Marketing is an integral part of a company’s success, and the right lead generation strategy can lead to increased revenue. There are three main types of leads: cold, warm, and qualified. Each one has a different potential for growth. A qualified lead is someone who has shown interest in your product or service, and is ready to buy. This person may also be someone in your target market, or it may simply be someone who is interested in your industry.

Service qualified leads are contacts who have shown interest in becoming a paying customer. A customer service representative can uplevel a service qualified lead to the sales team. A lead generated by a marketing program increases interest in a prospect and encourages further nurturing. The ultimate goal of lead generation is to convert a prospect into a paying customer. Various strategies can be used to attract prospects. Some sources include job applications, blog posts, coupons, and live events.

A common lead generation strategy is list buying. A marketer purchases contact information from a data vendor. This is not a good strategy because these leads have never interacted with a brand. They might not be interested in a cold email or a cold phone call. But it is useful to buy contact details from data vendors in order to complete an incomplete profile. In addition, it can help if you have a specific product or a service that the user might want.