The Ultimate Incentivized Lead Gen Playbook

Running a successful, incentivized lead generation campaign can help you accomplish more than just reducing your cost per lead. When executed correctly, it can significantly increase your lead quality, improve the percentage of meetings that lead to deal, and shorten the time to close. Additionally, it can provide your marketing team with valuable insights into the needs and interests of your target audience. However, it involves a lot more than just giving leads a gift card in exchange for them signing up for a meeting. Before we break down all that goes into running a successful, incentivized lead generation program of your own, please click the Sign Up button in the SweepLift Recruiting Ad below to experience how we do it:

Now that you’ve been through SweepLift’s Ready-to-Close lead generation process, let’s show you how to do it.

Target Audience

The first step is to meticulously craft a precise and relevant target audience within the ad platform you plan to use for outreach. Assuming you're using LinkedIn, you can define your audience based on several targeting parameters offered by the platform, such as industry, seniority, geographic location, and even interests. Additionally, you can create what is known as a 'custom audience', which can be developed from a list of specific accounts or contacts. This allows you to target particular titles and roles within those accounts, or directly target those contacts. You also have the option to create a predictive audience based on your list, which helps you target prospects who are similar to those on your list. By carefully crafting your audience, you ensure that every impression you pay for reaches individuals who are most likely to benefit from your product or solution.

Standard Targeting Options with LinkedIn Ads

Incentive

Choosing the right incentive that will truly resonate with your target audience is crucial. Don't assume that just because your audience has a higher income, they won't appreciate being compensated for their time and attention. High-level executives, for instance, are more likely to engage with your advertisement if it includes some form of incentive, such as an Amazon gift card, rather than just showcasing your unique value propositions and calls to action without any incentives.

Cash incentives are particularly effective. Visa gift cards or Amazon gift cards are excellent choices and tend to work incredibly well. We recommend offering something valued at $50 or more if you’re asking for a 30-minute meeting. You’ll likely see good success at this level, but if you increase the value to $200, you might generate more leads than you can handle. Alternatively, you could offer a Starbucks gift card to cover a week's worth of coffee, or a DoorDash gift card for several days' meals, making a personal connection by saying, "The next few days are on us."

If you believe your audience may not be interested in such gift cards, or if they're restricted from accepting them, consider a charity gift card instead. These can typically be redeemed with over 2,500 different charities, allowing the recipient to choose a charity they truly care about or even donate in someone's honor.

Creativity can set your incentives apart. For example, some clients offer to plant a tree close to an executive’s office if they agree to a meeting. Remember, though, that monetary rewards tend to universally appeal, regardless of the recipient’s income level.

Ad Creative and Messaging

When creating an advertisement to promote your offer, ensure that the incentive is prominently featured. This should be the first thing that captures someone's attention as they scroll through their newsfeed, compelling them to stop and focus on your ad. Supplement the incentive with a message that relates to your offering. This message should help frame the type of conversation you're interested in initiating if they decide to take advantage of your offer.

By foregrounding the incentive, you not only capture their interest but also enhance their likelihood of considering your company's product or service. Once you have their attention, it's crucial to convince them of the value of your offer. Help them understand that beyond the immediate incentive, there is an opportunity for them to solve some of their pressing problems. This dual focus on both the incentive and the potential solutions you provide will significantly increase the effectiveness of your ad.

Lead Qualification

Once someone clicks on your ad, direct them to an engaging landing page that clearly outlines the terms and conditions of your promotion. Ensure that any necessary legal information, required by law, is readily accessible. This is also the stage to initiate the lead qualification process, which is crucial for identifying the suitability of each potential customer.

Implement an advanced lead qualification survey comprising at least five questions designed to both qualify and possibly disqualify leads. These questions should confirm whether the respondent truly belongs to your target audience, determine if they are currently in the market for your type of solution, and quickly gauge their budget readiness. The responses will help you discern whether the lead is a hot prospect ready to move forward or a cold lead that may require further nurturing.

