6 Lead Generation Trends for 2020
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Published March 16, 2020
When it comes to collecting leads for your business, it seems like there’s something new to try every year. Old methods stop working and new methods become viable. If you want to get the most value out of your lead generation, you have to be willing to try new strategies and technologies.
In this post, we are going to go over the biggest lead generation trends for 2020. We recommend looking into these techniques closely and finding ways to incorporate them into your lead generation strategy.
1. Email Marketing is Still Strong (As Expected)
It should come as no surprise that email marketing is a powerful lead generation trend this year, as it’s been for many years. According to Campaign Monitor1, email marketing repays $44 for every $1 spent. 80% of marketers report that email marketing drives customer retention as well as customer acquisition.
Email is the transition from “user” to “lead.” Someone who’s willing to subscribe to your email list is clearly interested in your brand and looking for a deeper relationship. As a marketer, your job is to use lead generation forms to give users the opportunity to convert into a lead.
But your job isn’t done once a user subscribes to your email list. Your next task is to nurture them with ongoing content that adds value to their lives and increases the chance that they become a customer. This means having a robust email program with drip sequences and regular email blasts.
2. Influencer Marketing Gets Quick Results
Instead of reaching every customer directly, many brands are using popular influencers to reach their target audience. Leveraging an existing community is a powerful way to grow your customer or user base. According to the World Federation of Advertisers2, 65% of brands plan to increase their influencer marketing spending this year.
If you haven’t already, begin building a coalition of influencers who are willing to promote your brand. For instance, a nature blog might partner with Instagram nature photographers. A membership course site might partner with influential bloggers in the same niche. Have these partners direct their fans to your landing pages, or simply share email lists (make sure subscribers consent to this arrangement).
In many cases, you can build cross-promotional relationships that don’t involve money. You promote them; they promote you. But be prepared to spend something in order to create a lucrative relationship for you and your influencers.
3. Chatbots and Live Chat are New Opportunities
Chatbots and live chat are more popular than ever. According to a Drift report on Chatbots3, 66% of millennials and 58% of baby boomers consider 24-hour support to be an important benefit. They also want quick and accurate responses. Almost half of all younger people interact with some kind of chat system daily. As technology improves, use of chatbots and live chat use will surely rise.
A chat session is a key moment in your relationship with a customer. It indicates that the customer is invested enough in your brand to reach out to you directly. That’s exactly the kind of person you want to interact with more often.
Use every chat session as an opportunity to collect an email address. If you take a payment or create an invoice based on a chat session, get their email. If a user asks for specific information, ask if you can send it to them via email.
At the end of the session, ask them to leave their email so you can send them updates and promotions. You’ll see a higher percentage of people subscribe this way because they’re more connected to your brand.
4. Websites are Still the Best Source of Leads
Yes, you can collect email addresses on Facebook. And yes, you can get signups through your forum signature. But your website is – and will remain – your best source of leads.
According to the State of Lead Capture4 report, respondents say their website is still the best place to capture leads. This is because your website is your only digital asset that you control entirely. You can customize the format and substance of the content you use to entice users to sign up.
Your website should be your primary portal where users turn into leads. Create landing pages with optimized lead generation forms. Fill those landing pages with whatever content your audience needs to make the decision to subscribe. Then, use content and paid ads to drive traffic to your site.
Can you collect leads on other platforms? Yes, but don’t invest too much. If you rely on other platforms, a small change to their format, algorithm, or terms of service could ruin your lead generation program.
5. Long-Form Content Drives Traffic
Before you can convince people to fill out your lead generation forms, you first have to bring them to your website. You’ll want to appear as high as possible in Google’s search results for terms that relate to your business.
Search engine optimization is a powerful component of lead generation because it leverages users’ willingness to self-identify. If someone searches for “how to start a blog,” that’s a pretty good indication that they want to know how to start their own blog. If you provide a solution for that problem, you want to make sure you’re at the top of those results. This is why SEO is the second best channel for lead generation ROI, according to Chief Marketer’s 2020 B2B Marketing Outlook Survey5.
How do you attract users? With content. But not just any content. You need long-form content that ranks well and provides solutions to your readers’ problems.
Simply put, more high quality content means more traffic. More traffic means more form submissions. In order to maximize your lead generation results, it’s important to devise a content strategy to drive traffic to your blog post, landing pages, and anywhere else you place a lead capture form.
Whenever you create content, make sure it’s high quality and long form. This is key to getting yourself ranked as high as possible on Google and adding the most value to your readers’ lives.
6. Personalization Grows More Important
Personalization has been a growing trend for the last few years and we don’t expect to see any changes in 2020. In fact, according to Ascend2’s Lead Generation Quality Survey6, personalization is the most impactful strategy. 60% of marketers think it’s a key strategy for improving the quality of leads.
What is personalization? It’s the practice of customizing experiences based on what you know about each user, subscriber, or customer. It’s a way to make each member of your audience feel like they have a personal connection to your brand.
Let’s say you work with three types of customers: Segments A, B, and C. Instead of creating a single lead magnet that tries to appeal to everyone, it would be smarter to create separate lead magnets that align with each customer segment. Then you could create three landing pages for each lead magnet. Finally, you could drive traffic to each landing page with highly targeted ads, rather than ads that try to capture all three segments.
That’s a very basic form of personalization in lead generation. With the right data, you can create highly targeted content and lead generation forms to maximize conversions. By collecting information with your lead generation forms, you can personalize your email marketing, promotions, and the entire customer experience.
Wade Carefully and Measure Your Results
We have shown you the big lead generation trends of 2020, but that doesn’t mean you have to use them all. Invest in the strategies and tactics that are right for your business. When you decide to add a new strategy, implement the smallest version of it first and measure your results. Make sure it supports your business before you invest further. Good luck!
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