A Beginner’s Guide to Lead Generation: What is it, Types, Important, Process, Strategies

A Beginner’s Guide to Lead Generation: What It Means, Why It Matters, and How It Works

We last updated this guide in April 2025 to make sure all the information is accurate and complete.

Are you new to lead generation and want to learn what it’s all about?

In this beginner-friendly guide, we’ll explain everything in plain English—like what lead generation actually means, the different types of leads, why they’re important for your business, and how the whole process works from start to finish.

We’ll also break down some helpful strategies, share tips on turning leads into paying customers, and explain the difference between sales-qualified and marketing-qualified leads.

So if you're curious and ready to learn, stick with us and let’s walk through the basics of lead generation step by step!

Table Of Contents of Beginner's Guide to Lead Generation

What is a Lead?

What is Lead Generation?

Why is Lead Generation Important?

How the Lead Generation Process Works

Types of Leads in Lead Generation:

• Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)
• Sales Qualified Lead (SQL)

How to Identify if a Lead is Sales or Marketing Qualified

What is Lead Scoring? (How Marketing and Sales Teams Work Together)

Lead Generation Strategies:

• Create Gated Content
• Build and Optimize Landing Pages
• Drive Traffic to Landing Pages Using Paid AdsUse Lead Ads for Easy Sign-Ups
• Host an Online Event or Webinar
• Add Clear Calls to Action (CTAs)

Lead generation marketing – your first steps

What is a Lead

Let’s start by explaining what a lead really means in business.

A lead is a person who has shown interest in what you’re offering—like your product, service, or free resource. They’ve taken a step to connect with you by giving their contact details, such as their email address or phone number. This means you can now follow up with them, usually through emails, phone calls, or messages, to keep the conversation going.

It’s also good to know that different businesses, marketers, or salespeople might have slightly different ideas about what a lead is or what makes a lead “high quality.” Some may look for people ready to buy soon, while others may include anyone who shows even a little interest.

What is lead generation

Lead generation is all about finding new people who aren’t already in your contact list. First, you grab their attention—maybe through a website, social media, or an ad. Then, you give them a good reason to share their contact info with you, like signing up for a free guide, discount, or webinar. Once they’re in your system, you help them learn more about what you offer, step by step, until they’re ready to buy something or talk to your sales team.

👉 Editor’s Note: Want a simpler way to find new leads? With all its built-in tools and helpful features, GetResponse lead generation tool makes lead generation super easy. It could be the only software you’ll ever need. Check it out and see how it works!

Why lead generation is important

If you want your business to survive and grow, you need a steady flow of leads — people who are interested in what you offer.

Even if you have a big sales team reaching out to potential customers on LinkedIn or Facebook every day, it’s still tough to grow your business without the right system in place.

In the past, people used to contact businesses directly to learn more about products or services they liked. They wanted the seller to give them all the details.

But today, things have changed. Most buyers prefer to do their own research before talking to anyone. They look at online reviews, ask questions in community forums, scroll through social media, or try the product themselves if there’s a free trial.

So, what can you do to keep up with this new behavior?

You need a solid and reliable lead generation process. When you have a system that brings in leads consistently, you can grow your customer list without wasting time or money — and you can scale your business more easily over time.

Lead generation process

Here's a simple breakdown of how lead generation works, step by step:

1. Grab Someone’s Attention

The first thing you need to do is get the attention of people who’ve never heard of you before. These are complete strangers. Your goal is to get them to visit your website or landing page.

You can do this by running a Facebook ad, posting something interesting on Instagram, LinkedIn, or any other platform your audience hangs out on. The idea is to catch their eye and make them curious enough to click and learn more.

2. Ask for Their Contact Info

Once they land on your page, the next step is to ask for their contact information—like their name and email address.

To get this, you need to offer them something valuable in return. This could be a free guide, a checklist, a webinar, or even a discount. This offer is called a lead magnet—something useful that they can access after filling out a simple form.

3. Build Trust and Stay in Touch

Now that you’ve got their contact details, they’re officially a lead. But most people don’t buy right away. You’ll need to stay in touch and build a relationship with them.

