10 Strategies to Generate Leads in Sales

Lead generation is not just the most important part of growing a business: it’s probably also the most difficult. 

Finding the right leads for your business, and that too in a crowded market full of competitors,

Now that’s a real challenge!

And today, that’s exactly what I’ll help you overcome.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through 10 proven strategies to generate more leads, from referral programs to cold email outreach, that work for a range of industries, markets, and ICPs. 

I’ll also share best practices to help you nurture leads effectively. 

Let’s get started!

How to Generate Leads in Sales: 10 Strategies

1. Cold Outreach
2. Social Selling
3. Experiential Marketing
4. Referral Programs
5. Networking Events
6. Content Marketing
7. Online Events
8. Account-Based Marketing
9. Targeted Ads
10. Affiliate Marketing

1. Cold Outreach

First on my list of the 10 best strategies for lead generation is cold outreach.

It’s an outbound lead generation strategy where you carefully identify prospects that align with your ICP and reach out to them with tailored messages.

What makes cold outreach one of the most effective strategies for generating leads in sales is its proactive approach.

You decide who to target, when to reach out, and what message to lead with.

The Result?

You control the conversation and build a sales pipeline on your terms.

Cold outreach typically happens across three main channels, each with its own strengths depending on your goals and audience.

1. Cold Email
2. Cold Calling
3. Cold LinkedIn Messaging

1. Cold Email

Best For: Targeting specific decision-makers in niche markets without near-zero manual efforts. 

Cold emailing is a highly scalable channel for cold outreach: 

Through it, you can approach thousands of high-value prospects without the hassle of approaching each one separately.

Cold emailing relies heavily on follow-ups: 

• You send a personalized email on day one.
• Then wait three days before following up.
• If your prospect still doesn’t reply, send them another email the following week. 

As you can see, the trick is to create a sequence of emails with the aim of starting a conversation, not closing a deal. 

How to Implement Cold Emailing

Here’s how you can launch a high-value cold email campaign:

• Create a list of prospects you want to reach based on your ICP and buyer persona.
• Next, find their email addresses through LinkedIn or by visiting the prospect’s website.  
• Third, craft a cold email sequence that empathizes with your prospects’ pain points and asks for a meeting or conversation to discuss how you can help them. 

Let me quickly show you what your cold email should include: 

• A subject line that will immediately hook your prospect.
• Personalization such that your prospect thinks they’re the only one you’re talking to.
• Timely follow-ups: just three follow-ups can increase your chances of getting a response by 28%!

Now, this might sound like a lot of work. 

But here’s the thing: if you use the right cold email service provider, you can easily automate almost all aspects of your cold email campaign.

Not only that, you can also use AI to write emails, get variations, and personalize them at scale!

Lastly, cold emailing is a game of patient waiting. Your leads will most likely trickle in rather than flow in. However, if you do it the right way, following best practices, you can generate an ROI of up to 4,400%!

2. Cold Calling

Best For: Reaching high-ticket clients where direct, real-time communication is critical to closing deals.

Cold calling is the old-fashioned way of implementing cold outreach: 

• You create a list of prospects that align with your ICP.
• Find their phone numbers.
• Prepare a script tailored to each prospect.

Then, you start calling them to ask if they’d be interested in a solution you have to offer. 

But I know what you’re thinking: Do prospects really answer cold calls in 2025? And do they actually generate leads? 

Yes, but only for specific industries!

Cold calling can be very effective in segments where one-on-one conversations continue to drive major buying decisions. 

So, it’s ideal for reaching enterprise SaaS, finance, real estate, and consulting decision-makers. 

But, you’ll also need a clean list of verified phone numbers that you’ve obtained legally.

And since phone directories are outdated, I suggest using a reliable B2B data provider that complies with privacy laws and regularly updates its database.

So, cold calling can work, but it’s a long shot: it’s best to use cold calling as a tactic within your wider lead generation strategy.

3. Cold LinkedIn Messaging

Best For: Direct access to key decision-makers in industries like SaaS, finance, and IT.

The last cold outreach technique is LinkedIn messaging: it’s like cold emailing but on LinkedIn.

You can use: 

• Sponsored messages for prospects not in your network
• Personal messages for prospects you’re already connected with 

In both cases, you should pitch value propositions tailored to their specific requirements. 

