Skailit - Basic Marketing Course

9.1 What Is a Lead and Why Does Capturing Them Matter?

A lead is any person or business that has shown interest in your product or service and provided contact details. Without a systematic lead capture process, your marketing spend generates visitors who leave and are never contacted again.

Types of Leads:

9.2 Lead Capture Method 1: Apollo.io Outbound System

Apollo.io is a powerful outbound sales intelligence and engagement platform used to find, contact, and track prospects at scale. It combines a database of 275+ million contacts with automated email sequencing and CRM features.

What Apollo Does:

• Searches for companies and contacts that match your ideal customer profile
• Provides verified business email addresses and phone numbers
• Automates personalised email sequences (cold outreach)
• Tracks opens, clicks, and replies
• Syncs with CRMs like HubSpot, Salesforce, and Pipedrive

Step-by-Step: Setting Up Apollo.io for Lead Generation

1. Go to apollo.io and click "Get Started Free"
2. Sign up with your business email address
3. Complete your company profile — industry, size, location
4. Connect your email account:
   • Go to Settings → Integrations → Email
   • Connect Gmail or Outlook using OAuth
   • Set your daily send limit to 20–30 emails/day to start (increase over 2–4 weeks to avoid spam filters)
   • Set up your email signature in Settings → Email → Signature
5. Build your prospect list:
   • Click "Search" in the top menu and select "People" or "Companies"
   • Apply filters: Job Title (e.g., "CEO", "Marketing Manager"), Industry, Company Size, Location, Keywords
   • Review the results and select relevant contacts
   • Click "Save to List" and name your list (e.g., "SA SMB Marketing Managers Q2 2025")
6. Verify email addresses:
   • Select your list and click "Verify Emails"
   • Only email contacts with "Verified" or "Likely to be Valid" status to protect your sender reputation
7. Create an Email Sequence:
   • Go to Sequences → New Sequence and name it (e.g., "SMB Lead Gen – April 2025")
   • Click "+ Add Step" and choose "Email"
   • Write your first email (see template below)
   • Set the delay between emails: Step 1 immediately, Step 2 after 3 days, Step 3 after 7 days
   • Add 3–5 steps total — most replies come on steps 3–4
   • Add LinkedIn tasks as steps (visit profile, send connection request) for a true multi-channel sequence
8. Launch the sequence:
   • Go to your saved list and select contacts to enrol
   • Click "Add to Sequence", select your sequence, and click "Start"
   • Apollo sends emails automatically at the scheduled times
9. Monitor results:
   • Go to Sequences → Analytics to see open rates, reply rates, and bounce rates
   • A healthy sequence: 40–50% open rate, 5–10% reply rate
   • Positive replies are flagged — assign them to a sales rep for follow-up

9.3 Lead Capture Method 2: Website Registration Forms

A website registration or contact form is the most fundamental inbound lead capture tool. When someone fills in a form, they are actively raising their hand and requesting contact.

Types of Website Lead Forms:

• Contact Us form – General enquiry (name, email, message)
• Request a Quote form – Includes specific project details
• Book a Consultation form – Integrated with Calendly or similar
• Newsletter Sign-Up form – Email list building
• Lead Magnet download form – Give a free resource in exchange for contact details
• Webinar / Event Registration form – High-intent leads
• Free Trial Sign-Up form – Product-led growth

Best Practices for High-Converting Forms:

• Keep forms short — every extra field reduces completion rates by 5–10%. Name + email is enough to start.
• Use a compelling CTA button — "Get My Free Guide" outperforms "Submit"
• Add social proof near the form ("Join 2,000+ business owners who receive our weekly tips")
• Include a privacy statement below the form ("We never share your information. Unsubscribe anytime.")
• Send an immediate automated confirmation email — sets expectations and builds trust
• Place forms above the fold on key landing pages so they are visible without scrolling

Setting Up a Lead Form With Google Forms (Free & Fast):

