How to Generate More Sales Leads: 13 Proven Methods

Fernando Figueiredo
August 1, 2025
15
 min read
Contents

Many businesses struggle with finding the best ways to attract new prospects. What works for certain businesses doesn’t necessarily work for yours. And sometimes they burn lots of cash; but many times you don't need a massive marketing budget or a large team to generate high-quality leads. What you need is a smart approach that uses proven tactics, and puts your unique value proposition at the center of everything.

In this guide, we explore 13 actionable strategies to generate more leads, increase conversions, and grow your business. We'll also discuss the best strategies from a small business perspective. And while we’re here, you'll be introduced to Zeeg, an appointment booking CRM, and how it can improve your lead generation process through efficient scheduling and qualification.

Generate more leads from the very first meeting

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Why traditional lead generation techniques might not work

Before the strategies, it’s important to understand why many of the well known lead generation tactics sometimes don’t deliver results—at least not  like they used to.

Lead management has changed, essentially because today's buyers are more informed and selective than ever. They research extensively before making contact with sales teams. In fact, according to many studies, oftentimes the buying decision is made before a prospect ever reaches out to a company. That means more informed customers.

Also, it’s true that market saturation has made it harder to stand out. With countless businesses competing for attention, generic outreach methods can fall flat easyly. Cold calling, once a staple of sales lead generation, now has low returns. Because the decision-makers want to screen calls and protect their time. Efficiency is the goal for everyone.

So, what works instead? Let's explore how to get more leads by implementing these strategies.

How to generate more leads

1. Make your website generate more leads

Your website should be more than a digital brochure—in fact, you can use it as your hardest-working salesperson, generating leads 24/7. Many businesses don’t know this. And, for example, they might settle for basic contact forms, instead of creating proper and shiny lead capture systems.

First of all, you should think of your visitors’ intent. Some visitors are just beginning to research their problems, while others are comparing solutions in order to buy one. 

Your website should aim to address each stage of the buying journey with appropriate content and conversion opportunities.

Optimize landing pages for conversion

Landing pages dedicated to specific offers will convert much better than just general pages, because they focus visitor attention on a single action. Avoid having generic pages with multiple purposes, as that’s known to decrease the likelihood of sales (or sign-ups).

So, when creating landing pages, try to focus on clarity over cleverness. The visitor should immediately know what you're offering and why it matters to them as soon as they read the first words. Use customer language rather than industry jargon, and make the benefits evident-rather than overloading visitors with your features. 

Each landing page should include:

  • A headline that clearly communicates the specific value proposition
  • Concise, benefit-focused copy that addresses key pain points
  • Social proof elements like testimonials or client logos
  • A single, prominent call-to-action that stands out visually
  • Minimal navigation options to reduce distractions and exit points

Use strategic lead capture forms

This step is important for when anonymous visitors become identified leads. The design and implementation of your forms can indeed impact your lead generation results.

The key challenge with your forms is to balance your desire for information with the visitor's reluctance to provide it. Be mindful that every field you add creates additional friction and can decrease completion rates. Yet gathering too little information makes lead qualification difficult.

For most businesses, progressive profiling works best. Start with minimal information (name and email) for initial conversions, and gather additional data in next interactions.

Consider these form strategies:

  • Multi-step forms that break the process into less intimidating chunks
  • Smart forms that adapt based on user behavior or characteristics
  • Exit-intent popups that appear when users are about to leave your site
  • Chat widgets for visitors who prefer conversational interactions
  • Form field validation that happens in real-time to reduce frustration

Implement A/B testing

If we know already that your website is important to get more business leads, the truth is that this isn't a one-time project. It should be ongoing. You can do small improvements over time to let them increase your lead generation results. But without systematic testing, you're left making decisions based on assumptions rather than data.

A/B testing allows you to compare different versions of your pages to determine which of them performs better. While many businesses focus on testing major redesigns, the most reliable gains might also come from testing smaller elements individually.

You can focus your testing efforts on some high-impact elements:

  • Headline variations that frame your offer differently
  • Form designs, including field types and quantity
  • Call-to-action button copy, color, and placement
  • Visual elements like hero images and videos
  • Page layout and content organization

You can do this for organic results, or for ads. But in both cases, you should have a decent number of visits, otherwise the results might be difficult to analyze.

