Developing a lead generation campaign is a relatively simple process if you have the right checklists to help address all of the various components and inputs required. This article will provide you with a set of basic checklists to help ensure you have all your bases covered.

1. Checklists for An Effective Lead Generation Campaign
Overview
Developing a lead generation campaign is a relatively simple process if you have
the right checklists to help address all of the various components and inputs
required. This article will provide you with a set of basic checklists to help ensure
you have all your bases covered.
What is Lead Generation
Lead generation is the process of generating or creating sales leads or contacts
through a variety of marketing activities, with the intent of ultimately converting
those leads into a sale for the company. The leads may come into the company
from various sources or activities. For example, leads may be generated via
social media, via a website, via the Internet, through phone calls, through
advertisements, through direct mail, through participation in a trade show or
event, or through numerous other marketing activities. Companies may also gain
leads through referrals, telemarketers, or list purchases.
Leads generated through a lead gen campaign indicate that the prospect has at
least some level of interest in your company’s products or services and wants to
find out more. Whether or not that level of interest is enough to convert into a
sale is still to be determined at this point.
Lead generation is not a substitute for other types of marketing activities. It is not
a replacement for sales activities (such as business development, sales calls,

2. nurturing, follow up, etc.), nor is it a standalone activity. A successful lead
generation campaign should be a fully integrated component of your go-to-
market strategy and include well-defined goals and
objectives.
Creating Effective Lead Generation Campaigns
Checklists are a useful tool when developing lead
generation campaigns. They provide a basic level of
guidance, structure and an outline of the various
components needed. Using checklists helps ensure that all
of the various components and inputs required for a
successful campaign are captured.
Checklists
Listed below are a set of questions to use when developing your checklists.
Some basic checklist examples are also provided to assist you in developing
your own lead generation campaign checklists. Note that each lead generation
campaign will be different, so while these checklists provide a framework that you
can follow, you will need to customize them for your specific requirements.
The checklists are grouped into five overall categories to assist you in using
them:
 CATEGORY: Purpose
o Lead generation campaign goal checklist
 CATEGORY: Measurement and Tracking
o Goals, metrics and KPIs checklist
 CATEGORY: Customer and Competition
o Target customer profile checklist
o Competitive information checklist
 CATEGORY: Marketing
o Marketing approach checklist
o Content and collateral development checklist
 CATEGORY: Process
o Leads, definition, rating and scoring checklist
o Processes and procedures checklist
Using these checklists will provide you with the basic information required to
build and implement your lead generation campaign. If you are outsourcing the
lead gen campaign development, the checklists also provide you with questions
you can use when selecting and working with a vendor.
NOTE: The first category is the most critical to the success of your lead gen
campaign.

3. CATEGORY: PURPOSE
CHECKLIST #1 – LEAD GENERATION CAMPAIGN GOAL
This checklist helps you answer the most important question: What is the goal of
the lead generation campaign (aka, what exactly you are trying to accomplish via
your lead gen campaign)? The answer to this can be something as simple as
generating new contacts to add to your data base or as complex as setting
appointments for senior sales professionals to follow up on. It may also include
other purposes, such as:
 Drive more sales to existing customers
o of existing products/services
o for new products/services
 Develop new customers
o for existing products/services
o for new products/services
 Take customers away from competitors
o for existing products/services
o for new products/services
CATEGORY: MEASUREMENT AND TRACKING
CHECKLIST #2 – GOALS / METRICS / KPIs DEFINITION
This checklist ensures that the KPIs and metrics that will be used to measure the
success of the lead generation campaign are well defined.
You need to define:
 The specific lead generation campaign goals
 The appropriate KPIs and how they tie to the business goal
 The appropriate metrics to be tracked to support the KPIs
 How often metrics will be tracked and measured
 How often metrics will be reported on
 Which metrics tie to the KPIs
CATEGORY: CUSTOMER AND COMPETITION
CHECKLIST #3 – TARGET CUSTOMER PROFILE INFORMATION
This checklist specifies the information you need to capture on all new leads.
This checklist also helps you define the targeted customer profile and determine
if the targeted/potential customers already know enough about your company
that they will respond to a lead gen campaign. If they don’t, you may need to
launch an awareness or educational campaign first, prior to a lead generation
campaign.

