What Is Lead Generation? Attracting People Worth Talking To
DICTIONARY · FUNDAMENTALS

What Is Lead Generation?

Lead generation is the work of attracting people who might buy, and capturing enough information to follow up.

In plain English

Two halves: attracting attention, and giving people a reason to identify themselves. Most businesses do the first and neglect the second, then wonder why traffic produces no enquiries.

Volume is the wrong target. Fifty leads at the wrong fit consume more sales time than they generate revenue, and the cost per lead figure hides that entirely.

What to know

Attract
Content, search, ads, referral, events.
Capture
A form, a call, a booking, in exchange for something worth it.
Qualify
Establish fit before sales time is spent.
Measure by outcome
Cost per customer, not cost per lead.

Why it matters

Cost per lead is the metric that misleads most often, because it improves when you lower the bar. The number that matters is cost per customer, and the two frequently move in opposite directions.

Common mistakes

×Optimising for lead volume rather than lead quality.
×Traffic with no capture mechanism on the page.
×Gating low-intent content to inflate numbers.
×Reporting cost per lead without cost per customer.

FAQs

What generates the best leads?

Search and referral, in most businesses. Both arrive with intent already established.

How many fields should a form have?

The fewest that let you qualify. Every extra field costs completions.

WRITTEN BY TARIQ SALLAM
Marketing Consultant. Entrepreneur. Content Creator.

I'm a marketing consultant, entrepreneur and content creator. I help businesses grow through practical marketing, websites, SEO, content and AI.

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