1. Go to forms.google.com and click "+ Blank"
2. Name your form (e.g., "Request a Free Marketing Consultation")
3. Add questions: First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone (optional), "What is your biggest marketing challenge?"
4. Set essential fields to Required
5. Go to Settings → Responses and enable email notifications on submission
6. Click Send → Get the link and embed it on your website
7. Connect to Google Sheets for automatic lead logging: Responses → Link to Sheets

Setting Up a Lead Form With HubSpot (Free CRM Integration):

1. Create a free account at hubspot.com
2. Go to Marketing → Forms → Create form
3. Choose "Embedded form" or "Standalone page"
4. Drag and drop fields: First name, Last name, Email, Phone, Company name
5. Customise the submit button text
6. Set up a thank-you message or redirect to a thank-you page
7. Under "Follow-up", create an automated email sent immediately on submission
8. Copy the embed code and paste it into your website HTML
9. All submissions flow automatically into the HubSpot CRM — ready for sales follow-up

9.4 Lead Capture Method 3: Pop-Up Lead Capture Modules

Pop-ups, when used correctly, are one of the most effective tools for converting website visitors into leads. Well-designed pop-ups convert at 3–9% of all website visitors.

Types of Pop-Ups:

Step-by-Step: Setting Up a Pop-Up With Mailchimp (Free):

1. Create a free account at mailchimp.com
2. Go to Audience → Signup forms → Pop-up form
3. Click "Design your pop-up"
4. Choose fields to collect (First name + Email is recommended minimum)
5. Customise the design — match your brand colours and fonts
6. Write a compelling headline (e.g., "Get Your Free Marketing Guide — Instantly")
7. Set your display rules:
   • When to show: Immediately / After 30 seconds / On exit intent
   • Who to show it to: All visitors / New visitors only / Returning visitors
   • Frequency: Once per session / Once per week (don't annoy returning customers)
8. Click "Publish" and copy the embed code onto your website
9. All captured emails are automatically added to your Mailchimp audience list

Step-by-Step: Setting Up a Pop-Up With ConvertBox (Advanced):

1. Sign up at convertbox.com
2. Connect your website by pasting the ConvertBox script into your site's <head> section
3. Go to "Create New ConvertBox"
4. Choose type: Popup, Embed, or Sticky bar
5. Select a template and customise the design, headline, copy, and CTA button
6. Add your form fields
7. Under "Display Rules", set: page targeting, trigger (time delay, scroll %, exit intent), frequency, and audience
8. Under "Integrations", connect to your CRM (HubSpot, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign)
9. Go live and monitor conversion rates in ConvertBox analytics

Pop-Up Best Practices:

• Always offer something of genuine value (free guide, discount, checklist, webinar access)
• Keep the form to 2 fields maximum (email + first name)
• Use a benefit-driven headline ("Get 50 leads this month — free guide")
• Make the close button easy to find — forcing people to struggle to close destroys trust
• A/B test different offers, triggers, and designs
• Set frequency caps — never show a pop-up to the same person more than once per session
• On mobile, use a smaller, less intrusive format to avoid Google penalties

9.5 The Lead Data: What to Capture

Minimum Data (top-of-funnel):

• First name
• Email address
• Source (tracked automatically via UTM parameters)

Ideal Data (mid-to-bottom funnel):

• Full name, email address, phone number
• Company name and job title
• "What is your biggest challenge?" (open text — gold for sales conversations)
• How they heard about you

UTM Parameters — Tracking Lead Sources:

9.6 Lead Nurturing Before Handover to Sales

Not every lead is ready to buy immediately. A nurturing email sequence warms them up before Sales makes contact, dramatically improving conversion rates.

9.7 Lead Scoring — Prioritising Which Leads to Hand Over

Lead scoring assigns points based on behaviour and demographics so Sales focuses on the hottest prospects first.

