Lead and demand generation are key to every successful sales process. With today’s tools and modern strategies, filling pipelines at scale is easier, faster, and more cost-efficient.
However, sales teams often encounter this scenario: Leads are coming in, but they’re not converting. The problem? Pipelines are filled with leads who don’t see the value in what you’re selling.
That’s not because the product is bad. It’s because you’re not targeting the right leads. We’re here to discuss how to fill your sales pipelines with people who will actually buy what you're selling.
What Are Targeted Leads?
Targeted leads get the most value out of your products. They match your ICP (ideal customer profile) and buyer personas. You can always use lead generation strategies that cast a wide net and attract a broad audience. Just be sure you’re segmenting. Here's how:
Segment Leads by Industry
Focus on industries where your product or service delivers the most value—selling HR software. Look at tech, healthcare, or finance companies where employee management tools are critical.
Filter by Company Size
Narrow down leads based on employee count, revenue, or location. If your product is built for small businesses, stick to companies with fewer than 50 employees.
Use Job Titles or Roles
Look for decision-makers or key influencers. A marketing tool should target roles like “Marketing Director” or “Growth Manager,” while an IT solution might aim for “IT Manager” or “CTO.”
Analyze Buying Signals
Look for behaviors like downloading whitepapers, attending webinars, or following your company on social media. Someone downloading your pricing guide or attending a demo will likely have buying intent.
Sort by Demographics or Location
If your business thrives in specific regions or markets, prioritize leads that align with those areas. For example, if you’re targeting local businesses, focus on leads within a 50-mile radius of your HQ.
Prioritize Engagement History
Leads interacting with your brand (like clicking emails or submitting forms) are more likely to convert. A lead who’s opened three emails in a week should go straight to your sales team.
Apply Tech or Tool Filters
If you sell software or integrations, filter leads by the tech they already use. A company using Salesforce is a great fit if you offer a Salesforce add-on or complementary product.
Actionable Strategies For Targeted Lead Generation
Finding the right leads doesn’t have to feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. These actionable strategies help you focus on high-quality leads that match your ICP and are more likely to convert:
Cold Email Marketing
The goal of cold email marketing isn’t to sell right away. It’s to find leads with the highest buying intent. If a lead replies positively, that’s a hot lead that sales reps or account execs can nurture.
But cold email marketing needs the right strategy and tools to be effective. At its core, this usually comes down to the following:
- The proper cold email setup (Technical setups, cold email tool, and strategy)
- A lead generation, validation, and lead management tool (CRM)
- Email warmup and deliverability tool.
You get all three with Instantly.ai! You can try it for free today!
Website Visitor Identification
Not every website visitor fills out a form or reaches out, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t interested. Say a website visitor keeps coming back to a how-to-guide for SEO.
Tools like Instantly Website Visitor Identification track visitors' activity and reveal their names, contact information, and LinkedIn profiles.
Once you identify a visitor, engage them with a personalized email or LinkedIn message. Instead of cold leads, you’re reaching out to warm leads who already show intent.
Leverage Lead Generation Tools
Lead generation tools let you find targeted leads in just a few clicks. Before investing in one, ensure that the leads you generate are validated with up-to-date information.
To validate leads, you’d need to use lead validation tools. But if you want to find pre-validated leads ready to use for campaigns, try Instantly B2B Lead Finder.
Content Marketing with Lead Magnets
Creating valuable, free resources like eBooks, guides, templates, or checklists is a tried-and-true way to attract inbound leads. You’re providing value for contact information.
Inbound visitors become warm leads. The content leads to engaging with the most, giving clear clues on how to approach them best. Website visitor identification tools help you track this activity.
Ensure the lead magnet solves a real pain point for your ideal customer. Promote it through social media, email campaigns, or your website’s blog.
Webinars and Virtual Events
Webinars and virtual events are great for engaging with highly targeted audiences. They’re effective because they provide value upfront, like solving a problem or teaching something new while positioning your business as a trusted expert.
To generate leads, pick topics that align with your audience’s challenges and make registration easy through a landing page or social media ads. During the webinar, include a CTA, like booking a consultation or downloading a relevant resource.
Account-Based Marketing (ABM)
ABM targets specific high-value accounts with personalized campaigns. Account executives typically handle these prospects with strong buying intent.
The process involves fully understanding the unique needs of the prospect’s company or decision-makers. Know their goals, challenges, and the people you’ll pitch to. Having a company contact list helps you better understand the key decision-makers.
Referral Programs
People trust their peers. If a customer recommends your product or services to a friend or professional network, nurturing is already done for you.
Set up a simple reward system. For every successful referral, give customers perks like discounts, gift cards, or free products. Make it worthwhile for your referrers.
Key Takeaways
Strategies for finding targeted leads don’t have to be complex. To recap, here are the six fundamental strategies you can try to fill your pipelines with leads who fit your ICP:
- Social media outreach
- Content marketing and SEO
- Webinars and virtual content
- Account-based marketing
- Referral programs
- Cold email marketing
Looking to automate targeted lead generation, outreach, and management? Instantly has all the tools you need to run sustainable, scalable, and automated cold email campaigns. Try it today!
