Despite the growing popularity of digital marketing and the use of data-driven approaches in lead generation, many businesses still rely on assumptions when formulating their digital marketing strategies.
Many of those businesses don’t even have a specific target audience or market segment to aim for.
With the digital marketing landscape being as competitive as it is today, relying on guesswork is no longer an acceptable approach to take. You have to use the data available to you – data derived from various sources – to formulate the right digital marketing campaign and more so for your lead generation strategy.
Know your audience
The first thing you need to do is get to know your audience better. Setting a target audience based on product knowledge is only the beginning. With the targeted market segments in mind, you have to dig deeper and collect data about the target audience.
Everything about the lead generation campaign needs to be tailored to the audience’s expectations. Otherwise, the campaign will not be as effective as expected. Better understanding of the audience also lets you choose the most suitable lead generation tactics to utilize.
Understanding the target audience is even more important when your business is operating in the B2B market. Sufficient market research is crucial for the lead generation efforts to be effective in reaching the correct decision makers.
Know your tactics
Lead generation is something that can be done using different tactics. You can rely on inbound lead generation to get customers to your website. Inbound strategies such as content marketing and on-site search engine optimizations are meant to target potential customers who are looking for solutions to their problems.
Outbound lead generation, on the other hand, involves taking active steps towards connecting with potential customers and generating leads. This is usually done through email marketing and the use of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution. Thanks to LinkedIn and other platforms, outbound lead generation can also be done through social media.
The two approaches can be amplified with the help of good brand awareness. This is where the rest of digital marketing efforts come in handy. When you have a strong online presence, professional social media pages, and high brand credibility, attracting new leads becomes easier.
Know your strategy
The last part of the equation is evaluation. Once again, you rely on data to see whether the lead generation campaign you run is effective enough based on the responses you get in return. You can use big data and advanced analytics backed by data science to further understand the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
Naturally, the results of regular evaluations are then used to further refine the campaigns you run. Rather than wasting valuable resources to run ineffective campaigns, you now have the ability to make fine adjustments and improve the effectiveness of existing campaigns in real-time.
Data is the key to targeting the right audience, choosing the right methods to use, and refining the lead generation campaign continuously. By relying on data-driven decisions, you can take the guesswork out of lead generation campaigns completely.
