lead generation statistics

In the fast-paced digital world, generating quality leads is crucial for the success of any business. 

As we are into 2023, it is becoming imperative for marketers to stay updated with the latest lead-generation statistics and facts. By harnessing the power of data-driven insights, businesses can optimize their strategies and stay ahead of the competition. 

In this article, I gathered a comprehensive list of the key lead generation statistics and facts for 2023, providing valuable insights to enhance your marketing efforts and drive impressive results. 

Let’s dive in.

🔑 Key Lead Generation Statistics:

  • Generating high-quality leads is the top priority for 91% of marketing professionals.
  • 61% of marketers rank lead generation as their biggest challenge
  • Marketers who prioritize blogging efforts are 13x more likely to see positive ROI
  • 79% of marketing leads never convert into sales.
  • 63% of leads who inquire about your business won’t convert for at least 3 months
  • 53% of marketers say half or more of their budget is allocated to lead generation
  • Over 80% of B2B marketers are using marketing automation to generate leads
  • Strategic landing pages are used by 68% of B2B businesses to acquire leads
  • Companies that nurture leads generate 50% more sales at 33% lower costs
  • 44% of sales reps are too busy to follow up with leads
  • 27% of marketers stated organic search generated the most leads
  • 84% of marketers use form submissions to generate leads

Marketing Lead Generation Statistics

1. 61% of marketers rank lead generation as their number one challenge 

(Hubspot)

I can’t think of a better way to dive into the stats than this. A large percentage of marketers paint lead generation as their number one challenge.

This means it’s okay to find lead generation as a challenge. You aren’t a bad marketer if you find lead generation hard. That’s the way it’s for the majority of us.

Every new day, month, and year has us wondering how we can keep increasing our leads and grow our company’s revenue.

It has never been an easy task for anyone.

2. The average cost per lead is below $200 

(Hubspot)

A lower cost per lead is generally considered more favorable because it implies that a company can acquire leads more efficiently and at a lower expense. 

However, the cost per lead can vary significantly across industries, marketing channels, and target audiences.  

Hence, what may be considered a good cost per lead for one business might not be the same for another.

3. Organizations generate an average of 1877 leads per month

(Hubspot)

Lead generation is a crucial aspect of marketing and sales strategies, and organizations employ various tactics and channels to attract potential customers and generate leads. 

These tactics may include content marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), paid advertising, events, and more.

The average number of leads generated per month can vary widely depending on factors such as the industry, target audience, marketing efforts, and the size and reach of the organization.

4. 79% of marketing leads never convert into sales.

Despite the effort put into lead generation, the majority of leads never convert into sales.

That is, X number of leads doesn’t equate to X number of sales. The majority of leads don’t end up converting to sales. They remain as leads.

Based on the studies, the poor conversion rate is due to a lack of nurture.

Most leads never convert because of the absence of follow-ups and nurture emails.

After getting leads, nurture your leads till maturity (when they trust you and are ready to buy).

Here’s why:

5. Companies that nurture leads generate 50% more sales at 33% lower costs 

(WooSuite)

Similar to the previous statistics, this confirms the role lead nurturing plays in a customer’s journey.

Lead nurturing plays a big role in increasing the conversion rate of leads to sales.

And the reason behind that isn’t far-fetched. Lead nurturing allows you to build relationships with your leads.

Just as the quote goes, people buy from people they trust. Getting leads to join your list is just half the battle. Nurturing them is as important as getting new leads.

What’s the point of having a big list with a conversion rate of less than 5%?

When you can at the same time have a smaller list but a high conversion rate?

In short, as you invest your budget and time in generating leads, invest in nurturing your leads.

6. Nurtured leads spend 47% more than non-nurtured leads 

(Annuitas)

Here’s yet another statistic that confirms the magical power of lead nurturing.

Besides getting a better conversion rate, your leads tend to spend more with you.

Nurtured leads spend 47% more than non-nurtured leads. And this shows the power of educating your customers by nurturing them.

A nurtured lead will confidently buy your product knowing the value involved and upselling wouldn’t be a problem.

7. 63% of leads who inquire about your business won’t convert for at least 3 months 

(MarketingDonut)

Well, we all hate being ghosted by prospects inquiring about our business.

It happens a lot and proof of it is the research carried out by MarketingDonut.

MarketingDonut discovered that 63% of leads who inquire about your business won’t convert for at least 3 months.

That is three months of communicating with your leads and nurturing them to maturity. So don’t be surprised if you don’t hear back from your clients immediately.

During that period, prospects are most likely evaluating your service and product alongside competitors.

Or they’re waiting for the right time to get in.

