29 Latest Lead Generation Statistics & Benchmarks For 2022

Editor’s Note: Client lead generation is a key goal for many appraisers, but as digital marketing continues to evolve, it’s becoming more and more difficult to generate high-quality leads and compete with others.

Therefore, it’s important to stay up to date with the latest facts and statistics relating to lead generation, so that you can develop a successful strategy for generating and nurturing high quality leads.

In this article, by Nicola Bleu, as seen on Bloggingwizard, the latest lead generation statistics and benchmarks will be spotlighted, to help you stay on top of your game when it comes to generating leads and converting them to new clients.

1. According to 85% of B2B companies, lead generation is the most important marketing goal

There’s no doubt about it – lead generation is a big deal. Without making significant efforts to generate leads, your business could be missing out on key markets that would bring in huge amounts of sales, and this is especially true for B2B companies.

According to a study published by Content Marketing Institute, most businesses are aware of the importance of lead generation. Reportedly, 85% of B2B businesses see lead generation as their most important marketing goal.

Source: Content Marketing Institute

2. 53% of marketers spend 50% or more of their budget on lead generation

Marketing budgets are often spread thinly these days, with so many different channels to choose from. However, most marketers can agree on one thing – the majority of your budget should be spent on lead generation.

According to a study published by Authority Website Income, 53% of marketers spend over half of their entire marketing budget on lead generation efforts. 34% of marketers reported that they spent less than half of their budget on lead generation, and 14% weren’t sure about their exact budget breakdown.

Source: Authority Website Income

3. Only 18% of marketers think outbound lead generation provides valuable leads

Whilst lead generation is still a key focal point for businesses, outbound lead generation is becoming less and less popular. According to the HubSpot state of marketing report, only 18% of marketers felt that their outbound lead generation efforts provided valuable leads.

As a result, more companies are focusing on nurturing inbound leads instead of spending too much time and money following up on outbound prospects.

Source: HubSpot

4. Email marketing is the most common lead generation strategy…

According to statistics published by APSIS, the most common lead generation strategy is email marketing. Around 78% of businesses use email marketing as their first port of call when it comes to generating leads.

Although many marketers are trying out new lead generation methods like social media, email marketing still remains the most popular and most effective way to generate high-quality leads, particularly for B2B businesses.

Source: APSIS

5. … Followed by event marketing and content marketing

Other popular lead generation tactics that B2B businesses are using include content marketing and event marketing. According to APSIS, 73% of companies are using event marketing to generate leads, whereas 67% are currently engaging in content marketing for lead generation.

Event marketing includes utilizing promotional events, seminars, or even webinars to generate leads and make sales. Content marketing encompasses everything from blogging to video production and social media.

Source: APSIS

6. 66% of marketers generated new leads via social media by committing just 6 hours per week to it

Social media is growing in popularity as a lead generation tool, and more and more marketers are opting to commit a significant portion of their time and budgets to social media campaigns.

According to a study published by Social Media Examiner, 2/3 of marketers were able to generate new leads for their businesses by committing just 6 hours per week to social media efforts.

This means that you could easily run social media lead generation campaigns alongside other campaigns without overstretching your budget and time restraints.

Source: Social Media Examiner

7. LinkedIn is the most useful social media platform for B2B lead generation

If you’re marketing a B2B company, forget Instagram and Facebook. LinkedIn is the place to be. LinkedIn is a relatively underutilized platform when it comes to marketing. However, for B2B businesses, it’s an essential lead generation tool.

According to Oktopost, LinkedIn is responsible for generating around 80% of all social media leads for B2B products and services. LinkedIn has a range of features that make it a powerful lead generation tool, such as Showcase pages which help businesses to target specific audiences with offers.

Source: Oktopost

8. Using marketing automation software can increase qualified leads by as much as 451%

If you’re looking to supercharge your lead generation efforts, then you may want to consider using a marketing automation tool.

According to APSIS, using marketing automation software to automate your campaigns can increase the number of qualified leads you generate by as much as 451%.

Automation software can help you to optimize your customer journey, respond to leads quickly and efficiently and qualify leads to reduce the strain on your lead generation and sales teams.

Source: APSIS

9. 68% of B2B businesses struggle with lead generation

Despite lead generation being an extremely important aspect of any business’s marketing strategy, many marketers find it difficult to get it right. According to an study published by APSIS, over half of all businesses report that they struggle with lead generation – 68% to be exact.

Although there are lots of tools and channels that businesses can utilize to improve their lead generation efforts, it takes a lot of trial and error to devise a strategy that works, and this is what many marketers struggle with.

