Marketing strategies all have the same ultimate aim. To generate leads for a business. The teams within businesses spend countless hours developing lead generation strategies. They build multifaceted, holistic campaigns, all with the aim of finding new potential clients. There are, however, easier ways. Less effort-intensive ways. It starts with lead generation software.
Lead generation software is the marketing team’s best friend. It’s not a replacement, far from it. Instead, it’s a tool that enhances and maximizes the efficiency of the team. For modern businesses, especially those in competitive industries, this software isn’t just a welcome bonus. It’s an essential piece of kit. It’s how businesses can stay ahead of their competition.
These tools deliver a combination of automation and process streamlining to enhance lead generation methods. In this article, we’re going to share further insight into the various software available on the market. There’s an ever-increasing number available to you, so we’re going to start with the key factors that you should be considering.
What To Look For In Lead Generation Software
The tool that you select needs to be a great fit for you and your team. Each tool is presented in a slightly different way. That means you need to consider the way that it would integrate with your current tech stack and the requirements you have for it. When you’re making your decision, these factors should act as a basis for your decision:
User Experience and Interface
This is a tool that your team is going to be using regularly. They need to be able to use it intuitively and without laboring through some cumbersome interface. The simpler, the better. If the tool is easy to use, your team is far more likely to use it. If it’s complicated and requires extensive training, chances are they’ll revert back to what they were doing prior to implementation.
Integration Capabilities
Few of these tools are designed to work in isolation. They’re meant to integrate with other systems, such as CRMs, analytics, and email marketing tools. Check with each tool and see if it will easily integrate with your current systems. It’s worth talking with your tech team and the software’s support team because even if an integration isn’t listed, that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. Plus, many integrations can be completed by using Zapier or similar automation software.
Customization
You shouldn’t expect customization options at lower-priced tiers. At many enterprise-level packages, you’ll see it as an added feature. This feature allows you to edit the platform as you see fit. Customizing it to suit your requirements and your team best. It’s one of those features that isn’t mandatory for any business, but it can make the system simpler and more accessible.
Scalability
If the software works well, you should be part of a growing business. That means you need the tool to scale with you. It needs to provide leads at a rate that keeps growth increasing rather than stagnating. The vast majority of tools will be able to facilitate this. It usually means that you purchase more credits or pay for a larger subscription. If you become one of their higher-paying customers, then you might be able to access bespoke packages made for you individually.
Analytics and Reporting
You need to know just how successful the software is. The best way to achieve that is through an easy-to-access reporting dashboard. Here, you should be provided with a clear outline of any lead generation conducted within the software. At least, you need to have access to metrics including:
- Source tracking
- Campaign effectiveness
- Conversion rates
When you have access to the data, you can reflect on where you can improve campaigns. You’re also able to clearly see and celebrate your successes.
Affordability
Budget is a necessary factor for you to consider when browsing and comparing software. Some lead generation software is aimed at large corporations with thousands of employees. Others are accessible right down to sole traders. There’s software that fits every budget. Just be sure that you’re going to have access to the core features that you need to use.
When you’re making a decision on budget, remember to factor in the potential return on investment. This is a tool that has the power to deliver sales and, therefore, an increase in revenue and investment.
The 5 Best Lead Generation Software
Instantly
Instantly offers both a comprehensive email marketing tool and a B2B lead finder. The former gives you access to one of the best methods of prospecting available to any marketing department. Cold outreach is simple with Instantly thanks to its easy-to-use, accessible software.
It’s as simple as building an email sequence, submitting your list, adding personalization options, and starting a campaign. It’ll even help your email deliverability thanks to the AI-powered account warmup feature. A must-have if you’re planning on sending emails at scale.
If you’re lacking the email addresses to send campaigns to, then you should access the lead finder. Instantly will scan millions of potential contacts before sharing their information with you. Each prospect can be added to your lists and then contacted.
Once you have the system in place, Instantly begins to feel as if you’ve put your lead generation on autopilot. Prospects are guided through your lead generation funnel before they eventually respond and can have a discussion with one of your representatives.
Key Features
- AI-powered account warm-up
- Advanced personalization and audience segmentation
- Reporting and analytics
- Lead prospecting
- Email verification
- Email sequencing
Pricing
You can get started with Instantly completely for free and then graduate to one of the paid plans when it’s appropriate to do so. $47 a month will net you 1,000 leads, then the $197 a month will push that number up to 10,000 leads.
The email marketing side of the platform starts from only $37 a month for the Growth package. Then, the Hypergrowth tier costs $97 a month. That level of account allows you to send 10,000 emails across 25,000 active leads.
Unbounce
Unbounce is an AI-powered landing page creator that completely optimizes each page with a view to driving more leads to your business. You start by creating your page, pop-ups, and search bars all within the software using their intuitive builder. You won’t need any coding experience at all.
