5 lead generation mistakes and how to fix them

You could be hurting your chances of growth by letting too many potential leads slip through the cracks. You’re competing with other companies for the same potential buyers, and you can’t afford to make any mistakes that will cause you to lose out on any future customers. Here are five fixes to common lead generation mistakes.

1. Not understanding your customers

If you don’t develop buyer personas, then much of your lead generation and messaging efforts will be too general and won’t resonate with your audience. Employing a one-size-fits-all approach will leave too many potential leads on the table. 
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The fix

Send out surveys and conduct market research to develop your buyer personas. Ask personnel who frequently engage with customers what buyers often ask about or need help with. Look closely into each persona’s pain points and develop your lead generation campaigns around them, emphasizing the solutions you offer. 
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2. Not sending potential leads to a landing page

The average conversion rate for a landing page is 20%, compared to that of a regular web page at just 2%. When the chances of capturing a lead increase tenfold, it’s clear that sending users to your homepage won’t cut it.
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The fix

Design landing pages that keep distractions to a minimum and prominently feature the next action you want the user to take. Generic pages won’t resonate with everybody, so make sure each lead generation campaign has its own landing page to capture leads.
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3. Creating ineffective calls-to-action

Everyone is competing for your potential lead, but if you lack the strong CTA needed to convert them, or if your CTAs are too infrequent, then you’ll lose out on potential buyers.
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The fix

Make your CTA noticeable but simple. Use language that creates a sense of urgency while emphasizing value and trust. Add a CTA to each piece of online content and on several web pages so a user has plenty of opportunities to convert.
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4. Not optimizing pages for leads, especially mobile users

It may feel impossible to place a CTA on every single web page, especially if you publish a lot of content or feature a lot of products. However, you may be squandering leads if you do not at least optimize your most popular web pages, as well as pages that are particularly relevant to specific campaigns or customer needs. And if your site is not mobile-friendly, then you may not be adequately reaching the 80% of buyers who use mobile at work.
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The fix

Use Google Analytics or a similar service to determine which web pages garner the most traffic, and make note of pages that are highly relevant to customers or lead generation campaigns. Ask yourself what a user may be looking for when they visit the page and base the CTA on that.
For example, one of your most visited pages could be your “Contact Us” page, while a product page may not see as much traffic, but it has the potential to generate plenty of leads with a free trial or product demo. Make sure all web pages, campaigns and CTAs are mobile-friendly, too, so that you reach all of your targets.
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5. Producing campaigns that only fit one stage of the buyer’s journey

Leads can come from anywhere, and they won’t always be in the same stage of the buyer’s journey. Without considering the different information needs of your potential leads, you’ll capture far fewer than if you had campaigns and CTAs that took into account each stage a buyer may be in. 
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The fix

A customer will have a different goal at each stage of the buyer’s journey, so develop lead campaigns and CTAs with those in mind. For example, someone in the research stage might prefer an eBook about industry insights, but someone in the consideration stage will be more likely to convert for a free trial or product demo.
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Conclusion

Each part of your lead generation campaign must be spot on in order to generate leads. From a dedicated landing page to an effective CTA to a campaign designed with each persona and buyer’s journey stage in mind, your potential leads must not only be guided through the conversion process but compelled to complete it.
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