


Saniya Sood
Every business needs one thing to keep growing: leads. Without a steady flow of potential customers, your sales pipeline can dry up quickly, making it harder to meet your revenue goals. But with so many lead generation strategies out there, whether it’s inbound, outbound, or a mix of both, how do you know which one’s right for your business?
If you're part of a B2B sales team or a marketer looking to improve your LinkedIn outreach with automation and personalization, you’re in the right place. It’s not uncommon to struggle with attracting quality leads, especially when you’re balancing a busy schedule and limited resources. There are proven strategies, like using LinkedIn effectively, that can help you work smarter, not harder, to bring in the right prospects.
In this guide, we’ll cover the basics of lead generation, from the different strategies you can try to how to qualify leads and track key metrics. Whether you're a small team or a solo founder, you’ll find practical tips and actionable steps to build a steady stream of high-quality leads and turn them into long-term customers.
Ready to start generating leads that can actually grow your business? Keep reading to discover strategies that will help you fill your pipeline with prospects who are ready to take action.
Understanding Different Types of Leads
Not all leads are created equal. They can vary in terms of how close they are to making a purchase and how well they understand your product or service. By understanding the different types of leads, you can make sure you're focusing your efforts where they matter most. Let’s break down the most common types of leads:
1. Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs)
MQLs are leads that have shown interest in your business through marketing channels but aren’t ready to buy yet. They might have downloaded an ebook, signed up for your newsletter, or interacted with your social media posts. They’re curious but need a little more nurturing before they’re ready to speak with a salesperson.
2. Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs)
SQLs are leads that have shown a clear intent to make a purchase. They’ve moved past the initial research stage and are considering buying. These leads may request a demo, ask for a quote, or have a direct conversation with your sales team.
3. Product Qualified Leads (PQLs)
PQLs have used your product, often through a free trial, and are now considering upgrading to a paid version. Since they’ve already experienced your offering, they have a good understanding of how it can benefit them.
4. Service Qualified Leads
These leads have interacted with your customer service team and shown interest in your services. While they may not have visited your website or engaged with your marketing content, their conversations with support indicate that they’re interested in what you offer.
By understanding these different types of leads, you can make sure your sales and marketing efforts are well-targeted. Instead of treating all leads the same, you can tailor your approach based on their level of interest and readiness to buy. For instance, MQLs might benefit from educational content, while SQLs should be engaged with personalized offers.
Recognizing the difference between lead types helps you spend your time wisely, ensuring you’re focusing on the leads who are most likely to convert.
Now that we've covered the different types of leads, it's time to explore how to attract them. If you're looking to pull prospects in rather than chase them down, inbound strategies might be your best bet.
Inbound Lead Generation Strategies
Generating quality leads isn’t just about attracting traffic to your website, it’s about drawing in the right people and building genuine connections. For that inbound strategies are important for nurturing leads and guiding them toward becoming loyal customers.
Rather than interrupting potential customers with cold emails or calls, inbound marketing focuses on creating content that speaks to their needs and interests. Here’s how you can use modern inbound tactics to boost your lead generation efforts.
1. Maximize LinkedIn for Lead Generation
LinkedIn isn’t just for networking anymore. It’s an asset for B2B lead generation. But to make LinkedIn work for you, you need a strategy that goes beyond just having a profile. You need to engage, connect, and build meaningful relationships.
How to Make LinkedIn Work for You
Start by building a strong personal brand on LinkedIn. Regularly share insights, engage with industry leaders, and connect with potential customers. The more active you are, the more visible you’ll become. Tools like LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index (SSI) can help track your engagement, but using AI-powered tools can help automate outreach while still making it personal.
Example: A SaaS company can use LinkedIn to share case studies and how-to articles. By connecting with leads and sending tailored follow-up messages, they can nurture these prospects into real conversations.
2. Create Content That Attracts the Right Leads
Content marketing is one of the best ways to attract the right leads. But it’s not just about publishing blog posts and hoping for the best. Now, content needs to be tailored to your audience’s pain points and offer real value.
How to Get Content Right
When creating content, think about the questions your audience is asking and how your product or service can solve their problems. Whether it’s blog posts, videos, or downloadable guides, make sure your content is helpful and speaks directly to the needs of your target audience.