Source: APSIS

10. The average B2B sales lead costs between $31 and $60

Lead generation can be an expensive game, and for B2B businesses, it’s important to ensure that your lead generation strategy is providing a good ROI. According to Marketing Insider Group, the average cost of a B2B sales lead is between $31 and $60.

The amount you can expect to pay per lead depends on what industry your business falls into. For example, technology businesses can expect to pay less for their leads (around $30 on average), whereas healthcare businesses could pay as much as $60 per lead.

Source: Marketing Insider Group

11. Almost 60% of B2B businesses said that SEO has the most impact on their lead generation efforts…

For many B2B companies, their company website powers their lead generation efforts, and therefore SEO is an extremely important factor to consider.

According to Marketing Charts, more than half of B2B businesses said that SEO had the most impact on their lead generation efforts. Ensuring that your website is optimized for a smooth customer journey and that their pages rank in the search results should be a top priority for B2B businesses.

Source: Marketing Charts

12. …And 21% said social media has the biggest impact on their lead generation goals

When it comes to lead generation, social media is a fairly new marketing channel for businesses. However, it is becoming more popular and is showing good potential as a way of generating high-quality leads.

According to Marketing Charts, 21% of businesses said that social media had the biggest impact on their lead generation efforts.

Although this number pales in comparison to lead generation channels like SEO, it’s evidence that more and more businesses are taking advantage of social media to generate leads and drive sales.

Source: Marketing Charts

13. 68% of B2B businesses have strategic landing pages specifically for lead generation

Strategic landing pages are extremely useful for B2B businesses, and they continue to be one of the most effective ways to generate business leads. According to one study, as many as 68% of B2B businesses use strategic landing pages for lead generation.

Good lead generation landing pages rank highly on Google and are optimized for conversions. Whether you want people to sign up for your mailing list, or make a purchase, strategic landing pages are highly effective.

On a side note, if you need help building landing pages for marketing campaigns, check out our roundup of the best landing page builders.

Source: Startup Bonsai

14. 56% of B2B businesses verify leads before sending them to sales

Not all leads are high-quality, therefore, it’s important to qualify and verify leads before sending them to specialized agents such as your sales team. However, although verifying leads can save time and money, many companies still forgo this step. According to Marketing Sherpa, only 56% of B2B businesses verify leads before passing them over to the sales team.

Source: Marketing Sherpa

15. 80% of B2B businesses generate leads via content marketing

Content marketing is extremely popular with B2B and B2C businesses alike. It gives businesses a way to reach new leads whilst also providing knowledge and insights that are valuable to potential customers. According to Content Marketing Institute, around 80% of B2B businesses utilize content marketing for lead generation, making it the second most used channel after email.

Source: Content Marketing Institute 2017

16. Companies with a blog generate 67% more leads than companies without one

Content marketing is extremely effective so it’s no surprise that so many companies are keen to spend their marketing budgets on blogging.

According to an article published by Marketo, companies that run their own blog generate 67% more leads than those that don’t have one. To some people, blogging may seem like an outdated medium when compared to social media, but it still holds a lot of sway when it comes to lead generation.

Source: Marketo

17. Companies that post 15 blog posts a month generate around 1200 new leads per month on average

One challenge many content marketers face is deciding how much content to publish every month. From a lead generation perspective, the general rule of thumb seems to be, the more the better.

According to an article published by LinkedIn, companies that publish 15 blog posts per month generate around 1200 new leads on a monthly basis.

On average, that’s around 80 leads for each blog post published. In theory, the more blog posts you publish, the more chances people have of finding your website, and therefore, the more leads your blog will generate overall.

Source: LinkedIn

18. Content marketing generates 3x more leads than traditional marketing and cost 62% less

Content marketing isn’t just a powerful lead generation tool – it’s also an extremely affordable one. According to Demand Metric, content marketing produces around 3x more leads on average than other traditional lead generation channels.

In addition to this, content marketing is reportedly 62% cheaper than other marketing channels. Therefore, content marketing is the perfect choice for businesses that are looking for more bang for their book when it comes to lead generation.

Source: Demand Metric

19. Marketers that utilize blogging and content marketing are 13x more likely to drive positive ROIs

Content marketing also makes it easier for marketers to drive positive ROI. According to HubSpot, marketers that blog are 13x more likely to drive positive ROI than those that don’t. This is extremely significant and illustrates how effective running a company blog can really be.

Source: HubSpot

20. Email is the most effective lead generation tool for driving ROI

Email marketing has long been known as an effective lead generation tool. According to Campaign Monitor, it’s actually regarded as the most effective tool for driving ROI.

The study showed that for every $1 spent on email lead generation and marketing, you can earn as much as $44 in returns. That’s approximately 4400% ROI, so it’s no surprise that email marketing is a favorite amongst marketers in all industries.

