10 Lead Generation Strategies to Kickstart Marketing Success

How can your company achieve sustainable revenue growth to ensure your business thrives?

Driving purchases is the obvious answer — but while sales are the lifeblood of your company, lead generation is the heartbeat. Without a steady stream of qualified leads from your marketing team, even highly skilled sales representatives may struggle to hit acquisition goals and keep profit margins on the rise.

The best lead generation strategies go beyond filling the pipeline. They accelerate growth by getting your business in front of the right audience on optimal channels with messaging tailored to its needs. 

Ben Dankiw, CEO & Co-Founder of NAV43, a digital marketing agency, says that, “regardless of your industry, understanding your customers, where they are in their decision-making journey, along with their needs, pain points and objections is key to any successful lead gen strategy.”
Whether you're a startup looking to build your customer base or an established company aiming to refine your marketing efforts, these actionable insights will help you kickstart your marketing success and accelerate revenue growth.

10 Lead Generation Strategies to Kickstart Marketing Success

The most effective lead generation strategies can vary from business to business. However, implementing these approaches can create the foundations for well-targeted campaigns that optimize your budget and time:

1. Focus on lean scaling
2. Think smart about your budget
3. Align with priorities
4. Develop communication channels
5. Improve & optimize landing pages
6. Leverage SEO
7. Invest in A/B testing
8. Try remarketing
9. Focus on creative approaches
10. Publish case studies & reviews

1. Focus on Lean Scaling

First things first: You don't want to overspend. While some companies may take the easy way out by purchasing leads and sending mass emails, these tactics can cost you more in the short and long run. Taking the leaner approach by closely targeting your most likely customers is key to cost-efficient lead generation.

Jason Swenk, founder of Agency Mastery 360, believes that lean scaling is all about maximizing agencies' current resources. 

“One of the best ways to scale lead generation on a budget is to systematize what’s already working,” said Swenk. 

He suggests identifying the top performing channels of an organization, repurposing content, and leveraging partnerships that can boost visibility without the extra cost. 

So, where does it make sense to invest? Tools that streamline your lead gen efforts, such as website chatbots, can be valuable if you have room in your budget. Top-of-funnel automation help your team keep long-term expenses low and dedicate more resources to high-value touchpoints.

2. Think Smart About Your Budget

Setting a budget for your lead generation campaigns is critical to a lean approach. However, it's important to be realistic when setting financial restraints. Consider the minimum you need to spend to achieve your target outcomes. Ask yourself:

1. How many leads do I want to generate in the next month, quarter, or year?
2. What is my current cost per lead?
3. What lead generation activities have helped me achieve the lowest cost per lead in the past?
4. Can my budget realistically help me achieve my lead acquisition goals?

Categorizing your budget — designating the highest spend to the most effective lead generation channels — can further optimize your financial plan.

3. Align with Priorities

Every lead generation campaign should align with broader business goals. For example, if your company is focused on expanding its European customer base, your priority should be capturing leads within that location—perhaps even narrowing down to a few untapped, high-potential markets within the continent. If increasing rapid, short-term sales growth is the goal, prioritize tactics like paid ads over long-term efforts like SEO.

Customer data can help you pinpoint where leads with certain characteristics are most engaged. If you're starting from scratch, you can expect a trial-and-error process, but tools like Google Analytics and Hootsuite can soon reveal trends in customer interactions with your brand.

4. Develop Communication Channels

In the age of convenience, it's critical to make it easy for potential customers to contact your business. Developing a range of communication channels — as many as you can keep up with — can amplify your lead gen efforts by helping prospects come to you. If you don't offer these channels already, consider accepting:

• Emails
• Phone calls
• Text messages
• Live chat
• Social media messages (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, LinkedIn)

Broadening your company’s networks can lead to new opportunities. But ensure that you are using platforms and channels that make the most sense for your business. 

“Instead of trying to message every lead on all platforms, I would instead encourage people to use each platform for what it's best at,” said Chris Cozzolino, CEO of Uptown Creative, a digital marketing agency. 