3. Use Intent Data to Focus Your Efforts
Intent data helps you understand what your prospects are actively searching for. It tells you what content they’re engaging with, which products they’re interested in, and where they are in their buying journey.
How to Use It
By tracking behaviors like content engagement or product searches, you can identify leads who are showing interest and ready to take the next step. Use this data to personalize your outreach and offer solutions that align with their current needs.
Example: A CRM software company can track leads who visit their pricing page and engage with content on sales management. Based on this intent, they can send a LinkedIn message offering a demo tailored to their needs.
4. Offer Lead Magnets to Capture Interested Prospects
Lead magnets are great tools for capturing high-quality leads. Whether it’s a free guide, an eBook, or a webinar, offering valuable content in exchange for contact details helps you connect with prospects who are genuinely interested in your business.
How to Make Lead Magnets Work
Instead of offering generic content, create resources that solve specific problems for your audience. The more relevant your lead magnet is to their current challenges, the more likely they are to exchange their information for it.
5. Host Webinars That Engage and Convert
Webinars are more than just online presentations. They’re opportunities to engage directly with prospects, answer their questions, and showcase the value your business offers.
How to Make Webinars Work for You
Focus on delivering value through problem-solving content that’s tailored to your leads’ needs. Don’t just talk about your product, show how it can solve their challenges. Promote your webinar on relevant social media platforms and offer ample opportunities for Q&A to keep the conversation engaging and interactive.
Read: Master the Art of Personalized Follow-Ups: 7 Techniques That'll Make "Just Checking In" Obsolete
Inbound lead generation is about offering something valuable upfront and letting prospects come to you. It’s not about pushing a product; it’s about building trust and showing people that you understand their needs.
If inbound strategies attract the right people, outbound methods give you the chance to actively seek out the ones who haven’t found you yet. Let’s learn how outbound lead generation can make that happen.
Outbound Lead Generation Techniques

Outbound lead generation is all about reaching out to potential customers directly. While inbound strategies help bring leads to you, outbound strategies allow you to go to them. It’s a proactive approach that lets you engage the right prospects and introduce your product or service in a meaningful way.
Here’s how you can make outbound lead generation work for you with the latest tactics:
1. Cold Emailing
Cold emailing doesn’t have to be impersonal or ineffective. It’s all about personalization and offering real value upfront. Here’s how you can make cold emailing work:
Personalize your outreach: Avoid generic templates. Reference something specific to the prospect’s business or pain points to make your email feel personal.
Offer value from the start: Instead of immediately selling, focus on how you can solve a problem or make their life easier. Make sure the value proposition is clear.
Craft a compelling subject line: A subject line is the first thing the recipient sees, make it attention-grabbing, clear, and relevant.
Follow-up thoughtfully: Not every email gets a response, and that’s okay. Be strategic with your follow-ups, but don’t be too pushy. A well-timed, thoughtful follow-up can help keep the conversation going.
Example: A marketing agency might send a cold email offering a free website audit to a company with outdated content or poor SEO. The email should highlight how the audit can uncover areas for improvement and make the company’s online presence stronger.
2. Cold Calling
Cold calling can be intimidating, but it’s still one of the quickest ways to connect with leads. The trick is to make sure your call is relevant and that you’re addressing a specific need.
To make cold calling effective:
Do your homework: Know who you’re calling. Research the company, their challenges, and how your solution can help. A little background goes a long way.
Keep the conversation focused: Start with a clear, concise intro that explains why you’re calling and how you can help. Get to the point quickly.
Have a plan for objections: Be ready for responses that don’t immediately lead to a yes. Practice handling common objections so you can pivot the conversation toward a solution.
End with a clear next step: Whether it’s setting up a demo or scheduling a follow-up call, make sure you leave with a commitment.
Example: A software company might call a lead who has recently looked into similar tools. The call could focus on how their product solves a specific pain point and offer to schedule a product demo.
3. Paid Advertising
Paid ads are a great way to attract highly targeted leads. Platforms like LinkedIn, Google, and Facebook let you target specific demographics, interests, and behaviors, ensuring that your ads reach the right people.
