At Smart Funnel, we do lead generation. We make it our business to know what’s changing in the industry- what are the lead generation trends?
We took a look at a recent Forbes article about changes in communication that experts expect to see in the coming year. It got us thinking about what those trends mean for lead generation.
What Matters Most in Business?
Last week, we wrote a post about the nonexistent difference between growth marketing and lead generation. We noted one of the things that makes the biggest difference in the success of any such effort. It’s the degree to which you’re able to devote personal attention to your prospects.
We spoke of companies with an outsize interest in growth marketing. We said “that they need their marketing efforts to focus on getting more of the right customers.
“If you already know what your ideal market segment is, you know which kinds of customers are most likely to buy from you. That’s because they’re the ones that most likely need your product.
“Going after every possible customer, and trying to close deals that don’t make sense, is only going to hurt your brand in the long run.”
In other words, growth for its own sake is not always the best strategy. Look at enormous corporations that have millions of subscribing customers. You can see that they often run into problems with customer relations.
A company that can’t scale customer service to match growth is going to have branding difficulties.
That’s one example. What we’re getting at is that it’s tempting to think that the purpose of business is to make money. To some extent that’s true. But you can never lose sight of the fact that the way to make that money is by providing things the way people want them.
Lead Generation Trends Toward Personalization
So what does this all have to do with lead generation trends?
Everything, as it turns out.
That Forbes article we mentioned was a council post written by 13 industry experts.
The final point in that post, “Increasingly granular personalization,” noted the following:
“Personalization is key. As message clutter grows across digital channels, companies need to capture and keep customer attention. They’re leveraging master data to build more complete profiles of customers’ needs, wants and preferences, and matching profiles with appropriate ads and content. These efforts can increase website traffic and even entice customers to come in store for exclusive deals.”
– Prashant Bhatia of Stibo Systems, Get Ready For These 13 Communications Industry Trends In 2020 (Forbes)
There are some other keywords to consider from the post. Things like microtargeting, chatbots, local talent, interactivity, and A.I.-driven personalization.
All these things are getting at the idea that brands need to have a very specific approach to their lead generation efforts.
Smart Funnel Helps
Smart Funnel adds value in the way that we provide high-quality lead data for our clients.
We know from personal experience that much of the raw data out there for sale is junk.
Companies buy it anyway because it’s cheap, but it takes a lot of work to sort through it and find the real diamonds.
Those are the prospects who may actually be interested in your industry.
Whether they’re interested in your specific products depends on your marketing efforts. What we can do, though, is find the people who you can have a conversation with.
Smart Funnel provides scrubbed data lists that are ready for you to start calling with! We help you keep up with lead generation trends towards greater personalization.
If you’re having a hard time sorting through mountains of data, contact us. We make it easier to embrace the personalization that leads to marketing success in the next decade!
