15+ lead generation companies to consider

In continuation of our “bests” series (previously Content marketing agencies, Video production companies, Graphic design companies) we’d like to add another one. Best lead generation companies this time, hiring which one could potentially take business to a next level.

Also, instead of giving praise to enthusiastic teams, awards, pompous descriptions, etc. we’ll try to focus on concrete figures. We highlight minimum/average project costs, campaign results, approaches and tools, top clients. Thereby, you, the business owner, the operational manager, the marketer, hopefully, will be able to select the right one for you.

Top lead generation companies to consider

Services: B2B lead generation and enrichment, appointment setting, email marketing, content marketing, influencer marketing on LinkedIn, email deliverability, market research, lead lists updating, ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) building, sales funnel optimization, email outreach.

Project example:
One of the fastest retail media platforms, CitrusAd joined forces with Belkins within a LinkedIn Influencer Program to achieve 53 appointments, gain 350k views, get featured by LinkedIn, and effectively nurture leads to close high-value deals. Belkins made CitrusAd’s CEO a LinkedIn celebrity by creating a solid outreach channel and generating appointments that matter.

Services: B2B lead generation, appointment setting, multi-channel marketing, data verification, deduplication, database management, account-based marketing (ABM), SEO, SMM. 

Project example:
Callbox initiated a telemarketing campaign for an undisclosed data solutions provider. The goal was to sign up participants to events and distribute free ebooks. As a result, Callbox brought up  165 qualified leads, that proved an effective market entry point. 

Services: lead generation via LinkedIn and email campaigns, market research, inbound marketing, email pitch, contact lists, sales facilitation. 

Project example:
US IT-service company, 6 months. First 2 months of cooperation delivered 4 new big real deals for the client. By the end of the project, there were 27 new prospects and the company generated 30% more revenue compared with the previous year. 

Services: face-to-face meetings setting, telephone lead generation campaigns, phone surveys, database management, calling lists purchasing, events promotion.  

Project example:
SAP Coastal Range Systems, 1 year. To increase qualified leads in Canadian and US markets, SAP hired LGI as one of the best lead generation companies. As a result, 162 qualified leads were found, which, in turn, generated over $1M in potential revenue for this big tech company in the computer software/hardware industry. 

Services: sales researchers, outbound SDR, inbound SDR, CRM migration, lead generation and enrichment, sales consulting, sales assistance, email marketing.

Project example:
MK3 Creative, several weeks. The team helped MK3 Creative, which provides creative multimedia solutions, conduct outbound marketing campaigns. CIENCE provided powerful email marketing services with consolidated, weekly reports.

Services: appointments, cold calls, decision-makers identification, lead qualification, sales team, lead lists updating, membership campaigns, client retention calls, follow up email campaigns.

Project example:
A B2B outbound call center for big data services provider, 6 years. To help find decision-makers, to provide list updates and real lead qualification, VSA continues to deliver quality sales appointments globally.

Services: demand generation, B2B lead generation, teleprospecting, C-level appointment setting, IT lead generation, lead nurturing, customer profiling, webinar registration, contacting target audience by phone/email. 

Project example:
Upsell software products in the USA, 1 year. For accounts in the US and Canada, Extended Presence lead generation company was hired. This resulted in 180 appointments with key decision-makers in 8 months, 85% of which continued on to the second appointment.

Services: local marketing, social media marketing, email campaigns, lead search, website optimization for search, display advertising, database management and business intelligence interfaces.

Project example:
New distributors for a manufacturer, 5 months. In 2013 LeadgenCompass, one of the top US lead generation companies, helped increase the number of leads for a niche market. Many content pages were created that ended up in lots of web traffic and 150+ new accounts.

Services: demand B2B sales, appointment setting, digital/direct marketing campaigns, market analysis, lead scoring, sales training, post-campaign analysis, go-to-market planning, customer acquisition advice, trade show activities.

Project example:
Toshiba Canada, 6 months. To improve sales of Toshiba laptops 360Leads team developed a campaign of digital advertising, personal visits, etc. A record of 200% higher click-through rate was set online, also delivering over 1,000 sales meetings.

Services: calling / scheduling prospects, sales, lead qualification, identifying decision-makers, direct response marketing, outbound leads, reminder calls, data hygiene, event support, customer surveys. 

Project example:
30-days lead generation program for a Fortune 500 client, who targeted better ROI in environment field. Ameridial took up the challenge, causing 68% lead conversion rate, high  productivity for the first 200 hours of calling.

Services: contacting prospective customers, webinar product demonstration, custom campaigns, database scrubbing, market research, customer surveys, lead generation via cold calling. 

Project example:
Sappi, a call center for paper manufacturer – ongoing. OnBrand24 also provides inbound customer service, order processing, reporting, database maintenance, promotional programs.

Services: identifying influencers, sales process review, CRM, B2B lead generation, call scripts, sales outsourcing, data management, sales training program, strategic planning, staffing.

Project example:
Keubix, a SaaS company in the transportation industry. SalesRoads created an internal sales team to set appointments with freemium users. This allowed Kuebix account managers to upsell premium products. In the end, 966 appointments for Kuebix were reached, and a cold calling campaign generated new interest in Kuebix.

