Email leads are key for successful marketing and sales.
But how do you find leads from email and how can you be sure they’ll qualify?
It’s all down to a strong email lead generation strategy that grows your email list and engages your customer base.
It sounds complicated, but this article will show you how easy it is to generate B2B email leads in five simple ways.
Let’s go 👇
What are email leads?
Email leads refer to leads that have provided their contact information through an opt-in form, allowing for continued nurturing through email and other channels using permission marketing. Generally, these leads share their email address by completing an opt-in form in exchange for an offer.
These leads are valuable for marketing and sales teams because they represent individuals who have shown interest in your offering. Nurturing these contacts through strategic communication can lead to potential sales opportunities and help your company grow.
Email sales leads can also come from B2B data providers, who offer email lists of potential customers based on specific criteria, even if those individuals have yet to express interest directly.
How to get email leads for business?
There are various ways to approach the goal of getting more email leads.
Here are the most popular and efficient choices preferred by successful B2B sales teams:
1. B2B data providers
B2B data providers are excellent for finding fresh contact data for cold email outreach and building effective marketing strategies.
You can use them to create targeted email lists with better email deliverability rates and more qualified leads.
Here’s how you can use them to support your marketing and sales efforts:
Targeted prospecting
Leverage extensive databases to locate contacts based on specific criteria such as industry, company size, job title, and geographic location. This will allow you to focus on the best email leads.
Data enrichment
Ensure your current email leads lists are up to date and fill in any missing gaps, such as business emails, the correct names and job titles, mobile numbers, direct dials and detailed company profiles.
Campaign personalisation
Personalise your marketing and sales campaigns with accurate B2B data. Set up triggers based on new job joins, company expansion, fundraising, etc., to tailor your messages to address your target audience’s needs and pain points.
These are just a few of the features you can use to generate email leads. Many B2B email providers offer different features, and the quality of the database varies.
While a reputable data vendor is always a better idea than buying email lists, you do risk ruining your domain reputation by being blacklisted or banned by potential prospects. This is especially true if the email addresses you receive aren’t accurate and cause high bounce rates.
To avoid this, choose a provider with email leads for sale that’s serious about GDPR and CCPA compliance with verified data.
Cognism is a great example!
The tool is GDPR compliant by default, and the database is notified, resulting in better email deliverability.
Just ask Plandek, who saw a 95% email deliverability rate and a 52% increase in conversion rates from using Cognism 👇
“Having better-quality data has increased our email deliverability rates to 95%.” “With other software we trialled, they all looked great on the surface, but when I searched for employees of my company, there were three of me, for example, and the details were incorrect as well. So straight away, we could see the difference.” “We were offered a lot of add-ons, but the one thing that we needed was reliable data. You can add so many things, but if the data is not up to date and high-quality, it defeats the whole purpose.”
2. LinkedIn email leads
Finding email addresses on LinkedIn can be a valuable strategy for lead generation, networking, and outreach.
However, it’s essential to approach this task ethically and in compliance with LinkedIn’s policies and applicable data privacy laws.
We’ve written a great guide on how to find email addresses on LinkedIn. Which goes into great detail for finding company email leads.
You might also find our guide on generating leads on LinkedIn helpful too!
In summary:
- You should connect with potential prospects and use LinkedIn Sales Navigator for advanced search capabilities.
- Instead of performing manual searches prone to error, use tools that automate the process of collecting email data on LinkedIn.
- Cognism allows you to easily identify high-quality leads based on specific criteria such as industry, company size, job title, and more. The tool offers a Chrome extension that integrates with LinkedIn to collect user data straight from your Sales Navigator profile.
Here’s an interactive demo showcasing how the Cognism browser extension is to get email leads 👇
3. Webinars
Hosting webinars is an excellent way to gather targeted email leads. Attendees must register using their email addresses, which will provide you with an opt-in email list of interested prospects.
An effective strategy is to create an email sequence that starts with a thank you for signing up and is followed by one or two follow-up emails offering valuable content.
You can then segment these email leads into nurtures for those who aren’t ready to buy and send those who are ready to buy over to sales to enter the sales funnel.
Check out this example of an online workshop dedicated to sales leaders. The sign-up form is short and to the point, helping convert high-quality leads (remember, the user bounce rate increases with more form fields).
When launching webinars, organisers often find it challenging to drive sufficient interest in this content form.
Here are a few tips on collecting B2B email leads using webinars:
- Clearly explain what attendees will learn and how it will benefit them. Use bullet points to make the benefits accessible to read.
- Use high-quality images, graphics, and videos to make the landing page visually appealing.
- Include quotes or testimonials from previous webinar attendees or industry experts to build credibility.
- Provide access to exclusive content or resources, such as eBooks, whitepapers, or templates, that are only available to webinar attendees.
- Share your webinar details on all your social media platforms, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Use engaging visuals and compelling descriptions to capture attention.
4. B2B marketing campaigns
B2B marketing campaigns are among the most effective ways to get business opportunity email leads. By running targeted B2B marketing campaigns, such as pay-per-click (PPC) ads, social media advertising, and email marketing, you’re more likely to connect with your target audience.
Use compelling calls-to-action (CTAs) to encourage potential leads to share their contact information in exchange for valuable resources like e-books, whitepapers, or case studies.
Where should you start?
