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Lead

Nikiforov Alexander
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What is a lead?

A lead is a term that refers to a person who has shown interest in the products or services of your company and has left their contact information. This can be as simple as viewing information about a product or direct communication with your manager.

Types of leads

All leads are divided into three categories: cold, warm, and hot. Cold leads are those who are contacting your business for the first time. They may see your advertisement, visit your website, or talk to a manager. Warm leads are already familiar with your company; they may have visited your website several times, subscribed to newsletters, or asked questions. Hot leads, in turn, are those who are ready to make a purchase right now since they have already evaluated your products.

Why do companies need leads

Leads play a key role in business because, with the right marketing strategy, they can quickly become customers and then loyal buyers. Effective lead management allows for building strong relationships with customers and significantly increasing sales volumes.

How to increase sales through lead scoring

Lead management helps companies:

  • Effectively invest in marketing;
  • Optimize the work of sales managers by focusing their attention on real, ready-to-buy customers;
  • Gradually nurture the interest of customers who are not yet ready to purchase.

Stages of working with leads

Lead management in marketing consists of three main stages:

  • Attracting customers (lead generation);
  • Nurturing interest;
  • Converting leads into deals.

At the attraction stage, the main goal is to collect data that will allow for further communication with the customer, such as email, phone number, and social media profile. Various marketing channels can be used for this purpose:

  • Contextual and targeted advertising;
  • Social media;
  • Email marketing;
  • SEO promotion;
  • Referral marketing;
  • Participation in exhibitions and conferences.

The choice of channels depends on the type of product and the company's advertising budget. At the nurturing stage, it is necessary to move leads into the category of users who are ready to purchase. To do this, it is important to qualify the leads by identifying potential and existing customers and determining their needs in relation to the company's products and services.

To assess the maturity of a lead, special programs can be used to analyze user activity both online and offline. Statistics show that only 3% of customers are ready to purchase immediately, 27% need additional information, and 70% are not ready to buy a product or service at this moment. For customers who are in doubt, companies should continue communication by offering relevant content.

At the final stage, it is necessary to pass hot leads to sales managers, using the information gathered in previous stages to successfully close the deal. Cold leads, who have seen your product for the first time, may subscribe to your newsletter or social media, moving them into the warm category. Warm customers may add products to their cart and request additional information, and if their doubts are resolved, they may become hot leads ready to purchase.

Thus, continuous work with leads and the use of various strategies, including promotions and discounts, will help not only attract new customers but also retain existing ones.