Want to bolster your lead generation efforts? Creating an in-depth report is a great way to determine how well your current strategy is working.
By tracking your strategy, you’ll be able to see what is working and any areas that need to be improved. So, how can you create a lead generation report for your business? Find out everything you need to know in this useful guide.
What is a lead generation report?
A lead generation report is basically an analysis of leads for your business. It can show you:
· How many leads you had during a set period
· How quickly you acted on leads that came in
· The lead conversion rate
You can create these reports for pay per click ads, or social media campaigns for example. Once you have the report to look over, you’ll be able to see if your lead generation strategy is working, or whether it needs to be adjusted to gain better results.
Lead generation reports are most commonly used by marketers, salespeople, and lead managers.
How to create a lead generation report
So, now you know what a lead generation report is, how exactly can you create one? This will ultimately depend upon the type of report you are wanting to create. For example, do you need a lead generation report for email marketing, PPC ads, or social media marketing?
Regardless of which type of report you are creating, there are some general steps you can follow…
Step 1: Consider using a specialist template
Creating a lead generation report can be a complex task, depending upon how many leads you need to analyze. For this reason, many businesses choose to rely upon specialist lead generation report tools.
There are a lot of platforms that provide templates you can use. These help to speed up time, and make analyzing your leads much easier. Take a look online and you’ll find a ton of free templates, or you can pay for lead generation report software.
Step 2: What information will you track?
Whether you are creating the report yourself or using a specialist template, you need to identify what information you are going to track. For inspiration, some of the metrics analyzed in a lead generation report include:
· Total number of leads that came in
· The rate of conversion
· Cost of conversions
· How long it took you to follow up on the conversions
Consider the most important metrics you’ll need to track, then create a list.
Step 3: Use an Excel spreadsheet
If you aren’t planning on using a specialist template, the easiest way to create your own report is through an Excel spreadsheet.
You’ll need to first insert each metric into the spreadsheet. Then, to monitor results, you’ll want to use your CRM or PPC analysis. Results can then be entered into the spreadsheet.
This manual method of reporting can take up a lot of time. Therefore, if you can invest in automated reporting tools, it could be well worth the added expense.
Step 4: Bring all your lead generation efforts together
If you want to gain a true picture of how your lead generation strategy is working, you’ll need to bring all your efforts together. This means, analyzing results from email marketing, social media marketing, and PPC ads.
Step 5: Analyze the results
The final step in your lead generation report is to analyze the results. Ask yourself:
· Where are the leads coming from?
· How many converted into customers?
· Which platforms deliver the best results?
· How long did it take you or your team to respond to leads?
· How well are each of your lead generation strategies working?
Take time to analyze the results, and again if you struggle to do it manually, consider investing in professional software. If you want to gain the benefits of lead generation reporting, you need to do it accurately. This can be difficult when you are new to report analysis.
The above are the main steps to follow when you want to create a lead generation report. You can track your results weekly, monthly, or quarterly. The more frequently you assess your results, the more effective your lead generation strategy will become.