12 Email Marketing Lead Generation Strategies to Boost Revenue Growth

Businesses are always looking for ways to grow their user base, and lead generation plays a key role in making that happen. Lead generation turns interest into action by attracting and engaging the right prospects and guiding them to buy, thus driving better marketing ROI. 

Email marketing lead generation is a tried-and-tested strategy with 78% of companies relying on lead generation email campaigns.

This blog explores the need for modern businesses to invest in email marketing lead generation, 12 strategies and best practices they can follow, and common pitfalls to avoid.

What is Email Marketing Lead Generation?

Email marketing lead generation is the process of using email opt-in forms to collect contact information of potential leads or prospects. Names, addresses, and professional or personal email IDs are collected. 

The contact information is used to define and segment the audience. Marketers then run targeted email campaigns with relevant content that resonates with the leads to nurture them into paying customers. 

Why You Should Have an Email Marketing Lead Generation Strategy

Businesses can widen their user base organically through lead gen email marketing, which is 40 times more effective than social media and other platforms. Email marketing offers greater control over lead generation, as it isn’t affected by third-party algorithm changes or platform policy shifts.

There will be 4.48 billion email users in 2027. Email marketing campaigns have an ROI of 3600% and an average conversion rate of 2.8%. It is no longer held back by the lack of modernization that makes most traditional tools suffer. AI in email marketing can now help analyse customer data and behavior patterns to suggest content that matches customer intent. Automation has made it easier to set up engagement sequences to nurture leads from the initial touchpoint to the end of their user journey.

With advanced lead generation methods flooding the market, customers have become digitally savvy and expect personalized, value-driven brand interactions. Modern businesses still use the powerful combination of email marketing and lead generation to cater to this demand in the most cost-effective way. 

Customer segmentation and targeted email marketing campaigns deliver relevant content that resonates with leads across their buyer journey. In this way, businesses nurture leads from the initial touchpoint, converting them into paying customers.  

Benefits of Email Marketing Lead Generation

Email marketing lead generation offers many benefits, making it a top choice for businesses.

1. High Return on Investment (ROI)

The average email marketing ROI is 36% for every 1$ spent, making it the most cost-effective lead generation strategy.

2. Direct Communication

Lead generation email marketing acts as a direct line of communication with prospects. 99% of email users check their email daily, almost 20 times a day. Unlike social media or search ads, emails establish a direct line of communication as they directly land in your potential prospect’s inbox.

3. Targeted Audience Engagement

The use of double opt-in forms ensures that the email list contains pre-qualified subscribers who are genuinely interested in receiving communication from your brand. Predictive segmentation can be used to design campaigns for a highly targeted audience.

4. Personalized Messaging

Emails can be personalized to meet lead preferences and user intent by using data collected through segmentation. Personalized emails are more relevant and have a higher chance of conversion.

5. Scalability and Automation Capabilities

Automate email marketing journeys, drip campaigns, and workflows to engage and educate prospects, nurturing them to conversion. There are several email marketing platforms and tools available in the market that make email lead generation scalable. 

6. Measurable Performance

Businesses use key performance indicators like open rate, click rate, bounce rate, and conversion rate to continuously monitor the success of email campaigns. Since the performance is measurable, it can also be optimized for better results.

7. Seamless Integration

Email marketing platforms can be easily integrated with CRM tools, landing pages, social media, and other platforms. The interconnected ecosystem provides a better omnichannel marketing experience, reaches a wider audience, and generates more leads.

12 Ways to Create an Effective Email Marketing Lead Generation Strategy

Let’s take a look at 12 strategies to implement for successful email marketing lead generation. 

Build a High-Quality Email List

Building a high-quality list for email marketing lead generation requires targeting the right audience, using valuable lead magnets, and optimizing opt-in forms.

1. Target the Right Audience

To identify and target the right audience, develop detailed buyer personas by defining your ideal customer profile (ICP). Is your ideal customer more likely to download an ebook or attend a physical webinar?

Use data analytics to segment based on customer demographics, behavior, and engagement levels. Only then can marketers tailor relevant content to drive value. 

A quality email list should contain subscribers genuinely interested in your offerings to increase the likelihood of conversion. 

2. Use Lead Magnets

People won’t give away their email addresses for free. They expect something valuable in return. Consider your ICP, their pain points, and what they want as a solution. Deliver this information in the form of valuable lead magnets as an opt-in offer.  

