A lead is someone who for some reason—any reason—is interested in what you’re selling. But not all leads are created equal, and just because a lead is “interested” doesn’t necessarily make it a lead you want. While quantity certainly matters with lead generation because you want to attract as many potential buyers as possible to your product or service, not all leads are created equal. Quality comes first—and by quality, we’re talking qualified.
First, let’s define lead generation, because it’s a term that gets thrown out often but can be confusing to those who aren’t ingrained in the marketing world. In the most basic sense, lead generation is making people aware of your product and getting them to “raise their hand” and show interest in what you’re offering. HubSpot defines lead generation as “the process of attracting and converting strangers and prospects into someone who has indicated interest in your company’s product or service.”
Leads come from a variety of sources, including social media, email campaigns, online job applications, and blog posts. In 2021, 78% of marketers surveyed by Activate say their demand generation budget will stay the same or grow.
Lead generation can be an investment in time and resources, but the ROI is proven, as studies show. Lead generation is how 67% of companies determine the success of online content, according to a 2019 SEMrush report. The key is to score the right kind of leads that will stick with you through the entire sales journey.
The Leads That Matter—Who’s Interested?
Depending on who you ask, there are three to five different types of leads, and they can be classified based on where the lead is in the sales journey, or how you attracted the lead. And, keeping it very simple, there are unqualified leads and qualified leads. So, let’s start there.
Unqualified Lead – This lead somehow found your business but is not a target customer or is not interested in what you offer.
Qualified Lead – This is someone who is a target customer and is interested in your offering for some reason. You’re looking for qualified leads—and you want to usher them along the lead generation process, which can look like this:
- New Lead – This qualified lead has a little bit of background about your company and what you sell. Maybe they visited your website or received an email from you or saw you on social media. A new lead might have taken a business card from you at a trade show booth.
- Working Lead – Now, you have the attention of this qualified lead and they are on “your list.” Thy might follow you on social media, or they’ve given you an email address or received a phone call from you. The working lead is interested in learning even more. This lead is active.
- Nurturing Lead – This prospective customer is not prepared to buy right now, but they’re interested in what you offer and show a potential to convert into a customer in the future. They’re a warm, qualified lead.
Qualified leads land on your radar for different reasons. According to HubSpot, there are four types of qualified leads—and each is valuable for different reasons.
- Marketing Qualified Lead
- Sales Qualified Lead
- Product Qualified Lead
- Service Qualified Lead
Marketing Qualified Lead – These are contacts who have engaged in marketing efforts such as reading blogs, visiting your website, liking social media posts, or signing up for an offer.
Sales Qualified Lead – These leads have expressed interest in being customers. For example, they might fill out a form to ask a question about your product or service. Or, they might start an online chat to inquire for more information.
Product Qualified Lead – These leads accepted a free trial or product offer and said they’d like to become a customer.
Service Qualified Lead – This type of lead tells a customer service representative at your organization they want to be a customer. It could be someone who is using a “free trial” and agrees to pay for a subscription.
Work The Leads That Work For You
At the end of the day, you want to fill your sale pipeline with qualified leads you can “work” or “nurture,” and who express interest because they have been touched by a marketing, sales, product, or service experience. These qualified leads are the target and prospective customers. And by working these leads, you’ll funnel your lead generation time and resources toward campaigns that deliver a return-on-investment and result in customers that will naturally participate in lead gen by referring you to others.