What is a lead?

The term lead is used in Inbound Marketing to refer to those contacts who have left us their data through one of our landing pages in exchange for content of interest to them. Therefore, they are contacts that voluntarily become part of our database.

These users are considered potential customers of our products or services . It is important not to lose sight of them and start a nurturing process to keep their attention and convert them into customers.

The higher the number of leads, the greater the chances of getting new customers. Although there are many tricks to become an expert in lead generation , it is important to pay attention to the quality of the leads so that conversion management is more effective .

What types of leads exist?

We can classify 3 types depending on the phase of the purchase cycle in which they are:

1. lead

It is equivalent to a contact in an early phase of the purchase cycle, what in technical terms we call TOFU . It is a cold lead that is not yet ready to finalize the purchase , so we must carry out actions that help them advance in the process.

2. Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)

An MQL is a contact that we have identified as part of our target audience and who has the potential to become a customer . This user belongs to the middle part of our conversion funnel (MOFU), that is, they already know their need and are considering a solution. Our task will be to get them to take us into account as a possible solution.

3. Sales Qualified Lead (SQL)

This type of contact is found in the final part of the purchase cycle (BOFU). In other words, it is a hot lead that has already made the decision to value our products or services to cover their need . At this point, we must close the sale through direct offers on our product or service (free demos, direct discounts, commercial visit, etc.).

What to do once we have captured a lead?

Attracting and capturing a lead is just the beginning of our sales process. To complete it, we will need to implement techniques that will help us convert those users into end customers.

First of all, it is essential to know in which stage of the purchase cycle our lead is in order to carry out a better segmentation . To do this, ask yourself three key questions:

1. What buyer persona does he represent?
2. What offer has been downloaded?
3. What other actions has he carried out within your website?

Responding to these approaches will allow us to understand in general terms what the main needs of each user are and how to propose a strategy focused on offering usefulness to our contacts .

To develop this user-centered approach, you should rely on these 2 complementary techniques:

Lead Nurturing

Lead Nurturing is a technique based on creating valuable relationships with users to help them advance through their buyer's journey. How do we get that? Delivering the right content to the right person at the right time , usually in sequenced email chains (but don't forget we live in a multi-channel environment).

Lead Scoring

With Lead Scoring we will be able to measure both the degree of interest of a user towards our products or services and their fit within our ideal client profile . Therefore, establishing an effective lead scoring system will help us differentiate and prioritize contacts with a greater possibility of conversion, allowing us to develop strategies adapted to them.

It is important to emphasize that we will not be able to develop either of these two techniques without a Marketing Automation tool that allows us to automate and measure our actions.