7 Effective Lead Generation Practices for 2024

A new year comes in—a familiar howl is heard across the entire marketing community: the lead generation is not what it used to be, old methods don’t work, you either embrace the new reality or you die, and the name of your brand is erased from history forever. Ah, a tale as old as time.

Jokes aside, some things and practices do change and evolve. So keeping your finger on the pulse and adjusting your lead generation strategy is highly beneficial to see how you can stay ahead of the game.

So in this article, we’ll take a look at some lead generation trends emerging and continuing in 2024, what the best ideas to adopt are, and what stays the same despite the ‘we all doomed’ claims.

How to generate leads in 2024

The basic rules of lead generation always stay the same:

1. Identify your target audience.
2. Optimize landing pages.
3. Create engaging, quality content.
4. Select your promotion channels.
5. Regularly analyze and tweak your lead generation strategy.

These are the pillars of any lead-gen process, and all the new trends will complement, but not substitute for it. Talking about the trends though, here’s what’s currently hot in the lead generation topic.

#1 📹 Embrace video marketing

As expected, video consumption keeps growing, with an average viewer dedicating 17 hours a week to watching videos online. And while 96% of marketers report that videos help users get a better understanding of their product or service and 78% say that videos have a positive impact on sales, many businesses still don’t put enough effort into creating engaging video content. 

If your company is one of them, it’s time for a change. Especially, given the fact that creating videos has become more accessible and affordable. You no longer have to purchase expensive equipment or have an entire production team—videos can be shot with smartphone cameras, on the go. Plus, the shorter they are, the better (Thanks, TikTok).

What’s also important to remember in 2024:

• 90% of consumers watch videos on their mobile devices.
• So, consider creating vertical, short-form videos.
• Most people watch videos on silent: captions are a must.
• Authentic, unscripted content feels more personal and easier to connect with.
• Live streaming reportedly engages viewers better than on-demand videos.
• Using AI simplifies the video production process.

#2 🎯 Personalize marketing content

Personalization is nothing new but the advancement of AI made it so much easier. It can help segment your audience based on their demographics, behavior, and engagement history; create tailored and timely marketing messages; and customize customer experiences on websites and apps. For example, you can show personalized product recommendations to customers browsing your website as Etsy does:

Speaking of collecting personal data though, let’s not forget that privacy and security also gain importance. If visitors feel like your website is not secure or doesn’t provide transparent information about what data is being collected, they wouldn’t want to leave their contact info, rendering all your efforts useless.

#3 🔍 Don’t forget SEO optimization

New channels keep emerging, but your website and blog remain among the most effective and stable ways to generate leads in 2024. Besides creating quality, keyword-rich content and placing clear and engaging CTAs throughout your website, here’s what you can do to step up your SEO game:

✅ Design mobile-first: Google prioritizes mobile content for indexing and ranking because roughly 60% of Internet traffic comes from mobile devices.

✅ Put the focus of your link building on quality: High-quality backlinks from reputable and relevant websites are more beneficial than a ton of low-quality, spammy ones.

✅ Aim for featured snippets: These are the snippets that appear at the top of Google search results. To get there, you need to provide clear, concise answers to common questions and organize your content into tablets and lists.

✅ Make sure your website is accessible: Besides opening your website to a wider audience, you can get an SEO boost by making your website accessible. The best way is to provide an accessible version of your website, making it compatible with screen readers. But alt-texting images and providing captions to videos also helps.

✅ Add interactive elements for deeper engagement: Quizzes, surveys, and infographics will help increase the time visitors spend on your website. This in turn will signal search engines that your website is relevant and reliable.

✅ Optimize for voice search: An increasing number of users are relying on voice-activated devices for Internet searches, so this trend cannot be ignored.

#4 📝 Review your content marketing strategy

Content marketing is still the king of lead generation. However, as videos are getting shorter, texts, on the contrary, are getting longer. At least, the ones Google prefers. Longer content tends to rank higher in search engines, as it's more likely to address user queries comprehensively. Although writing larger articles is more time- and effort-consuming, generative AI helps streamline content creation by suggesting creative ideas and structures. Just remember that AI still falls flat when it comes to writing for emotional impact. But for factual data, it’s a great tool any content marketer should add to their toolkit.

A few more tips for more effective content marketing in 2024:

✅ Use multiple CTAs in your content: Just make sure they are relevant.

