We live in a world where so much of our success is determined by superficial things. Whether it’s the car you drive, the house you own or the places you holiday in, there is a belief that what you have to show for yourself indicates your level of worth.

After years of working in the marketing industry, I’d argue that this is far from the case when it comes to business. Sure, how many social media followers, views or likes you have makes a difference – but they are also vanity metrics. What really generates impact is how well your business meets its consumer’s needs.

The secret to lead generation is knowing what your customers really want, getting the right people engaged and nurturing those relationships to make them last. Let’s explore the question of “how?”

1. Get to know your audience

Knowing what your target audience really wants is the only way to connect with them in a way that will engage them and keep them coming back for more.

2. Capture demand

So many businesses put products out onto the market that flop before they’ve even had a chance to get going. Why? Because there was never a demand for them in the first place.

Examine data and gather information on your target audience to identify their needs and consumption patterns. Research and analysis are the only way to truly understand what your consumers are looking for. Keep up with market trends, use social listening tools and conduct surveys and case studies to capture demand early and save precious time and money.

If you’re an established business, you should review your existing marketing to see what is and isn’t working. Use tools like Google Analytics, Google Ads and social media insights to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your marketing. Part of this process also includes analyzing your competitors.

3. Develop a buyer persona

The best way to fail at your marketing strategy is to create content that you like. You are not the target audience. The aim is to determine what your customers want and need from you.

The other thing to keep in mind is that your intention shouldn’t be to please everyone – it is better to have 100 dedicated clients than 10,000 who are slightly interested. This is where it’s crucial to be able to define your ideal customer. Who do you sell to? What are you offering that targets their pain points and solves their problem?

Creating a customer persona can mean drawing a picture of them, giving them a name, and writing down everything about them. From their age to their income, daily routine, and how many pets they have. Write down every single detail you can think of. This will help shape the image of your ideal customer so you know who your product or service is speaking to.

Related: Buyer Personas: What They Are, Why They Matter and How to Best Build One

4. Build a list of SEO keywords and popular search topics

You want to know what people are most likely to search for when they’re looking for things related to your industry. With the developments in SEO constantly growing, it is easier than ever to gather this wealth of information. Here are some useful free and subscription-based resources:

Related: 9 SEO Tips to Help You Rank No. 1 on Google in 2024

5. Create awareness

Once you know what keywords and search terms people will most likely enter into their search engine, you can flood your content with them to gain traction and visibility. People want to know what your brand is all about, so you must create content that people want to see.

One of the best ways to do this is to get recording. Whether you have the best video camera on the market or you’ve set up your iPhone on a tripod, it doesn’t actually matter much. What does matter is that you’re presenting your audience with what they want to see and hear.

Starting with video gives you a goldmine of content opportunities to make from it. What may start as a full-length video piece can then be cut up into 5-10 short-form videos for various social media platforms, used for social media posts, translated into blogs, and even used for ad copy.

Content is everything when it comes to creating awareness; being resourceful with what you create will free up your time for other important tasks.

6. Protect those leads

If you don’t nurture your leads and follow them through, or you fail to remain in the minds of potential or new customers, your success will begin to fall off.

The smartest way to manage leads is to keep the communication flowing. While you don’t want to bombard or nag at consumers, you do want them to know their value and that you haven’t forgotten about them.

Knowing where your leads are coming from is a great way to tailor content and messaging to them directly. Research and analysis also come in handy again here – review your ad campaigns, social media insights, website analytics and anything else you use to generate leads.

A Customer Relationship Management Tool (CRM) is one of the best ways to track all your marketing efforts in one place and nurture your leads. Engaging with your customers and using remarketing techniques like email campaigns are also highly effective ways to do just that.

Related: Making A CRM Platform Your Sales Team’s Best Friend: The How-To

Lead generation is not an overnight job. It takes time, research, consistency and a willingness to measure efforts regularly. Understanding your audience, creating a buzz around your product or service and putting in the work to keep people engaged are the surest ways to foster sustainable business-to-customer (B2C) relationships for the life of your business.