Marketing Profs

Here's a popular way to generate online leads: Buy a keyword ad on a search engine site. In your ad, offer free content, such as a whitepaper, to respondents who complete a short form.

In theory, this type of campaign works well: The people who respond get something of value. You get leads. Everyone's happy.

Not so fast. Too often the sales department follows up on those leads and tells marketing they're no good.

Why? What went wrong?

The campaign described above is a wide-net campaign. When you post a search engine ad—no matter how targeted it is—you will attract people with diverse motivations and different pain points. Some of them are sales-ready. Others are simply interested.

But this doesn't have to be a problem. In fact, it can be a golden opportunity to learn who is interested in your offerings and to tailor your sales and marketing to their desires.

A wide-net campaign can yield terrific results if you know how to craft it. These six steps will help you get the most from yours.

1. See the big picture

When using wide-net marketing vehicles, it helps to take a longer-term view of lead generation. Wide-net campaigns are often the first step in a larger program. In fact, lead generation that starts online has to be a process that combines effective online and offline tactics to nurture and qualify an inquiry until it becomes a lead. Perhaps you begin with a whitepaper, then send an email or offer a webinar. The point is, you're generating interest—and building on it.

2. Talk to your sales team