Struggling with Lead Generation?

Here’s How to Fix It with a Short and Long-Term Strategy

Lead generation is the lifeblood of any business. Without a consistent stream of new leads, sales dry up, growth stagnates, and your revenue flatlines. But generating leads can feel like an uphill battle for many businesses—especially startups and small companies. If you’re struggling with lead generation, you’re not alone. The good news? There are proven strategies to help you turn things around in the short and long term.

In this article, we’ll explore the symptoms of a failing lead generation system, break down the Big Four of lead generation (Cold Outreach, Warm Outreach, Advertising, and Content Marketing), and show you how to combine these strategies for immediate and sustained results. Plus, we’ll cover why mastering one channel at a time is crucial and how spreading your energy too thin can dilute your efforts. By the end, you’ll understand how to build a lead generation engine that works for you—and we’ll even throw in a complimentary consulting session at Wingmen Consulting to help you get started.

Symptoms of Struggling with Lead Generation

The first step in fixing your lead generation problem is recognizing the symptoms. Here are some common signs that your lead generation efforts aren’t working as they should:

1. Low Website Traffic

If your website isn’t getting enough visitors, your pipeline will dry up. Even with great conversion rates, you need traffic in the first place to capture leads.

2. Poor Lead Quality

Are the leads you’re generating unqualified or uninterested? If you’re spending time chasing leads that don’t convert, it’s likely that your lead generation strategy isn’t targeting the right audience.

3. Inconsistent Lead Flow

One month you have more leads than you can handle, and the next month, your inbox is empty. This inconsistency can wreak havoc on your business and make it difficult to plan for growth.

4. Sales Complaints

If your sales team is complaining that they’re not getting enough leads or that the leads aren’t ready to buy, it’s a clear indicator that something is broken in your lead generation process.

5. Dependence on One Channel

If all your leads come from one source—whether it’s referrals, paid ads, or cold emails—you’re walking a dangerous line. What happens when that channel dries up or becomes less effective?

Now that you’ve identified the symptoms, it’s time to fix the problem. Enter the Big Four of lead generation.

Know the Big Four: Cold Outreach, Warm Outreach, Advertising, and Content Marketing

Before diving into tactics, it’s important to understand that not all lead-generation methods are created equal. Each has its strengths, weaknesses, and appropriate uses. Let’s break down the Big Four strategies for generating leads:

1. Cold Outreach

Cold outreach involves reaching out to prospects who have no prior interaction with your brand. This includes cold calls, cold emails, and even social media messages. Cold outreach can be effective but requires skill, persistence, and a thick skin. When done right, it can bring in leads quickly, but if you’re not careful, it can also lead to high rejection rates and wasted effort.

Best for: Immediate results, outbound sales efforts, and targeting very specific prospects.

Pros:

• Direct and personal.
• Can deliver fast results if you have a targeted list.
• Cost-effective compared to paid channels.

Cons:

• High rejection rates.
• Risk of coming across as spammy.
• Requires persistence and a lot of follow-up.

2. Warm Outreach

Warm outreach involves leveraging your existing network and contacts to generate leads. These are people who already know you or your business, whether through referrals, networking events, or previous interactions. Warm outreach tends to convert at a much higher rate than cold outreach because there’s already a level of trust established.

Best for: Short-term results, leveraging your network, and building relationships.

Pros:

• Higher conversion rates compared to cold outreach.
• Builds on existing relationships.
• Low cost and often just a matter of time investment.

Cons:

• Limited in scale—your network will only get you so far.
• Over-reliance on your personal connections can be limiting for long-term growth.

3. Advertising (Paid Media)

Paid advertising is a scalable way to generate leads through platforms like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, or display networks. With advertising, you can target specific demographics, interests, and behaviours to bring in qualified leads. However, it requires a budget and a well-optimized campaign to avoid wasting money.

Best for: Scaling lead generation efforts, reaching a broad audience, and driving traffic to landing pages.

Pros:

• Scalable and can deliver consistent leads.
• Highly targeted based on audience behaviour, interests, and demographics.
• Immediate visibility for your brand.

Cons:

• Requires an advertising budget.
• Campaigns need regular monitoring and optimization.
• Can be expensive if not managed properly.

4. Content Marketing

Content marketing is a long-term lead generation strategy focused on creating valuable content (blogs, whitepapers, videos, etc.) that attracts and engages your target audience. Unlike cold outreach or paid ads, content marketing nurtures leads over time by building trust and demonstrating expertise.

Best for: Long-term growth, thought leadership and generating organic traffic.

Pros:

• Builds trust and authority over time.
• Evergreen—content can generate leads long after it’s created.
• Cost-effective in the long run compared to paid advertising.

Cons:

• Takes time to see results—usually months, not weeks.
• Requires consistent content creation and SEO optimization.
• Difficult to measure immediate ROI.

