Lead generation is the process of using lead generation strategies such as blog posts, online content, emails, social media campaigns, webinars, and targeted landing pages to attract prospects—making them so interested in the brand that they purchase a product or service.
However, generating leads is not as easy as it seems. Lead generation statistics show how the fierce competition between brands can make it hard to produce quality leads. For this reason, having a program can help greatly in accomplishing your marketing purpose.
Let’s take a look at the following statistics that can help you better understand lead generation.
Top Lead Generation Stats: Editor’s Choice
General Lead Generation Statistics
How do businesses generate leads? Which strategy works best for your company? Let’s take a look at the most notable lead generation stats and facts to find out.
1. 34% of salespeople agree that prospecting and lead qualification is the main challenge.
Generating leads is becoming increasingly difficult as the competition between brands heats up. Most companies struggle to find the right strategies to attract potential customers. According to lead generation facts, marketers are facing some big challenges such as proving the return on investment on their marketing activities and securing a bigger marketing budget.
2. About 53% of companies spend half of their budget on lead generation.
Despite struggling to overcome the most common challenges of lead generation marketing, the latest BrightTALK and LinkedIn B2B lead generation report suggests that marketers still focus on budget allocation and lead nurturing. Lead generation cost is becoming a question that most marketers are wondering about, but there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer.
3. Inbound leads are 61% cheaper than outbound leads.
While inbound marketing includes SEO, blogging, and social media, outbound marketing is more traditional with direct mail, trade expositions, and telemarketing. Inbound marketing statistics reveal that the adoption of blogs and social media is more effective and less expensive than using more conventional approaches.
4. Midsize and large businesses primarily generate less than 5,000 leads in a month.
While we couldn’t find any lead generation statistics for 2021, the most recent data shows that midsize and large organizations generate an average of 1,877 leads monthly. However, the numbers vary from industry to industry and from company to company. Results depend on your marketing and sales strategy, your website performance. Companies can also adopt marketing automation to improve leads and conversion rates.
5. 73% of US consumers prefer that brands contact them via direct mail.
Most consumers prefer direct mail marketing to communicate with their favorite brands, as they can instantly review the products themselves. Consumers don’t like ads appearing on the screen while browsing the web. They prefer to discover brands and products at their own convenience.
6. Marketers who follow up within five minutes are nine times more likely to convert leads.
One of the most efficient lead generation techniques is adopting instant follow-ups. An InsideSales report stated that this strategy is nine times more likely to convert online leads into buyers. However, communicating that fast to every customer might be impossible. That’s where automation steps in—to help businesses automatically reply to customers, significantly cutting company costs.
7. 66% of marketers produce leads by spending only six hours per week on social media marketing.
According to social media lead generation statistics, social media can give positive results by not investing a lot of time. Most marketers can still generate leads from social media by investing only a few hours per week on social media marketing. Social media can be highly influential among users, attracting many potential customers.
B2B Lead Generation Statistics
If you’re a B2B business or aspire to become one, here are some of the most critical facts about B2B you should know.
8. 68% of B2B companies use strategic landing pages to generate leads.
Lead generation landing page statistics show that businesses use strategic landing pages to get more leads. This strategy is crucial for conversions—high-converting landing pages can make the user follow the brand on social media, sign up for the company’s newsletter, or purchase a product.
9. According to 79% of B2B marketers, email is the most effective lead generation channel.
B2B email marketing statistics show that newsletters, lead nurturing emails, welcome emails, or transactional emails are the most used and influential email marketing strategies, despite being one of the oldest ones. Social media (60%) and blogs (41%) take second and third place, respectively.
10. 59% of B2B marketers believe that SEO has the most significant impact on lead generation’s goals.
The latest study indicates that top B2B lead generation companies think SEO has the most notable influence on their goals. However, its relevance is highly debatable—other strategies and techniques such as email marketing and social media prove to have a more meaningful impact on lead generation than SEO.
11. 73% of B2B marketers admit that a webinar is the best strategy to generate high-quality leads.
According to webinar lead generation statistics, webinars are successful because they’re highly engaging. Additionally, webinars operate throughout the whole customer journey—they’re a dynamic strategy for guiding the audience from brand awareness to closing the purchase and beyond. Sales statistics prove that webinars generate leads by acquiring useful information.
12. 49% of law firms agree that buying leads is their best marketing channel.
Law firms are generally not good at online marketing, so they prefer buying leads online instead of finding ways to market themselves. Lead generation lawyers statistics show that almost half of the law firms get customers from lead generation. Other channels, including referrals, are not that efficient.
13. The number of online sessions to real estate websites generated 65% more leads.
Real estate lead generation statistics indicate that an increasing number of people would like to take advantage of the opportunities in the real estate industry. For this reason, conversion rates are lowering considerably. Sales conversion rate statistics state that technological advancements will threaten the industry — it’s going to change the real estate industry altogether.
14. Patients will convert into leads when they see the company’s marketing at least five times before becoming your patient.
Patient lead generation statistics indicate that potential patients need to understand the company’s marketing before becoming a lead. Companies in the medical field adopt newsletters, social media, or improve landing pages to promote their practices. Usually, the conversion rate happens on their first appointment with the medical institution.
Content Marketing Statistics
Content marketing is one of the most critical inbound marketing channels, as it strives for unique content to attract new leads.
