Lead generation is the initiation of consumer interest or inquiry into products or services of a business. Leads can be created for purposes such as list building, e-newsletter list acquisition or for sales leads. Sales leads are individuals or businesses that are prospective buyers. A sales lead is identified via marketing, advertising or referrals. Referral marketing is the method of promoting products or services to new customers through referrals, usually, it is a word of mouth. Such referrals often happen spontaneously but businesses can influence this through appropriate strategies.

Take a glance at the top B2B sources of sales and marketing leads in 2019:

• Referral marketing is ranked as the top marketing and sales lead source by surveyed B2B marketing professionals in the USA at a rate of 73%.
• Tradeshows & events are ranked as the second top sources of sales and marketing leads at a rate of 46%.
• Email marketing comes at next as an important source of marketing leads by surveyed B2B marketers at a rate of 33%.
• SEO & inbound marketing are also listed as a top B2B sales and marketing leads sources by surveyed marketers at a rate of 28%.

A Graph Shows The Top Sources of B2B Sales & Marketing Leads, 2019.