lead generation
Marketing activity designed to attract people who show interest in a product or service and capture their contact details.
Definition
Lead generation collects potential customers, called leads, through forms, content downloads, events, advertising or outreach. A lead is only valuable if it fits the target customer and can be followed up, so quality matters more than volume. Agencies working on lead generation should agree definitions in advance, such as what qualifies as a lead, and how leads move to sales. Compliance with privacy and consent rules is essential, and rules vary by country. Review a sample of leads together each month, because reading real examples quickly shows whether the numbers represent genuine prospects.
In a sentence
The campaign generated leads through a gated buyer's guide.
Sales and the agency agreed what counted as a qualified lead.