How to make paid ads work for you:
Use precise targeting: Take advantage of the targeting options on platforms like LinkedIn or Google Ads to reach your ideal audience. Whether it’s by job title, industry, or specific behaviors, precision matters.
Test different ad formats: Try various ad formats, like video, carousel, or sponsored content, to see which resonates best with your audience.
Retarget website visitors: Use retargeting ads to reach visitors who’ve already interacted with your website but didn’t convert. Remind them of the value you offer.
Focus on value: Your ad copy should highlight how your product solves a problem, with a clear and enticing call-to-action (CTA).
Example: A business selling eco-friendly products could run Facebook ads targeting users interested in sustainability. The ad could promote a limited-time offer to encourage immediate purchases.
4. Direct Mail & LinkedIn InMail
Direct mail can still be a powerful way to grab attention in a world where most marketing is digital. It allows you to connect with prospects in a more personal way, making them feel valued and seen. LinkedIn InMail, on the other hand, is a great tool to directly reach B2B decision-makers, especially since it lets you target the right people with precision.
How to make both direct mail and LinkedIn InMail effective:
Target the right people: Don’t waste your efforts with generic mail or messages. For direct mail, focus on leads who’ve already engaged with your brand or fit your ideal customer profile. With LinkedIn InMail, reach out to decision-makers in companies that match your target audience.
Catch their eye: With direct mail, make sure your piece stands out. Think bold, high-quality materials and design that clearly explains how you can help them. For LinkedIn InMail, your message should stand out in their inbox by being concise, relevant, and solution-focused.
Personalize your message: Personalization is key to making a real connection. For direct mail, reference something specific about the prospect’s business to make it feel less like a mass mailing. With LinkedIn InMail, address the prospect by name, mention their role or company, and tailor your message to what you know about their needs or challenges.
Follow up digitally: After sending a piece of direct mail, you can follow up with LinkedIn InMail to keep the conversation going. It’s an easy way to bring the conversation full circle, reinforcing your message and providing more value.
Pro Tip: Platforms like Valley can help automate your outreach, making it easier to follow up on direct mail with personalized LinkedIn InMail messages. By recognizing lead behaviors and understanding where they are in the buyer’s journey, Valley allows you to send timely, high-context messages that feel more like a conversation than a sales pitch. While you focus on strategy, Valley helps you identify which leads are truly ready to engage, maximizing your chances of conversion.
5. Networking Events and Conferences
Networking events, whether virtual or in-person, are an excellent way to meet prospects and start conversations in a more relaxed, personal setting. These events give you the chance to introduce yourself, build rapport, and set up follow-up meetings.
To make networking work:
Come prepared: Research who will be attending and make a note of key individuals you want to connect with. Send them a message before the event to set up a time to meet.
Have an elevator pitch ready: When you meet someone, be prepared with a short, clear pitch that explains what you do and how you can help them. Don’t just focus on selling, focus on how you can provide value.
Engage in meaningful conversations: Don’t just pass out business cards. Take the time to listen, understand their needs, and offer helpful advice or resources.
Follow up quickly: After the event, follow up with your new connections while the conversation is still fresh. Mention something specific you discussed to show you’re genuinely interested.
Read More: LinkedIn Intent Signals That Will Transform Your B2B Outbound Strategy
With outbound strategies covered, it's time to explore how blending both inbound and outbound methods can boost your lead generation efforts.
Hybrid Lead Generation Approach

A hybrid lead generation strategy combines the best of both inbound and outbound methods. Instead of relying on just one approach, you use both to reach a wider audience and engage with leads at different stages of their buyer journey. This balance helps you maximize your reach while staying efficient.
Here’s how you can make the hybrid approach work for your business:
1. Targeting the Right Audience
With a hybrid approach, you're not relying solely on inbound strategies where leads find you, nor are you just cold calling or emailing without precision. Instead, you’re actively reaching out to individuals already showing interest in your product or service, making your outreach both targeted and effective.
Targeting the Right Audience on LinkedIn:
LinkedIn Ads: Use LinkedIn’s advanced targeting to reach decision-makers based on their job titles, industry, and company size. Running highly focused LinkedIn ads lets you engage prospects who are already familiar with your solution type, ensuring that your message resonates with the right audience.