This is where you "nurture" the lead. You can do this by sending helpful emails, showing them useful ads, inviting them to webinars, or even sending updates inside your app if you have one. The goal is to keep showing up and offering value until they feel ready to make a purchase.

4. Help Them Become a Customer

Once the person is interested and ready to buy, guide them to the right page to place their order. Or, if you're in a business where someone needs to speak with them first, pass them on to your sales team.

But here’s the important part—don’t stop there.

Even after someone buys, you want to keep engaging with them so they come back again and maybe even tell others about your business. That’s how you turn a customer into a loyal fan.

This whole system is usually powered by marketing automation tools and is part of a bigger strategy known as lifecycle marketing.

It might sound straightforward, but in reality, many marketers find it challenging to put all the pieces together and get consistent results. But once you understand the process, you can keep improving and growing your business over time.

Types of leads in lead generation

When it comes to finding potential customers (also known as "leads"), it's important to understand that not all leads are the same. People are at different stages in the buying journey, and how ready they are to buy can vary a lot.

We usually divide leads into different types based on two things:

1. How interested or qualified they are, and

2. What stage they’re at in the buying process.

Let’s break down the two main types of leads you’ll hear about:

1. Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) 📩

A Marketing Qualified Lead, or MQL, is someone who has shown interest in what your business offers. They’re not quite ready to make a purchase yet, but they’re curious enough that your marketing team should keep nurturing them.

Think of an MQL as someone who’s doing research and gathering info, but hasn’t made up their mind. They’re more likely to buy in the future than a random website visitor, but they’re not ready to talk to a salesperson yet.

How can you spot an MQL?

Here are a few signs:

• They download free resources from your website, like ebooks, checklists, or guides.
• They visit your site multiple times to check out your products or services.
• They ask for more information by email but don’t request a phone call or meeting.

These are people who are interested – they just need a little more time and useful content before they’re ready to move forward.

2. Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) 📞

A Sales Qualified Lead, or SQL, is further along in the decision-making process. This is someone your marketing team has already reviewed, and now your sales team agrees they’re ready for a real sales conversation.

In other words, an SQL is more serious about buying and wants to talk business.

How do you know someone is an SQL?

Here are some common clues:

• They ask to be contacted or schedule a meeting.
• They hold an important role in their company (like a manager or decision-maker) and can actually approve the purchase.
• They’re willing to spend time learning more about your offer and are open to a demo, consultation, or quote.

At this stage, your sales team can step in and try to close the deal.

Quick Recap 📝

• MQL = Curious and interested, but not ready to buy just yet. Needs more nurturing.
• SQL = Serious and ready to talk. Good time for your sales team to step in.

Understanding the difference between these types of leads helps your team focus on the right people at the right time. It saves time, improves communication between marketing and sales, and can help you close more deals in the long run.

Identify which prospects are qualified for sales or marketing

It might sound simple at first to figure out who’s a sales-qualified lead (SQL) and who’s a marketing-qualified lead (MQL). But in real life, many teams have a hard time figuring out where each lead really stands—and that confusion can hurt your results.

Studies show that up to 90% of MQLs never turn into SQLs. That usually happens because the lead wasn’t truly ready for sales in the first place or the marketing strategy didn’t do a good job nurturing them.

That’s why your marketing and sales teams need to work together. The goal is to find out where each lead is in their buying journey. Are they just looking around and learning? Or are they getting close to making a purchase?

At this stage, your job is to decide:

• Which leads are ready for sales (SQLs) and can be handed off to the sales team?
• Which ones still need more education and engagement from marketing (MQLs)?

One of the best tools to help with this is something called lead scoring.

What is Lead Scoring and Why Does It Matter?

Lead scoring is a method that helps you figure out how ready a lead is to make a purchase. It’s something that both the marketing and sales teams should use together.

You give each lead a score or a number based on how they behave—like what pages they visit on your website, if they open your emails, or if they engage with your content on social media. The higher the score, the more likely they’re ready to buy.

Using lead scoring helps you in three big ways:

1. It keeps your sales team from reaching out too early to people who aren’t ready.
2. It shows the marketing team who needs more time and nurturing.
3. It helps your sales team spot the people who are ready to buy, so they can focus their time better.