You can improve the chances of hearing back from them by nurturing them with educational content. Social proof goes a long way in quickening the purchasing journey.

8. The digital lead generation ad spending in the US is forecast to reach 3.2 billion U.S dollars by 2023 

(Salesmate)

This is proof that if done well, digital lead generation can be very profitable. The US spending on digital channels for lead generation keeps rising.

From an estimate of $2.6 billion in 2019 to a forecast of $3.2 billion by 2023, companies now spend more of their marketing budget on digital channels compared to traditional media.

Speaking of digital lead generation, this includes content marketing, Paid advertising, SEO, influencer marketing campaigns, etc.

9. 53% of marketers say half or more of their budget is allocated to lead generation

This is quite expected. With lead generation being the number one challenge for a lot of marketers, that’s where most of their marketing budget would go.

Spending more on lead generation is the new normal.

Large companies are willing to spend millions of dollars on lead generation.

For instance, Netflix spent $15 billion on content in 2019.

While in 2020, Netflix spent an estimated $17.3 billion on content. This figure is estimated to keep rising.

Not just large companies, small businesses have started spending more of their marketing budget on digital platforms.

With more businesses running paid ads, the cost of paid ads is on the rise which indirectly leads to an increased marketing budget.

This is because there’s a positive profit margin.

10. 97% of consumers and potential customers ignore cold calls because they are too busy 

(Business Wire)

Some say they prefer to be communicated in other ways instead of through phone calls.

Cold calling is the practice of reaching out to individuals or businesses who have not expressed a prior interest in a product or service. 

It involves making unsolicited phone calls to introduce the offering and attempting to generate sales or leads. 

While cold calling can be a part of an organization’s marketing strategy, it often encounters resistance due to various reasons, including time constraints and interruptions to daily activities.

The majority of these cold call recipients do not entertain or respond to cold calls due to their busy schedules.

11. Less than one-fifth of marketers think outbound practices provide valuable leads 

(Salesmate)

Outbound lead generation practices are dying. Only 20% of marketers interviewed think outbound practices still provide valuable leads.

So, if you’re planning to do more outbound practices, think again.

Inbound marketing is the new normal now. Create content, attract your type of audience, and once they trust you as an expert, you can trust them to buy from you.

12. The digital ad spend in the U.S was $4.6 billion in 2021 

(Statista)

Content Marketing Lead Generation Statistics

Content marketing is a billion-dollar industry.

Companies, both large and small, are heavily investing in content marketing. The industry has been increasing with companies seeing the need to create content for their audience.

In terms of lead generation, content marketing is the cheapest form of lead generation.

You create content once and it keeps generating leads for your business. It also establishes trust with your prospects.

13. Blogs, social media shopping tools, and influencer marketing are the marketing channels that give the highest ROI 

(Hubspot)

When used for lead generation, these channels can be an effective tool for attracting and engaging potential customers. 

They allow businesses to showcase their expertise, provide valuable information, and establish a rapport with their target audience. 

14. 88% of marketers admit that they use content marketing to increase brand awareness 

(YouGov)

Content marketing has gotten more accepted over the years. In fact, the popular phrase, “Content is King” has grown to “Content is Everything”. 

You can generate demand and leads through the content you put out. There are different content formats, like texts, videos, images, and so on. 

Social media has made it easier for businesses to increase their brand awareness through content.

What attracts people to your business is the kind of content you put out there.

15. 85% of B2B marketers say their main purpose for content marketing is to generate more leads and demands 

(YouGov)

16. 36% of content marketers say that lead generation is part of their top marketing goals 

(SemRush)

17. 46% of marketers say that Content Creation receives most of their marketing budget allocation 

(Hubspot)

18. 93% of B2B companies say content marketing generates more leads than traditional marketing strategies 

(Forbes)

Traditional marketing strategies are as good as dead.

Who is still cold-calling? Television, radio, newspapers, billboards, postcards, etc, are people still paying attention to them?

Yes, I know people still do.

But we can both agree that people spend more time on their mobile devices compared to other traditional media, right?

People spend more time on Netflix and Youtube compared to Television. The same thing goes for news websites compared to television channels.

This explains why content marketing is very profitable. 93% of B2B getting more leads from content marketing than traditional strategies is proof.

19. Content marketing generates three times as many prospects as outbound marketing but costs 62% less 

(Search Engine Journal)

Another awesome benefit of inbound marketing is that it costs less than outbound marketing.

62% less for more leads and prospects is nothing but amazing. If you’re yet to take content marketing seriously, then this is the green light to do so.

