The difference between conversions and leads

Do you know the difference between leads and conversions? Did we hear a, no?

That’s okay. Most new digital marketers often mix up the terms. In fact, many make the mistake of even using them interchangeably.

If you’re one of them, then you need to realize this is a major marketing no-no. Moreover, this may be the reason you are not able to analyze your marketing campaigns.

Every good marketer knows the best way to evaluate whether their strategies are working is by seeing how many conversions are being generated. From there, you will be able to determine what’s working and what’s not.

Make sure you understand the difference between leads and conversions.

What are leads?

While tracking your web traffic, you will be flooded with numbers and hits. In the analytics is where you will find your leads.

Leads refers to the target audience interested in your company. You will notice them hovering on your web pages and reading your blog posts. They might also approach you with queries and allow you to contact them with subscription and newsletters.

In the digital marketing world, leads are also called prospects.

Now, you may think every person on your page is a lead. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

Your web traffic actually consists of numerous users:

• Bots
• Loyal customers
• People who stumbled upon the site
• Potential buyer aka the leads

How do you then track the leads?

It may seem impossible right now, but with the right tools you may be able to filter the irrelevant visitors. In order to do so , we suggest you create a persona of your target audience - sharing their interests, demographics and thought processes. Then, compare the profile with the visitors coming to your page.

Gradually you will notice the pattern and then get the data for your leads.

What are conversions?

Similar to leads, not every visitor on your site is a conversion. To think so reflects a poor approach to digital marketing.

At the same time, if you think every sale you make is a conversion, then you are wrong again!

The term conversion is actually quite flexible. Its definition changes with your marketing campaign. We can categorize them into two types:

• Micro Conversions: These are when your end goal is a subscription, a comment or a follower list. These conversions show how the leads visiting your site are interested in getting notifications from you.
• Macro Conversions: These are the conversions you want. Sales happen when you persuade leads to buy your products or use your services.

Successfully reeling the revenue in can happen when you monitor both conversions as you analyze which marketing strategies are effective.

In the end, the conversions are not just any sale you make. They are the sales or subscriptions generated from your leads.

Now, you know the fundamentals. But do you think you can track your digital marketing plan?

We suggest you seek out professionals to help you navigate through this complicated analysis.