How to Score Your Leads

There are different things you can use to score your leads. Here are five good ones:

1. Demographic Information – Does the lead fit your ideal customer profile (age, job title, location, etc.)?

2. Company Information – Is their company the right size or in the right industry?

3. Online Behavior – Are they visiting key pages on your website, like pricing or product pages?

4. Email Engagement – Are they opening your emails and clicking on links?

5. Social Engagement – Are they liking, sharing, or commenting on your social media posts?

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, identifying who’s ready for sales and who needs more marketing attention is a team effort. Lead scoring makes the process smoother and more accurate. The better your team gets at understanding each lead’s journey, the more successful you’ll be at turning interested people into paying customers.

💡 Tip: Keep your sales and marketing teams in sync with regular check-ins and updates on how leads are moving through your funnel.

Example of a lead scoring system based on user behavior. Source

Lead Generation Strategies

There are lots of ways to generate leads, but that doesn’t mean every method is right for your business. What works for one company might not work for yours — and that’s totally okay.

Before you try any lead generation strategy, you need to think about your ideal customer. In other words, who are you trying to reach?

Ask yourself these simple questions:

• Who are they?
• Where do they spend their time online?
• What are they doing there?
• What are they trying to achieve or learn?

Let’s take Facebook as an example. Your audience might hang out there often, but they might not be in a “buying” mood. Or maybe they are interested in your product, but they're browsing Facebook using a personal email address — not the one they use for work. So even if they engage, they may not be ready to make a decision yet.

That’s why it’s important to match your strategy to the people you're trying to reach.

Common Lead Generation Strategies (That Work for Most Businesses)

Don’t worry if these strategies seem a little advanced at first. Stick with me — I’ll break them down for you. And by the end of this article, I’ll even show you a simple version you can start using today to get leads fast.

1. Use Gated Content (a.k.a. Lead Magnets)

You’ve probably seen this before: a business offers something valuable like a white paper, checklist, cheat sheet, or even a free sample of an e-book. But there’s a catch — you have to enter your email to get it.

That’s what we call gated content. Some people also call it a lead magnet, opt-in offer, or content upgrade.

Here’s how it works: Instead of cold calling or randomly emailing people, you create helpful content your audience actually wants. In return for getting this content, they give you their contact info — usually an email address.

It’s a win-win. They get something useful, and you get a potential lead.

Once someone downloads your gated content, you now have a way to stay in touch with them. From there, you can send follow-up emails, build trust, and guide them toward making a purchase when they’re ready.

This is one of the most effective (and low-pressure) ways to start conversations with future customers — and it lays the foundation for many other lead generation strategies too.

Gated content example – Email Course on Video Marketing

Editor’s note: Want to find out which opt-in incentives work best? Check out the Best Lead Magnets for Lead Generation study report.

2. Create landing pages and optimize them for conversions

Landing pages are special web pages designed with one main goal: to get visitors to take a specific action, like signing up for your email list.

To boost lead generation, you can offer valuable content on these pages that visitors need to sign up to access. This strategy greatly increases your chances of turning website visitors into leads. If you put your lead magnet (like a free download or offer) on your homepage instead, it won’t work as well. That's because homepage pages typically have many different things happening and may distract visitors from taking the action you want.

After you’ve created an effective landing page with your content offer, the next step is to drive traffic to it—get people to visit your page.

And that’s what we’ll discuss next.

Example of an ebook download landing page template you’ll find in the GetResponse Landing Page Creator

Here, you can learn more on how to create a landing page and get inspiration from these landing page examples.

3. Drive traffic to your landing pages with paid ads

Landing pages can be part of your website, and they may even show up in your main menu. However, it's usually best to use them as separate, standalone pages.

But you might be wondering, how will people find your landing page if it's not easy to access from your website? The answer is paid ads.

Once you've created your landing page that converts well, you'll want to reach new people. The quickest way to do that is by using Facebook and Google Ads.

Here's an article that explains how to set up a Facebook ad in GetResponse. Below, I've listed some targeting options and ideas to help you generate leads through Facebook Ads. You can target people who:

• Like your Facebook page but aren't on your email list yet.
• Visited your website in the last 30 days but haven't signed up for your list.
• Are similar to your current subscribers (Lookalike Audience).
• Are similar to your best customers or subscribers (Lookalike Audience).
• Are interested in the topics you cover in your gated content.

