Lead generation is extremely important for the continued and sustainable success of your business, but it can also be quite challenging. Sixty-eight percent of businesses report that they struggle to generate leads, with things like a lack of budget, time, and staff resources as barriers.

Regardless of the resources you’re working with, finding a strategy for effective lead generation is crucial. You not only need new leads to bring in new customers. An active lead generation plan helps fuel your marketing efforts as well, providing you with an audience to nurture and educate, and a driving force behind the type of content you create and why you create it.

If you’re one of the 61% of marketers who report lead generation as being their top challenge, then you’re in the right place. In this article, we’ll discuss four of our favorite ideas for generating more leads — both now and as you grow.

The Importance of a CRM for Lead Generation

Like lead generation, CRM (Customer Relationship Management) plays an important role in marketing and content creation. By tracking the behaviors of your leads and the relationships that you’re establishing with them, you gain vital insights that help you better personalize the content you’re sending.

More than half of customers expect brands to anticipate their needs and make relevant suggestions before they ever even make a purchase. To get the most out of the ideas listed below, make sure you have a comprehensive CRM system in place that you can utilize to create more refined, more purposeful, and, most importantly, more personalized content for the leads who come through the door.

4 Useful Lead Generation Ideas

The first step to effectively generating leads is making lead generation itself a top priority — no matter what resources you’re lacking. A business can’t grow if it can’t generate new leads, so instead of dwelling on limitations, focus on your strengths, and get to work. These four lead generation ideas are a great place to start.

1. Host Co-Branded Webinars

We’re stronger when we work together. While all industries are competitive and the goal is always going to be to stand out, there’s a lot to gain from partnering with your peers when it counts. And when it comes to lead generation, it definitely counts.

When you partner with a brand on a webinar, you not only build your email list by tapping into their network, you also gain an opportunity to nurture those engaged leads with your content and services. If you’re wary about partnering with someone who you’re in direct competition with, look for other brands that are within your industry but not vying for the same end result. For example, relevant publications or influencers.

2. Create More (and Better) Landing Pages

Companies that increase their amount of landing pages from five to 10 see a 55% increase in leads. On top of that, landing pages help you track information from your site visitors that you can then input into your CRM and use to send useful and conversion-friendly email content.

When building your landing pages, make sure the content is clear, concise, and offering something substantial. All landing pages should also clearly tie into the ad that is promoting them to avoid the dreaded bait and switch.

3. Become a Guest Contributor

A content strategy that includes providing valuable guest content to online publications that your audience already reads gets your company and name in front of more people and expands your traffic potential. 

To get the most out of your guest posts, be sure to include a link back to your blog or another useful landing page. This creates a path to your site, and will hopefully get some new leads generated.

4. Have an Email Marketing Strategy

Email marketing is one of the best ways to generate more leads. Strategize not just what you want to send and when you want to send it but how you can get more visitors to sign up for emails in the first place.

Web pop-ups, gated content, and contests or promotions are all excellent ways to grow your contact list. From there, invest in a marketing automation system that will enable you to send personalized and valuable emails to anyone who opts in. While automation does require a decent investment in terms of cost and upfront labor, it’s almost always going to save you time and money in the long run.

If lead generation hasn’t been a top priority, let this be the year that you change that. Generating leads is a necessary task on the path to higher conversion rates and revenue, and a must-do for all brands. Follow the ideas above and use your CRM to devise additional ways that you can work to generate more leads.