Some companies generate leads for themselves. Others hire agencies to do the lead scoring for them. Some even buy leads. Whatever the approach is, as a brand, lead generation is a crucial part of your marketing mix.

You can use everything from online forms to WhatsApp newsletters to generate leads. Companies make huge money simply by locating, engaging, and collecting leads. The lead generation market is expected to surpass $3.2 billion by the end of the year.

Although lead generation can lead to big money, it can also cost you. Naturally, there are many challenges associated with lead generation, and they can be tricky to navigate. Today, we'll look at seven of them.

What is Meant by Lead Generation?

What are leads? Why do you need to find and attract them? How do you recognize them in the first place? A lead is a consumer that has a relative interest in your product or service.

A lead will often hear from a brand after opening communication - by submitting personal information in an online form, downloading a piece of content, or clicking on an advertisement.

Lead generation refers to attracting and converting consumers interested in your products and services. It's the action of building an audience likely to be interested in what you offer.

The lead generation process involves four distinct steps:

1. Attract: Establishing a presence on the web and using tactics to gain visibility.
2. Convert: Creating content that encourages visitors to take action.
3. Engage: Increasing involvement by providing relevant content and experiences tailored to the buyer’s journey.
4. Analyze: Measuring the impact of lead generation initiatives over time to find what works and what doesn't.

Why do you need to master lead generation? One of your main goals should be cultivating your brand and encouraging growth at every stage of your development. Generating leads keeps your target audience engaged and interested in what you have to offer.

7 Common Lead Generation Challenges Faced by Brands

No matter how long you've been doing lead generation, it's still a delicate job that requires precision and careful consideration. Issues come up, and you must be aware of them if you want to generate the best leads possible.

Here are the most common challenges that brands face when it comes to lead generation:

1. Relying Only on Referrals

In the world of marketing, there's nothing more valuable than good word-of-mouth. Getting leads strictly through referrals is a great strategy for many companies. And we won't deny it. As a short-term solution, it's a viable option.

But if you're looking for long-term success, relying solely on referrals isn't the best route. It can't guarantee authentic leads or cost-effectiveness.

You need a proper campaign that involves multiple strategies if you really want to hit the mark. Developing a detailed plan of attack with step-by-step tactics will be the best bet for your company.

2. Your Prospects are Ignoring You

From inception to execution, your lead generation strategy must be attention-grabbing. If you fail to capture the interest of your prospects right off the bat, chances are they won't even give you the time of day.

The content you create needs to speak to your target audience, help them solve their problems, and present them with solutions. Otherwise, they won't appreciate your efforts - or worse yet, they'll skip right over them.

So make sure your content is interesting and informative enough to capture interest. After all, if you don't manage to grab their attention with an eye-catching headline, how will you ever be able to convince them to take the leap and become a lead?

3. Increase in Ad Cost

Besides effort, hard work, and planning, lead generation requires one more important thing - money. Depending on your industry, lead generation costs can be pretty steep.

For instance, ad costs can easily run up and break the bank if you're running a digital marketing campaign. You must be aware of the costs associated with each part of your strategy and manage them accordingly.

If you have trouble staying within your budget, maybe you can look for alternative solutions. For instance, you can consider hiring a part-time Marketing Director to manage your campaigns and ensure they stay on track.

4. Identifying the Suitable Strategy

We can't stress enough how important it is to have the right strategy that's easy to implement and that gets results. Even a small mistake can derail your entire plan and leave you back at square one.

First, you need to ask your audience what they need, then create a strategy based on those needs. Then you can start looking for ways to meet your leads' demands.

5. Generating High-Quality Leads

Why spend time analyzing your target audience, coming up with a strategy, and spending money on ads when you can simply buy a list of leads from a professional? Then, you can reach out to them and increase your lead generation.

Sounds too good to be true, right? Unfortunately, it is. When you acquire leads from a 3rd-party, you have no idea what kind of people these leads are. Are they real buyers or just people with a marginal interest in your product?

The only way to generate high-quality leads is by investing time and effort into creating a proper strategy. That way, you can be sure that every lead coming through is interested in what you have to offer.

6. Nurturing New Leads

A huge misconception among business people is that your lead-generation campaign is over once you acquire a few leads. However, thinking like this can get you stuck in a vicious cycle of acquiring new and losing old leads.

If you want your leads to the leap from being a prospect to becoming a customer, you need to nurture them properly. How can you do that? You need to follow up with them, constantly engage them in conversations, and provide them with useful information.

7. Failure to Measure the Campaign Success

You always need to make changes and improvements to your lead-generation strategy. That way, you can ensure that it's always up to date and effective. But how can you do that without measuring the success of your campaigns?

Tracking certain KPIs like conversions, clicks, and engagement goes without saying. Make sure that your KPIs are in tune with the goals you've set for your lead-generation strategy. That way, you can easily tell what worked and what didn't and make the necessary adjustments.

Only 26% of managers say their KPIs are properly aligned with the objectives of their organization. Don't be one of them.

In Closing

Lead generation is a complex and time-consuming process. It requires patience, hard work, dedication, and a lot of planning.

However, if you manage to overcome the challenges that come with it, you can create a successful lead-generation strategy that will drive leads to your business and keep them coming in on a regular basis.

And if you need help, don't be afraid to ask for it. Companies like Boardroom Advisors can connect you with marketing experts who can create a tailor-made plan for your business that will get you the results you need.

Still, with dedication and perseverance, you can create a successful lead-generation strategy that will take your business to the next level.