2. Use Zeeg scheduling CRM to qualify and convert leads

Even the most sophisticated lead generation strategies can fall short if your prospects can't easily take the next step. The transition from being an interested lead to a scheduled meeting is a critical conversion point where many potential opportunities are lost.

And why? Because traditional scheduling isn’t perfect. There’s back-and-forth emails to find mutually available times, time wasted, and in the meantime prospects lose interest. 

Streamline the meeting scheduling process

Modern scheduling tools like Zeeg eliminate these barriers by automating the meeting scheduling and integrating it into a CRM. Rather than exchanging multiple messages to find compatible times, prospects can see your real-time availability and book meetings instantly based on their preferences. 

But more than just finding available times, you’ll get a tone of other features, like automatic time zone detection to prevent confusion, buffer times between meetings, and integration with video conferencing, calendar, and CRM platforms.

And better than that, Zeeg can qualify your sales leads and route them to the right rep. Here’s a few of the perks:

  • Create personalized booking links showing your real-time availability to prospects
  • Enable 24/7 self-scheduling so prospects can book at their convenience
  • Have automatic time zone detection to prevent scheduling confusion
  • Send customized confirmation and reminder messages to reduce no-shows
  • Integrate with your calendar apps to prevent double-booking
  • Route leads fairly with round-robin distribution
  • Qualify your leads with booking forms

Qualify leads through booking forms

The key here is to find the right balance in your form between too little and too much information.

The data collected through booking forms serves multiple purposes beyond meeting preparation. It feeds into your lead scoring system, helps route prospects to appropriate team members, and provides valuable insights for ongoing lead nurturing if the initial meeting doesn't result in immediate next steps.

Gather essential information with these form strategies:

  • Include sales qualifying questions that help determine fit with your solution
  • Collect industry and role information to tailor the conversation appropriately
  • Ask about current challenges and goals to understand the prospect's context
  • Identify decision-making processes and timelines to gauge purchasing readiness
  • Gather budget parameters to assess resource alignment
Generate more leads from the very first meeting

Route & qualify your leads effectively with Zeeg scheduling CRM. Try any of the paid plans for free on a 14-day trial.

Sign up for free

3. Create content that attracts and converts

Content marketing has evolved from a nice-to-have to a must-have strategy for lead generation. However, you should have a strategy, if you want your blogs or your videos to get more sales leads. Top of the funnel content can be very important—but the key is to create content with specific conversion goals, rather than just publishing for awareness.

In fact, lead generation content requires understanding the information needs of your prospects at each stage of their journey. It should provide genuine value while naturally leading to your solution. Only with this balance you’ll convert them into consumer and business leads.

Develop lead magnets that solve specific problems

What are lead magnets, you might wonder? They’re supposed to address urgent, specific problems rather than general topics. That’s content that promises and delivers a quick win that demonstrates your expertise, while building trust.

In those cases, specificity is more important than length or production value. A one-page checklist that solves a particular problem will often outperform a comprehensive guide on a broader topic. 

The key is to address a pain point that your audience recognizes and wants to solve immediately.

Consider these high-converting lead magnet formats:

  • Industry reports containing proprietary data and insights
  • Comprehensive guides that simplify complex processes
  • Ready-to-use templates that save time and effort
  • Assessment tools with personalized recommendations
  • Checklists that ensure nothing is missed
  • Video tutorials demonstrating techniques

Use content upgrades within your blog posts

Content upgrades take the lead magnet concept a step further. They offer resources specifically related to the content someone is already consuming. This can help you get more leads because the offer directly extends the value of what the reader is already interested in. 

Not clear? One example: if someone is reading your blog post about improving email open rates, they're likely to be interested in a template of subject lines that have performed well. So offer them that.

How you can actually do that:

  • Creating specific resources that expand on popular content
  • Placing upgrade offers at strategic points within the content
  • Designing simple opt-in processes that don't disrupt reading
  • Delivering the promised resource immediately after sign-up
  • Following up with related content to continue the relationship

Create a content strategy that guides leads through the funnel

Rather than creating content haphazardly, develop a cohesive strategy that addresses each stage of the buyer's journey. This approach ensures you're not just generating traffic but attracting qualified prospects and moving them toward a purchase decision.

At the awareness stage, focus on educational content that helps prospects understand their problems better. This content should be relatively broad in scope and accessible to those just beginning their research.

As prospects move into the consideration stage, provide content that explores potential solutions to their problems. This is where comparison guides, case studies, and expert interviews become valuable in helping prospects evaluate options.

