10 Lead Generation Mistakes

Leads, leads, leads. Once the referrals and the circle of family and friends aren’t enough to keep your company growing, it’s all about the leads. Yet, when it comes to generating leads, agencies get it all wrong in 10 very common ways.

Top 10 Lead Gen Mistakes To Avoid

Avoid these common lead generation mistakes and you’ll start to see your pipeline fill.

Lead Generation Mistake #1:

Spending on marketing activities that don’t produce ROI or are “vanity exercises” (e.g. excessive graphic design and image advertising).

Watch any free to air TV station for a half hour and without a doubt you will see a brand ad trying to “generate awareness.” This business or product is “generating awareness” among the TV audience who may (or may not) be targets for its services. There is a lot of wasted eyeballs.

Meanwhile, the funds to create the ad (and to run the ad week after week) can surely be much better spent by reaching out to the smaller, more targeted pool of key prospects with a compelling offer. For the most part, spending on general awareness ads produces a very low ROI in the short term. It’s a great long term strategy.

Focus your lead generation efforts and dollars on tactics that are going to produce strong ROI.

Lead Generation Mistake #2:

Expecting marketing tactics to produce results without a clear call to action.

I recently saw an ad for a major ad agency touting “solutions” versus just “services.” Many people saw that ad-and did nothing because they weren’t asked to do anything.

If, however, the ad had focused on new research in intellectual property protection for technology companies that could be downloaded as a white paper, the ad could have been used to generate leads for the agency.

People will accept an offer-white paper, case study, article, book, research, sales call-from an ad. They will rarely, if ever, pick up the phone straight-away and go from ad to becoming a new client. Know your sales cycle.

Have a goal and clear call to action and offer for each of your marketing tactics.

Lead Generation Mistake #3:

Not implementing any lead generation tactics because of inefficient decision making.

I can’t tell you how many times I have met with a potential client to talk about lead generation, and these companies are hot with good intentions with their lead generation efforts – they want more leads and they want them now! Then, six months go by, a year goes by, three years go by, and they still haven’t taken action.

All too often in businesses there are too many decision makers who can’t get on the same page and decide what to do when it comes to marketing and lead generation. So, they end up doing nothing or even worse running another awareness ad because it’s easier that agreeing on a tight strategy.

If you find yourself complaining about a lack of leads, yet unwilling to move forward with any lead generation campaigns, either stop complaining or do something about it.

Lead Generation Mistake #4:

Not being able to sustain implementation over the long-term.

As much as you might like to shorten the sales cycle, buying complex, trust-based services takes time. Leads need to be nurtured over the long term so you are top of mind when the elusive time of need arises.

All companies want more leads and want them now. As a result, they plan and implement a lead generation campaign, but they impatiently dig up the roots after two weeks to see if it’s growing yet. (This is not a good way to grow a tree or to generate new leads.)

Lead generation efforts must be sustained over months to make them 1) work and 2) improve over time.

Lead Generation Mistake #5:

Relying on one tactic only.

It takes 7 touch points for a movie goer to really consider a film for viewing in the cinema and since films aren’t in the cinema for long – we are bombed with marketing material through many channels at the films release time; trailers, reviews, posters, interviews red carpet specials. The Hollywood studio’s are making sure you get the touch points they need to convert you into a bum on the cinema seat.

This think about how many touch points are possible within your budget.

Lead Generation Mistake #6:

Poor implementation (e.g. poorly written marketing copy and poorly designed or poorly targeted campaigns).

Let’s say you decide to run an online marketing campaign. You spend weeks preparing the content, making the ads and putting together the sales funnel. Then, the day comes you get two leads. Believe me we have had a client that had spent £1000 for two leads. So, what happens? You give up on online campaigns and declare; “We tried that, it didn’t work.”

On the contrary, online advertising can and does work, you just implemented the marketing of the campaign poorly. Our client that spent the £1000 for 2 leads is now one of our pay per lead clients and now loves digital marketing.

A number of tactics can be successful to generate new leads for your products and services. Know what it takes to successfully implement each tactic. And if you don’t know what it takes, get help from someone who does.

Lead Generation Mistake #7:

Poor lead conversion.

Many clients successfully drive leads to their website or call centre, but fail to convert.

You website is not just a page with your business details on it, it’s a information matrix that prospects are using to make a decision. Many clients don’t have the latest optimization techniques that can dramatically increase conversion rates.

Clients have much better results through call centres because it’s been a standard for many years and you can control the situation, but having a great script and team is critical for converting the prospect to a customer.

Sumo Leadz prides ourselves in making sure all our clients get the info required from the leads we deliver. to help their sales team with the conversion process

Lead Generation Mistake #8:

Not communicating your value in marketing.

We often hear from our clients that they want their prospects to perceive that they are credible and distinct, so they end up writing marketing messages that say, “I’m credible and distinct.” Or, “I’m trustworthy.” Or, “I’m innovative, yet solid.”

If you want your prospects to believe you are credible and distinct, you must demonstrate that you are credible and distinct. You can do this by providing value directly in your marketing and selling efforts. You must show and not tell.

Lead Generation Mistake #9:

Not integrating various marketing tactics well.

Lead generation is a multi-step process. It takes multiple touch points to draw prospects into your sales funnel. These touch points need to be well-planned with a consistent message, at the right frequency, and with the right mix of offers. Not all prospects will be interested in reading your website, attending a seminar or reading a white paper, while others will want to do both before engaging a conversation with you.

Integrate your lead generation efforts for the greatest success.

Lead Generation Mistake #10:

Planning poorly for lead generation.

Value. Consistent messaging. Integration. Targeting. Lead nurturing. All of that will come to nothing if it is not well-planned, measured, and tested.

Planning for lead generation is not the kind of thing that happens one time and is forever etched in stone for the year ahead. When it comes to marketing and lead generation, some tactics work better for some companies than others-and you never know which ones work best for you until you test them.

Avoid these top 10 lead generation mistakes and you won’t end up waiting for the new leads.

Or you can leave it to Sumo Leadz to generate the leads for you, so you can focus on doing what you do best selling your product or service