The Lead Generation Starting XI

The Lead Generation Starting XI

The lead generation title race has begun, but does your team have what it takes? Do you have the tools to grind out results week after week? Can you rely on your content to turn things around when the going gets tough?

In this article, we’ll pick the one to eleven you need to generate the finest crop of lead talent.

Goalkeeper

First of all, get a top goalkeeper in the form of a landing page, meaning prospects have to bypass it to get their goal: your content. Like David De Gea, your landing page must have a slim frame for flexibility, as well as strong reflexes to maintain responsive design. Only pinpoint efforts get past our world-class stopper, ensuring your CRM is protected and your leads stay injury-free.

Defence

In order to maximise conversions through effective lead nurturing, you need a player who is trustworthy, knowledgeable, strategic and adaptable. Like Philip Lahm, this loyal marketer’s team-mate has seen it all on the pitch and knows how to turn an armchair fan into a frequent buyer. This trusty full-back is great to have around, and will pass on a wealth of knowledge to your company’s leads and customers of the future.

Before leaving your marketing activity with vendors, you need to be sure they are reliable and can impress throughout your campaign – traits that Jerome Boateng has in abundance. Like any great defender, make sure your chosen vendor can orchestrate proceedings from start to finish with effective communication, before pulling together every element of your campaign, from set up and content consultancy, to copywriting and translations, all the way through to launch and live reporting.

Like David Luiz, clean data isn’t cheap, but this is a make-or-break team inclusion. Warning: this player is prone to drifting out of position, and if it happens too often with your data, it can lead to disaster and ultimately leave you susceptible to a poor campaign. However, with strong day-to-day management, sit back and admire highly effective distribution and prospect chance creation galore.

To complete our back four, account-based marketing (ABM) is a sales and marketing process that aims to develop relationships with a very specific group of accounts. Like Gareth Bale, this versatile marketing weapon is known for precision targeting and pin-point delivery. Although this method of marketing is often associated with a premium price, ABM can produce moments of sales and conversion ‘magic’ to really impress key stakeholders. Another hefty investment, but who said your marketing dream team would come cheap?

The Lead Generation Starting XI

Midfield

Marketing automation lies at the core of your lead generation setup and is vital for day-to-day operations. Like N’Golo Kante, automation tends to grab the headlines for its consistency and effortless performances on the pitch. By making lead generation tick with perfectly timed interceptions and passes, more and more teams are looking to embed this type of player into their marketing formation. This anchorman co-ordinates your marketing messages and gives team-mates the platform to launch content attacks. The conductor.

In the world of lead generation, content creation is a bit like Paul Pogba: sometimes seen as an uber-expensive investment by key stakeholders and the media, but odds-on to maximise ROI with performances on the pitch and shirt sales off it. Content creation may have a big price tag, but will set you apart from your competitors. When it comes to premium content, there’s nothing quite like a Dummies guide; one the fastest-growing online recruiting sites Glassdoor were one of many to reap the benefits.

If you’re after speedy lead delivery, API integration should be a regular starter. This rare talent puts prospects on a plate for your desired recipient – the type of killer pass we’re used to from Dimitri Payet. By using real-time data-transfer, this lethal playmaker serves up assists galore into CRM platforms and marketing automation for both sales and marketing teams. A dressing room favourite.

The infographic is the Cristiano Ronaldo of content marketing: flashy, eye-catching and just when your campaign needs a boost, will set the lead generation arena alight. The rise of the infographic has been meteoric over the last few years, establishing itself alongside the whitepaper as a global demand generation tool. This is undoubtedly one of the most visual and dynamic elements of your line-up, so expect plenty of interest from your content scouts.

To complete our trio of playmakers: Lionel ‘ToFu Content’ Messi. If you want to top the lead generation table, content is the catalyst. Backed up by marketing automation, landing pages and an effective lead nurturing programme, sit back and watch your king of content assists shine, lining up clear-cut chances for your sales and marketing teams to latch onto. The ultimate creative player.

Striker

So you’re deep into opposition territory, but to provide the finishing touch, let the world know who’s boss when it comes to your niche product. This is better known as brand awareness. When it comes to bigging yourself up, Zlatan Ibrahimovic knows that no one is about to do it for you. Your lead gen striker not only provides a focal point for your team on the pitch, but gets your brand trending through conversation, humour and awareness. Your company can follow this formula through lead and demand generation – a cost-effective way of generating that flurry of interest your modern manager wants.

So with a defence that filters out unqualified leads, hard-working midfielders keeping operations ticking over and attacking players frequently delivering prospects via hot content, your lead generation dream team is complete.

Like the players featured, we operate in Europe and beyond so get in touch to find out exactly how many leads we could generate for you.

 

Inbox Insight’s Lead Generation Starting XI

The Lead Generation Starting XI

Rebecca Tebbutt

Meet Bex, Senior Marketing Manager at Inbox Insight. CIM trained and with a wealth of experience driving growth through delivering multi-channel demand generation programs, Bex is passionate about all things digital.
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