Provide the following lead magnets in exchange for email sign-ups:

• E-books
• Newsletters
• Guides and Reports
• Discounts
• Exclusive Webinars

Experiment with different options to optimize your email marketing and lead generation strategy.

3. Optimize Opt-In Forms

Prospects have a limited attention span and will not spend much time filling out forms for the lead magnet. Place them on high-traffic pages to increase the chances of engagement.

Keep the opt-in forms simple yet compelling. Use clear and action-driven copy that hooks the reader and makes a compelling case. Use easy-to-understand CTAs that stand out in the email body content.

Ensure the form is user-friendly. Keep the number of fields in the form to a minimum. Ask for only basic requirements such as name, email address, and their job title if necessary. Asking for too much information might overwhelm the prospect, and they might skip the form altogether.

4. Utilize Squeeze Pages

Create dedicated landing pages focused solely on capturing email leads. Keep this page devoid of distractions and competing links. Drive targeted traffic to the squeeze page through content on blog posts, newsletters, social media, and ads. 

A/B test different form placements on this page, like pop-ups, slide-ins, or embedded forms, to find what converts best.

Create Compelling Lead Generation Emails

Optimize subject lines, email body content, and design to make the most out of email marketing and lead generation.

5. Write Relevant Subject Lines

Subject lines are powerful. According to Chadwick Martin Bailey, 64% of people open emails based on the subject line. The subject line should be catchy and relevant to pique the recipient’s interest.

Follow these tips and examples to craft subject lines that increase email open rates.

• Create a sense of urgency. Play around the fear of missing out (FOMO) by using words like ‘Act Fast’, ‘Urgent’, ‘Alert’.
• Personalize the recipient’s name and refer to their past interaction. [Name], we noticed you are interested in our [Lead Magnet].
• Offer a clear benefit or incentive for the recipient. Get a 60% discount on your first order today!

6. Draft Value-Driven Email Content

Nurture prospects with concise emails. Share value-driven content that solves their pain points, answers their questions, considers their preferences, and nurtures them through the buyer’s journey. Segmenting email lists makes writing relevant email content easy and boosts email marketing lead generation.

Use clear and compelling calls-to-action (CTAs) that guide recipients to the next step after reading the email. Incorporate action words like: 

• Register Now 
• Download for Free 
• Redeem Coupon

7. Design Impactful Emails

Here are some tips to design a successful lead gen email and get more email marketing leads.

• Design for Mobile Responsiveness: 50% of mobile users prefer receiving communications over email, making mobile-responsive emails a necessity.
• Use Easy-to-read Fonts: Use fonts that are easy to read, align with your branding, and don’t appear flashy.
• Follow Brand Guidelines: Use visually appealing templates that follow brand guidelines and are also clean and simple.
• Formatting: Use a format that makes the email content easy to digest. Take care of spacing and highlight important sections.

Make an Impact with Segmentation and Personalization

Get high-quality email marketing leads by implementing audience segmentation and running personalized campaigns.

8. Segment Target Audience

The target audience can be segmented as follows:

• Demographic Segmentation: Based on age, income, gender, and education
• Psychographic Segmentation: Based on lifestyle, personality, interests
• Behavioral Segmentation: Based on past behavior and interactions

Email marketing lead generation that implements segmentation sees better results. Lead generation data shows that such emails have 30% more open rates and 50% more click rates than non-segmented and non-targeted campaigns.

9. Personalize Campaigns

Personalize email campaigns to increase the chances of potential prospects opening the email and clicking on links. Personalize the subject line to include the recipient’s name and refer to a past interaction, if any. After segmentation, the email content can be written to resonate with the user intent of each segment.

According to a MarTech study, emails with personalization have an open rate of 29% and a click-through rate of 41%.

Utilize Automation and Drip Campaigns

Email lead generation efforts can be supplemented with tools that automate drip campaigns and set up journeys based on behavioral triggers. 

10. Set Up Drip Campaigns

The email marketing lead generation process does not end when businesses receive email marketing leads. They have to nurture these leads into paying customers. 

Not every lead is ready to buy as soon as they sign up or show interest. Marketers can set up automated drip email campaign sequences to nurture leads over time. They provide a gentle nudge, guiding prospects through the journey without overwhelming them. 

