We have leads – now what?

Lead generation is an important part of modern marketing. But getting leads is just the beginning. What to do next? How to work with leads correctly so that they turn into real customers? In this article, we bring you some tips on how to use leads effectively and maximize their potential.

In the previous article Inbound or outbound marketing? Among other things, we focused on different approaches to obtaining leads.

We mentioned that while inbound marketing attracts potential customers with valuable content, in outbound marketing we reach potential customers through advertising or emailing, for example.

This is also related to the difference in the method of obtaining leads:

• Inbound leads They often come from blogs, social networks, SEO or email marketing. The principle is that customers search for information themselves and come to you thanks to your quality content.
• Outbound leads are generated by actively reaching out to potential customers through cold calling, direct mail, PPC advertising or events.

Let’s say you already have leads. How do you continue to work with them properly so that they become your real customers?

We will talk about three steps:

1. Lead quality assessment
2. Lead segmentation
3. Lead nurturing

1. Lead quality assessment

Working with leads starts with evaluating them. It makes sense: To use your time, energy, and resources effectively, you should focus primarily on the leads with the highest potential. Evaluating the quality of leads involves two main methods: lead scoring and lead grading .

Lead scoring

Lead scoring is the process of assigning numerical values ​​(scores) to individual leads based on their behavior and interactions with your brand. This method uses a point system where different lead actions and attributes are given different weights. For example:

• Web behavior: For example, visiting a website, downloading an e-book, participating in a webinar.
• Email interaction: Opening emails, clicking on links in emails.
• Social Media: Monitoring and interacting with your social media posts.

The main advantages of lead scoring include:

• Effective prioritization: Allows marketers to focus on leads with the highest potential.
• Better segmentation: Helps marketers create more targeted campaigns.
• Improve conversion rates: Focusing on high-scoring leads often leads to higher conversion rates.

Lead grading

While lead scoring evaluates lead behavior, lead grading considers whether a lead fits your ideal customer profile (ICP). It usually uses a grading system (e.g. A, B, C, D).

When grading leads, you can consider the following factors:

• Position in the company: Some leads may be decision-makers, i.e. have a significant influence on purchasing decisions.
• Company size: Small businesses may have different needs than large corporations.
• Industry: Some products or services may be more relevant to a specific industry.
• Geography: Some markets may be more strategically important to your business.

The benefits of lead grading include:

• Better lead qualification: Helps quickly identify leads that have the highest potential to become customers.
• Efficient resource allocation: Allows you to focus marketing and sales efforts on leads that best match your ICP.
• Improved ROI: More efficient use of resources leads to improved return on investment (ROI) from marketing and sales campaigns.

2. Lead segmentation

With lead segmentation, you divide potential customers into groups based on certain criteria, such as demographics, behavioral patterns, or geographic location.

Segmentation examples

1. Demographic segmentation

• Age, gender, income: This basic information can give you insight into the needs and preferences of different customer groups. For example, a younger demographic may prefer more modern technology and social media communication, while older customers may prefer more traditional forms of contact.
• Job Position: Segmentation by job title can be especially useful in B2B marketing, where it is important to distinguish between who makes the purchasing decision and who will ultimately be the actual user of the products or services.

2. Geographic segmentation

• Location: Customers in different regions may have different shopping habits and preferences, which you should consider when creating marketing strategies and planning campaigns.
• Climatic conditions: These can also affect the demand for certain products or services. Offering winter clothing or heating systems will logically be more successful in Scandinavia than in tropical regions.

3. Segmentation by behavior (so-called behavioral segmentation)

• Purchase history: By analyzing past purchases, you can uncover patterns of behavior that you can use to create targeted offers and recommendations. For example, you can reach out to customers who regularly purchase certain products with a loyalty program or special discounts.
• Interaction with websites: See how your leads respond to different types of content and campaigns. For example, you can reach out to leads who frequently click on certain types of articles or products with relevant offers and information.

3. Lead nurturing

With lead nurturing, you systematically provide potential customers with relevant and valuable content at the right time during their buying process.

Why is lead nurturing important?

Lead nurturing is essential if you want to maintain and increase the interest of leads in your products or services. Many leads are not ready to buy immediately, and systematic education and providing valuable content is the key to gradually converting them into customers.

The main benefits of lead nurturing include:

• Shorten the sales cycle: With quality and well-timed content, you can help potential customers make decisions.
• Increase conversions: Personalized and relevant content increases the likelihood of conversion.
• Building trust: By systematically providing useful information, you strengthen your relationship with your leads and gain their trust.

Key elements of lead nurturing

1. Content personalization

• Dynamic emails: Create personalized emails based on your leads’ behavior and preferences. Use dynamic content to deliver the most relevant information to them.
• Segmentation: Divide leads into groups based on their interests and needs to make your content as personalized as possible for each group (see above).

2. Marketing automation

• Automatic campaigns: Use marketing automation to set up campaigns that run based on certain actions (triggers) or time intervals. For example, when a lead visits a specific page on your website, they can automatically receive an email from you with relevant information.
• Tracking and analytics: See how leads respond to your campaigns and tailor content based on their behavior and preferences.

3. Communication on several fronts

• Email marketing: Email remains one of the most effective tools for lead nurturing. Use personalized and automated emails to communicate with leads regularly.
• Social Media: If you are active on social media, you can communicate with leads in real time, provide them with relevant content, and answer their questions.
• Retargeting: With retargeting campaigns, you can remind potential customers who have shown interest in your products or services but haven’t completed a purchase.

4. Educational content

• Blog posts and articles: Regularly publish posts and articles that answer questions and solve problems for your leads, earning their trust and building your reputation as an expert.
• Webinars and e-books: Offer educational webinars and e-books that offer deeper insight into specific topics relevant to your leads.

What to remember when working with leads

Based on our own experience, we have put together several recommendations that will help you when working with leads:

• Give it a system. Many salespeople are busy with their daily operations and don’t have enough time for leads. And working with leads in the style of “I have half an hour now, so I’ll try something” doesn’t work.
• Don’t put it off. The first contact after receiving a lead should be as quick as possible. Suggest an online meeting to the potential customer, where you introduce them to your company, products/services, experience and references.
• Keep your word. If you agree on something with a potential customer, follow through on it – a date for the next contact, sending a quote or samples, etc.
• Speak so that they understand you. If you are targeting a foreign market, ideally conduct your negotiations in the language of the potential customer or at least in perfect English. The same should apply to the content of your website.

With Intedat you will get the most out of your leads

Do you have leads and are wondering what to do with them? Try the Intedat application , which will simplify your business process and allow you to work with leads systematically, in a clear, intuitive environment. In addition, the Intedat corporate database will help you acquire leads quickly and efficiently.

With Intedat you get

• access to a top-notch, continuously updated company database (280 million companies worldwide and 1.5 million in the Czech Republic)
• information about competent persons, often including direct contacts
• advanced filtering, including mirror selection
• the ability to connect Intedat with your CRM system

Don’t have the capacity to contact potential customers?

We will be happy to help you with that too. We will address the selected companies by your name and in their language. We will present your offer to them and only pass on to you those that have expressed interest for final consideration.

We have already found new clients for more than 900 Czech companies . We will be happy to help you with that too.

Contact us and we will present our solution to you.