For the decision stage, create content that demonstrates why your specific solution is the right choice. Product demonstrations, implementation guides, and ROI calculators help prospects justify their purchase decision.

To implement this approach, develop content that addresses:

  • Awareness stage: Educational blog posts about industry challenges
  • Consideration stage: Comparison guides of different solution approaches
  • Decision stage: Case studies showing your solution in action
  • Post-purchase stage: Implementation guides and best practices

4. Use email marketing

Despite the rise of newer channels, email remains one of the best lead generation techniques, with high ROIs.

It’s a good technique because it’s direct and personalized. Different from social media, where algorithms “choose” who sees your content, email gives you direct access to your audience's inbox. That’s great for nurturing leads through the sales process.

Build and segment your email list

The quality of your email list matters far more than its size. A smaller list of engaged subscribers who match your ideal customer profile will generate more business leads than a large list of unqualified contacts. Therefore, you should focus on attracting the right subscribers rather than maximizing list growth.

And once you have your list, you should segment it, as that will let you deliver more relevant content to different subscriber groups. 

Here’s what segmentation can look like:

  • Demographic and firmographic characteristics
  • Past engagement with your content and offerings
  • Current position in the buying journey
  • Specific interests or pain points
  • Previous purchase behavior and history

Develop automated nurture sequences

If you want to maintain consistent communication with leads, consider automating that. It can be a pre-planned email series, which will help move prospects through the sales funnel. 

For example, if certain actions trigger an email, such as downloading a resource or visiting a pricing page, you’ll have your leads targeted automatically. Because those behaviors types already show interest, and create natural opportunities for follow-up.

Consider these types of automated sequences:

  • Welcome series introducing new subscribers to your brand
  • Educational sequences that build awareness of your solution
  • Re-engagement campaigns for inactive subscribers
  • Follow-up sequences after specific conversion events
  • Abandoned process reminders for incomplete actions

Personalize your emails (more than just the first name)

Basic personalization like using a subscriber's name is now the minimum expectation. So, in order to stand out, you should try to incorporate deeper insights based on your subscriber’s behavior, preferences, and characteristics.

This might mean sending different case studies to different industries, or adjusting message focus based on previously expressed interests.

Here’s a few ideas:

  • Dynamic content blocks that change based on subscriber attributes
  • Behavior-based triggers that respond to specific actions
  • Industry-specific messaging and examples
  • Personalized product or content recommendations
  • Communication timing based on engagement patterns

By combining segmentation, automation, and personalization, you create an email marketing system that moves leads through your sales pipeline.

5. Leverage social media strategically

Ok, this might be one of the most popular ways to generate leads. But it’s not always the best. Many businesses waste resources by maintaining a presence on every platform without a clear strategy for converting followers into leads. So, you guessed it right—it’s important to have a strategy here as well.

The key to social media lead generation is understanding that each platform serves different purposes and attracts different audiences. What works on LinkedIn will likely fail on TikTok, and vice versa. 

Choose platforms where your audience is active

Rather than spreading your efforts across every available platform, concentrate on those where your ideal customers are most active and engaged. This allows you to build a meaningful presence rather than a superficial one on multiple platforms.

Also, don’t forget to research where your target audience spends their time online and which platforms they use for professional research versus personal entertainment. And consider both demographic factors and the nature of your product or service when making these decisions.

Here’s a few tips to help you choose the best platform:

  • LinkedIn for B2B and professional services lead generation
  • Instagram and TikTok for visually-oriented products and younger audiences
  • Facebook for community building and local business promotion
  • Twitter for industry news, updates, and customer service
  • Pinterest for lifestyle, design, and retail products

Create platform-specific lead generation campaigns

Rather than posting the same content everywhere, develop campaigns that take advantage of each platform's native capabilities.

On LinkedIn, for example, you can use Lead Gen Forms that automatically populate with user profile data, reducing friction in the conversion process. Facebook offers similar lead ads that open native forms without requiring users to leave the platform. These platform-specific approaches usually convert better than generic campaigns.

A few social media lead generation tactics:

  • LinkedIn: Use Lead Gen Forms with sponsored content for B2B leads
  • Facebook: Create lead ads with native forms for friction-free conversion
  • Instagram: Utilize "Swipe Up" in Stories or "Link in Bio" tools for traffic
  • Twitter: Design Twitter Cards with rich media and strong CTAs
  • Pinterest: Develop "idea pins" that showcase solutions to audience problems

Engage in social selling

This goes beyond just promotional campaigns, because social media has more to offer when it comes to one-to-one relationship building through social selling. It involves training your sales team to use social platforms for authentic engagement instead of just broadcasting messages.

