Think of a marketing lead as a piece of raw material. It’s up to you and your team to shape this potential customer into a saleable asset. Finding those leads can be tricky, but with the right criteria, you can identify viable prospects for your business.
Here are four key characteristics of a great marketing lead.
Alignment with Your Offering
The first characteristic of a viable marketing lead is their alignment with your offering. Are they in the right industry? Is their budget suitable for your products or services? Do they have any existing pain points that you can address?
To illustrate, say you’re a manufacturer of small-scale wind turbines. Prospects in the renewable energy and alternative power sectors would be suitable leads while pursuing customers who are looking to install a residential HVAC system wouldn’t be a wise use of resources.
Credible Contact Information
Inaccurate or outdated contact information can quickly derail a potentially successful sales campaign. As such, verifying contact information is essential to identify viable leads. You’ll want to make sure the email address, phone number, and physical address of your leads are up-to-date and accurate before you begin targeting them with marketing materials.
Additionally, you should also ensure that your leads are reachable. If a prospect hasn’t responded to at least one of your attempts to contact them, then it likely isn’t worth investing additional resources into pursuing them as a potential customer.
Engaged with Your Brand
Leads that are engaged with your brand are more likely to convert, so this is an important characteristic to consider. Evaluate how potential leads interact with your social media accounts, website content, and any other digital properties you may have. If the lead’s level of engagement is high, then they could be a good fit for your offering.
On the other hand, leads who have no interaction with your brand are unlikely to convert into customers. However, you should take that opportunity to explore why they aren’t engaging and see if there’s any way you can improve their experience.
Clear Purchase Intent
The final characteristic of a viable marketing lead is the presence of purchase intent. This isn’t always easy to identify, but by studying previous customer behavior and sales trends you can get an idea. Have they expressed any interest in buying? Are they actively researching your product or service?
By considering these behaviors and signals, you can get an idea of how likely a lead is to convert. If the lead demonstrates clear purchase intent, then they can be considered a viable prospect for your business.
Finding viable leads takes effort and strategy. By evaluating leads based on their alignment with your offering, credibility of contact information, engagement with your brand, and their level of purchase intent, you can identify potential customers who are likely to convert. This type of lead qualification process is essential for any successful marketing campaign and your business will reap the rewards of increased sales and customer loyalty.