3 Ways Generative AI Will Help Marketers Connect With Customers
3 min read
It’s no secret that people are inundated with countless messages and offers daily. Marketers have to find a way to capture attention and build genuine interest in their products and services. According to our research, chief marketing officers (CMOs) cite customer preferences and expectations as their number 1 influence on digital strategy. The goal is lead generation: building interest over time that eventually leads to a sale.
Let’s break down exactly what lead generation is, how artificial intelligence (AI) plays a role, and what steps to take to make sure you’re finding and nurturing leads the right way.
Use these four tactics to attract prospects, build lasting relationships, and deliver metrics that matter. Our latest B2B marketing guide will show you how.
Lead generation is the process of building interest in a product or service and then turning that interest into a sale. Lead gen makes the sales cycle more efficient because it focuses on the strongest and most valuable prospects. The result is greater success in new customer acquisition and conversion rates.
There are three types of leads:
The lead generation process begins with creating awareness and interest. You can start by publishing blog posts that educate your audience and engaging users through social media. You capture potential leads through sign-ups in which a person voluntarily gives you contact info to stay in touch. This can be through an email newsletter or ”gated” content such as webinars, virtual events, live chats, whitepapers, or ebooks.
Once you have leads, you can use their contact info to engage with personalized communication and targeted promotions. (Back to top)
Now that you’ve got a better understanding of lead generation, how can you start to move people from prospect to buyer? Start with creating, sharing, and testing content that grabs your audience’s attention.
It all starts with creating strong content. Focus on your target audience’s pain points and how your product or service can solve those.
For example, if my business offers project management software, it would be a good idea to create a series of videos about project planning tips or case studies showcasing some of my successful timeline implementations. I know that when I’m a customer, I like seeing proof that companies can actually do what they say, so I make it a point to show my customers exactly that.
You also need a lead scoring system. This is when you assign points based on specific actions, such as webinar attendance, whitepaper downloads, or engagement with high-value pages on your website.
If my leads consistently engage with product features on my site, I’ll assign them a higher lead score than someone who only occasionally visits my homepage. By prioritizing efforts on leads with higher scores, my sales team can focus on prospects more likely to convert. We save time and money – who doesn’t like that?
Figuring out which social media channels your target audience uses matters. If you’re fishing for clients, you have to be in the right spot. You’re not going to use X if your business targets a visually-oriented demographic, right? Using platforms like Instagram or Pinterest to share visually appealing content, you’ll have better results.
Regardless of the channel, you’ll need a clear and compelling call-to-action and a user-friendly design. I can get better conversion rates for my subscription-based service by featuring a persuasive sign-up form on the site’s landing page, accompanied by customer testimonials.
I make sure to use A/B testing and analytics to refine things like headlines, visuals, or calls-to-action based on real-time performance data. (Remember, A/B testing is a way to compare multiple versions of a single variable to determine which of the variants is more effective.) When I use it on email subject lines, my team can analyze open rates to determine the most effective messaging, ultimately optimizing the email campaign for better engagement and lead conversion. (Back to top)
Talking about how to evaluate your leads involves some acronyms that can feel like a mouthful, but bear with me for a few and I’ll explain why they’re important.
The first thing I do is define my ideal customer profile (ICP). That just means assessing potential leads based on the information I have. Do I know their level of interest? What do I know about their budget or buying authority?
The BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timing) framework is valuable because it establishes key criteria for assessing lead readiness, guiding marketers to prioritize efforts on prospects with a higher likelihood of conversion.
Let’s say I have a software company and I’m using BANT to qualify leads. Here are some questions I’d ask:
These criteria are like a filter that help me prioritize leads who are ready to take action.
Lead scoring is a lot like what it sounds. By assigning numerical values to leads based on their behavior and interactions, you can prioritize follow-up efforts. For example, a lead downloading a product demo will receive a higher score than one who only visited the homepage.
Lead grading complements scoring by evaluating the overall fit of a lead within your target market. A lead from a large enterprise in your target industry would receive a higher grade than a lead from a smaller, unrelated business. Use them both and you’ll get a nuanced understanding of lead quality. (Back to top)
Once you’ve established your scoring and grading, your next step is to strategize ways to nurture your leads. You can do this with:
It seems like AI is influencing every part of the marketing landscape — lead generation included. Here’s a look at some ways marketers are improving their lead gen skills.
Our job as marketers is to understand lead behaviors and preferences — and AI-driven lead generation tools have made it easier to do just that. Machine learning algorithms can even predict the content a lead is most likely to engage with based on their past interactions.
I’ve used AI to analyze a customer’s purchase history and recommend complementary products — a very cool process! The analysis gave me a nuanced understanding of the customers’ specific interests and helped me identify broader trends within the big-picture customer base. And it helped me improve my targeting and personalized marketing strategies.
AI can also help automate processes and deliver personalized content at scale. When I created my dynamic email campaigns, I adapted content based on lead behaviors, prompting the tool how to tailor communications. Customers feel special when they are “seen” by businesses. With personalization, I’ve been able to extend beyond the initial lead generation phase. Clients are more satisfied and I’ve gotten repeat business.
Video marketing is another way to offer a dynamic experience. People are naturally captivated by the visual and auditory appeal of videos, so you can draw more attention by promoting them across your social media, website, and email campaigns.
Make sure the content is compelling though – short product demonstrations, testimonials, or educational pieces can enhance the lead generation process. You’ll earn brand ambassadors when you make it memorable. Use a shareable format so leads respect your concise style and usability. (Back to top)
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Having metrics as part of your toolkit for evaluating lead generation efforts is crucial for several reasons. Number one, they offer a clear understanding of what is working and what needs work. Number two, these metrics contribute to accountability.
When you quantify the cost-effectiveness of acquiring leads and assessing their quality, you can better allocate your marketing budget. Last, having measurable metrics encourages you to set realistic benchmarks for the kind of progress you hope to make over time.
Key metrics for evaluating lead generation efforts include:
Conversion rate: Track the percentage of leads that take a desired action, such as filling out a form or making a purchase.
Cost per lead (CPL): Calculate the cost incurred for acquiring a single lead, dividing the total spend by the number of leads generated. If a marketing campaign costs $1,000 and generates 200 leads, the CPL is $5.
Lead quality: Assess the quality of leads based on their likelihood to convert into customers. For instance, if a business uses lead scoring and finds that leads with a score above 80 are more likely to convert, it indicates the effectiveness of the lead generation strategy.
Return on investment (ROI): Measure the overall effectiveness of lead generation efforts by comparing the revenue generated to the total investment.
At Salesforce, we survey a variety of marketers across the globe to understand current priorities and trends. We promote the resulting report across a variety of channels where the public can filter the data for a taste of the value in the report. We want them to be inspired to click on the ‘Full Report’ button where they’re asked to provide contact info (which generates a lead) in order to gain access to the full report, which is quite extensive.
It’s promoted across a variety of channels: social, email, digital display, and content syndication. We also retarget the audience to deliver further down-funnel content. (Back to top)
Best practices in lead generation are not just about increasing leads. We want to earn the respect of our customers and keep connections positive and ongoing. When you adhere to a quality work ethic, you signal a commitment to transparency. This is crucial in a landscape marked by privacy concerns. You’ll gain more leads and earn their respect if you consider the following tips:
Lead generation is how you build trust with and bond with your audience. It takes some work to set up properly. But do it right and you’re more likely to earn more business – and create those lasting, meaningful relationships with customers. (Back to top)
Learn what’s ahead for this technology and see new ways you can use it to connect with your customers. Our latest research tells you all you need to know.
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