Leads scoring 50+ points are flagged as SQLs and sent to the sales team immediately. HubSpot, Apollo, and ActiveCampaign all support automated lead scoring.

9.8 The Marketing-to-Sales Handover Process

A smooth handover ensures no lead falls through the cracks and the sales team has everything they need to convert the prospect.

1. Lead qualifies as SQL — by reaching a lead score threshold, booking a call, requesting a quote, or being manually approved by Marketing
2. CRM record is created / updated automatically with: all contact details, full activity history (emails opened, pages visited, forms submitted, content downloaded), lead source tag, lead score, and notes from prior email conversations
3. Marketing creates a Handover Note for the assigned sales rep including: why this lead was qualified, what content they engaged with, what problem they indicated they have, which product or service is most relevant, and recommended first talking points
4. Sales rep is notified — via CRM task, Slack, or email — within 5 minutes of the lead qualifying
5. Sales rep reviews the CRM record before making contact — never call a lead cold without knowing their history
6. Sales rep makes first contact within 1 hour. Leads contacted within 5 minutes are 21× more likely to convert than those contacted after 30 minutes
7. Sales updates the CRM after every touchpoint — call notes, outcome, next action, and deal stage. This feeds back to Marketing so they can improve targeting.

9.9 CRM Tools for Managing the Marketing-Sales Pipeline

Setting Up a Basic Lead Pipeline in HubSpot (Free):

1. Create a free account at hubspot.com
2. Go to CRM → Deals → Create pipeline
3. Name your pipeline "Lead Pipeline" and create these stages: New Lead (MQL) → Nurturing → SQL – Handed to Sales → Contacted by Sales → Proposal Sent → Closed Won / Closed Lost
4. Connect your website forms so new leads automatically appear as contacts
5. Set up notification workflows: when a contact reaches SQL stage, send a task to the assigned sales rep
6. Use the Deals Board (Kanban view) for daily pipeline review

9.10 Closing the Loop: Sales Feedback to Marketing

The handover should not be one-way. A healthy Marketing–Sales relationship includes regular feedback from Sales back to Marketing:

• Win/Loss Analysis – Which lead sources generate the highest close rates?
• Lead Quality Feedback – Sales tells Marketing which leads were qualified vs wasted time
• Common Objections – What concerns do prospects raise? Marketing can address these in content
• Monthly Marketing–Sales Meeting – Review pipeline together, align on targets, share insights

9.11 Quick Self-Check

Q1: What is the difference between an MQL and an SQL?

✓ MQL showed interest but is not yet ready to buy. SQL has been assessed as ready for a sales conversation.

Q2: What are the three main lead capture methods covered in this module?

✓ Apollo.io outbound email sequences, Website registration forms, Pop-up lead capture modules

Q3: Why is speed of response critical after a lead is handed to Sales?

✓ Leads contacted within 5 minutes are 21× more likely to convert than those contacted after 30 minutes.

Q4: What should be included in a Marketing-to-Sales Handover Note?

✓ Lead details, lead score, lead source, activity summary, stated problem, best-fit product, recommended opening for the sales call.

Q5: What is lead scoring and why is it useful?

✓ A points system ranking leads by likelihood to convert, based on behaviour and demographics. It helps Sales prioritise the hottest prospects first.

✓ Module 9 Complete

• What leads are and the different lead types (MQL, SQL, Inbound, Outbound)
• Apollo.io outbound system — full step-by-step setup
• Website registration forms — best practices, Google Forms, and HubSpot setup
• Pop-up lead capture — types, triggers, Mailchimp and ConvertBox setup
• What lead data to capture and how to track sources with UTM parameters
• Lead nurturing email sequences before Sales handover
• Lead scoring model to prioritise hot leads
• The complete Marketing-to-Sales handover process with Handover Note template
• CRM tools for pipeline management (HubSpot, Apollo, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zoho)
• Closing the feedback loop between Sales and Marketing