Here’s why LinkedIn has been one of my best lead generation channels: 

First, LinkedIn helps you understand your prospect’s needs as they constantly share professional updates about the problems they face and the solutions they seek.

Second, prospects already expect you to reach out to them via LinkedIn with proposals.

So, if you send messages that directly highlight their pain point and offer a good solution, there’s a high chance you’ll turn prospects into leads!

2. Social Selling

Best For: Generating leads by building a strong personal brand. 

Next up on my list of lead gen strategies is social selling.

It’s the process of using social media platforms like Reddit, X, and LinkedIn to build relationships and brand visibility without directly selling anything. 

One thing about social selling is that it doesn’t neatly fall into the categories of inbound or outbound marketing. 

For instance, you can use LinkedIn to both approach prospects (outbound) or create a personal LinkedIn brand that invites prospects to reach out to you (inbound).

Why Use Social Selling for Lead Generation?

There are three main reasons why I recommend using social selling as a lead generation strategy:

• You get to interact with warm leads who have already engaged with your posts and comments. 
• You can earn more trust by offering insights to prospects rather than making pitches. 
• Every post you make will gradually enhance your profile as a seller and generate inbound leads over time.

How to Implement Social Selling to Generate Leads?

How you can implement social selling for lead generation depends on the social media platform you choose. 

Let me show you two ways you can create a social selling strategy: 

Social Selling on Reddit

Reddit is a goldmine of prospects that actively discuss their pain points. So, it’s the best place to build authority through direct engagement with your prospects.

This also makes it one of the best places for lead generation for IT and technology companies!

Here’s everything you need to do to generate leads via Reddit:

• Set up your profile, highlighting your role: e.g., CEO at Cyber Security Solutions.
• Add your experience & achievements: “Created network security protocols for 5 Fortune 500 companies.”
• Post on relevant subreddits (r/CyberSecurity): share your expertise, discuss the latest trends, and offer solutions to common pain points your prospects have raised.
• Engage with prospects’ posts: Upvote genuinely good solutions, provide your insights on their problems, and share testimonials of how you’ve solved problems like theirs in the past.

Here, what you’re emphasizing is your expertise, not your personal brand. 

So, how exactly is this different from personal branding? 

Let me show you with the example of LinkedIn social selling.

Social Selling on LinkedIn

When it comes to LinkedIn, you discuss pain points via messages but highlight solutions through testimonials and case studies.

Here, you’ll need:

• A professional profile connected with the corporate account of your company.
• Carousels discussing your company’s updates and testimonials. 
• Regular posts to increase your brand’s visibility. 
• Pinned posts that highlight outstanding achievements. 

So, the next time one of your connections or someone in their network faces a problem you can solve, your branding efforts will pay off: 

You’ll be the first person they’ll think of contacting!

On LinkedIn, your goal should not be to engage directly with prospects, but to build a profile you can leverage to boost inbound leads.

It’ll require a lot of posting and engagement on your part, but it’ll also reward you for consistency in the long run!

3. Experiential Marketing

Best For: SaaS products that offer free trials, demos, or immediate value propositions.

Experiential marketing is a lead generation strategy that lets your product do all the talking.

So, rather than telling your prospects about your product through content, you create interactive and immersive demos, live feature launches, free trials, or weekly product updates.

This will help your prospects experience the product for themselves!

Why Use Experiential Marketing for Generating Leads?

There are three reasons why I recommend experiential marketing for product-centric B2B companies: 

• Engagement: Live events help you showcase how you can solve your prospects’ pain points in real-time. Plus, it can help you understand their buying objections and create tailored responses you can send after an experiential marketing session (like a product demo).

• Emotional Connections: Your prospects may not have the bandwidth to remember messages, calls, or social media posts, but they’re less likely to forget personalized experiences where they got to try your product first-hand!

• Pre-Qualified Leads: If your prospects are willing to invest time and energy in experiencing your product, it means they likely have a pressing pain point they’re looking to resolve. And they actually believe that your product could be their ideal solution.

How to Implement Experiential Marketing?

There are a lot of different tactics you can use to create an experiential marketing strategy. Let me break down the best ones:

• Limited-period free trials can accelerate sales cycles while also ensuring that your prospects have enough time to explore your product’s features.