So, social selling means a shift from traditional sales tactics to a more consultative approach. Sales representatives should focus on providing value through their social activity rather than immediately pushing for meetings or demos.

Train your team to use these social selling practices:

  • Join and actively contribute to relevant industry groups
  • Share thoughtful comments on prospect and industry leader content
  • Answer questions related to your area of expertise
  • Share valuable third-party content alongside your own
  • Connect with prospects after meaningful interactions, not cold

When done correctly, social selling positions your team as helpful resources rather than pushy salespeople, making prospects more receptive when you do reach out with sales opportunities.

6. Implement referral programs that drive quality leads

Referrals can give you some of the highest-quality leads with the shortest sales cycles. But there’s still many businesses not knowing this, hoping satisfied customers will naturally recommend them. A structured referral program can encourage and reward word of mouth.

Create an incentive structure that motivates action

The most effective referral programs create a win-win-win situation, benefiting the referrer, the new customer, and your business. The right incentives depend on your customer base, pricing structure, and overall business model.

Consider these referral incentive options:

  • Monetary rewards like cash or account credits
  • Exclusive access to premium features or content
  • Product upgrades or service enhancements

Make it easy to refer

No matter how compelling your incentives, customers won't participate if the process is complicated or time-consuming. Every step you add to the referral process reduces the likelihood of completion. So, one good way can be to integrate third-party referral platforms with your existing systems.

Leaving a few ideas to help with your referral process:

  • One-click sharing links that automatically track referrals
  • Pre-written messages that customers can easily personalize
  • Multiple sharing options across email, social, and messaging platforms
  • Clear, concise program explanations that answer common questions
  • Subtle but regular reminders about the referral opportunity

Follow up with both parties

Many referral programs fail because they neglect the follow-up process. You need proper tracking and communication, so come up with systems to manage the entire referral lifecycle, from the first recommendation to the actual conversion. This includes acknowledging referrals promptly, keeping referrers informed about status, and ensuring referred prospects receive appropriate follow-up:

  • Send immediate thank-you messages when referrals are submitted
  • Follow up with referred prospects quickly and personally
  • Keep referrers updated on the status of their referrals
  • Deliver rewards promptly when referrals convert to customers

7. Use SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

While this is a long-term strategy, it's one of the most sustainable ways to generate leads once established. You should not expect quick results, like with paid advertising; but organic search has the advantage of keep traffic coming in even when you're not investing. If you build a good content strategy that starts to drive thousands of visitors from organic visits in search engines, that content will keep getting visitors for a long time.

You can approach SEO from a technical perspective, focusing on site structure and backlinks. While that indeed matters, content relevance and search intent alignment are essential. And, as AI search becomes increasingly more important, you should try to be present on more channels, and websites (think of entity optimization) in order to leverage your SEO efforts.

Focus on high-intent keywords

Not all keywords are equal when it comes to lead generation. High-volume terms might drive traffic but often attract visitors early in their research process who aren't ready to engage with sales. High-intent keywords, though lower in volume, attract prospects closer to making a purchase decision.

The most valuable keywords for actual lead generation fall into several categories that indicate active solution-seeking behavior. These terms typically have clear commercial intent or demonstrate that the searcher has moved beyond general information gathering to specific solution evaluation.

Look for these high-converting keyword types:

  • Problem-aware terms that indicate pain recognition (e.g., "how to reduce customer churn") - informational intent
  • Solution-aware terms that show evaluation behavior (e.g., "best CRM for small business") - commercial intent
  • Product comparison terms that signal decision-making (e.g., "Product A vs Product B") - commercial intent
  • Buying intent terms that indicate readiness to purchase (e.g., "Product A pricing plans") - transactional intent
  • Location-specific service terms for local businesses (e.g., "financial advisor in [city]") - transactional intent

Create content to guide your customers through the full journey

Ranking for the right keywords is only half the battle. Once visitors arrive on your site, your content needs to convert them from readers to leads. This requires a deliberate approach that balances educational value with clear conversion opportunities.

While longer informational content might help your readers to learn about their problem, you’ll also need conversion-focused content that directly addresses their search intent. This way you can establish your expertise on the topic, demonstrate understanding of your prospect's challenges, and show them your solution as a logical next step.

