How long does it take for Inbound Lead Generation to work?

Results are what really matter when it comes to business and when lead generation is implemented correctly, it delivers results.  Before beginning an inbound marketing or lead generation campaign, most businesses will ask how long it takes for results to show.  While this depends on the product or service being offered, the answer is that inbound marketing is a long-term solution, but a long-term solution that is worth your investment because of the results it delivers. 

Inbound Marketing as a Long-Term Results Driven Solution

A business that does outbound marketing, ends up spending an enormous amount of their budget purchasing email lists, paying salespeople to do cold-calls, and much more. Once the outbound campaign ends, they start all over again because no lasting resources were created during this process. 

Inbound Marketing creates a strong foundation and acquires resources for your business. This is because your entire campaign is designed to source leads and keep the information updated.  With Inbound Marketing, your business will engage in a content creation process that should be designed to last way beyond the length of your inbound marketing campaign activity.  Even if you stop creating new content, the content previously created can continue to be used to generate leads, help nurture prospects and continue to drive return on investment for businesses. 

But How Long Does it Take to Produce Results?

It’s difficult to provide an accurate timeline because everything depends on your business's current marketing. That is: Has your website got a good standing on search engines already? Or is it a brand new site? Do you get thousands of views a month or is your website traffic low? Is your social media active and engaging or have you been silent and inactive on these platforms?

These details are all relevant and will help in outlining the time it would take for your lead generation campaign to show results. Creating a strong website, and active social media presence builds the foundation for a quicker leads generation campaign. Essentially, these elements form the foundations of a successful campaign.

Once all these measures are in place, your leads generation campaign will flourish. 

If all my foundations are in place, how long will it take?

Your lead generation campaign needs to be implemented in 3 stages and then you can begin counting the results.

1. Direct and Relevant Website Traffic

It is all well and good to see a rise in website traffic, but you have to make sure that the visitors are part of your target market and are interested in purchasing your products or services. Your traffic needs to consist of individuals who relate to your target market and buyer personas. These potential buyers are the people that will turn into leads, and ultimately loyal, paying customers. You can target your market through Search Engine Optimisation efforts, social media platforms and email marketing. This will eventually nurture prospects that will want to engage with your business, and convert them into leads. 

This may take a few months depending on your current online presence. It takes time to create content that speaks to your audience and to rank well on search engines.  In the short term, if you're happy with the content being created, you can use this to drive qualified traffic to your website using search engine marketing (PPC campaigns) or social media.

2. Convert Viewers into Leads

Once your website is receiving targeted traffic and have created conversion opportunities or lead magnets, you will start to generate leads.  A Lead Magnet refers to an incentive that marketers offer to potential leads in exchange for their contact information. For example, you can offer potential clients a free download of a helpful e-book or e-guide that they can download once they provide you with their details. 

Remember, the lead generation process begins as soon as people land on your website/landing page and in order to drive interaction, you need a strong Call to Action and a form that prompts them to provide their information. Leads will start rolling in in the first few months, but in order to gain a clearer picture, you need to analyse the data and find what is working and what is not working. Learn more about lead generation optimisation and analysis, here. 

Once you begin collecting your leads and their data, make sure to save all their information. This will take you to the final step of your lead generation campaign.

3. Converting Leads into Customers

When it comes to lead nurturing,  you need to recognise the various stages of your sales funnel and you need to identify where your leads fit within the funnel. 

If a lead has downloaded your lead magnet, be it a white paper or a e-book, then they are what is known as a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL). A MQL is a lead who has indicated interest in your business and what you have to offer, and this means that they may become a customer. However, this does not mean that they are immediately ready for a sales pitch, as they are still exploring, and are in the research process. 

Then there is the Sales Qualified Lead (SQL). A SQL is ready for the next stage of the buying process and is further along the sales funnel than a MQL. A MQL is a lead that has done the research, and is deemed ready for the sales process. Essentially, this kind of lead has contacted your business and asked for a meeting or sales interaction. 

Once you identify the difference between these two kinds of leads, you are able to take a strategic marketing approach for each prospect. You never want to force a sales pitch on a MQL, and you need to always provide a SQL with a strategic interaction that will lead to a sale.

Once you understand your leads, and nurture your relationship with them based on where they are in the sales funnel, you will reap the rewards and see results. This is how you convert them into paying customers. You can nurture your leads through personalised email campaigns, follow up emails, or a follow up call from your sales team.

Learn more about the importance of nurturing leads, here.

In Conclusion:

It is difficult to provide an accurate timeline for how long it takes for lead generation to work. It depends on your business and your online presence before the campaign goes live. Once you have set the foundational aspects in place, and have a clear strategy to work with, it can take a few months to see results. Inbound marketing is a long term sustainable solution, one that delivers massive results and a great return on investment.  It also helps your business to create a true, tangible business asset that can easily be valued.

Does your business need a regular flow of qualified sales leads? If so, we can help. Nexa has been generating highly qualified sales leads for businesses of all types for almost a decade. Contact us today, and begin your lead generation journey.