20. 45% of content marketers say that video content formats perform best 

(SemRush)

Short-form content and success stories come in second and third place respectively, with 31% and 28%. 

Even though video content is the best-performing content format, short-form videos are the most appreciated, with 43% saying it performs better than others. 

21. Content marketing is more effective for generating targeted leads at the early stages of the buyer’s journey 

(Content Marketing Institute)

When it comes to content marketing for lead generation, specificity is very important. It is what directly targets your ideal customers. 

The early stage of a buyer’s journey is the awareness stage and that is what content marketing does. 

Content marketing is all about creating awareness of what your business offers and how it can solve a problem. 

A person who keeps scrolling through your content online or who contacts you about an ad they saw is now a lead. They are interested in what you offer and looking to learn more about it. 

22. 70% of B2B marketers claim that videos are more effective than other content when it comes to converting users to qualified leads 

(Gitnux)

Vidyard researched to find out what content format B2B marketers find more converting.

The response? 70% of B2B marketers choose videos over any other content formats (this includes blog posts, infographics, etc).

Databox executed another survey on which is more effective for lead generation between blog posts and videos. 74% of B2B marketers chose videos over blog posts.

As it stands, video is the future of content marketing. So if you’re yet to start video marketing, it isn’t too late.

However, this doesn’t mean blogging is dead.

23. Marketers who prioritize blogging efforts are 13x more likely to see positive ROI 

(Hubspot)

Blogging isn’t dead. There are still companies leveraging their company blog to attract leads.

Getting inbound leads from your blog in 2023 is very possible. By creating a blog content strategy and creating content your audiences are looking for, you can develop lead-generating content.

24. 45% of content marketers say their top challenge is their inability to attract quality leads with their content 

(SemRush)

Content marketers create various types of content such as articles, blog posts, or videos to attract potential customers.

However, nearly half of these marketers struggle because they are not able to attract the right kind of people who are genuinely interested in their products or services. 

This is why it is extremely important for marketers (including content marketers) to carefully and thoroughly research their target audience. 

You identify and research your target audience. This will help you know the kind of content they want to see, the kind that would attract them and get them to click the bait. 

25. B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads than companies that don’t. 

After all, blogging isn’t all that bad.  Although the future of content creation seems to be shifting from written content to video, blogging is still a powerful lead machine.

If done right, blogging can generate lots of leads for your business. But you still shouldn’t close your eyes to video marketing.

Webinar Lead Generation Statistics

Since the emergence of Covid19 in 2020, the webinar industry has been rapidly growing with no sight of stopping.

Zoom Webinar recorded a surge in profit of over 3300%.

That’s insane, right?

As marketers, this means there’s a big potential in webinar marketing. Statistics are flying around about how profitable webinar marketing is for lead generation.

Below are some webinar statistics.

26. 99% of the respondents agreed on webinars as a key to their lead generation and marketing efforts 

(ON24)

webinar lead gen stats

Too early? Think again. There are businesses already crushing it with webinars.

In a research carried out by ON24, 99% of the respondents agreed on webinars as their key lead generation strategy.

Here’s a possible reason for that. Webinars provide a higher level of engagement and connection with your audience (attendees).

They’re not reading your words on some blog where they can’t picture you writing it.

Instead, they’re seeing you make every word and show practical examples live on video.

Plus, you don’t have to hope your audience gets to see your offer at the bottom of your blog post. With webinar marketing, you can display your offers on the screen and also compel your audience to take action.

Just like you have guessed, webinars provide a better conversion rate compared to blog posts.

27. 75% of the respondents reported that they use webinars to build their brand, and 76% achieved more leads by running webinars. 

(ON24)

Similar to the previous statistic, 75% of respondents use webinars to build their brand.

Branding is all about helping your audience form the right perception and idea about who you are. No better way to do that than engaging with your audience on video.

With the internet where we don’t get to see one another physically, webinars are connecting these dots again giving a good virtual experience.

28. InsideSales conducted a survey on the effective methods for lead generation in which 73% of sales leaders and B2B marketers agreed that webinars are a great way to generate leads 

(Hubspot)

Since the rapid growth of webinar marketing, there has been nothing but good reports about it.

In a survey conducted by InsideSales to uncover the effective methods for lead generation, 73% of sales leaders and B2B marketers affirm the almost-magical powers of webinars.

If done right, webinars are powerful lead machines.

But if done wrong, it could damage your relationship with prospects.

29. 45% of B2B marketers say that webinars are the most effective channel in top-of-the-funnel demand generation 

(Statista)

30. The focus of 60% of webinars is on turning leads into loyal customers 

(Your Target)

Most webinars are created for the sole purpose of turning leads into loyal customers.