Services: multiple tools to form lead lists, sales meetings booking, customer segmentation, prospecting strategy, niche outreach planning, research and business analytics.

Project example:
Hilton Publishing, 1 year. The client needed leads pipeline for hospitals. Smashdeck provided 27 leads generated per month, 110 new qualified leads in total, amounting to a 12% higher  conversion rate.

Services: meetings setting with decision-makers and influencers, lead generation options at cost-per-lead basis, content syndication (target audience, relevant data, lead qualification), sales outsourcing.

Project example:
Lead campaign for Emergn, management/consulting company. The goal was finding the right people and organizations to grow business. Internal Results instituted a program that had delivered over 200 qualified leads and improved overall ROI.

Services: online lead generation campaigns, data-driven strategies, content strategy, content marketing, copywriting, conversion rate optimization, A/B testing, heat maps, customer surveys, sales process analysis, email marketing. 

Project example:
Acumen Data Systems, a new website. To get qualified leads, the GI team had rewritten Acumen’s website in view of target audience and search visitor intent. Thanks to the effort, the client achieved a 230% traffic increase and 125% more conversions.

Services: demand generation, marketing automation, outbound marketing, enterprise leads, cost-per-lead basis, targeting, custom research, account-based marketing, customer insights.

Project example:
Fortune 1000 tech company, 1 year. OpGen Media provided lead generation campaign, as well as content production, intent research.  The team successfully turned the customer’s initial $40k investment into $360k revenue, which meant 9-fold ROI increase.

Services: data audit, GDPR compliance audits, prospecting, identifying target markets, email configuration, deliverability testing, response tracking, content creation, lead qualification.

Project example:
Böcker, 1 year. A German construction company turned to Emberson LeadGen to enter the UK market. The target was achieved – 350 visitors to BöckerFest and Vertikal Days events, moreover one order from Emberson leads covered the annual lead generation costs.

Services: research, marketing strategy, content marketing, brand positioning, surveys, data processing, questionnaire design, project management, defining target accounts and audiences.  

Project example:
Appointments for a US bank, 2 months. The client wanted marketing-qualified leads (MQL) from the list of target 1,000 corporates. IResearch scrutinized the list, conducted surveys and calls. This resulted in 250 MQLs and a 37% increase in appointments.

Knowledge base

What is a Lead Generation company?

It is a company that provides services of attracting and converting potential consumers through tactics like content marketing, social marketing, email marketing, SEO, landing pages, events, influencer marketing, cold calls, advertising, etc.

So, lead is a person or business that is interested in what are you offering (product or service). When we talk about agency’s lead generation service we basically mean B2B (business-to-business) lead generation. Actually, most businesses have own websites that are the base tools to generate leads. Those websites or landing pages include such lead generation components as call-to-action buttons, live chats, contact data.

Also, some businesses prefer to use social media as a way to generate leads. In case the number of existing leads or speed of its growth doesn’t satisfy them then businesses turn to specialized agencies that offer lead generation services.

To generate leads, agencies use inbound or outbound marketing services. In the case of inbound marketing, customers find and engage with a brand through the following communication channels: emails, blogs, landing pages, videos, social media posts, and online search engine results.  Outbound marketing is generally harder to track and less profitable. Telephone lead generation (cold and warm calls), media buys, email marketing, PPC advertising, referral marketing, and events are examples of outbound marketing.

Additionally, lead generation agencies offer such services as: leads database cleaning / enrichment / verification / management, lead nurturing, appointment setting, market analysis, post-campaign analysis.

How do lead generation companies work?

Commonly, the lead generation process includes such stages:

1. Strategic planning. Discussing business features, setting targets and lead generation goals. While communicating with clients, representatives of lead generation agencies try to make future campaign goals sharp and transparent.
2. Campaign creation. Defining the audience, its needs and preferences, choosing the right channels to generate suitable leads, setting the price and duration of the campaign,  frequency of reporting, choosing technology stack.
3. Campaign execution. It includes the creation of an environment for lead engagement, development of landing pages, content creation, SEO optimization, tracking campaign work process and analyzing results, reporting to the client, and so on.
4. Testing and optimization. Usually, testing and optimization are performed during a campaign execution stage or beforehand. Specialists check how useful the campaign’s actions are and how those could be more effective. For example, checking what button color is more clickable via A/B testing, where 2 audiences are shown different colors during the same period, and then the results are compared.

Why is lead generation company beneficial?

A lot of people think that there is nobody capable to generate solid leads better than themselves. It might be the case, as nobody has the same thrive, however professional lead generation companies could be of help to starting or stagnating businesses, as well as to large enterprises in need of sale processes optimization. 

The main advantages of lead generation companies are their deep specialization in marketing methods for lead generation, rich experience in that field, skills with sales technologies. Getting lead generation services from specialized agencies could provide the following benefits:

• Growth of brand awareness
• Sales increase and positive ROI
• Precise customer targeting
• Collection of data about sales prospects

Lead generation service pricing

Lead generation pricing strongly depends on leads quality, marketing channels, industry, etc. As a rule, there are various pricing models of lead generation:

• Cost per lead. According to this base model, general campaign cost equals the value of leads number multiplied by cost-per-lead. So, the more leads, the more a client pays.

