Lead Generation vs Email Marketing

What is the difference between lead generation and email marketing? Many people think they are the same thing but they function as two separate means of marketing.

Lead generation and email marketing differently impact your small business.  So how do you choose which approach will best suit the marketing efforts of your small business?

What Makes Lead Generation and Email Marketing Two One-of-a-Kind Approaches?

Email Marketing

Email marketing is using email addresses to communicate a message to an audience who have chosen to participate in that messaging with you.

So, a person has chosen to interact with your business and signed up in some way to receive your emails. You can plan out and schedule your emails.  The emails are not specific to the customer interaction at the moment. They are informing your audience of your products and keeping a line of communication open between you and them.

Newsletters are an example of email marketing. Newsletters can include product promotions, coupons, introduction of new products, or how to use your products.

Lead Generation

Lead generation is a marketing approach that involves pinpointing consumers who may become customers in the future. It involves leading a potential customer through a process to sell them a specific product or service at the end of this process. The main point with lead generation is to focus on a specific product.

This means you would set up a marketing campaign of 2-3 emails crafted to lead the potential customer through the sales process with the goal being to sell the specific product at the end.

A contest or giveaway is a great way to generate new leads. You give the potential customer incentive, like a gift certificate or free book, to give you their email address as a way to enter a contest.

Do not let this specific audience fall into a general email list - they obviously were interested in your book or product/service you were giving away, right?

Remember to send out a follow-up email after your marketing campaign is complete.  If they are still interested in the product, they can click on a link to your website or call a phone number to speak to a representative.  You don’t want to lose this audience, you want to lead them to buying the specific product/service.

Ultimately, you need to think about which marketing strategy, lead generation or email marketing, will work best for your business and your sales goals.