Lead Generation Jobs Summary
Lead generation is important for any business. Its essence is to attract new customers who would then contribute to the company’s profits and success. Therefore, people taking on lead generation jobs also play a crucial role in making the business profitable and successful.
To better understand what this career involves, you first need to know what leads and lead marketing are.
What A Lead Is
A lead refers to any individual who shows an interest in the products or services of a company. Leads may come to know about the company, its products and services through communication that they have started or have done recently.
These people might have recently submitted their personal details to the company through a special offer, a limited trial or exclusive subscription they have availed online. This differs from receiving a random cold call from a person or organization who has bought their contact details.
One possible scenario is when a person took an online survey to know more about car maintenance. One day later, this person got an email from the car company that made the survey. Compared to the sudden random cold call, this is less intrusive and annoying.
The survey is an example of a lead generation method that the marketers used to gather the contact information of potential leads. Through the details gathered from the survey, a company could come up with a personalized form of communication to people who will be very interested in what the company can offer.
Consumers follow the transition concept of first being a website visitor to finally becoming the company’s customer. Leads are just part of this transition, and they are of different types.
1. Marketing Leads or Marketing Qualified Leads are those contacts who have already engaged with the company’s marketing efforts, although they are not yet ready to get any sales call from the company.
2. Sales Leads or Sales Qualified Leads are those who have engaged with the marketing efforts and have also shown an interest in paying for the company’s products or services. This lead might have filled out an inquiry form about a product or a service.
3. Product Qualified Leads are also leads that refer to those contacts who have used the products of a company and have shown interest in paying for these goods. Such leads might exist for companies offering limited or free product trials with options for upgrading to get all features. After the lead has used the free trial version, he could ask what he will get upon sending his payment.
4. Service Qualified Leads are those contacts who have tried the company’s service through a trial or free version and have asked about further enjoying the service by paying for a subscription.
Capturing Leads
If a business is not doing this marketing effort, it could miss a considerable amount of revenue. Customers are crucial for the success, growth and profits of businesses. To get these customers, a business has to market its products and services to potential customers to attract their attention.
With the dawn of the internet came a new channel by which companies may get customers. Companies nowadays make serious efforts to establish their online presence so they can attract the attention of leads from all over the world.
The video below briefly talks about lead generation.
Before, companies invest money on local newspaper ads and this only allowed them to reach people within that area served by the local newspaper. Now, marketers use technologically advanced advertising platforms like social media and websites with traditional marketing avenues such as newspapers and TV. Below are some modern lead capturing tactics that marketers use. You could even find job advertisements where the title and job description specifically mention that the hired person will use a particular lead capturing tactic.
1. Capturing Leads through Social Media
People from all walks of life have taken an interest in using social media, so this is a place where you could commonly see marketers executing their campaigns. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter serve not just to keep in touch with relatives and friends, but also for managing the relationship between a business and its customers.
Through social media, a business now has a convenient channel to listen to its current customers and attract new leads. In fact, there are many ways that a business can get information about potential leads.
An example is through a contest held on Facebook. If you are an avid Facebook user, you have probably seen at least one shared post about a contest. This contest asks for contact details of participants, and they will then use these contact details for future lead generation campaigns.
Figure 1 shows an example of a job post that specifically hires someone who will execute lead generation via social media.
Figure 1
The job ad states that the candidate has to deliver leads through Facebook forms. The hired lead generator will have a budget to use in executing the campaign. If they hire you, you could work for more clients.
2. Capturing Leads through Website Forms
The idea is to make the lead capture form blend well with the design of a website. To convince site visitors to complete the form, a marketer needs to provide something valuable to potential leads (such as a newsletter, instructional video or an e-book). This could be one task that a lead generator will perform if hired for the position.
3. Capturing Leads through Google Ads
On Google, a business could run targeted ads containing important keywords that will capture the attention of possible leads as they search for the keywords on Google. This tactic aims to get an internet user to visit the company website where additional tactics are present for further securing the leads.
4. Capturing Leads through Email Marketing
To use this tactic, you must already have the contact information of the potential leads. For example, a plumbing company could send emails directly to the homeowners of a certain neighborhood containing a promo code for the plumbing service.
In Figure 2, the lead generation specialist will take on executing lead generation tactics via email and LinkedIn.
Figure 2
The ad specifically states that there is no cold calling involved. You will spend most of your time replying to leads and updating spreadsheets.
Duties and Responsibilities of a Lead Generator
The duties of a person hired for this position will vary on factors such as the job position and the company. Yet, a common task you need to accomplish as a lead generator is to come up with contents that will attract the attention of potential leads. Contents optimized for internet use are of different types and forms.
a) Blog Posts
One way that a business may establish its online presence and also attract attention of leads is to have its own blog. Apart from having a website, the company also needs to have a blog section that will supply new and old customers with useful information related to the business. If you are a lead generator hired by the company, your tasks might include posting a blog post regularly to keep the blog updated.
b) Newsletter
Updating a blog might be time consuming for some, so they instead send bi-weekly or monthly newsletters to an email list. You might also need to learn how to create newsletters if you want to improve your qualifications and skills as a lead generation professional.
c) Instructional Videos
Some people have a better appreciation of things they can see and watch, rather than what they could read from words and texts. Thus, creating instructional videos that you can upload to a video channel will help in generating leads.
d) Free Trials and Demos
These free items are sure to grab the attention of many people. Demos are helpful, such as when the business is selling software. Demos will show potential customers how this software works.