4.  Information to capture for leads
o Name
o Title
o Function
o Company name
o Contact information (email, phone number, address, etc.)
o What is their time frame
o Do they already have a budget assigned
o Do they have the decision-making authority
o Other
 What type is your target customer?
o B2B
o B2C
o B2G
 Specifically define the target customer:
o By industry
o By size of customer
o By type of problem that needs to be solved by your product/service
o By technology
o By solution
o By cost
o By timeframe
o Other
 Profile information:
o Do they buy from you now?
o Would they buy from you?
o Why would they choose you over an existing or another vendor?
 Price
 Quality
 Service
 Warranty
 Loyalty (previously purchased)
 Other
o Do they prefer to buy from someone else?
o Do they have a specified timeframe in which they have to buy?
o What questions do they need answered so they would buy from you?
o What information is critical to their decision making process?
o What motivates them to buy?
o Through what channel(s) and in what format does your targeted
customer prefer to receive information?
o Other
 What issue or problem does your product/service address or solve for your
customer?

5. CHECKLIST #4 – COMPETITIVE INFORMATION
This checklist provides basic competitive information.
 Who is your competition?
 Where is your competition located?
 What is their competitive advantage over your product/service?
 What does your product/service do better/differently than the competition?
 What is your competitive situation
o Market or price leader
o Market or price laggard
o New to the market
o Copycat product/service
o Complementary product/service
o Substitute product/service
o Other
CATEGORY: MARKETING
CHECKLIST #5 – MARKETING APPROACH
This checklist helps you decide the basic marketing strategy to use.
 What marketing approach will you take for the lead gen campaign (single-,
multi-, omni-channel)?
 If single-channel, determine which channel to use
 If multi-channel, determine which channels to use and how they will work
together (cross-promote, referral, etc.)
 If omni-channel, in addition to the above, decide how the user experience will
be consistent and integrated across all channels and platforms
CHECKLIST #6 – CONTENT AND COLLATERAL DEVELOPMENT
This checklist helps ensure that you know and understand what content,
collateral, messaging or positioning will be used in the lead gen campaign.
 Define your value proposition
 Define relevant keywords, incorporate those keywords
o In your content and messaging
o In your website
o In any downloads
o In your PR
o In your SEO
o Other
 Develop your messaging, required content and collateral, such as:
o Calling scripts and training materials

6. o Mailers, flyers, emails or brochures
o Websites, landing pages or social media sites
o Advertisements or banner ads
o White papers, case studies or use cases
o Blogs or posts
o Other
CATEGORY: PROCESS
CHECKLIST #7 – LEADS, DEFINITION, RATING, SCORING
This checklist helps you determine what a lead is, how the leads will be qualified
and scored (by both marketing and sales) so that they will be useful.
 Define what a marketing qualified lead (MQL) is
 Define what a sales accepted lead (SAL) is
 Define what a sales qualified lead (SQL) is
 Define how you will break down the leads and what determines each level of
lead
o “A” lead
o “B” lead
o “C” lead
o Other
 Determine how the leads will be scored and reported
o Hot
o Warm
o Cold
o Not Interested
o Contact me later
o Other
 Determine if you will have a lead nurturing system
 Define what the lead nurturing process will be
o Who will manage this process
o What steps will be taken
o When/how often will those steps be taken
 Do you have a way to remove a customer’s information if so requested?
CHECKLIST #8 – PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES
This checklist helps ensure that you have all the necessary processes,
procedures, tools and technology are in place to capture, score, report, track,
follow-up and nurture the leads.
 Are the lead capture forms developed and contain the correct information?
 Is the timeframe for the campaign defined?
 How often will you track, measure and report on the status of the campaign?

7.  Do proper reporting processes exist
 Are all tools necessary for the successful lead gen campaign in place
 Is there a way to capture relevant comments from potential customers outside
the basic fields on the lead form?
 Etc.
Summary
By using the above checklists (some or all, depending on your needs), your lead
generation campaign will be well-defined, easier to manage and will generate
more productive leads. This process also provides a framework that can be used
over and over again.
© Richard Hatheway, Catalyst Strategic Marketing – 2015 - 2019
All rights reserved