1. Identify your target audience and industries
Determine which business verticals you need to target to attract your ideal customer profiles. This will provide a solid foundation for your strategy.
Once you know who you want to bring to your website, craft a narrative that addresses their pain points and demonstrates how your tool solves these issues.
2. Focus on the technical aspects
Develop your landing page strategy and integrate your sales form.
Ensure your landing pages are concise and focused on the customers’ pain points and your product’s value, with a clear guide to your sales call sign-up form.
3. Launch your campaigns
With your landing page ready, it’s time to drive high-quality traffic to your website.
Write ad copy for your PPC campaigns, and don’t hesitate to reuse the messaging from your sales pages in your PPC ads. This will create symmetry across your lead source channels while building brand awareness.
5. Newsletter sign ups
Creating a knowledgeable newsletter is a good place to start if you’re wondering how to generate email leads without tools, campaigns, or webinars.
Offer valuable content and incentives to encourage website visitors to subscribe to your newsletter. Place sign-up forms prominently on your website, blog, and social media profiles.
At Cognism, we create eye-catching banners like these 👇to encourage sign-ups. (Click on both if you want more sales and marketing insights 😋)
Regularly sending high-quality newsletters will keep your audience engaged and convert subscribers into leads.
While newsletters can be an effective way to generate new leads, it’s important to remember that many offer similar or even the same value.
To help you succeed, consider the unique value proposition of your newsletter content and what elements only you can provide to readers.
For example, if you are targeting sales leaders, invite sales leaders from your organisation or other companies to discuss the main challenges faced by heads of revenue and sales.
Share their quotes in your newsletter and write an engaging story around them. Present these interviews as original, on-demand content, and you’ll likely see a positive increase in your sign-up rate.
Email leads FAQ
How do you use email leads?
You can purchase email leads to drive targeted marketing campaigns or assist in your sales team’s outreach activities.
For marketing and ABM campaigns, start by segmenting your leads based on demographics, behaviour, or where they are in the buying process.
For example, group leads are based on job titles, recent website activity, or interest in specific products.
Next, create personalised content for each segment, such as sending industry-specific tips to leads from specific sectors.
Use lead nurture campaigns like welcome emails or educational series to build relationships and move leads closer to purchasing.
Then, automate follow-ups and track campaign performance to refine your strategy and increase conversions.
What is the difference between an email list and email leads?
An email list is a broad collection of email addresses gathered through various means, often without qualification regarding the recipients’ interest in your product or service.
On the other hand, email leads are email addresses of individuals who have shown interest or engagement with your business, indicating potential for conversion.
Email lists can include addresses obtained from sign-ups, event registrations, or purchased databases, while email leads come from actions like downloading a resource or attending a webinar.
How do I verify email leads?
You should rely on a tool that excels at email lead verification.
Doing it manually is virtually impossible and economically inefficient. Cognism can significantly streamline the task of verifying email leads through its robust data verification and enrichment capabilities.
Cognism elevates data verification with its unique data asset, Diamond Data®. Diamond Data® consists of phone-verified mobile numbers that increase the chances of connecting with your target customers by threefold. The team phone verifies mobile numbers and adds contacts specifically requested by customers using the Diamonds-on-Demand® service.
Diamond Data® enables sales teams to connect with 87% of prospecting lists, leading to a 54% increase in mobile coverage for companies and a boost in ROI from 70% of outbound meetings booked through Cognism mobiles.
“Cognism’s Diamond Data is a game-changer because it eradicates the common stumbling block of calling false numbers. On average, 80% of these mobiles are always correct.”
Where can I find specific B2B job title email leads?
You can find email addresses for different titles by searching your data provider’s database. To make it easier for you, we’ve created a list of resources that integrate email leads into CRM tools:
- CEO email leads
- CTO email leads
- CMO email leads
- CIO email leads
- COO email leads
- IT decision-makers emails
- Marketing directors emails
- C-level executives emails
- HR emails
Should I buy email lead lists?
You shouldn’t buy email lead lists unless they are from a reputable vendor like Cognism, ZoomInfo, or Lusha. If the list is scraped or sold on the black market, one can’t guarantee the accuracy and legality of the contact data. These tools ensure compliance and quality.
If you buy email lists from a non-reputable source, you risk legal issues, quality concerns, damage to your reputation, and technical issues such as a bad domain reputation and deliverability issues.
Is it legal to buy email leads?
Different countries have varying data protection laws regulating how personal data, including email addresses, can be collected, used, and shared. Major regulations include:
- GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation): applies to the European Union and European Economic Area. It requires explicit consent from individuals before their personal data can be collected and used.
- CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act): enhances privacy rights and consumer protection for residents of California, USA. It gives Californians more control over their personal information and imposes new obligations on businesses handling such data.
Your B2B data provider from whom you purchase email leads must comply with data protection laws and legally obtain email addresses with the necessary consent.
Cognism is a CCPA and GDPR-compliant service you can trust!
💡Learn more about the importance of GDPR marketing.
Get the best email leads from Cognism
When hunting for the best place to get email leads, you want a quality B2B contact database.
And, there’s really only one answer when it comes to which solution offers you:
- Mobile numbers that are verified and factually correct.
- Bigger focus on quality B2B leads.
- Unlimited access to data.
- Simple, intuitive interface and reliable tech.
- GDPR and CCPA-compliant data.
- A fast and friendly support team who can assist you in real-time.