And this is why some webinars go as far as making half of their presentation, a sales pitch. This is the easiest way of doing webinars wrong, making it all about your product and passing no value.

Instead, your focus should be on providing value in your webinar and less on the pitches.

B2B and B2C Lead Generation Statistics

Looking for some lead generation statistics for B2B and B2C companies?

I have a handful of them here in this section.

While I have covered some B2B lead generation statistics in the content marketing section, here’s a section for it.

31. Strategic landing pages are used by 68% of B2B businesses to acquire leads

Landing pages are very important for B2B businesses.

Your landing page is where you direct your visitors/prospects and as such plays a big role in marketing.

Statistics prove that having strategic (specific) landing pages helps you acquire more and better leads.

On the same note, companies with more landing pages generate more leads.

More landing pages allow you to be more specific with whom you are speaking to on each landing page.

32. The three most commonly used B2B lead generation strategies are email marketing (78%), event marketing (73%), and content marketing (67%) 

(Marketsplash)

According to statistics, email marketing isn’t going anywhere.

78% of businesses use email marketing as a lead-generation strategy. 73% use event marketing (which also includes webinar marketing) as a lead generation strategy. Finally, 67% use content marketing as a lead generation strategy.

In order of usage, it’s email marketing > event/webinar marketing > content marketing.

What’s worth noting is that some of these businesses use the three together.

33. 85% of B2B marketers say lead generation is their most important content marketing goal 

(Content Marketing Institute)

Beyond awareness, entertaining, and educating, there’s a hidden goal of converting the audience to leads.

Most content marketing campaigns are done to generate leads and that’s because it works.

34. Outbound leads cost 39% more than inbound leads 

(Copilotai)

Besides the fact that outbound leads are near-to-death, they cost more than inbound leads.

Outbound leads like cold-calling, event marketing, etc. cost 39% more. While inbound marketing costs less and generates 3X leads compared to outbound marketing.

35. The average cost of a B2B sales lead varies by industry 

(The Pipeline)

In the same way, the cost of ads varies based on industry, it directly affects the cost of each lead.

$60 is the average cost of healthcare leads making it the most expensive.

The business/finance industry costs $43.

At the low end are leads for marketing products/services ($32) and technology ($31).

36. 22% of B2B businesses reach out to prospects with lead nurturing weekly 

(Strategic Abm)

As important as lead nurturing is in improving the conversion rate of prospects to customers, only a small percentage of businesses follow up with it.

This explains why 79% of leads never convert to sales.

A tip here is to follow up with your prospects regularly. But it mustn’t always be a sales pitch. Prospects hate sales pitches. Follow up with educational content too.

37. About 80% of B2B marketers are using marketing automation to generate leads 

(Apsis)

The main reason why most companies neglect lead nurturing is because of the stress attached to it especially when you have a big email list.

But with marketing automation, marketers can automate their lead nurturing process.

A 2019 study reveals that 63% of marketers increased their budget for marketing automation.

The studies also further uncovered the goals of using marketing automation.

  • 63% use automation for lead generation (this is the major reason companies are investing in marketing automation tools, like Kartra).
  • 57% use it for lead nurturing
  • Finally, 47% use it for sales revenues.
80% of B2B marketers are using marketing automation to generate leads 

38. Lead generation from LinkedIn was successful for 65% of B2B companies 

(LinkedIn)

If you are a B2B marketer or company, LinkedIn is where you are supposed to be.

According to statistics, a lot of B2B companies and freelancers have accredited a large percentage of their leads to LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is a good place to create short-form content and articles and at the same time tap into your network to get leads.

Compared to other social media platforms, LinkedIn has the best engagement rate for organic content.

Not only would you be able to connect with your audience, but LinkedIn accounts and content are also optimized for search engines.

39. More than 80% of leads generated through social media come from LinkedIn 

(Kinsta)

Here’s another statistic that proves the power of LinkedIn. 80% of leads generated from social media come from LinkedIn, not Facebook or Twitter.

This is a virgin statistic that shows that getting on LinkedIn can be the best decision you make this year.

There are a lot of LinkedIn marketers who don’t run a blog but solely depend on LinkedIn. Thinking of committing to one social media platform? Think LinkedIn.

40. Lead generation outsourcing is more efficient than doing it in-house 

(Marketjoy)

Lead generation is hard, there’s no point reiterating that. This is why some companies choose to outsource it rather than do it in-house.

And the report has been positive so far. Lead generation outsourcing is 43% more efficient than doing it in-house.