I understand you might feel unsure about using paid ads, especially if you've never tried them before.

That's why I suggest starting small. Even a small budget—like $50—can go a long way. Test out a few different strategies and take it slow until you see what works.

For some inspiration, check out this case study from InfoShare Academy, where they explain how they gained 1,200 new leads by promoting their ebook using Facebook Lead Ads.

Example of a Facebook retargeting ad

Example of a Facebook retargeting ad

For more inspiration, check out these great social media ad examples.

4. Use lead ads to simplify the signup process

If you're thinking about using lead ads, they’re a great option for lead generation, especially if you're offering gated content.

So, what's different about lead ads compared to regular Facebook ads? Well, with lead ads, you don't need a landing page. Users can fill out the form and access your content directly on Facebook, making the process much quicker and easier for them.

Another advantage of lead ads is that Facebook automatically fills in the user's email address on the form. This means they don’t have to manually type in their email to get your content, which usually leads to higher conversion rates and lower costs per lead.

However, lead ads might not be right for everyone. For example, if your audience is mostly B2B (business-to-business), many people sign up for Facebook with their personal email, not their business email. So, think about your audience and their email habits before jumping in.

If you're ready to give lead ads a try, here’s how you can set them up and link them to GetResponse.

Example of a Facebook Lead Ad promoting an ebook.

You’ll also want to know that “Lead Ads” aren’t just available on the Facebook platform. LinkedIn has Lead Gen Forms, Google has Lead Form Extensions, and Quora has Lead Gen Forms.

5. Host an online event

Video content is great for getting more attention and interaction on social media platforms. It’s especially effective with live streaming events and video ads, which can help promote your exclusive content.

You can also use videos as a way to offer gated content by hosting a webinar that people need to sign up for in advance.

Whether you’re a solo content creator or part of a bigger team, webinars are a powerful tool for generating leads.

In this guide, you’ll learn how webinars work and how to make sure yours is successful.

Example of a webinar landing page that GetResponse hosted on building beautiful emails.

6. Add calls to action

When promoting protected content, we need to make sure visitors who aren’t yet potential leads are motivated to click the button that leads to it.

For example, if we’re in the content marketing business and wrote a blog called “How to Get Started with Content Marketing,” we may share it on social media. This will attract business owners who will read the post.

We don’t want to give everything away in the blog because we want those readers to download our exclusive content, like a free ebook titled "The Complete Guide to Content Marketing for SMBs."

To make this happen, we need a clear call-to-action (CTA). A CTA is a button, image, or message that encourages visitors to take an action. In this case, the action is navigating to a landing page where they can access the closed content.

It’s crucial that our CTAs stand out and grab attention. For example, showing a bright image of the ebook cover with a button that says "Free Download" can work well.

You should also experiment with your CTAs. For instance, you might find that "Download Now" works better than "Free Download." Use A/B testing (available in GetResponse) to see what performs best.

Also, make sure your target audience sees your CTAs more than once. After someone subscribes to your mailing list, show them a CTA to download the ebook or join your course on the thank you page. Then, after attending your webinar, show them another CTA to keep the engagement going.

A simple CTA button can make the lead generation process easier by guiding your audience to the next step.

How Optimizely is using CTAs on their ebook download thank you page.

Lead generation marketing – your first steps

Now that you know what lead generation is and how it works, you can start using these skills to help your business grow.

To make it easier for you, we’ve got a video that shows you how to create a complete lead generation campaign in just one day.

The video demonstrates a solution called Conversion Funnels, which combines all the strategies we mentioned into a simple marketing funnel.

Not only does it bring everything together, but it also makes the process easier, so you can spend more time focusing on what matters most for your business.

Read Related Articles:

1. Lead Magnets Ideas and Examples
2. How to Create High Converting Social Media Marketing Funnels
3. List of Best Email Marketing Services

Affiliate Disclaimer: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through them, at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products and services I trust and believe will add value to you. Thank you for your support!