Other lead generation contents and tactics that you need to have knowledge of include social contents, presentations, slideshows, webinars, pop-up forms, and leads. You would see the exact tasks on the job ads.
In Figure 2, your responsibilities include building the prospect list, sending LinkedIn messages and cold emails, scheduling appointments, and follow up leads.
Skills and Attributes
Job posts contain details about the skills required from lead generation job applicants. Remember that this is a job involving the use of modern and technological avenues. Therefore, expect that among the skills required are knowledge or familiarity in using the internet platforms, online resources and specific computer applications or programs. The attributes they require you to possess are usually the traits necessary in any other jobs or professions, be it virtual or traditional.
In Figure 2 for example, the required skill is an excellent English skill in writing plus some mathematical knowledge. While it is not a requirement, it will give you an advantage over other applicants if you are well-versed in using LinkedIn and Google Sheets.
Education
You will, once again, see the educational requirements for a job position on the advertisement itself. In Figure 2, the client prefers someone with computer science education. Also, keep in mind that this is a marketing job, so it is only natural for some companies to require or prefer people with a degree or background in marketing, advertising, business administration and other related courses.
If you will search further, you might come across an entry level position with low educational requirements, such as a high school diploma or equivalent certification. Some employers will provide training to those who have the passion and motivation to succeed by learning new things.
Technical Requirements
These refer to the tools of the trade you need to set up in your place of work. Working at home, your basic technical requirements are a decently working computer system and fast internet connection. Some job ads indicate the computer programs for lead generation so you also need to have such programs in your computer. Look at Figure 3.
Figure 3
This is a job ad for an Outbound Medicare Insurance Lead Generator. This ad states that you have to have a wired internet and noise-canceling USB headset. You need to set up a home office where there is virtually no noise since the job involves making calls to people. It also mentions Xencall dialer so you will need to have such software or at least know how to use this CRM software. There is also a mention about Skype for team communications and for the video interviews.
How To Apply
Browse online for jobs and you could apply through the online job portals where you found the job ad. Some clients just rely on the application process of the job portals where they upload the job advertisement.
Meanwhile, some employers come up with a special set of instructions for applicants to follow. These instructions serve as an initial screening for applicants, so you need to follow them seriously if you want to increase your odds of acceptance.
From Figure 2, the employer instructs you to reply to the job post and use the subject line written on the ad. There is also an instruction on what you need to include in the body of your email.
In Figure 3, you can read the numbered steps and details. You need to describe your past job experiences. Remember that you should not send your resume as an attachment to the email you will send to the employer. Instead, you must upload it to an online resource so you could send the link when you apply. You also need to submit your audio recording. Make sure that your subject line is correct before hitting the send button and check if all the required links are working.
Potential Income
You may search online if you want to have an idea about how much salary to expect from a lead generation job. At Payscale, the average lead generation specialist salary is $16.00 per hour. This is just an approximation and might not apply to all job offers in lead generation.
As you browse through many job posts, you will compare salaries and payment terms. You may calculate your possible earnings and further compute if you could earn decently to cover your expenses. Look at an example in Figure 4.
Figure 4
In Figure 4, you see that you will get payment from each task you complete. Thus, the job post even advises that you only accept tasks you think are worthwhile. Consider the rate of USD$20-50 for each task and the time limit of 4 hours per task.
Look back at Figure 1. The payment is a minimum of $750 per month for every client you work for. From Figure 3, you could surmise that you will receive payment via PayPal.
Work Schedule
When you look for jobs on lead generation online, you may apply for jobs with the exact work schedule. This way, you will have an idea on whether you could take on at least 2 jobs to earn more.
Job ads usually contain the preferred work schedule of employers. Some offer flexible work schedules wherein you need to meet the number of hours regardless of when you want to work within the day. Others have more strict schedules.
In Figure 2, you need to work from 8AM to 4PM in the GMT-4 time zone so you could follow the work hours of the California-based employer.
Similarly, in Figure 3, the preferred work schedule of the employer is 1AM to 10 AM MNL.
Benefits / Bonus/ Increase/ Training Provided
You will also know what perks and benefits you will receive from the job advertisement. Look at Figure 5.
Figure 5
The hired person to work as an Outbound Medicare Insurance Lead Generator will work full time with an excellent hourly rate. He will receive payment on a weekly basis and he is free on weekends. The employer is ready to give incentives and bonuses plus extra time to work and earn more.
Conclusion
PROS
CONS
If you want to make the most out of lead generation jobs, you need to first accumulate skills and qualifications necessary for the job. You might need to first learn about blogging or social media marketing because the things you learn from these jobs will crucially contribute to your performance in lead generation.
To succeed in this career, you also have to be adept in using gadgets and technological products because these are the things that attract today’s users of the internet.