• Scheduled Public Product Demos help you create never-ending sales cycles by letting your prospects experience your product at their convenience. 

• Don’t just offer a free trial – provide complete customer support during the trial period so that prospects don’t abandon your product during the trial period!

Lastly, I also suggest implementing best practices for experiential marketing:

• Create immersive video demos of your products.
• Include live polls to increase engagement from your prospects.
• Follow up within 24 hours of your experiential marketing event.  

Pro Tip: Use cold outreach to prime your prospects about your experiential marketing event to increase participation. 

4. Referral Programs

Best For: All B2B product and service enterprises.

When it comes to lead generation, there’s nothing like a good reference!

Referral marketing is a proven method for generating high-quality B2B leads. 

It uses satisfied customers to connect you with others who are likely to need your solution. 

These leads come in with context, trust, and interest, giving you access to prospects already in the market for your product or service!

And this is not just my opinion: a recent study suggests that nearly 75% of all B2B buyers make decisions based on the recommendations of peers. 

That’s exactly what referral marketing aims to leverage.

The goal is simple:

Turn satisfied customers into brand advocates. 

Then, you can either ask them for a reference or even get references automatically when someone in their circle shares a pain point you can solve. 

Why Use Referral Marketing to Generate Leads?

Referral marketing is the fastest way to generate qualified leads without diverting any significant resources or attention away from your actual business operations.

Plus, you get pre-qualified leads who are already in the market for your solutions.

In short, referral marketing helps you skip large parts of your sales funnel: 

You can go from having 10 customers to 15 without even making a phone call or sending a message! 

And since this can also help you cut marketing costs, it’s particularly suited to lead generation for startups.

How to Create a Referral Marketing Strategy

There are four things you need to do to successfully make referral marketing a huge part of your lead generation strategy:

• Ask for references at the right time, such as after a successful project or when you receive positive feedback.
• Provide shareable links, short forms, or pre-written messages that make referring quick and easy. 
• Reward your referrers for successful conversions with credits, discounts, or complementary upgrades. 
• Promote your referral program and feature your top referrers prominently on your website. 

Pro Tip: Offer surprise bonuses to top referrers and feature them on your website. It’ll tell visitors that not only do you value referrals, but that you have a strong program in place to help customers become referrers!

5. Networking Events

Best For: Building relationships and generating warm leads through face-to-face interactions.

Networking events are spaces that are dedicated exclusively to sharing pain points and discussing solutions. 

So, attending location- and industry-specific conferences, expos, trade shows, and professional gatherings can be a great way to meet in-market prospects and convert them into leads!

Remember: networking events will require your physical presence. So, unlike cold outreach or online events, they’ll consume both your time and energy.

However, they also offer distinct advantages:

Why Use Networking Events to Generate Leads?

There are three reasons that participating in networking events can help you attract leads: 

• In industries like healthcare, face-to-face communication is critical to building trust and long-term relationships. In such cases, events like trade shows and expos are irreplaceable!

• Events create opportunities for warmer follow-ups because you can mention trigger events in emails or during phone calls (e.g., “Hello John, We met at last week’s Healthcare Revenue Management Conference…”).

• You get real-time feedback from prospects. This will help you refine your pitch, address buying objections, and understand intent signals before making an offer. 

How to Generate Leads Through Networking Events?

Here’s a three-step process you can use to generate leads through networking events: 

• Select networking events where prospects who align with your ICP will be present. 
• Choose expos and trade shows where you actually get to set up a stall and present your solutions.
• Use your event’s app or directory to schedule meetings with prospects before attending your networking event. 

Pro Tip: Use a QR code to capture lead data and upload it directly to your CRM. Once you’ve got a lead in your database, you can choose the optimal strategy for following up with them.

6. Content Marketing

Best For: Creating long-term inbound growth through in-house content and SEO.

Content marketing is one of the most reliable inbound lead generation strategies.

You can use it to create brand awareness and build authority with minimal investment: Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing.

It’s also the best way to capture leads if your prospects are scattered across different segments, locations, and demographics. 

There are four different types of content you can use to capture B2B leads: 

• Educational: Whitepapers, case studies, ebooks, and guides.
• Authoritative: Trend analysis and annual reports.
• Social Media: Posts, Shorts, Reels, and Updates.
• SEO: Clusters and pillars of blogs, landing pages, and product pages.