5. Improve & Optimize Landing Pages

Potential customers often form their first impression of your business when visiting a landing page, so making them count is important. Visitors should be compelled to engage with your webpage and then leave their contact information after scrolling through its contents. This requires a few key elements:

• Visual appeal: An attractive layout paired with brand colors, cohesive typography, and high-quality images can draw visitors in and make the page feel more professional.
• Clarity: Keep your message simple and direct. Visitors should understand your offer and value within seconds of landing on the page.
• Call to action (CTA): A strong, clear CTA encourages visitors to take the next step, such as signing up, downloading, or contacting, without confusion.
• Targeted messaging: Tailor the landing page copy to resonate with the specific audience's pain points and needs and align with the ad or link that directed visitors there.

Your webpage should encourage visitors to engage with the content, so try to think outside the box when delivering enticing content. 

6. Leverage SEO

When your business consistently appears at the top of SERPs for relevant keywords, you can drive a lot of traffic — aka potential leads — to your website. This requires ongoing search engine optimization (SEO) beyond updating meta descriptions and including keywords across your site.

Consider building out a robust content strategy that contributes to your searchability. For example, you can:

1. Create blog posts that target long-tail keywords your target audience may be searching for
2. Re-optimize blog posts that get high engagement rates but low traffic
3. Write guest blogs on other websites to build backlinks

SEO is a long-term strategy that will pay off if you remain committed to it. As your website gains authority, you'll rise in the right SERPs, generating more organic traffic and leads with minimal costs.

7. Invest in A/B testing

If you want to fine-tune your lead generation strategies, invest in A/B testing. This approach — which runs two versions of the same content simultaneously — allows you to understand what drives clicks and conversions by comparing variables like headlines, CTAs, images, and layouts.

Even a simple change in button color can significantly impact lead capture. A/B testing minimizes guesswork, providing data-driven insights that guide decisions to improve campaign performance.

8. Try Remarketing

Odds are, you've had website visitors engage with your content and then leave without providing their contact information or making a purchase. Unsurprisingly, a single sale can take several touchpoints to achieve. That's why remarketing is so important. It allows you to nurture existing interests rather than constantly starting from scratch, so you don't miss out on good opportunities.

Platforms like Google Ads and Meta Business Suite leverage cookies to enable you to remarket to people who previously interacted with your brand. As they generate prospects, you can develop ads with targeted messaging, such as "Did you forget something?" or "Ready to take the next step?" to encourage them to take action.

9. Focus on Creative Approaches

No matter how compelling your messaging is, some prospects will only provide their contact information if they can get something valuable out of the transaction. 

Convincing passive shoppers to become leads is even more difficult. However, creative lead magnets can be incredibly enticing for your target audience.

“One of the best budget-friendly strategies is implementing a referral program,” says Swenk. “Agencies often find their most loyal clients are their best sources of new leads, and incentivizing referrals can drive high-quality prospects without breaking the bank.” 

Hosting a webinar or in-person event is a great way to generate signups and deliver value — all while ensuring you get face-to-face time that builds your relationships further. Alternatively, you can host a contest or giveaway with a big prize incentive — like a gift card or free product — that rapidly builds your lead list.

You can also think a little smaller.

“Organic social media marketing, particularly through short-form video on platforms like YouTube Shorts, is another high-ROI option, especially for service-based businesses,” said Swenk. “You can use these platforms to establish authority and demonstrate expertise so your agency becomes the obvious choice in a sea of many.” 

Your business needs to become a sought out solution for prospects, so merging creative options with simple tactics can be the most appealing and effective. 

10. Publish Case Studies & Positive Reviews

Contact information is valuable, and potential customers won't give theirs away to companies they don't trust. Showcasing your success stories can provide reassurance that you won't waste their time.

Writing case studies is a great way to highlight how your product or service has solved real client problems, showcasing measurable results that build credibility. Include specific challenges, creative solutions, and outcomes to make each case study relatable and compelling. 

Positive reviews can act as social proof if you don't have a robust case study to feature. Share testimonials or embed reviews from satisfied customers to validate your expertise and reliability on your website, social media, and other channels.

Elevate Your Lead Generation Strategies

The most effective lead generation strategies aren't about casting the widest net—they’re about crafting marketing initiatives that are tailored to your audience, aligned with your business objectives, and continuously optimized. Use data to create a targeted approach, then implement innovative tactics to enhance your digital presence to set your brand apart.