Implement these elements:

  • Address the search intent clearly and directly in the first paragraphs
  • Include relevant statistics and data points that support your position
  • Feature customer stories and testimonials that build credibility
  • Incorporate contextual calls-to-action throughout your content
  • Offer content upgrades related to the specific topic being discussed

8. Implement chatbots and conversational marketing

Conversational marketing tools, like chatbots, is a somewhat recent way how businesses interact with website visitors. Instead of having their prospects going through forms or other linear paths, this is more dynamic and personalized experiences.

The effectiveness of chatbots stems from their ability to engage visitors at their moment of highest interest. When someone is actively browsing your site, a well-designed chatbot can initiate a conversation, answer questions, and guide them toward the next step in their journey without requiring them to search for information.

Have the chatbot qualify your leads

Modern chatbots go far beyond simple FAQ functionality to become active participants in the lead qualification process. By asking strategic questions based on your ideal customer profile, chatbots can determine whether a visitor meets your qualification criteria and route them appropriately

One example is Zeeg’s AI phone service, which asks questions to your prospect until it gets enough information to qualify and distribute them to the right sales rep. 

You can:

  • Design conversation flows that ask qualifying questions in a natural way
  • Create different paths based on visitor responses to qualification questions
  • Provide valuable resources appropriate to each qualification level
  • Enable direct meeting scheduling for highly qualified prospects
  • Collect contact information for future follow-up when appropriate

Personalize based on user behavior

Some chatbots can adapt the conversation to what they know about each visitor. This might include pages visited, previous interactions, referral source, or other behavioral signals that indicate interests and intent. 

This contextual awareness allows chatbots to initiate more relevant conversations that acknowledge where visitors are in their journey. So, ideally, you should be able to create more relevant interactions by personalizing based on:

  • Pages visited before initiating the conversation
  • Repeat visits and previous chat history
  • Referral source and campaign parameters
  • Time spent on specific content areas

And if possible, try to make it look more human-like, and less automated. 

Generate more leads from the very first meeting

Route & qualify your leads effectively with Zeeg scheduling CRM. Try any of the paid plans for free on a 14-day trial.

Sign up for free


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9. Optimize your LinkedIn presence

For B2B companies especially, LinkedIn has evolved from a simple professional networking site to an essential platform for finding sales leads. With over 900 million professionals, including key decision-makers across virtually every industry, LinkedIn offers unparalleled access to business audiences.

LinkedIn is especially good because of its targeting precision. Unlike other social platforms where personal and professional content intermingle, LinkedIn is explicitly business-focused, allowing for more direct professional engagement, without appearing intrusive.

Enhance personal and company profiles

Your LinkedIn presence serves as a digital first impression for potential customers, yet many businesses treat their profiles as online resumes—not great if you’re looking to generate sales.

The most effective LinkedIn profiles focus on customer challenges and outcomes rather than company achievements. And that’s good, as it shows understanding of your prospect pain points, and positions you as a resource rather than just a vendor.

Ideas to optimize your LinkedIn presence:

  • Transform company pages to clearly communicate your value proposition
  • Rewrite personal profiles to highlight how you solve customer problems
  • Incorporate relevant keywords in headlines and descriptions for searchability
  • Feature specific customer success stories and quantifiable results

Publish valuable content consistently

Visibility on LinkedIn comes from regular, valuable contributions to the platform. The algorithm rewards engagement, and also shows your content to more people when it generates meaningful interaction. 

Content that performs best on LinkedIn should actually be thought leadership rather than promotional intent. By sharing genuine insights that help your audience solve problems or understand industry trends, you position yourself as a trusted resource worthy of further engagement.

These content strategies for LinkedIn might help you generate more leads:

  • Share authentic perspectives on industry developments and challenges
  • Engage thoughtfully with relevant discussions in your field
  • Publish original long-form articles on topics of expertise
  • Adapt existing company content for LinkedIn's format and audience
  • Share client success stories that demonstrate your impact (with permission)

Leverage Sales Navigator for targeted outreach

This platform has great tools for identifying and connecting with potential leads. It has advanced search capabilities that pinpoint decision-makers who match your ideal customer profile based on certain criteria (beyond standard LinkedIn’s).

But rather than using Sales Navigator just for volume-based outreach, focus on quality interactions with carefully selected prospects.