Here’s a list of statistics that gives you a better idea of how content marketing is used for lead generation.
15. 91% of B2B marketers use content marketing to reach potential customers.
According to the latest lead generation trends, almost all B2B companies adopt content marketing over outbound marketing as it generates up to three times more leads and costs 62% less. Focusing on lead generation by creating content is more beneficial than directly reaching potential buyers.
16. 86% of B2C marketers use content marketing to reach potential customers.
Just like B2B marketers, lead generation statistics for B2C demonstrate that a staggering majority of B2C companies use content marketing as their primary strategy over outbound strategy.
17. The most successful performers spend 40% of a company’s marketing budget on content marketing.
The total lead generation percentage allocated to the content marketing budget varies from its success rate. The top performers spend almost half of their total budget, while the least successful only 14%. This data indicates how content marketing has a huge impact on lead generation.
18. 53% of marketers use interactive content in lead generation.
Demand generation statistics report that most content marketers have been adopting interactive content for more than three years. Furthermore, they stated that interactive content accounts for, on average, 23% of the total marketing content in the last 12 months. This data shows how businesses that focus on interactive content will keep using it in the future.
19. Content marketing lead generation statistics indicate that a catchy headline can create 500% more traffic.
A report conducted by Upworthy revealed that a captivating headline on a website or blog could be much more influential than people might think, driving up to five times more traffic. The proper use of words can boost lead generation significantly.
Lead Nurturing Statistics
Now that you have a good grasp of how leads are generated, we will see how important it is to nurture them—see some numbers.
20. Over 79% of generated leads end up not converting into sales.
The reality is that only a quarter of your hard-earned leads will convert into sales. Interesting statistics on lead generation and small business demonstrate that 61% of B2B marketers send all leads to sales while only 27% will be qualified for the sales process. Therefore, these leads will need nurturing until they enter the buying process.
21. Nurtured leads result in a 47% higher order value than non-nurtured leads.
Lead nurturing builds better relationships with your potential buyers and drives more sales. Lead nurturing stats show that most companies nurture leads only at the top of the marketing funnel. However, companies need to nurture their leads during the whole purchasing process—the goal is to build a relationship between customers and brands that will last for a long time.
22. 59% of marketers admit that the most challenging lead nurturing strategy is creating content.
Content should always be a priority for every business. Nevertheless, customer retention stats prove that content is the most challenging in nurturing quality leads and generating customer loyalty. Companies should always aim for quality over quantity and produce accurate data in order to reach a larger audience.
Lead Generation Trends: The Takeaway
Before technological advancement, more traditional marketing methods were enough to improve customer outreach. Nowadays, the rising competition makes it challenging for companies to reach and engage with potential buyers. Consequently, lead generation has become one of the most essential marketing processes to convert potential customers into sales.
As lead generation statistics demonstrate, adopting the right strategy is crucial for your business. Strategies can vary from industry to industry, but email marketing, social media marketing, and webinars are a few of the most efficient channels.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do sales leads cost?
Lead generation adds new customers to the sales funnel. However, that comes at a higher cost because it involves media agencies, social media ads, list purchases, marketing campaigns, and incentives.
As reported in 2019, the average cost per lead was $198. However, the cost varies depending on the industry, market, and competition. For example, $160 is the average cost for finance, $208 for technology, $162 for healthcare, $136 for manufacturing, $106 for travel and tourism.
What is lead generation?
In digital marketing, lead generation is a marketing process that focuses on reaching, attracting, and converting people into sales by adopting online channels and strategies. These include email marketing, webinars, social media, advertisement, and landing pages.
In addition, lead generation allows businesses to nurture the generated leads until customers feel ready to purchase a product or service. Not only is lead generation a valuable strategy for any kind of business type, but it’s also appropriate for B2B and B2C marketers.
What is inbound lead generation?
Inbound lead generation is a marketing strategy of creating content and campaigns in order to bring in website visitors and convert them into leads. As a result of this strategy, the brand improves its online visibility, especially in search engines and social media. By creating valuable content that attracts visitors, businesses are able to acquire their contact information.
Inbound lead generation is focused on helping, rather than selling, meaning that brands help buyers research and solve their problems, thus making better purchase decisions.
How to use Facebook for lead generation?
Suppose your company highly depends on lead generation for conversations. In that case, Facebook is your best shot—it has plenty of tools that encourage potential customers to engage with your business.
Facebook for lead generation can achieve many marketing goals, such as knowing potential buyers. This can be done through Facebook lead ads. Facebook achieves these objectives by understanding the audience, asking questions, and collecting information.
How to use LinkedIn for lead generation?
At first, LinkedIn only functioned as a platform for professional networking. Over the past few years, LinkedIn has become a potential tool for lead generation. According to lead generation statistics, 82% of B2B marketers adopt LinkedIn for content marketing. Influencers and company leaders’ impact has also become remarkable. With the right strategy, it’s possible to capture your audience’s attention, grow as a business, and create traffic and leads.
Sources
ABA, Annuitas, Avidly Agency, B2B Digital Marketers, Business2Community, Carrot, Content Marketing Institute, Content Marketing Institute, Content Marketing Institute, Denave, HubSpot, HubSpot, Invespcro, LRM Study, Marketo, Neil Patel, Practice Promotions, Workcast