However, with the rise of AI, many marketers are (rightly) asking whether content marketing will still work.

After all, website traffic tanked across the board last year following Google’s introduction of its AI Overviews on the SERP.

Let me show you why claims that content is dead are exaggerated:

Why Use Content Marketing to Generate Leads?

There are three reasons why you should include content marketing should be an extremely important part of your lead generation strategy:  

• You can capture leads at different stages of the marketing funnel by creating content that:
  • Educates: “Complete Guide to…”
  • Guides buying decisions: “(Your Product) Review for 2025”
  • Compares: “(Top Competitor) Alternatives in 2025”

• Once you’ve put a good piece of content out there, all you need to do is optimize it from time to time so that it keeps giving you leads.

• You can easily repurpose content and position the same content across multiple platforms like Reddit threads, newsletters, and X posts. 

How to Create a Content Marketing Strategy?

Here’s the 6-step process that I personally use to create a content strategy:

• First, map your customer’s buying journey to understand the various stages of the marketing funnel.
• Next, identify clusters, pillars, and keywords you need to focus on to drive high-quality leads. 
• Third, optimize your content for SEO with tools like SEMrush, HubSpot, and Ahrefs.
• Fourth, be proactive: capture high-volume keywords before your competitors. 
• Don’t forget to interlink landing pages and add CTAs to retain and guide users towards other blogs and your product or service.
• Lastly, go beyond SEO content: create video demos, social media posts, and even podcasts to diversify your content strategy.

Pro Tip: You can use pillar pieces in multiple formats like social posts, quotes, and infographics.

7. Online Events

Best For: B2B products and enterprises whose prospects are scattered across different regions.

Hosting online events is a highly effective lead generation strategy for approaching prospects who are difficult to reach in person. 

Simply put, it will dramatically increase the number and kind of prospects you can engage through highly interactive formats.

Depending on your goal, there’s a wide range of online events you can host, such as:

• Virtual summits with multiple speakers to build authority.
• Live product demos to educate prospects.
• Workshops for prospects to nurture leads.
• Live Q&A or #AskMeAnything sessions to solve queries.
• Networking Roundtables to showcase industry leadership.

In fact, with tools like Zoom and Teams, you can even host an entire conference virtually!

Why Use Virtual Events to Generate Leads?

Virtual events have quickly become a go-to for B2B marketers: the latest lead generation statistics show that 73% of B2B marketers believe that webinars can produce high-quality leads!

Plus, contemporary virtual events are hyper-interactive. So, they help B2B buyers not only gain insights into products but also ask questions and evaluate potential sellers. 

Lastly, if an attendee is taking the time to participate in your event, it means they’re already in the market for your solution.

So, you get to interact with prospects who are just one conversation away from becoming a lead!

How to Use Online Events for Lead Generation

When it comes to online events, the format is critical. If your product doesn’t align with the structure of your event, you’re unlikely to generate leads.

For instance, if your product has different parts (such as a prospecting tool for sales, marketing, and recruitment), use breakout rooms for tailored demos after a general introduction. 

Further, if your sales cycle is continuous, i.e., users can decide when they want to sign up, you should host weekly events that introduce your product. It’ll give your prospect the option to join at their convenience. 

I also suggest using pre-event teasers and post-event forms to create a memorable experience that attendees won’t easily forget. 

Pro Tip: If you’re offering high-value products, consider holding personalized sessions, such as a “One-on-One Threat Assessment Session,” for a cybersecurity product. 

8. Account-Based Marketing

Best For: Targeting high-value prospects through personalized pitches.

Account-based marketing is a lead generation strategy that is hyper-targeted to specific prospects.

It treats every prospect as its own “market,” which is also why it focuses exclusively on a select set of “accounts”. 

Each account receives tailored messaging based on its structure, needs, and decision-makers.

The focus is on quality over quantity. 

So, you’ll get fewer leads, but have a real shot at closing them quickly with a set timeline:

Research, approach, nurture, and close or move on to the next account!

Why Use Account-Based Marketing for Lead Generation?