Now that you understand the Big Four, it’s important to choose the right combination for your business. But here’s a key insight: Master one channel before moving to another.

Master One Channel Before Moving to Another

It’s tempting to jump between strategies—running a bit of cold outreach here, experimenting with some paid ads there, and creating a blog post now and then. But this approach often leads to scattered results. Just like vector math, if you divide your energy between too many directions, you’ll end up with less forward momentum. Instead, focus on mastering one channel at a time before moving on to another.

Let’s break down why this approach is so effective:

1. Efficient Use of Resources

By focusing your energy on mastering one channel, you make more efficient use of your time, money, and resources. Rather than spreading yourself thin, you can optimize your strategy, tweak your process, and get real results from one channel before expanding.

2. Iterative Improvement

Focusing on one channel allows you to continuously improve. For example, if you choose warm outreach as your primary channel, you can refine your messaging, tweak your approach, and build relationships that convert into high-quality leads. By dedicating time to improve, you maximize that channel’s effectiveness before moving on to another.

3. Avoid Burnout

Attempting to tackle multiple lead generation channels at once can lead to burnout and confusion. By focusing on one, you can measure its effectiveness, adjust based on data, and achieve a sense of accomplishment, which motivates you to keep going.

4. Data-Driven Decisions

When you focus on mastering one lead generation channel, you collect valuable data on what works and what doesn’t. You’ll understand your target audience’s behavior, which messages resonate, and where your prospects are in the buying cycle. This data becomes crucial when expanding to other channels, ensuring that you make informed decisions.

But how do you know which channel to start with? Let’s explore that.

Short-Term vs Long-Term Strategy: The Best Way to Generate Leads

At Wingmen Consulting, we typically recommend a hybrid approach: focusing on warm outreach for short-term results and content marketing for long-term growth. Here’s why this combination works so well.

Short-Term Strategy: Warm Outreach

Warm outreach taps into your existing network and contacts to bring in leads quickly. These are people who already know your business or have had some form of interaction with you. Because the trust is already there, conversion rates tend to be higher, and you can start generating leads in a shorter timeframe.

Why It Works:

• Immediate results without a big budget.
• Higher likelihood of closing deals.
• Builds on existing relationships.

How to Execute:

• Reach out to past clients, current contacts, or professional networks with personalized messages.
• Ask for referrals from happy customers and partners.
• Attend networking events or industry conferences to reconnect with contacts.

Long-Term Strategy: Content Marketing

While warm outreach can get leads in the door quickly, content marketing acts as a catalyst for long-term growth. By consistently producing valuable content, you can attract and engage new leads over time. Content marketing isn’t just about creating blog posts—it’s about building a brand that people trust and turning your audience into loyal followers.

Why It Works:

• Generates leads passively through organic traffic.
• Establishes your brand as a thought leader in your industry.
• Content can be repurposed across multiple channels (email, social media, etc.).

How to Execute:

• Create a content calendar focused on topics your target audience cares about.
• Write blog posts, produce videos, or create infographics that address common pain points.
• Use SEO best practices to ensure your content ranks on search engines, driving organic traffic.
• Repurpose your content across social media, email newsletters, and paid ads for extended reach.

By starting with warm outreach and building toward content marketing, you’ll benefit from short-term wins while setting up your business for long-term success.

Vector Math in Lead Generation: Don’t Spread Your Energy Too Thin

Here’s where the concept of vector math comes in. Think of your energy and resources as vectors. If you apply energy in too many different directions at once, you’ll end up with less forward momentum. The key is to align all your efforts in one direction to maximize results.

In lead generation, this means focusing on one or two channels that you can master before branching out. It’s tempting to try a little bit of everything—cold calls, paid ads, content marketing, social media—but doing so often leads to scattered efforts that don’t move the needle. Instead, channel your energy into a focused lead generation strategy.

Why Focus Matters:

• Clear Direction: When you focus your efforts, you have a clear strategy that guides your actions.
• Consistent Results: By honing in on one channel, you can achieve consistency and improve performance over time.
• Efficient Use of Resources: Focusing on one channel prevents the wasted effort that comes from constantly switching between strategies.

Once you’ve mastered one channel, you can confidently add another—without diluting your efforts.

Get Expert Help to Master Your Lead Generation Strategy

Lead generation doesn’t have to be a struggle. By recognizing the symptoms, focusing on the Big Four channels, and mastering one strategy before moving to the next, you can create a lead generation engine that drives growth for your business.

At Wingmen Consulting, we specialize in helping businesses build effective lead generation strategies, whether through warm outreach, content marketing, or a combination of both. If you’re ready to stop struggling and start generating quality leads, we’d love to help.

Book a complimentary consulting session with us at Wingmen Consulting and let’s dive into your lead generation process. We’ll work together to identify bottlenecks, recommend actionable steps, and help you master the channels that will drive your business forward.

The first step to consistent lead generation success is just one conversation away. Let’s make it happen!