Once that’s done, you can move on to the copywriting. If that’s not your thing, then don’t worry. Instead, you can leverage the AI writing assistant that’ll write your copy for you.
You can launch the page and then track the results. The most impressive part of the system is that once a campaign is underway, it’ll allow you to optimize with a few clicks. All optimizations are based on the learning that the campaign does automatically.
Unbounce integrates with the majority of leading software tools, including Shopify, Hubspot, Calendly, Mailchimp, and Zapier. Once launched, you can create landing pages for all aspects of your lead generation campaign. That might mean directing a paid ad toward one of their pages or a social media campaign. You might even decide to generate a page that you link to from an email marketing campaign.
Key Features
- Intuitive page builder
- Custom forms based on your requirements
- A long list of integrations
- Detailed reporting and optimization
- Real-time editing tools
Pricing
For monthly customers, Unbounce starts at $99 a month. That allows you to create unlimited landing pages that can handle up to 500 conversions and 20,000 visitors. Those numbers increase at higher tiers. Annual payees receive a 25% discount.
Pipedrive
Pipedrive fits into the category of a lead generation assistant. It will help you to generate leads but won’t generate them for you. It’s a combination of sales CRM and pipeline management that specializes in lead qualification.
First, you create a pipeline. This should reflect the different stages of your sales funnel. You can add leads and prospects to it and then track their progress. Your sales forecasts update depending on where you move a prospect or lead in the funnel. Once this process is set up, you can leverage the AI technology to help you find additional opportunities for sales. The routine tasks are completely automated, giving you more time to talk to clients and close on sales.
Leads are generated through quality web forms that you can embed directly into your website. Each submission automatically generates a new lead in your pipeline.
Key Features
- Lead segmentation
- Activity reminders
- Revenue forecasting
- Web forms
- Reports and dashboards
Pricing
Monthly costs for Pipedrive start at $21.90 a month. This gives you access to pipeline management and data import. If you’d like features such as email synchronization, automation, and project planning, you’ll need to pay higher tiers. Annual customers receive up to a 32% discount.
LeadsBridge
LeadsBridge is a somewhat unusual entry in this list. It’s not specifically a lead generation software, but it facilitates it. LeadsBridge builds connections between marketing tools so that you can access all of your lead generation efforts in one convenient dashboard.
This involves syncing all of your leads without needing to create laborsome CSV files. You can create and then target custom audiences developed between multiple platforms. It even offers online-to-offline tracking. This means your conversion data is considerably more accurate. If you’re using software that doesn’t feature in their list of over 380 integrations, then they’ll use their team of experts to create a custom integration for you.
Key Features
- Combine marketing and advertising efforts
- Dedicated TikTok lead generation partnership
- Option of self-service or managed plans
- Custom integrations
- Human support team
Pricing
There’s an option that allows you to use LeadsBridge completely free, but it only gives you 1 bridge that’s good for 50 leads a month. It then offers a scaleable model where you can customize your package depending on how many bridges and leads you will require. The Starter level begins at $29 a month for 800 leads across 3 bridges. The Business solution starts from $999 a month for a completely tailor-made setup and unlimited bridges.
OptinMonster
OptinMonster offers a whole suite of lead generation tools. They're aimed at small businesses, eCommerce store owners, and bloggers. Imagine a typical lead generation feature on a website. OptinMonster likely has it covered. They offer:
- Lightbox popups
- Floating bars
- Scroll boxes
- Gamified wheels
- Page level targeting
- Exit intent detection
- Geolocation targeting
- And over 100 templates that you can use
Each feature requires zero coding knowledge and is simple to integrate. You use their simple builder, and then the installation is a click of a button. Once live, you’re provided with detailed campaign-specific analytics within a simple dashboard. This allows you to run split tests so that you can optimize for growth.
Key Features
- Lead capture pages
- OnSite Retargeting
- Detailed analytics
- A/B testing
- Integrations with CRM and other marketing tools
Pricing
OptinMonster starts at only $9 a month. At that level, you can use the software on one site that has up to 2,500 page views. You get the majority of features you’d expect, but if you’d like items such as A/B testing, mobile-specific campaigns, or custom branding, you’ll need to access a higher tier. Even at the highest level, OptinMonster will only cost you $49 a month. It is, however, worth bearing in mind that all plans are billed annually.
Key Takeaways
Using lead generation software can feel a bit like using a cheat code. Within short order, your business can receive a steady stream of qualified leads. Plus, when you’re ready to increase your capacity, these tools will grow with you.
- Integration is key. You need this new software to gel perfectly with the tools that you’re already using.
- Always reflect on your campaigns through the analytics and reports to look for areas where you can improve.
- Budget is an important factor to consider, but make sure that you’re considering it compared to your likely ROI.
Instantly makes prospecting incredibly simple. Thanks to the B2B lead finder, followed up by a sophisticated suite of email marketing tools. Are you ready to get started? Signing up is simple.