LinkedIn InMail: LinkedIn InMail allows for direct, personal communication with prospects. With some platforms, you can automate personalized outreach at scale, ensuring you’re reaching the right leads with relevant content and messaging based on their behavior and engagement.
Engagement Insights: LinkedIn lets you track who’s engaging with your content. Use these insights to pinpoint prospects who are actively engaging with industry-related content, making them prime candidates for a more personalized approach.
Pro Tip: Platforms like Valley take targeting a step further by using data-driven insights to enhance your LinkedIn outreach. Valley helps you identify high-intent leads, segment them effectively, and send personalized messages that speak directly to their needs, all while scaling your outreach.
2. Using Data to Drive Outreach
A hybrid approach lets you use data from inbound activities, like content downloads or webinar sign-ups, to inform your outbound outreach. If a lead is engaging with your content, it’s the perfect time for personalized follow-up.
Targeting the Right Leads:
Track Engagement: Use Valley’s automation to track how leads interact with your LinkedIn content, identifying those who are showing strong interest.
Leverage Intent Data: With insights from downloads or webinar participation, you can send personalized LinkedIn messages that feel relevant and timely.
Personalize at Scale: Automate LinkedIn outreach, ensuring each message is personalized based on lead behavior, without losing scale.
This approach helps you prioritize warm leads and strike while interest is high. The result? Higher reply rates and faster pipeline movement, without burning out your team.
3. Nurturing Leads Across Channels
A hybrid approach allows you to nurture leads through multiple touchpoints. While some leads may prefer learning about your product through blog posts or webinars (inbound), others may respond better to direct outreach via email or phone calls (outbound). Combining both lets you engage with leads wherever they are in their journey.
Example: A webinar attendee receives both a follow-up email with a special offer and regular newsletter updates, increasing the chances of conversion.
4. Creating a Seamless Experience
A hybrid strategy works best when your inbound and outbound efforts are aligned. Your messaging, branding, and tone should be consistent across both approaches. This makes the experience feel seamless for your leads, whether they’re reading your content or receiving a cold email.
Example: If your blog showcases customer success stories, mention the same stories in your outbound emails to reinforce trust and relevance.
The hybrid lead generation approach gives you the flexibility to reach leads in different ways and at various stages of their journey. By combining inbound and outbound methods, you can increase your chances of engaging with the right prospects and nurturing them into loyal customers.
Qualifying Leads for Better Sales Efficiency
Lead qualification starts with relevance and timing. Instead of chasing every contact, focus on the ones showing real buying intent, like companies expanding teams, launching new products, or entering new markets. The more context you have, the sharper your targeting becomes.
Buying signals, like leadership changes or fresh funding, often indicate a shift in priorities. Spotting them early helps your team engage when interest is highest. That’s where tools like Origami quietly support your sales engine. Acting like a seasoned research rep, Origami refreshes records, surfaces buying signals, and nudges your team toward the next best action, so your outreach hits when it matters most.
Popular Lead Qualification Frameworks
Sales teams use several frameworks to qualify leads more efficiently. These frameworks help businesses determine the likelihood that a lead will convert into a paying customer, guiding sales teams in prioritizing their outreach efforts.
Clear qualification frameworks help sales teams focus on leads that are most likely to convert. Here are three commonly used ones:
BANT – Budget, Authority, Need, Timing
Budget: Can they afford your solution?
Authority: Are they the decision-maker?
Need: Do they have a problem you can solve?
Timing: Are they ready to buy soon?
CHAMP – Challenges, Authority, Money, Prioritization
Challenges: What problem are they solving?
Authority: Are they involved in the decision?
Money: Can they invest in a solution?
Prioritization: Is this urgent for them?
GPCTBA/C&I – Goals, Plans, Challenges, Timeline, Budget, Authority, Consequences & Implications
Ideal for complex sales. Focuses on:
Goals & Plans: What they want to achieve and how
Challenges: What’s in their way
Timeline & Budget: When and how much they’re ready to spend
Authority: Who signs off
Consequences & Implications: What happens if they delay
Setting consistent criteria helps your team avoid guesswork, prioritize smarter, and close more high-quality deals.