Source: Campaign Monitor

21. Almost 80% of marketers believe email is the most effective demand generation tool

Demand generation is an umbrella term for marketing activities such as lead generation, lead nurturing, sales, awareness-raising, and more.

According to a report published by Content Marketing Institute, 79% of businesses agree that email marketing is the most effective demand generation tool available. It’s multipurpose and can help you manage and nurture leads, drive sales and keep your customers up to date on the latest developments in your business. It’s also affordable and offers great ROI.

Source: Content Marketing Institute

22. 56% of marketers say that compelling content at each stage in the buying process is the key to B2B email success

In a study conducted by Authority Website Income, respondents were asked what they thought the key to B2B email success was. The most popular response was ‘compelling content at each stage.

This means providing interesting and useful content via email at every stage in the funnel from lead generation to lead nurturing and sales. Creating an email campaign that achieves this goal isn’t easy, but you should try to make sure all of your email campaigns are compelling and provide value to your readers.

Also, a reliable email marketing service will be key to ensuring emails get delivered effectively.

Source: Authority Website Income

23. 49% of marketers believe offering downloadable content in lead generation emails is an effective tactic

If you’re struggling to build up an email list, then offering downloadable content is a great way to build up your email list and generate leads.

Around 50% of marketers reported that this was an effective tactic, and it’s a great way to incentivize readers to take action on your website, or via email. If you have content such as a newsletter, report, or a study, you can offer this as downloadable email content as a way of opening up an email dialogue.

Source: Authority Website Income

24. Over 40% of marketers believe the biggest barrier to lead generation is lack of resources, budget and staffing

Lead generation isn’t always easy, and it takes a lot of time and money to devise the right strategy and start seeing results.

However, according to B2B Technology Marketing, the biggest barrier facing marketers is a lack of resources, including budget constraints and staffing issues.

When planning a lead generation strategy, it’s important to consider your budget and staffing requirements, so that you have enough resources to try different strategies to decide which one works best for your company.

Source: B2B Technology Marketing

25. ¼ of marketers struggle to calculate conversion rates

Conversion rates can often be elusive, especially if you’re running multi-channel lead generation campaigns. It’s not always easy to work out exactly where leads came from, and which ones converted to sales.

Getting an accurate conversion rate requires a lot of analytics and data. For some marketers, calculating these figures is an extremely difficult task, and around 1/4 of marketers say that they fail to calculate conversion rates accurately.

In order to combat this challenge, it’s a good idea to use marketing analytics and automation tools so that you can accurately track your campaigns.

Source: B2B Technology Marketing

26. 61% of marketers believe generating high quality leads is their biggest challenge

Generating leads, and generating high-quality leads are two completely different ball games, and this is a hurdle that many marketers struggle to overcome.

According to B2B Technology Marketing, over 60% of marketers struggle to generate high-quality leads and report that this is their biggest challenge. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to work out which leads are worth pursuing, and a surprisingly low number of leads actually result in sales.

Source: B2B Technology Marketing

27. 79% of marketing leads never convert into sales

According to Marketing Sherpa, only around 21% of leads actually convert into sales, which can be a little problematic for businesses, especially when it comes to planning your budget and calculating ROI.

To try and reduce the amount of time and money spent on leads that will not result in a sale, it’s a good idea to have a rigid lead qualification process in place. This will help you to determine which leads are worth pursuing and which aren’t.

Source: Marketing Sherpa

28. 68% of B2B businesses have not properly identified their funnel

According to the same study by Marketing Sherpa, around 68% of businesses have not properly identified their sales funnel. This means that they don’t have a good understanding of the path their customers take to make a purchase.

From a lead generation perspective, this is problematic, as without a proper funnel, it will be challenging to know the best way to nurture leads and you’ll have no idea how close they are to making a purchase. Not establishing a funnel can cost you both time, money, and qualified leads.

Source: Marketing Sherpa

29. 65% of B2B businesses have no established lead nurturing processes

Surprisingly, as many as 65% of businesses don’t have a lead nurturing process in place, and this is extremely problematic. Just like having a funnel, establishing a lead nurturing process is essential if you want your lead generation campaigns to succeed.

From point of capture, your leads need to be supported and encouraged to continue down through the funnel to the point of purchase. If you have no lead nurture processes in place, you may find that many people drop out of the funnel, because they didn’t have the right help and support available at the right time.

Source: Marketing Sherpa

Final Thoughts

That wraps up our article on the lead generation statistics and benchmarks every marketer should be aware of. If you’re having trouble generating leads for your business, these statistics may help to inform your strategy and improve your results.

About the Author

Nicola Bleu is managing editorial at Blogging Wizard and runs Your Creative Aura.