Lead generation is the number one challenge facing marketers today. Sending out marketing emails and convincing people to subscribe to your newsletter can be difficult because often - let’s face it - people are just too busy to respond! 

That’s why the key to reaching your lead generation goals lies in adding real value to your prospects’ lives. Of course, this takes a lot of creativity, audience research and willingness to think outside the box! 

To help you get started, we've detailed seven creative methods you can incorporate into your lead generation strategy - all inspired by some of the world’s most successful brands. 

Crucially, all of these ideas are focussed on providing valuable information that helps prospects - rather than simply pushing them to make a purchase.

Let’s jump right in: 
‍

‍#1 Provide a template‍

The right template on the right page can be a powerful tool for generating leads. That’s because visitors are willing to give up their personal information in exchange for something practical they can actually use.

For example, marketing giant HubSpot offer hundreds of templates to help get their brand in front of more people (so that they can continue nurturing them with relevant content): 

The template you offer on your own website could be anything from a downloadable editorial calendar PDF to a customisable email template for chasing invoices. 

If you want to attract more potential customers to your website, simply take the time to determine what your prospects might find most valuable - and spend a little time creating the perfect template for it! 

#2 Create an interactive tool‍

There’s a good reason why so many brands have invested time and effort to create free interactive tools for their websites. Even the simplest of interactive ideas can generate hundreds or thousands of qualified leads!

In fact, 79% of successful marketers say interactive tools have encouraged people to return to their websites, and renowned marketing guru Neil Patel champions interactive tool creation as one of the most effective ways to generate more leads:‍

“Tools are the best kind of content for driving your website’s growth. Once built, your audience can instantly plug and play with them. They help your readers take action and give an immediate result. So they have a much higher perceived value than the usual blog content that floats around on the internet.”‍

For example, Larry Kim, CEO of MobileMonkey, says his company saw huge success after developing a Free Keyword Tool for the Wordstream website. 

Marketers could use the free keyword tool to research and prioritise new keywords in just a few minutes, and according to Larry, his team were able to generate a huge number of leads as a result. 

What makes this tool particularly effective for lead generation purposes is the way it displays keyword results. Hit the “Search” button, and you’ll instantly be able to see some of the related keywords - but all the other information is hidden, blurred out, or obscured in some way.

This creates a curiosity gap for visitors, who feel like they’ve already started the process of doing their keyword research. All they need to do is take one teeny-tiny extra step to get their results.

That final step? Visitors are asked to give up their email address. And voilà - lead generated!

#3 Publish a fun quiz‍

Like interactive tools, quizzes are a fun and creative way to capture prospects’ attention, and generate more leads. With online quizzes, the goal is to tempt prospects with the result of the quiz in return for their contact information, which can be very effective when done right.

One great example of an effective online quiz comes from the Eastern International College. The EIC team created the following quiz to help students select the right educational program at their college:

The quiz helps students by providing them with valuable information, while also helping the business reach more prospective students. 

This is because when students fill out a form to get their quiz results, they are asked to provide specific information - such as their email address - which the Eastern International College can then use to educate them about their courses.

#4 Prompt your visitors to start talking‍

If you’re in the market for a truly original and personal way to capture prospects’ attention, why not prompt visitors to record voice messages on your website?

On-site voice recording is fun, instantly engaging and - above all - feels real and personal. 

But how does it work? When you create an account with telbee, you can create and customise your own pop-up voice recorder and add it to your website, whether embedded into your page, hosted on its own page, or available when your visitors click a button or tab. These pop-up voice recorders will allow you to capture the attention of potential new leads immediately. 

Your website visitors can then record voice notes for you, which arrive in your inbox for your whole team to listen to and share. You can then reply directly in your own voice - adding text, images and links if you like - or assign the voice note to someone else. All whenever is convenient for you.

Once captured, your sales team can continue to nurture these leads quickly, easily and personally, so that you can build real relationships with your leads and encourage them to convert time after time. 

‍

#5 Join online communities‍

If you’re a startup, freelancer or a smaller business, a lot of your lead generation success will come from word of mouth and social interactions.

Being an active community member in LinkedIn groups, Facebook communities or a forum such as Indie Hackers, for example, can lead to more brand awareness, allowing you to build relationships and credibility among new prospects and establish yourself as a thought leader in your area of expertise.

As you build relationships and demonstrate expertise in Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups and other online forums and communities, people will naturally start to think of you or your company for future opportunities. And that brand authority will help you generate more leads on social media.

The key is to be genuinely helpful and selfless in your interactions, and to try and build actual friendships with other members of the community.

#6 Share success secrets from thought leaders‍

Want to use your content to provide unique value to prospects? Reach out to a thought leader in your industry (or even in your company!).

By interviewing an expert to uncover their secrets, you prove to potential customers that you're dedicated to delivering the very best advice and insights - and establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.

Groove are one great example of a brand who frequently interview successful founders - and ask very specific questions to prompt genuinely helpful answers for their audience. 

The Groove team then share these interviews on their blog; keeping their existing readers happy and attracting new leads to their website: 

‍

#7 Create a valuable email course‍

A well-developed email course is like gaining access to a real class - for free. For busy marketers, this type of offer can prove to be incredibly valuable.

This approach tends to work well for in-depth topics that are best learned in a class-like environment. For example, Buffer gives away 25 social media strategies in 25 days in exchange for prospects’ email addresses: 

Buffer created the email course by repurposing content on their blog into smaller, more digestible pieces of email copy. 

The email course helps people with different content consumption styles get the same valuable information that's on Buffer's blog, and it helps Buffer generate new leads to engage with over email - without demanding the creation of any new content! 

It’s time to take the lead‍

Of course, we’re only scratching the surface with these ideas. There are all sorts of different ways to generate leads, and we’d encourage you to get creative and experiment with lead generation ideas neither we - or any of the companies above - have even thought of yet! 

The key thing to remember is that in order to generate qualified leads, you need to offer quality content that adds value to your prospects’ lives. Give your top-of-funnel leads something that will educate, entertain, inform, or inspire - and soon you’ll be overwhelmed by the amount of leads you’re generating! 

For more lead generation ideas - and tips on where to go from here - check out our articles on questions to ask yourself before investing in lead generation software, the best lead generation companies and services, and the five best lead nurturing tools.‍

‍

To find out more about how our voice recording and messaging platform can help you capture more leads on your website, get in touch with the team at telbee today. We’d love to hear from you!