Real-World Tips for Improving Lead Qualification
Automate Lead Qualification: Use tools like CRM systems and lead scoring software to automate the qualification process. This will save time and reduce human error, allowing your team to focus on the most promising leads.
Regularly Review Your Criteria: Your qualification criteria should evolve as your business grows. Periodically review and adjust your criteria based on market trends, customer feedback, and changes in business goals.
Collaborate Across Teams: Your sales and marketing teams should collaborate on defining what makes a lead "qualified." Marketing can help provide insight into the type of leads that generate the most value, while sales can share feedback on the quality of those leads.
Keep the Process Simple: Avoid overcomplicating the lead qualification process. Use clear, simple criteria that anyone on your team can follow. The easier it is to qualify a lead, the more efficient your sales process will be.
By using the right frameworks, setting aligned qualification criteria, and prioritizing leads based on their potential to convert, your sales team can focus its efforts where they matter most. Lead qualification is an ongoing process, but by following the right strategies, you can ensure your team is always working with the best opportunities.
Read: Supercharge Your Sales: 9 Proven Strategies to Optimize Your Automated Sales Process
With Valley’s AI-powered platform, you can automate lead qualification through intent-based prospecting. By analyzing behaviors like content downloads, webinar sign-ups, or LinkedIn interactions, Valley helps you identify high-potential leads that are showing active interest. This approach improves lead quality and boosts conversion rates, ensuring you're focusing on prospects who are ready to engage. With advanced prospect scoring, you can prioritize these high-intent leads, making your outreach more effective and timely.
With your lead qualification process in place, it's time to understand the metrics that will help you track performance and refine your strategy.
Measuring Success: Key Metrics and KPIs
Once you’ve set up your lead generation strategy and qualification process, the next step is to measure how well it’s working. Without tracking the right metrics, it’s hard to know whether your efforts are paying off or where improvements are needed. By focusing on key performance indicators (KPIs), you can assess the effectiveness of your lead generation and make data-driven decisions to optimize your approach.
Key Metrics to Track
Here are some of the most important KPIs to monitor for lead generation success:
1. Lead Conversion Rate
The lead conversion rate tells you what percentage of your leads are turning into customers. This is the ultimate measure of how effective your lead generation strategy is.
Example: If 100 leads entered your funnel and 20 became paying customers, your conversion rate would be 20%. Monitoring this metric helps you identify whether your sales process is working or if adjustments are needed.
2. Cost Per Lead (CPL)
CPL measures how much it costs to acquire a lead. This is especially important for understanding the efficiency of your marketing campaigns and ensuring you're not overspending to generate leads.
Example: If you spent $1,000 on an ad campaign and generated 100 leads, your CPL would be $10. If that’s higher than your average customer value, it might be time to reassess your marketing efforts.
3. Lead Velocity Rate (LVR)
Lead Velocity Rate tracks how quickly your leads are moving through the sales funnel. This metric is important because it helps you measure the pace of your sales pipeline and ensures you’re consistently filling it with qualified leads.
Example: If your team typically moves 50 leads per month from initial contact to qualified status, but this month you moved 70, your LVR has increased, indicating better momentum in your pipeline.
4. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
CAC measures the total cost it takes to acquire a new customer, including all marketing and sales expenses. It's an essential metric for understanding the ROI of your lead generation activities.
Example: If you spent $5,000 on marketing and sales and gained 50 new customers, your CAC would be $100. Keeping this number low while increasing your sales is key to growing your business profitably.
5. Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) vs. Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs)
This metric compares the number of leads that are qualified by marketing versus the number that are passed to sales. It’s important because it helps determine whether your marketing efforts are generating high-quality leads or if your sales team is doing enough to nurture them.
Example: If your marketing team generates 500 MQLs and only 50 are converted to SQLs, it might indicate that marketing needs to improve its targeting or messaging.
6. Lifetime Value of a Customer (LTV)
LTV tells you how much a customer is worth over the course of their relationship with your business. It’s crucial for determining how much you can afford to spend on acquiring new leads and customers.
Example: If the average customer spends $1,000 per year with your business and stays for 3 years, their LTV is $3,000. Comparing this with your CAC will help you evaluate the profitability of your lead generation efforts.