✅ Use a combination of formats: Add video, GIF, podcasts, and quizzes.

✅ Update your content often: Keep it relevant both for people and search engines.

✅ Adopt conversational content: Use simple language, personal tone of voice, relevant stories to illustrate your points better, engaging questions, and elements of spoken language—this type of content feels more authentic. And ‘authentic’ is what leads are looking for in a brand nowadays.

#5 💌 Leverage email marketing

Yet another tried-and-true lead generation method that is still going strong, with 58% of consumers noting the importance of email communications in their buying process.  We’ve already mentioned the personalization trend that certainly will have an impact on your email marketing in 2024. Among others, there are:

• A shift from sending low-price deals to valuable content that builds trust and strengthens relationships.
• Gaining inbox visibility through trust and authentication with BIMI and DMARC.
• Growing your subscriber base with downloadable resources such as guides, ebooks, and reports. High-quality content motivates people to provide their contact information really well. You can make this channel even more effective by offering your ebooks as interactive flipbooks with a built-in lead capture form created with FlippingBook.

Gated Ebook

#6 📢 Invest in influencer marketing

We might have given it a fancy word but in essence, influencer marketing is just the good old word-of-mouth marketing. You find bloggers with a dedicated social following and collaborate with them to enforce your products and services. Even when people know that a product review is a paid promotion, they believe the people they trust more than cold revenue-driven corporations. What makes this channel more important in 2024 is that influencer marketing is an effective channel for attracting Gen Z consumers specifically. 

Gen Zers are the first truly digital generation. Born and raised in the era of the Internet, smartphones, and social media, they consider digital space their true home. Often both content consumers and creators, they connect through YouTube videos, spread ideas on TikTok, and fight for justice on X (formerly Twitter). They also buy on each other recommendations, with 70% of Gen Z respondents reporting they use UGC (user-generated content) when deciding to buy.

At the same time, they are more conscious consumers, often interested in the brand’s social views and values as well as authenticity. Influencer marketing brings that authenticity and builds trust with your products and services, so don’t shy away from it.

Here are some tips for generating leads through influencer marketing in 2024:

✅ Pick the right people: It’s not about the number of followers, it’s about relevance and engagement with the audience that you want to reach out to.

✅ Set clear goals and KPIs: These will help you determine how effective your efforts are and also make it easier for the partner to understand what you are working toward.

✅ Develop a content strategy, keep the creative freedom: Influencers appreciate guidance on the brand’s values and messaging but don’t put words into their mouths, lest it kills the authentic vibe people look for.

✅ Turn to micro and nano influencers: Big stars might have a wider outreach, but people building small close-knit communities usually have a better engagement with their followers, and working with them turns out to be more cost-effective.

✅ Offer collaboration campaigns: Contests, live streams, Q&A sessions—anything that will generate active engagement and strengthen relationships between your brand, the influencer, and the audience.

#7 🤳 Engage with your audience on social media

Working with influencers is nice and all, but why not become an influencer yourself? Building an active community is extremely beneficial not only because it’s a good lead-generation channel but also because it has a positive impact on your brand’s credibility. And a credible brand equals more leads.

Here are your ingredients for success:

✅ Post engaging content: Promotions, educational content, short videos, behind-the-scenes showing your office life, and user-generated content we’ve already mentioned are all great ways to keep people engaged.

✅ Host live sessions: You can host webinars, do open product demos and Q&A sessions, invite experts, or be an expert yourself—the choice is yours.

✅ Run contests: Contests and giveaways are a surefire way to generate leads, as people love incentives. It’s also a great opportunity to raise your brand awareness.

✅ Use chatbots for instant engagement: This year AI is a marketer’s little helper, so feel free to use it on platforms like Facebook to engage with leads, answer their queries, and collect lead information.

✅ Incorporate social proof: Share customer testimonials, reviews, and case studies. Social proof can build trust and encourage new leads to engage with your brand.

✅ Be consistent: The magic of social media starts revealing itself when you post regularly and actively engage with your audience through comments and reactions. 

Final thoughts

So, is it going to be harder to generate leads in 2024? We don’t think so. The advancement of AI and the shift in the consumer’s behavior toward more authentic marketing content certainly pose new challenges but they bring new opportunities for growth—and fun—as well. We hope this article will inspire you to try new approaches to lead generation and see for yourself how effective they are.