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Lead Generation: Capturing Email Addresses

This is part 1 of a 6 part series on Lead Generation: Capturing Email Addresses .

What is lead generation?

While lead source and email acquisition channels refer to where a lead comes from, lead generation refers to how and why a lead signs up. Lead generation, then, is the tactics behind getting your ideal market to sign up for your email list.

Once someone has signed up for your email list, that is when they become a lead — you now have the ability to build a relationship and consistently communicate with them, make them special offers, and even get their feedback. This is what we mean when we refer to lead generation: getting a person’s email address so that you may contact them in the future.

But to understand lead generation completely, you must also understand what a lead magnet is.

What is a lead magnet?

Collecting email addresses (or leads) isn’t always as easy as putting a “Subscribe Now” button on your website. That will help, to be certain, but most leads will need a bit more persuading to give you (or any company, for that matter) their email address. The most common way to encourage prospects to sign up for an email list and officially become a lead is to offer a lead magnet; this is some sort of guide, downloadable resource, or sweepstake entry that the company offers for free in return for the prospect’s email address. And they are wildly effective.

Here are a few different common types of lead magnets:

Of course, there are many different ways to advertise, place, or market your lead magnet. There are also multiple tools at your disposal for generating leads that you should be aware of. And there are even different types of opt-in forms.


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