• Cost per month. An agency sets a fixed price for lead generation campaign per month. In this case, no matter how many leads generated, the sum is fixed. The average cost is $3,000, according to web data.

• Cost per appointment. In this case, an agency provides a client with a list of leads (and their contact data) that are ready to make an appointment.

• Hybrid pricing. A combination of cost-per-lead and cost-per-month pricing models. Before a campaign starts, a company negotiates with the client about lead generation strategy, marketing channels, leads quality, leads amount per month and then they set the cost per month.

Furthermore, let’s consider lead generation pricing based on cost-per-lead model, because it’s the most common. Cost per lead (or CPL) is calculated by the following formula: 

total marketing expenses / total number of leads = cost per lead

The average CPL varies from $30 to $45, the minimal price is $10-15, and the maximum price is $80-100 (the price for leads obtained through events or trade shows can be up to $1,000).  Obviously, marketing channels as well as industry specifics impact CPL value. So, there are two lead generation pricing classifications: per industry and per communication channel.

Pricing 1.

CPL per industry
finance	technology	healthcare	manufacturing	retail	tourism	education	telecom	marketing
$45-60	$40-50	$30-45	$30-42	$25-35	$25-35	$25-32	$23-30	$20-26

Pricing 2.

CPL per channel
Ads	SEA	Referrals	Webinars	SMA	Email marketing	Retargeting ads	Social media	Content marketing
$70-90	$60-80	$50-75	$45-60	$40-55	$40-60	$30-45	$25-40	$15-25

Additionally, the average CPL via content creation is around $80-100, and via search engine marketing (SEM) around $70-110.

How to choose a lead generation company?

1. Identify your lead generation challenges.
   Start with studying a lead generation as a marketing phenomenon and soberly assess whether it can solve your problems, or you should look for other ways to solve them. It is essential to understand that each issue has its solution, which can improve the search efficiency of potential customers. If lead generation is right for you, you should identify weaknesses in your business promotion strategy.
2. Explore company expertise.
   Find out information about the agency’s work experience in your industry. So you should choose a company that usually works with clients of your size, budget, and industry, they should have significant experience in your product niche.
3. Learn about their process.
   Reporting schedule, working hours, availability. Moreover, the agency that you are going to hire must be transparent about its work processes, flexible, open to communicate and solve issues.
4. Lead generation channels.
   Any lead generation companies use different marketing channels to generate leads. But every business requires an individual approach, so some marketing channels could be suitable for it, and some could not.
5. Quality and cost.
   You will be surprised how many marketing companies provide lead generation services today, so it is possible to compare prices, service packages, and quality. Make sure that the company offers you services at a fair price that is comparable to quality. Besides, make sure that the agency is not trying to offer you something that you do not need.
6. Customer reviews.
   When in doubt, you can read client reviews, feedback, testimonials. And better on social media, forums, independent resources.
7. Ability to meet expectations.
   Do not neglect the negotiation part. Before hiring a lead generation company, you should notify it about your goals, strategies, and expectations, discuss the campaign price and deadlines.

What are the Lead Generation trends in 2020?

• Artificial Intelligence. Currently, chatbots as representatives of AI have become of high demand. Capability to  answer questions and give recommendations fast and professionally could potentially replace multiple human employees.

• Video content and influencer marketing. In 2019, 81% of businesses used video content as a marketing tool for lead generation goals. At the same time, internet video traffic was up to 80% of all consumer Internet traffic.

• Email marketing. For years, email marketing is still remaining one of the most cost-effective tools for lead generation. Comparing with other brand promotion methods, it has the highest ROI. Take SalesRoads company for example, hired to help Kuebix with their paid product version. Through email campaign they managed to set 966 appointments for demos in 1 year.

• Increased personalization. The content we get from social media is as close to our real interests as ever. Obviously, personalization is the key to generate more quality leads.

• Linkedin / Facebook ads. Marketers recognize Linkedin as one of the most effective sources for lead generation. According to the official data, Linkedin accommodates more than 30 million companies and 660 million members. Moreover, the majority of them fill contact data on their pages. Meanwhile Facebook reached 2 billion monthly active users. Obviously, it will be further harnessed to generate sales leads.

Lead generation channels

Email marketing – sending out commercial messages to a group of people for the purpose of building loyalty, trust, or brand awareness.

Content marketing – creating, publishing, and distributing content for targeted audience online in order to generate leads, increase online sales, or increase brand awareness. 

Social media marketing – using social media as a tool for product or service promotion.

PPC Advertising (pay-per-click ads) – an online advertising model used to drive traffic to websites and generate leads.

Telemarketing – a method in which a salesperson solicits prospective customers to buy products or services using phone and/or chat.

Referral marketing – a method of collecting referrals by person-to-person recommendation. Currently, online referral marketing is more demanded, and it allows to track customer behavior online by using cookies, notifications, etc.