There are four very good reasons why you should use ABM for lead generation, especially if you’re selling an expensive product or service: 

• The increased focus on a narrow list of high-value prospects will increase your conversion rate. 
• Since you’re going after high-ticket clients, the average deal value is also likely to be higher compared to leads you might get from other strategies. 
• ABM promotes close collaboration between marketing and sales teams by design, as they need to work together to select targets, create pitches, and close deals. 

How to Implement an Account-Based Marketing Strategy?

Here’s how you can implement an account-based marketing strategy in four simple steps: 

• Identify high-value target accounts that align with your ICP by using firmographic data and intent signals.
• Ask your sales and marketing teams to prepare tailored plans for every account you’ve selected. 
• Select and engage decision-makers via email, LinkedIn, and cold calls (add offline touchpoints if needed!).
• Measure account engagement, deal size, and pipeline movement to refine your ABM tactics for subsequent sales cycles.

9. Targeted Ads

Best For: Niche prospects with extremely specific professional requirements. 

Targeted ads are sponsored messages you position in front of high-intent prospects based on advanced parameters. 

So, unlike general audience ads, targeted ads focus on approaching:

• Specific job titles and functions like “CTOs of mid-market manufacturing firms.”
• Companies matching your ICP, such as “Enterprises that have entered the Fortune 500 in the last 2 years.”
• Prospects that have shown intent in acquiring solutions you offer. 

This means you’ll have to use a combination of platforms to create your targeted ad campaign.

For example, you’ll need LinkedIn for prospecting, a sales intelligence tool for intent data, and a platform on which you want to run ads.

Why Use Targeted Ads to Generate Leads?

First, targeted ads generate at least 2-3 times the leads compared to organic campaigns. 

This figure can increase if you’re working in extremely niche markets and using intent data to approach a very small list of prospects. 

Plus, you can use programmatic ad placement to position your ads in front of high-intent audiences. They help you automatically place bids on the ad spaces you want when the costs are at their lowest.

This way, you can engage with hard-to-reach accounts while keeping the costs to a minimum!

Lastly, it can work very well in combination with content marketing.

For instance, you can create content for high-volume keywords and position your ads for keywords where you’re not ranking. So, you get the best of both worlds!

How to Position Targeted Ads for Lead Generation

Here’s a four-step guide you can use to run targeted ads for lead gen:

• First, don’t just define your ICP: identify your buyer persona (VP of technology in banks in New York). This will help you reach precise, high-intent audiences.

• Next, choose a range of ad formats you want to use:
  • Carousel ads are best for introducing your product or service, 
  • Video testimonials can help you build confidence, and 
  • Interactive ads can generate leads straightaway. 

• Third, define and optimize a conversion path. So, you might want to use ads to direct audiences to either a landing page rather than a blog. There’s a lot of room for experimentation here, so you should tweak your ads based on how well your ads are working!

• This brings me to the last step – track key ad metrics:
  • Cost-per-lead.
  • Lead-to-conversion ratio.
  • Account penetration rate (for account-based marketing).

Pro Tip: Track your website’s visitors through Google Analytics to target warm leads and achieve faster conversions. 

10. Affiliate Marketing

Best For: Industries where buyers value expert recommendations over sales pitches.

Affiliate marketing is a lead generation strategy through which you rely on third-party agents, called affiliates, to act as your brand’s advocates. 

They help you build trust with prospects in industries where expertise and a human touch are very important (such as IT security). 

Why Use Affiliate Marketing for B2B Lead Generation?

There are two very good reasons I recommend using affiliates to drive leads: 

First, 92% of B2B buyers trust recommendations from industry peers rather than brands. So, affiliates help you acquire qualified leads primed for conversion.

Second, since affiliate commissions are based on conversions, you guarantee a healthy ROI for your lead generation strategy. 

This can also significantly reduce your customer acquisition costs!

How to Create an Affiliate Marketing Strategy

Let me quickly show you how you can create your own affiliate marketing strategy: 

• Create a dedicated affiliate program with strong incentives, such as a fixed commission or a percentage of the deal value. 
• Create content in association with your affiliates: this can include podcasts and YouTube videos.
• Make a sales toolkit for your affiliates with exclusive data and free product demos, which they can share with prospects. 

Pro Tip: Launch an affiliate certification program where you educate affiliates and create “Champion Affiliates” for your brand.

Best Practices to Follow When Generating Leads in Sales

Knowing the best lead generation strategies is just half the game. The other half is implementing them effectively. 