Use Sales Navigator with these practices:

  • Create saved searches based on your ideal customer profile attributes
  • Set up alerts for new prospects matching your criteria
  • Monitor prospect and account activity for engagement opportunities
  • Research thoroughly before initiating contact

10. Implement account-based marketing (ABM)

Instead of casting a wide net to capture numerous leads of varying quality, ABM focuses resources on a smaller number of high-value target accounts with precision and personalization. This is greater for B2B companies with longer sales cycles, higher contract values, and multiple decision-makers involved in the purchasing process. 

Basically, this approach tries to align marketing and sales efforts around specific accounts. Rather than marketing generating leads that sales may consider unqualified, both teams work together to find the same new business leads—ideally high-value prospects. 

Identify and prioritize target accounts

This process is more sophisticated than usual lead generation, as it incorporates both fit criteria and intent signals to identify accounts with the highest potential.

Start by developing an ideal customer profile (ICP), collaboratively between marketing, sales, and customer success teams. Once your ICP is established, use it to identify potential target accounts and score them based on fit and potential value. This scoring helps prioritize accounts for different levels of investment and personalization.

To identify and prioritize accounts properly:

  • Define detailed ideal customer profiles with specific firmographic and behavioral criteria
  • Leverage intent data to identify companies actively researching solutions like yours
  • Implement scoring systems that rank accounts based on fit and potential lifetime value
  • Create account tiers that determine appropriate investment and personalization levels
  • Research key stakeholders and decision-makers within each priority account

Develop personalized content for key accounts

ABM asks for customized content that speaks directly to each target account's situation. Show that you've done your homework and really understand their needs.

This level of personalization doesn't necessarily mean creating completely unique content for every account. Just develop modular content frameworks that can be customized with account-specific information, examples, and insights. 

The most effective personalized content acknowledges the prospect's industry, specific challenges, and business goals while positioning your solution as uniquely qualified to address their needs. This might include customized case studies featuring similar companies, ROI calculators with industry-specific benchmarks, etc.

  • Develop custom microsites or landing pages addressing account-specific challenges
  • Create industry-specific case studies featuring companies similar to your target
  • Personalize outreach communications with account-specific insights and observations
  • Design tailored presentations that incorporate the prospect's terminology and priorities
  • Produce customized video messages addressing key stakeholders by name

11. Leverage video in your lead generation strategy

Video has become essential for lead generation, with 93% of marketers reporting it helps them attract prospects. Video content creates stronger emotional connections and better retention than text alone, making it ideal for complex value propositions.

The key to effective video lead generation is balancing educational value with strategic conversion elements. Focus on solving problems rather than promoting features, positioning your brand as a helpful resource rather than just another vendor.

Create educational video content that converts

Educational videos that provide genuine value while subtly guiding viewers toward the next step deliver the best results. Production quality matters less than information value—clear explanations of complex topics typically outperform flashy but superficial content.

For maximum impact, incorporate these elements:

  • Include clear calls-to-action at strategic points, not just at the end
  • Create product demonstrations that highlight real-world applications
  • Develop thought leadership content analyzing industry trends
  • Add interactive elements like clickable links within videos
  • Gate premium video content behind simple lead capture forms
  • Distribute across multiple channels including your website, YouTube, and social platforms

Remember to adapt your video approach for each platform rather than posting identical content everywhere. Track engagement metrics to identify which topics and formats generate the most qualified leads.

12. Invest in paid advertising strategically

While organic methods provide sustainable results, paid advertising delivers immediate visibility and scalability. The key is precision targeting and thoughtful post-click experiences rather than broad exposure.

Modern advertising platforms offer unprecedented targeting capabilities, allowing you to reach specific individuals based on detailed criteria. This precision reduces wasted spend and improves lead quality, particularly when enhanced with your first-party data.

Focus on targeting and post-click experience

The effectiveness of paid advertising depends entirely on reaching the right audience with relevant messaging, then continuing that relevance through the entire experience:

  • Define narrow audience segments based on specific criteria rather than broad demographics
  • Deploy retargeting to re-engage visitors who've shown interest but not converted
  • Create lookalike audiences based on your best customer profiles
  • Develop dedicated landing pages for each campaign that maintain message consistency
  • Remove navigation elements from landing pages to keep visitors focused on conversion
  • Include relevant social proof and testimonials to build credibility

Test multiple platforms to identify which performs best for your specific offers, starting with small budgets before scaling successful campaigns. Different platforms serve different purposes—search captures active intent while social enables precise demographic targeting.

