Emerging Trends in Lead Generation Technology for 2024

Lead generation best practices change every day. With compliance regulations and emerging technologies, it’s not easy to stay on top of trends. Not to mention ensuring you’re generating enough leads. Effective lead generation not only enhances sales but also contributes to brand awareness, customer engagement, and positioning. If your company is not continuously implementing new lead generation technology, it can be easy to fall behind your competitors and lose out on new customers. That’s exactly why we decided to put together this article going through emerging trends in lead generation technology to use this year and beyond. First, let’s go over inbound vs. outbound lead generation.

Inbound vs. Outbound Lead Generation

Understanding the differences between inbound and outbound lead generation is crucial when you’re looking to improve your lead gen strategies. 

Inbound Lead Generation

Inbound lead generation strategies focus on creating content to attract and engage potential customers. This method leverages content marketing, SEO, and other channels to pull prospects toward a brand naturally. Inbound lead generation aims to build trust and credibility, making it an organic and cost-effective approach. 

Outbound Lead Generation

On the other hand, outbound lead generation involves proactively reaching out to potential customers. This includes methods like cold calling, email marketing, and targeted advertising. While outbound strategies can be more direct, they may also be more intrusive. The key to lead generation is finding the right balance and personalizing outreach efforts. Now that you understand the concepts of inbound and outbound lead generation, let’s go over the top lead generation technology trends to use in 2024 and beyond.

Top Lead Generation Technology for 2024

Lead generation is not easy. That’s why there is a plethora of lead generation technology and tools on the market. That’s why we have compiled a list of the top 10 lead generation technology for 2024 below.

1. Visitor Queue

Visitor Queue pairs perfectly with both inbound and outbound lead generation tactics. By installing the Visitor Queue tracking script on your website, you can see exactly what companies land on your website. You can see how they were acquired, what pages they viewed, and how long they spent on each page. This can help you see if your lead generation efforts are attracting the right kind of visitors. Additionally, you can gain access to a list of their employees to help you reach out and further your lead generation efforts. Visitor Queue has 4.5 out of 5 stars on G2 Crowd. 

2. Zapier

Zapier is one of the best lead generation technologies on the market, if used right. Think of Zapier as a connection point between two or more software. This way, you can automate tasks including lead generation. As an example, you can integrate Visitor Queue with your CRM to automatically follow up with your website visitors. This can help speed up your lead generation and give your sales team more time to focus on manual tasks. There is truly an unlimited number of integration possibilities when it comes to using Zapier for lead generation. Zapier has 4.5 out of 5 stars on G2 Crowd.

3. HubSpot

HubSpot is a well-known CRM with a ton of lead generation features. In your HubSpot account, you can build landing pages, email drip campaigns, pop ups, forms, and more to help generate leads. This can be extremely useful since you can do it all in one place. HubSpot also can help you track website metrics, social media engagement, and more. Although HubSpot is a fantastic tool for lead generation, it can get pretty pricey so it may not be the best option for smaller companies. The HubSpot Marketing Hub has 4.4 out of 5 stars on G2 Crowd, with most critiques being price-related. 

4. Drift

Drift is an AI-based conversation software that works in a similar way to a live chat. Their unique software uses artificial intelligence to understand, process, and respond to human language in a natural way. Their patented conversational AI automates conversations, insights, and recommendations to help your sales team close more deals with no human interaction needed. This reduces the need for a customer service representative to constantly monitor a live chat, saving your organization time and money. Drift integrates with many CRM platforms to help you instantly send contact information and then follow up. Drift has 4.4 out of 5 stars on G2 Crowd.

5. LinkedIn

LinkedIn as a whole is a great lead generation tool. But, its individual tools can also be extremely useful for teams of all sizes. LinkedIn Premium, LinkedIn Paid Ads, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator are all excellent tools that can be used in a variety of ways. One of the best parts about using LinkedIn to generate leads is that you can target a highly targeted audience. As an example, you can target specific companies, company sizes, job positions, and more. However, since you can get so specific, LinkedIn can get pretty pricey so it’s important to keep a close eye on your lead generation campaigns. LinkedIn Sales Navigator has 4.3 out of 5 stars on G2 Crowd.

6. 6sense

6sense is a Chrome Extension that provides you with everything you need to know about prospects. By visiting a personal LinkedIn page, you can acquire account and contact details, buyer intent data, firmographic, and technographic information. This can help you skip the step of reaching out to the user to learn more information about them and their needs. And, 6sense integrates with popular CRM platforms to push contact details directly there. This can help you spend less time browsing LinkedIn, hoping for a response, and more time building meaningful connections. 6sense has 4.4 out of 5 stars on G2 Crowd.

7. FlashIntel

FlashIntel is a revenue acceleration platform that combines sales intelligence and engagement capabilities. It provides tools to help revenue teams find relevant prospects quickly and effectively engage with them. With this tool, you can verify contact information, discover social intent, and monitor job changes to even help with prospecting efforts. Not to mention, FlashIntel automatically cleans and updates information thanks to their embedded real-time verification. FlashIntel has 4.7 out of 5 stars on G2 Crowd. 

8. otrillo

When you are trying to generate leads and fill your sales funnel, oftentimes you can come across as too salesy. This can make it difficult to build trust. That’s where otrillo comes in to play. otrillo is a case study builder that can help you easily collect written and video case studies and testimonials from your clients. Then, you can use these case studies on your website, on social media, or paid advertising. Showing your prospects how happy your customers are can help reassure them that they will also be satisfied. otrillo is not yet listed on G2 Crowd.

9. Apollo.io

Apollo.io proclaims that they are the world’s most up-to-date lead database with over 275 million contacts. You can use their extensive database to find leads in your ideal customer profile, and then reach out. You can also use Apollo.io to enrich your CRM to ensure your data is fresh and accurate. Apollo.io also integrates with a number of other tools to ensure your data flows smoothly and all of your software is up to date. Apollo.io has an impressive 4.8 out of 5 stars on G2 Crowd.

10. Seamless.ai

Seamless.ai is the first and only real-time search engine for B2B sales leads. This can help you discover verified and accurate phone numbers and emails for potential prospects. As of recently, they can also provide you with updates on buyer intent and job changes. This can be helpful if a company hires a new manager or C-level employee, so you can reach out to see if they are not interested in what you have to offer. Seamless.ai has 4.2 out of 5 stars on G2 Crowd.

Compliance Regulations

Staying compliant with CCPA, GDPR, HIPAA, or whatever regulations your industry or location has to follow is crucial. With data privacy concerns, businesses need to ensure the lead generation technology that they are investing in abides by these regulations. Compliant-focused lead generation tools ensure that companies not only capture valuable leads, but also do so in a manner that respects individual privacy rights. Before choosing a lead generation technology, ensure that the software follows privacy laws in your area.

Next Steps

Lead generation is an essential part of B2B marketing and sales. We are always looking for new and exciting ways to generate leads and earn an impressive return on investment. It can be helpful to use a handful of different lead generation technologies to ensure you are generating a variety of leads from a variety of places. This way you are not depending strictly on one channel. As always, if you have any questions about using Visitor Queue, do not hesitate to reach out.