Typical User Flow of a SweepLift Incentivized Lead Gen Campaign

Educating and Priming

After qualifying a lead, and before they are eligible to sign up for the offer, it is essential to require that they view some educational or sales videos related to your offering. These videos should comprehensively educate them about what your company does, how it can solve their problems, and the impact of your solutions. This step acts as a filter; leads not truly in the market for your solution are likely to drop out at this stage, which is beneficial as it saves on incentives and frees up your sales representatives’ time for more promising prospects.

The videos should be concise, ideally between two to three minutes long, effectively condensing an initial sales pitch into a brief presentation. By the time a lead meets with a sales representative, it should feel like a second meeting, as their initial questions have been addressed through the qualification process and the videos. This approach not only speeds up the sales cycle but also sets the stage for a more productive and effective conversation.

Market Research Through Feedback

After leads have viewed the educational videos, they will have a better understanding of what your company does, why it matters, and how it relates to their needs. At this point, it's an excellent opportunity to gather feedback that can further refine your marketing efforts. Asking some survey questions after they watch the video and before they sign up can help you conduct market research with these educated leads, allowing your marketing team to enhance their messaging, content, and even product strategies for this specific audience.

The surveys should include a mix of closed-ended and open-ended questions, ensuring comprehensive and actionable insights. You can be confident that all survey data will be statistically modeled, providing your marketing team with significant insights that will help strengthen the overall marketing program. The insights are shared with your team through the SweepLift platform's robust analytical tools.

SweepLift's Analytics

Preparation for Sales Meetings Using Survey Responses

Adopting this approach ensures that sales representatives are greeted by high-quality leads who are ready for a focused discussion on potential business opportunities. They come to the meeting well-informed, having already viewed the product demo, which eliminates the need for a generic high-level presentation at the outset.

It’s particularly effective when sales reps utilize the survey responses to tailor the initial conversation. This strategy allows the sales lead to feel that their time is valued, fostering a more open dialogue. They are likely to discuss their challenges more freely and engage more deeply when the sales rep explains how their specific solutions address these needs. This responsiveness is amplified because the leads have already expressed their needs and challenges through the survey, setting the stage for a productive and targeted discussion.

Impact of the Incentivized Lead Generation Approach

This methodical approach to your incentivized lead generation program is significantly more effective than simply allowing someone to sign up for a meeting after clicking on an ad. By leveraging their interest in the incentive and guiding them through a unique persuasion funnel, you set your sales team up for success. This process ensures that you are generating qualified, ready-to-buy leads that will likely decrease the time it takes to close deals. Because the initial meeting is effectively like a second meeting, the conversion rate improves as both parties are precisely focused on how best to conduct business.

Conversely, failing to adopt these practices can lead to poor performance in your incentivized lead generation program. Many leads might not show up for meetings due to busy schedules, remembering only the incentive of a gift card and lacking context about your business's offerings. Such scenarios can also result in awkward conversations for your sales representatives, especially if leads attend merely for the gift card without any real interest in your services. This not only wastes resources like time and gift cards but also can lead to tension between your sales and marketing teams over the quality of leads being generated.

Why Partner with SweepLift

SweepLift provides a robust platform specifically engineered to run successful incentivized lead generation and market research programs. Our platform features an integrated promotions builder and an advanced survey tool that extensively uses video and images. Additionally, it seamlessly integrates with all major "walled garden" advertising platforms, including LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat, as well as major CRM systems like HubSpot, Salesforce, Klaviyo, and Customer.io.

Our team is equipped to help you design, build, and optimize the perfect incentivized lead generation program, ensuring it is up and running—and profitable—quickly, leveraging our vast experience across various industries and audiences. We offer flexibility in our partnership: we can hand over the program to your marketing team to manage, or we can continue to operate it as a managed service provider for as long as you need.

This approach has proven to significantly reduce lead costs and increase lead quality for many companies. It also supports sales teams by decreasing their lead time and increasing their closing rates, ultimately having a substantial impact on sales and revenue growth. We invite you to reach out with any questions. We would be delighted to assess your business needs and start scoping out the ideal program for you. Feel free to submit a request to speak with our team of experts HERE.