A comprehensive lead generation checklist helps ensure you cover all essential aspects of attracting, capturing, and nurturing prospective customers. Use this guide to assess your current strategies, identify gaps, and systematically improve your lead generation efforts.
I. Strategy & Foundation
- Define Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) / Buyer Personas:
- Have you detailed email data their demographics, psychographics, pain points, and goals?
- Do you understand their buying journey and decision-making process?
- Set Clear, Measurable Goals:
- What’s your target number of leads per month/quarter?
- What’s your target lead-to-MQL and MQL-to-SQL conversion rate?
- Are these goals aligned with sales objectives?
- Competitive Analysis:
- Who are your the power of strategic partnerships in lead generation competitors acquiring leads?
- What are their successful tactics?
- How can you differentiate your offering?
II. Attraction Channels (Inbound & Outbound)
- Website Optimization:
- Is your website fast, mobile-friendly, and easy to navigate?
- Are there clear executive list Call-to-Actions (CTAs) on every relevant page?
- Are your service/product pages optimized for conversions?
- Content Marketing:
- Do you have a content strategy aligned with buyer personas and journey stages?
- Are you consistently creating valuable blog posts, articles, videos, or podcasts?
- Is your content optimized for SEO?
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO):
- Have you conducted keyword research for your target audience?
- Are your website pages optimized for relevant keywords?
- Is your Google My Business profile fully optimized (for local businesses)?
- Paid Advertising (PPC):
- Are you running targeted ads on Google (Search, Display, Shopping)?
- Are your social media ads (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram) reaching your ICP?
- Are your ad creatives and landing pages aligned and compelling?
- Social Media Marketing:
- Are you actively engaging with your audience on relevant platforms?
- Are you using social listening to identify potential leads?
- Are you sharing valuable content and promoting offers?
- Referral Programs:
- Do you have a system to encourage and track customer referrals?
- Are you nurturing partnerships for mutual referrals?
III. Lead Capture & Conversion
- Lead Magnets:
- Do you offer valuable lead magnets (e.g., e-books, webinars, templates, free trials)?
- Are they relevant to your ICP’s pain points and goals?
- Landing Pages:
- Are your landing pages dedicated, uncluttered, and conversion-focused?
- Do they have clear headlines, benefit-driven copy, and strong CTAs?
- Forms:
- Are your forms short and user-friendly (minimal fields)?
- Are they visible and easy to complete?
- Do you use progressive profiling to gather more data over time?
- Live Chat / Chatbots:
- Is a live chat or chatbot available on key pages?
- Is it programmed to qualify leads and capture contact info?
IV. Lead Nurturing & Follow-Up
- Marketing Automation Platform (MAP):
- Do you have a MAP integrated with your CRM?
- Are automated email sequences set up for different lead segments?
- Personalization:
- Are your nurturing emails personalized based on lead behavior and data?
- Are leads receiving content relevant to their stage in the buying journey?
- Sales-Marketing Alignment (Smarketing):
- Are MQL and SQL definitions clearly understood by both teams?
- Is there a clear process for lead handoff to sales?
- Is there a feedback loop from sales to marketing on lead quality?
V. Analysis & Optimization
- Tracking & Reporting:
- Are you tracking key lead generation KPIs (e.g., CPL, conversion rates, lead source performance)?
- Do you have dashboards or reports to monitor performance?
- A/B Testing:
- Are you regularly A/B testing headlines, CTAs, forms, and ad copy?
- Are you testing different content formats and channels?
- Continuous Improvement:
- Are you regularly reviewing performance and iterating on your strategies?
- Are you staying up-to-date with new lead generation trends and technologies?
Using this checklist will help you systematically build and refine a robust lead generation system, driving consistent and qualified leads for your business.