There are countless methods businesses use to market their services and products online, but what will truly distinguish your brand from the competition is your response time when it comes to generating, following up on and interacting with leads. We are living in a time of heightened digitalisation and interconnectivity, and the environment in which your current and prospective customers are existing is one which is constantly changing and shifting.

With the onset of social media, trending events and consumer preferences can transform in a matter of moments, and it is more important than ever that businesses harness the power and potential of real-time lead generation. It is critical that your business is able to keep up with these rapid changes and unexpected shifts, especially when it comes to creating content and reaching out to customers in a way which is topical, engaging and truly illustrates how relevant and updated your brand is.

By enlisting in the services of a lead generation agency, you can be assured that you are working alongside a team of qualified and experienced professionals. Not only will they be well-adapted to keeping up with the fast-paced digital environment, but they’ll also have the resources and equipment at their disposal required to bring meaningful and worthwhile leads your way.

1. Reactive and Responsive Campaigning

Ultimately, lead generation is a form of marketing and advertising which is meant to create interest in, direct traffic towards and drive sales for your products or services. There is no doubt that real-time lead generation is the latest and most exciting innovation in this field. It is an incredibly logical route as well, considering that we are living in a time where we exist within an online realm as much as we do in the ‘real’ world.

Within seconds, anyone with a smart device and an Internet connection can instantly access and consume news, entertainment, communication and media. As a business, it is essential that you work on a lead generation strategy which is reactive and responsive to events as they unfold in the digital sphere, ensuring that you reach out to the right audiences in exactly the right place and at exactly the right time.

2. Connecting In An Interconnected World

There are a number of benefits associated with this real-time approach. By consistently and frequently appearing on the digital screens of your target audiences, you can be assured that they will develop a familiarity with your brand which will translate into loyalty, trust and interest. Moreover, your engagement levels will skyrocket and you can build a positive and memorable brand sentiment via the content you publish.

This will inevitably lead to increased reach and followers, which in turn will improve conversion rates and ROI. What’s more, interacting with real-time news stories, cultural phenomena and viral trends as they emerge and unfold will show that you are a business which is not only relevant and perceptive, but also shares the same interests as its target audiences – improving customer satisfaction and relationships.

By tailoring and adjusting your campaigns so that they can be launched in real-time, you can also create a sense of urgency which will persuade your audiences to act in the moment. This is the perfect way to incorporate an effective call-to-action whilst generating leads, encouraging existing and prospective customers to to do something such as follow a social media page, subscribe to a newsletter, or make a purchase.

3. Qualified and Relevant Leads

What truly distinguishes real-time lead generation is its instantaneous and informal format. Real-time lead generation is comparatively more casual than a traditional campaign, which often requires extensive planning, resources and time before it is officially launched. The purpose of real-time lead generation is to react as quickly as possible, providing you with the opportunity to mirror and reflect your audiences in a way which otherwise wouldn’t be possible.

Overall, the process for generating leads is much more automated when it is being done in real-time. With other methods of lead generation, you usually have to manually reach out to and follow up on particular leads in order to achieve the desired results. When it comes to real-time lead generation, on the other hand, you are rapidly creating and publishing content which is then carried to your audience’s feeds by the momentum of the present moment.

In a way, your leads are bringing themselves to you because their interest in current events, trends and stories is driving them to consume any content related to these phenomena. When they come across your marketing and advertising content, they will inevitably already be interested in it and therefore more inclined to take action. This particular strategy requires far less time and effort on your part, whilst continuing to deliver the type of high-quality leads your business needs – with leads that are qualifying themselves for you.

4. The New Frontier For Lead Generation

Generating leads with a carefully planned and traditional campaign can still be invaluable to your business, but it can also be intensive, costly and time-consuming. More often than not, you will have to manually enter data, identify the target audience, and then continually reach out to and follow up with any leads in order to keep them ‘warm’.

With real-time lead generation, your target audience is already familiar with your product or service, and they have actively sought out the type of content you are publishing because it is something they are interested in. These leads are ‘warm’ from the outset, and you can focus your efforts on turning them into paying customers rather than preventing them from ‘cooling’ down.

Responding and reacting to online events as they occur, however, requires a perceptive eye and expertise – especially when it comes to tracking trends and stories and then coming up with the right content. This is where a lead generation agency comes in, because they already have the personnel, resources and equipment required to respond and react efficiently, quickly and effectively.

By establishing a collaborative partnership with a lead generation agency, you can be assured that you will always be prepared to generate and convert leads, whether it is in real-time or not.