11. Use Behavioral Triggers

Drip campaigns and follow-up emails become more relevant with the use of behavioral triggers. Marketers can use certain triggers to time the right follow-up email. The triggers let you respond to lead actions and meet their requirements before they ask for it.

Some potential behavioral triggers and user actions for follow-up emails can be:

• Emailing list opt-in
• Email opens
• Link clicks
• Downloads
• Webinar registers
• Redeeming coupons

12. Leverage Email Marketing Platforms like CleverTap

Many email marketing platforms allow marketers to run successful lead generation campaigns. The best ones come with automation, segmentation, and personalization capabilities. 

CleverTap offers all the above email marketing capabilities on a single platform. Its intuitive interface boosts lead generation through customizable templates, A/B and multivariate testing, optimal send-time suggestions, segmentation, personalization, and automation.

• Drag-and-Drop Editor: Create visually appealing emails using the no-code editor or HTML, with pre-built templates and support for rich media like images and buttons.
• AMP for Email: Enhance emails with interactive elements such as forms and carousels, allowing recipients to engage directly within the email.
• Preview and A/B Test: Optimize emails before sending with a built-in preview tool to ensure proper rendering across inboxes. Test different elements—subject lines, content, CTAs—to determine what drives the best results.
• IntelliNode: CleverTap’s AI-driven IntelliNode automates testing of messages, channels, and sequences to find and route users through the most effective journey paths in real time.
• Segmentation & Targeting: Target audiences using data like demographics, preferences, and behaviors to deliver more personalized campaigns.
• Real-time Personalization: Send dynamic content that updates based on recipient behavior and interests for higher engagement. Clever.AI’s Scribe crafts emotionally intelligent AI-generated content that resonates with user intent, increasing the chances of opt-in. 
• Automated Workflows: Use event-based triggers (e.g., app downloads, signups) to send timely and relevant emails throughout the user journey.
• Analytics and Reporting: Track open rates, clicks, and conversions to gain insights and improve campaign performance.

Best Practices for Email Marketing Lead Generation

Follow these email lead generation best practices that have stood the test of time for deliverability.

• Compliance and Permissions: Emails must comply with laws and regulations like GDPR, CAN-SPAM, or CASL. Violating privacy laws can damage brand reputation. Get clear and explicit permission using double opt-in strategies before adding someone to your active email list. 
• Testing and Optimization: Draft emails with different subject lines, CTAs, and bodies, and run an A/B test. Determine which variant performs best and optimize your email lead generation campaign.
• Maintaining List Health: Keep sender reputation intact and increase the deliverability rate by regularly auditing email lists to remove contacts that are inactive or have unsubscribed. 

Learn the full list of email marketing best practices to enhance your campaigns.

Measuring the Success of Email Marketing Lead Generation

Mentioned below are some metrics, tools, and strategies for measuring the success of lead generation email campaigns.  

• Key Metrics: Constantly monitor performance metrics of lead generation email campaigns. Key metrics include open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and unsubscribe rates.
• Analytics Tools: Analyze the email marketing lead generation campaign using platforms like Google Analytics and dashboards like the one in CleverTap to track real-time campaign analytics. 
• Adjusting Strategies: Adjust and improve campaign performance by relying on data insights from performance metrics and real-time analytics.

Get an in-depth look at all the email marketing metrics you should be tracking.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Email marketing lead generation will yield desirable results only when these common pitfalls are considered while designing the strategy.

• Sending Emails Without Proper Segmentation: Failing to segment the audience results in bombarding recipients with irrelevant content, lowering engagement and conversion rates. 
• Overloading Subscribers With Too Many Emails: Overwhelmed customers are more likely to unsubscribe. 
• Neglecting Mobile Optimization: A majority of users engage with emails on their mobile devices. Consider mobile responsiveness and optimize email layouts for effective lead generation email campaigns.
• Ignoring Compliance Requirements: Ignoring privacy and compliance laws can affect brand reputation due to legal penalties and poor email deliverability.

Generate More Leads with Email Marketing

Email marketing lead generation is here to stay. Businesses couple more modern practices like social media influencer marketing with email marketing to boost their lead generation efforts. This traditional method has received a makeover with modern tools that help segment audiences, personalize email campaigns, and automate email sequences.

Achieve maximum conversion in your email marketing lead generation efforts by following the strategies and best practices mentioned in this blog and avoiding the common pitfalls.