13. Host or speak at industry events

Despite digital marketing's prominence, in-person events remain powerful for generating high-quality leads. Face-to-face interactions create connections difficult to replicate through digital channels, while the natural qualification of attendees ensures higher-intent prospects.

The most effective event strategy focuses on quality over quantity. Smaller, targeted gatherings often deliver better results than massive conferences because they attract more precisely defined audiences and facilitate more meaningful conversations.

Prioritize speaking over exhibiting

Speaking positions establish authority and create natural lead generation opportunities that don't feel like selling. Unlike booth interactions where prospects expect a sales pitch, educational sessions attract engaged audiences genuinely interested in your expertise.

Maximize your event ROI with these approaches:

  • Select events based on attendee quality rather than just volume
  • Prioritize speaking opportunities over booth space when possible
  • Propose topics addressing audience challenges rather than promoting products
  • Create event-specific resources attendees can access with their contact information
  • Train booth staff to ask qualifying questions rather than delivering pitches
  • Follow up personally with engaged attendees within 48 hours
Generate more leads from the very first meeting

Route & qualify your leads effectively with Zeeg scheduling CRM. Try any of the paid plans for free on a 14-day trial.

Sign up for free

How to generate leads for small business: Which strategies work best?

If you have a small business, you might be facing some different challenges when generating leads—limited budgets, smaller teams, and less brand recognition. That makes it even more difficult to compete with larger companies.

However, with the right approach, small businesses can actually turn these constraints into advantages. Don't forget that your business is more agile and can be more personal in their lead generation efforts. And not every strategy requires that much investment—sometimes is more about smart execution than big budgets.

The table below rates the previous lead generation strategies for small businesses. We hope this can help you.

Strategy Effectiveness for Small Business Tips for Small Business Implementation
1. Website Optimization ★★★★★ Focus on optimizing your homepage and 1-2 service pages first. Use free tools like Google Optimize for A/B testing. Prioritize mobile responsiveness and clear contact forms.
2. Scheduling Tools ★★★★★ Use tools like Zeeg to eliminate scheduling friction and qualify leads. The free plan works well for most small businesses, and it integrates with existing calendar apps for a professional experience.
3. Content Marketing ★★★★☆ Focus on creating 3-5 high-quality pieces rather than frequent, lower-quality content. Develop practical lead magnets that solve immediate problems for your specific audience.
4. Email Marketing ★★★★★ Start with simple automation using affordable tools like MailerLite. Focus on welcome sequences and follow-ups after content downloads. Segment your list into 2-3 basic categories even with a small database.
5. Social Media ★★★☆☆ Choose just ONE platform where your customers are most active. Post consistently (2-3 times weekly) with educational content rather than trying to maintain presence everywhere with promotional material.
6. Referral Programs ★★★★★ Create a simple system with clear benefits for both referrer and new customer. Non-monetary rewards like service upgrades or exclusive content can work well for small businesses with limited cash flow.
7. SEO ★★★★☆ Focus on local SEO first, which typically has less competition. Target specific long-tail keywords related to your service area and specialization rather than competing for broader terms.
8. Chatbots ★★☆☆☆ Instead of investing in expensive AI solutions, use simpler chat tools with pre-written responses to common questions. Consider activating chat only during hours when you can't personally respond to inquiries.
9. LinkedIn Optimization ★★★★☆ Focus on optimizing personal profiles rather than company pages for small business owners. Regularly engage with relevant content in your industry and participate in groups where your expertise can shine.
10. Account-Based Marketing ★★☆☆☆ Small businesses can adapt ABM by identifying just 5-10 ideal prospects and creating personalized outreach. Focus on direct relationship building rather than expensive marketing campaigns or custom microsites.
11. Video Marketing ★★★☆☆ Use smartphone cameras and simple editing apps rather than professional equipment. Create short, authentic videos that demonstrate your expertise or showcase customer success stories rather than polished commercials.
12. Paid Advertising ★★☆☆☆ Start with small, highly targeted campaigns on one platform with strict budget limits. Focus on retargeting website visitors rather than cold audiences. For local businesses, Google Local Service ads often provide better ROI than broader campaigns.
13. Industry Events ★★★☆☆ Focus on local, industry-specific events rather than expensive national conferences. Prioritize speaking opportunities over booth space for better ROI and credibility. Partner with complementary businesses to share event costs when possible.