:
- Follow your LinkedIn company page,
- Liked your post(s),
- Commented your posts,
- Or, participated in a LinkedIn Live you organized.
All of these people are potential leads who are much warmer than anyone you would cold contact.
Wanna see how the magic happens? Tap right here
- You can also segment based on the qualification criteria you selected.
At its core, segmentation is about finding the right person, at the right time, with the right message. You can now create targeted content that speaks directly to their needs and pain points.
This will not only help you acquire more leads, but it will also help you convert those sales leads into customers down the line.
You’ll gain a clearer idea of which leads are worth pursuing, and when you do pass qualified leads to salespeople, they will have a better sense of what these people want.
This is what’s called Lead Qualification. Some leads might not be ready to hear from sales, while some might be ready and set to convert.Â
2. Create lead magnets
A lead magnet is simply a free piece of content that you offer in exchange for someone’s contact information.
It can be anything from an e-book to a cheat sheet to a webinar or even just a blog post.
Speaking of lead magnets, I got 2 ready just for you:
Check them out and let me know if you want more (I’m in need of inspiration for lead magnet ideas)
The key is to make sure that your lead magnet is high quality and relevant to your target market.
Lead magnets are an effective way to acquire leads because they offer something of value in exchange for an email address or other contact information.
This means that you’re more likely to get leads who are actually interested in what you have to say, which is always a good thing.
Of course after that, you’ll need to nurture them:
3. Nurture your leads
Speaking of lead nurturing, it’s important to keep in mind that not all leads are ready to buy right away.
In fact, most leads will actually need to be ‘cultivated’ over time before they’re ready to fully commit.
This is where lead nurturing comes into play.
Lead nurturing is the process of building relationships with potential customers through targeted content.
The goal is to build trust and credibility so that when the time comes, they’ll be more likely to do business with you.
There are a number of ways to nurture your leads, but one of the most effective is through email marketing.
Not only can you generate leads using email, but you can also nurture those leads and continue to build relationships with them over time.
If you’re using our tool, then you know all about our Inbox feature.
This is the perfect feature for keeping track of all your Email AND LinkedIn conversations in one place.
In addition, you can maintain your communications with your leads in one place and easily see which leads are interested, unengaged, or need more nurturing.
4. Use social media
This may seem obvious, but social media is a great way to acquire leads for your business.
You can use social media to reach your leads both by sharing your lead magnet(s) and building relationships with them through constant posting.
Remember, social media is all about building relationships. The more you engage with potential customers, the more likely they are to do business with you.
Quick Tip💡
Study and understand where your leads are, and which platforms they use most. And use those platforms to advertise your business. Always go where the lead is, because they for sure are NOT coming to you.
For instance, if you do B2B and you’re not on LinkedIn, what are you waiting for? It is the number 1 source of B2B leads, no matter the industry! (unless it’s a non-digital industry)
Plus with tools like LGM, you can easily automate your outreach and follow-up to these leads! What are you waiting for? Try it out now!
5. Use paid advertising
Paid advertising is a great way to acquire leads, and there are a number of platforms you can use to do it.
Let’s take Google Ads as an example, which is one of the most effective paid advertising platforms out there.
Google Ads allows you to target potential customers based on their search queries.
This means that you only pay when someone clicks on your ad, and you can be sure that they’re interested in what you have to say.
Another great thing about Google Ads is that you can track your results and adjust your campaign accordingly.
This way, you can be sure that you’re getting the most out of your paid advertising spend.
Ready to start acquiring leads?
There you have it! The full guide to lead acquisition and why you and your business need to know about it!
Lead acquisition is one of the most important aspects of a successful marketing strategy.
By understanding what lead acquisition is and how it works, you can put yourself in a better position to reach your target audience and drive sales.
Remember, the key to success is to always be testing and refining your approach.
What works today might not work tomorrow, so it’s important to stay on top of your game and continue to drive results.
Happy Acquiring!
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