Here are five best practices that you can use to do just that:  

1. Use a CRM

A CRM platform like HubSpot, Salesforce, or Pipedrive will help you keep your data in one place, coordinate campaigns, and periodically update prospect information. 

Plus, CRMs also easily integrate with leading prospecting and lead generation platforms. This can help you accelerate sales cycles and reduce clutter by importing lead data directly from a database!

2. Score Your Lead Sources

The best way to create an effective overall lead generation strategy is to identify which channels are working best for you.

So, score your lead sources based on critical metrics like:

• How many leads they are generating per sales cycle.
• Average deal value per lead.
• Conversion rate.
• Initial investment and ROI. 

This will help you double down on tactics that are working and eliminate those that aren’t delivering healthy returns!

3. Explore Sales Intelligence Tools

If you’re going after high-value accounts or using account-based marketing, you must use a sales intelligence platform like Bombora. 

It’ll give you information beyond firmographics and demographics:

• Intent Signals to help you identify in-market prospects based on their recent activities. 
• Trigger Events (like expansion, product launches, and funding rounds) that you can use in your outreach efforts.
• Organizational Insights through which you can pinpoint decision-makers and get verified contact data.
• Technographics to understand the prospect’s tech stack and create tailored pitches in advance.

This information will allow you to gain an edge on your competitors and spot opportunities before anyone else!

4. List Your Business on 3rd-Party Review Websites

Nearly 90% of all B2B buyers check reviews before making a purchase.

So, if you’re offering B2B products, be sure to list your business on the most popular review websites like G2, Capterra, and Trustpilot. 

They’ll help you showcase your product’s positive experiences, build trust through neutral reviews, and attract inbound leads at a lower cost!

5. Use Live Chat

As of 2025, lead-capture forms are quickly being replaced by Live Chat.

On top of 24/7 availability, they also offer an interactive experience for inbound leads. 

So, not only do they help you capture lead data, but also accelerate your sales cycle – all without consuming valuable human resources. 

Generate More Leads With the Right Strategy

As promised, I’ve walked you through the 10 best ways you can use to generate quality leads.

So, out of all the lead generation strategies we’ve discussed, which one should you use for your next campaign?

In my experience, the right strategy usually depends on: 

• Budget
• Target audience
• Sales cycle length
• Product/service complexity
• Industry norms

If you want to proactively generate leads for your business, go for cold outreach, networking events, and targeted ads. 

For high-ticket clients, I recommend combining account-based marketing with cold outreach and affiliate programs. 

Alternatively, if you want to make your first sale quickly, go for targeted ads backed by experiential marketing and online events.

Regardless of the strategy you choose, my recommendation is not abandoning it before you’ve completed at least one sales cycle.

Then, you can double down on what worked and change what didn’t.

Slowly but surely, you’ll have the perfect strategy on how to generate leads in sales for your business!

How to Generate Leads in Sales: FAQs

1. How do you generate leads for sales?

You can use a combination of inbound and outbound strategies that align with your product or service for lead generation. For example, if you’re targeting high-value clients, I recommend sending cold emails to invite them to an online event where you show them how your product or service can solve their problems. 

2. How do I generate leads automatically?

Inbound marketing (through content, social selling, and referrals) is your best shot at generating leads automatically. You can also use cold emailing to scale automated lead generation by creating multi-step sequences. I also suggest exploring how AI-led Lead generation can put your growth on autopilot.

3. Can cold outreach generate sales leads?

Yes, cold outreach can generate sales leads. In my experience, it can be one of your best-performing lead sources because it’s quickly scalable, highly personalized, and gives you more than one chance at approaching a prospect.

4. What is the best way to find leads in sales?

The best way to find leads in sales is to use a combination of strategies. Let me briefly break down the best way to generate leads for different industries:

• B2B SaaS Products: Cold outreach, experiential marketing, content marketing, and targeted ads.
• B2B SaaS Services: Referral programs, content marketing, account-based marketing, and social selling.
• B2B Manufacturing: Cold calling, account-based marketing, referral programs, and networking events.
• B2B Healthcare: Networking events, referral programs, and affiliate marketing.
• Marketing Agencies: Cold outreach, content marketing, referral programs, and account-based marketing.