Measuring KPIs gives you clear insights into the performance of your lead generation strategies. By consistently tracking these metrics, you can identify trends, spot areas for improvement, and fine-tune your approach for better results.
While measuring KPIs is important, setting realistic benchmarks is equally necessary. Each business is different, so your goals should reflect your specific industry, market, and resources. Use industry standards as a starting point, but aim to set achievable targets based on your unique circumstances.
With the right metrics in place, it’s time to address the challenges that can arise in lead generation and how to overcome them.
Overcoming Common Lead Generation Challenges
Lead generation may sound straightforward, but it comes with its fair share of challenges. From attracting the right leads to dealing with poor-quality prospects, there are several obstacles that can slow down your process. Fortunately, these challenges are not insurmountable. By understanding the common issues and how to address them, you can keep your lead generation efforts running smoothly and efficiently.
1. Low-Quality Leads
One of the most common issues in lead generation is attracting low-quality leads. People who aren’t a good fit for your product or service. These leads might fill up your pipeline, but they rarely convert into paying customers, which wastes time and resources.
How to Overcome It?
To fix this, you need to refine your targeting. Be more specific about who your ideal customers are and use tools to ensure your marketing efforts reach them. Create more detailed buyer personas and align your messaging with their pain points to attract higher-quality leads.
Read: The Ultimate Guide to Creating Customer Personas That Actually Drive Sales
2. Lead Nurturing Challenges
Even with high-quality leads, many businesses struggle with nurturing them through the sales funnel. Leads may show interest initially but fail to engage further, or they might drop off entirely before converting into customers.
How to Overcome It?
The key here is consistent communication and offering value at every stage of the buyer's journey. Set up automated email sequences, offer additional resources like case studies or product demos, and stay in regular contact to keep prospects engaged.
3. Misaligned Sales and Marketing Teams
When sales and marketing teams aren’t on the same page, it can lead to wasted efforts. Marketing may generate leads, but if they’re not properly qualified or passed on to sales at the right time, sales teams can waste time chasing prospects who aren’t ready to buy.
How to Overcome It?
It’s important for sales and marketing to collaborate closely. This means agreeing on what constitutes a qualified lead, defining clear handoff points, and regularly communicating about lead progress. Using a CRM or lead management system can help both teams stay aligned.
4. Lead Conversion Delays
Even when you have strong leads in your pipeline, delays in converting them can be frustrating. This often happens when leads are interested but not ready to make a decision yet, or when the sales team doesn't act quickly enough.
How to Overcome It?
Speed matters in lead conversion. The faster you respond to a lead's interest, the higher your chances of converting them into a customer. Use automation tools to send immediate follow-ups, and ensure your sales team is trained to follow up promptly and effectively.
5. Ineffective Lead Scoring
Lead scoring helps prioritize which leads to engage with first. However, if your lead scoring system is not set up correctly, you may end up focusing on the wrong leads or misidentifying which prospects are ready to move forward.
How to Overcome It?
Regularly review and update your lead scoring model. Analyze past customer behavior, adjust scoring criteria, and look for patterns in how leads convert. This helps ensure that your sales team is focusing on the highest-priority leads.
Lead generation isn’t always smooth sailing, but understanding and addressing these common challenges will help you stay on track. You can build a more effective and efficient lead generation system by refining your targeting, improving lead nurturing, aligning your teams, speeding up response times, and optimizing lead scoring.
With those challenges in mind, let’s now turn to how you can leverage LinkedIn to boost your lead generation efforts and connect with prospects where they’re most active.
Conclusion
Generating quality leads is a challenge every business faces. Whether you're using inbound or outbound strategies, the process can be time-consuming and overwhelming. Many businesses struggle to reach the right prospects or nurture leads effectively. This is where Valley makes a difference.
Valley takes the guesswork out of prospecting. By leveraging intent signals, you can prioritize leads who are more likely to convert, while the platform’s LinkedIn automation streamlines outreach, keeping everything on track without overburdening your team. Whether you're a small team or handling sales solo, Valley gives you the tools to generate more leads, close more deals, and grow your business without the stress.
Ready to improve your lead generation? Valley’s got you covered. Book a call today and learn how it can transform your sales process.