41. Organizations with websites of 401-1000 pages get 6 times more leads than sites with 51-100 pages

(Cleverly)

Previous research proved that having more landing pages not only gets more leads but allows you to be specific with your messaging.

Here’s another statistic that proves that having more pages leads to more leads.

From a marketing perspective, more pages mean you can rank for more keywords which leads to more traffic.

More traffic gives you a bigger audience to market your products and services to. But this doesn’t mean you should create low-quality pages to hit 400 pages. Quality is still essential.

42. 49% of B2B marketers are heavily in mobile marketing for generating leads.

More than half the internet users browse using their mobile phones rather than desktop or PC. This makes mobile marketing very essential.

About half of B2B marketers are heavily investing in mobile marketing.

A good way to start is to optimize your website’s mobile version for speed. Improve your mobile UX design to convert nicely.

Social Media Lead Generation Statistics

43. 49% of B2B marketers cite social media marketing as the most difficult lead-generation tactic to execute 

(WebFx)

You must have heard the likes of Brian Clark talk about starting a website rather than running your business on social media platforms.

This is because social media is a platform you don’t own and can’t control. As such, it becomes difficult to execute your lead generation strategy on social media.

You can’t split-test to know where your audience goes after engaging with your content. The analytics you’re provided with is too basic for marketing.

Also, because it’s social media, people get easily distracted by other content and you have no control over what they see.

This is why having a website is a necessity for businesses.

44. Less than 10% of B2B leads, sales, or Web traffic come from social media or paid ads 

(SemRush)

45. 73% of marketers say they promote their content via social media, organically. Another 51% say they use social media paid ads

(SemRush)

This makes social media the most used marketing channel for content promotion

Email Marketing Lead Generation Statistics

“The money is in the list” I’m sure you have heard of that popular saying. Email marketing is one of the best lead-generation channels. That’s why most marketers advise every business to build a list because it becomes an asset.

But what’s the present state of email marketing for lead generation? Is it still as effective as before?

46. The average open rate for marketing E-mails is 21.5% 

(Campaign Monitor)

47. The day with the highest Email open rate is on Monday, with 22%

(Campaign Monitor)

This means that Monday is the best day to send marketing emails. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the second-best days to send emails. They share an open rate of 21.8% each. However, Sunday is the worst day to send marketing emails. 

Sundays are rest days and only a few people open their emails on these days. 

48. Leads are 21x more likely to convert when businesses follow up within 5 minutes 

(Revenue Hero)

Research by Ziff Davis proved that follow-up emails done immediately after getting new leads can increase their likelihood of converting.

He further stated that businesses that follow up within 5 minutes get 9X leads compared to those that don’t.

Don’t know what to follow up with?

A good number of companies follow up on new leads with a welcome email series.

49. Lead-nurturing emails get 4-10x times the response rate compared to standalone emails 

(Invesp)

Not getting any response from your emails doesn’t mean your email is bad or they aren’t interested in your service.

A few follow-ups to warm your leads are what you need to get more sales.

50. Nurtured leads produce a 20% increase in sales opportunities versus other leads 

(Hubspot)

As said earlier on, the major cause of a poor conversion rate of leads is the absence of lead nurturing.

Keeping in touch with your leads establishes your relationship with them. And also gives them room to address the doubts they have about your business.

This is why companies that nurture leads get a better conversion rate and increase sales opportunities.

51. Although open rates are increasing each year, click-through rates are decreasing each year 

(Campaign Monitor)

52. Up to 60% of surveyed consumers say they have made at least one purchase every month after reading a brand’s marketing email 

(Digital Commerce 360)

53. 46% of marketers with well-planned lead management strategies have sales teams who follow up on more than 75% of leads 

(Active Marketing)

Over time, following up with leads has been proven to be one of the best ways of increasing conversion rates.

The thing is, you shouldn’t expect everyone to have a fast purchasing journey.

While some might convert at your first email, it might take emails upon emails to convert some.

Having a sales team to follow up with is a good investment for your business.

Summary of Lead Generation Stats for 2023

The lead generation landscape in 2023 is dynamic and evolving. 

By understanding and leveraging the latest statistics and facts, you can make informed decisions to improve your lead-generation strategies

However, a lot has changed in the way marketers now approach lead generation.

Here is a quick summary of working strategies for generating leads:

  • Lead Nurturing plays the most significant role in converting leads to sales.
  • LinkedIn is the most effective social media platform for lead generation.
  • While blogging is still an effective way to generate leads, video marketing is taking the lead.
  • Webinars are proven to have an almost-magical power for converting leads.

Besides these, you should know about what is working in the industry. Data is power. It’s up to you to make the best use of it.

Sources: 

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