By: Toni Becker
SALES LEAD GENERATION IN THE DIGITAL WORLD Today’s consumer is in charge of what they want to see and
PRINT MARKETING
In today's digital climate, we need to ensure that the customer is genuinely interested in the service or product before “pitching” or offering it to them.
With the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press in 1440, lead generation began to take on a new form as print allowed businesses to send their message out to hundreds, if not thousands of people over vast distances without having to go door to door.
when they want to see it, and because of this, marketers need to drastically alter the way they generate leads.
To sum it up, in today’s online world marketers need to qualify their leads before they implement anything else, and the more accurate the lead, the greater the chance of them becoming customers.
THE EVOLUTION OF LEAD GENERATION WORD OF MOUTH The vanguard marketers relied heavily on referrals, door to door marketing and being present in areas of high foot traffic for lead generation. With word of mouth and door to door marketing being one of the most essential tactics to creating a thriving business during these times, as most businesses only served their local areas. But this was an extensive undertaking, and generating new leads required someone connecting directly with another person, making it difficult to scale and not saturate a market. But as technology advanced, lead generation tactics began to change. 15
Marketers were able to advertise in publications and were also able to now place posters and billboards in high traffic areas once deemed impossible. Even with print marketing taking shape, word of mouth and person to person marketing was still the primary source of marketing while newspapers, direct mail and billboards offered businesses even more tools to help in the generation of leads.
MASS MEDIA With the Industrial Revolution of the 1900s, came the rise of big business and advertising. Businesses were able to run promotions in national publications, and the media became an industry on its own. Radio was able to broadcast company messages to millions of potential customers, and magazines targeting specific interests made it easy for companies to generate targeted leads in specific markets. Then came the invention of the television, which gave businesses the opportunity to showcase and demonstrate their products and services on a new visual level. The telephone gave rise to cold calling while phone books made it easy for marketers to generate leads and target individuals.
