When enquiries have dried up, the fix is rarely one more page. It is a lead generation funnel: a reason for strangers to hand over their details, a source of traffic to bring them, and a way to see what each lead cost you. This article covers how a lead generation funnel works, how to choose the offer that fills it, and how to set it up on the levelpartner.ai platform so every lead is tagged with its source from the first click.
How a lead generation funnel works
The funnel has three parts, and each needs its own decision. The traffic: where visitors come from, such as search, paid social, partner referrals or your existing list. The offer: what they get in exchange for their details. The capture: the page and form that record the lead and its source.
What sets a lead generation funnel apart from other funnels is that it is judged on volume and cost, not on sales. Its job ends when a qualified contact enters your database. What happens next belongs to the lead funnel that qualifies and routes enquiries, and you should measure the two separately.
Choosing the offer
The offer decides the quality of every lead you collect. Four types work well for established service companies:
- A calculator or estimator, such as a borrowing estimate for a mortgage broker or a fee comparison for consultants.
- A practical document, such as a checklist or a template your clients ask for.
- A short live or recorded session on a problem your buyers face this quarter.
- A free review with a defined scope, such as a property valuation or a website audit.
Pick the one closest to the paid work you sell. A valuation offer brings real estate sellers. A generic industry report brings students and competitors.
Before you start
- One offer, written up as a single page of copy.
- A traffic source you can control for at least a month.
- Tracking parameters agreed for each source, so links carry a source and campaign name.
- A form with the minimum fields: name, email, and the one question that tells you if the lead fits.
How to set it up
- Choose the offer and list your traffic sources.
- Go to Sites, open Funnels and click New Funnel.
- Build the offer page with a form, then click Add New Page in the Pages drawer.
- Use the second step to deliver the resource or booking.
- Click Save, then Publish.
- In Automation, open Workflows and click + Create Workflow.
- Choose Start from scratch.
- Click Add New Trigger and choose Form Submitted.
- Add the Form Is filter, select your form and save.
- Add a Send Email action that delivers the offer at once.
- Turn on the Publish toggle, then click Save.
- In Contacts, click + Add smart list and filter by tag.
- Click Apply, then Create, to save the smart list.
What it replaces
In most stalled companies, lead generation is a mix of referrals, a few events and an occasional campaign that nobody measures. The lead generation funnel replaces guesswork with a cost per lead for every source. That number lets you argue for budget, or cut it, with evidence instead of opinion.
Suppose an agency spends £2,000 a month (an illustrative budget) across two ad platforms, both pointing at a website audit offer. If after four weeks platform A had produced 40 leads and platform B 12, that would be £25 per lead against roughly £83. If platform A's leads also booked audits at a higher rate, moving the full budget to platform A for a month would be the obvious test.
Weekly effort
Plan 45 minutes a week. Check leads by source, check spend by source, and look at five new leads by hand to confirm they fit. If the leads look wrong, the offer or the targeting is attracting the wrong people, and more spend will only produce more of them.
Measuring the funnel on cost per lead alone. A cheap lead that never fits is the most expensive lead you have, because your team spends time on it. Track cost per qualified lead and cost per booked call as well.
When not to use it
Skip paid lead generation if your team cannot answer new leads within a day. You will pay for leads that go cold. Also be cautious if your service is sold almost entirely by referral and your capacity is full; generating leads you cannot serve damages the brand. For buyers who prefer to learn before they talk, a content marketing funnel built on your articles may suit better than paid traffic.
Troubleshooting
Every lead shows the source as direct. The hidden fields are not reading the link parameters, or the links were shortened and lost them. Check that the field names match the parameter names exactly.
Leads arrive but the offer email bounces. Some visitors type their email wrongly. Add a confirmation field, or send the resource on the delivery page as well as by email.
Lead volume drops after the first fortnight. The audience on your traffic source has seen the offer too often. Refresh the ad creative or rotate a second offer.
Many leads are outside your markets. Your targeting is too broad. Restrict location to the countries you serve, and add a location question to the form.
Frequently asked questions
How to build a lead generation funnel with no ad budget?
Use the traffic you already have: your email list, your existing website visitors, partners who will share the offer and your own social posts. The funnel works the same way; only the source changes. Expect slower volume and lower cost.
How many fields should the form have?
As few as possible while still telling you whether the lead fits. Three or four is typical. Every extra field lowers completions, so keep only the questions that change what you do next.
Should leads go straight to sales?
Only the ones that fit and asked for contact. The rest should enter a nurture sequence until they show intent. The marketing funnel stages article covers where that handover belongs.
How long before I can judge a source?
Two to four weeks, or about 30 leads per source, whichever comes first. Decisions made on a handful of leads are usually wrong.