Businesses rely on leads for their success. While you’ve undoubtedly heard of leads in a real-world sales context, what’s a lead according to a digital marketer? Answering this question is important because defining a lead is crucial before you can determine if your online activity is generating the quality and quantity of leads your business needs.

What’s a Lead, Anyway?

Simply put, a lead is a potential customer. Some leads will reach out to your business and others will need to be found. In an ideal scenario, these leads move further down the sales funnel and become prospects. Prospects interact with your content, your website, your brand, or your store and make a purchase, becoming customers or clients. Digital marketing strategies can not only help you find leads, but can also help you usher your potential customers through the sales funnel so more leads become customers.

Your business may define a lead as a potential client who calls or fills out an online form. Your business could also define a lead as a website visitor. Your definition will depend on your goals and the length of your sales funnel.

Who is a Lead for Your Business?

Marketing leads are the people you hope to reach with your message. Another term you’ve likely heard is your “target audience”. Digital advertising tools have powerful targeting settings that help you create and test audiences based on user behavior online. Testing and trying these audience settings will help you find users that convert to leads, then prospects, then customers. Measuring this process through the sales funnel is the key to repeatability and ongoing lead generation.

Generate Leads Online with BadCat

BadCat Digital specializes in online lead generation. If you need help generating lead online, turn to our team for the help you need. We offer a variety of digital marketing services like SEO, SEM, social media, and content marketing to enrich your business and find members of your target audience. With the right creative message and strategy, you’ll begin generating more leads for your business. Get started with BadCat by contacting us now.