In the online business atmosphere today, if you are not generating leads consistently through your website at a 2-5% rate you can be sure that you are losing conversions to your competitors.

Online marketing is all about sourcing and capturing sales leads.

Your blog readers, your followers on Twitter, your Facebook page fans, those who like you on Instagram and so on.

If you can grab their attention, then you can transform them into viable leads.

You would think that with billions of people online every day, and the numerous methods through which businesses can advertise today, it wouldn't be so difficult to generate these leads.

Create several eye-catching adverts, post a few amusing videos and write incredibly thought-provoking and inspiring blog posts that are not too salesy yet still drive the client towards that all important 'BUY' button.

Job done, lead generated, easy.  

Not quite.

The problem is that every other business owner online is thinking this way.

Everyone is doing the same thing and your readers are very quickly becoming desensitised and immune to these tactics.

You need a new approach.  

An approach that is not riddled with old school tactics that don't cut it anymore.

But before you can get there, like any 12 Step Program, you need to identify and admit you have a problem in the first place.

If you are making any of the below 5 mistakes then you have a problem and should right the course immediately.

Rushing through the process

We live in a 'microwave society'.

We want instant gratification and no one has the time nor patience to go through the grind anymore.

Like many online marketers, you are probably making this very mistake, rushing through the lead generation process.

You are writing a blog post or two and immediately asking your potential clients to trust you with their valuable contact information.

The fact that you have captured their attention only means that you have a fair shot at transforming them into viable leads. You now need to hold that attention for them to go from anonymous visitor to qualified lead.

This takes time, a lot of ground work and a tonne of subtle prompting.

Take the time to create a narrative to which your potential leads can relate. Give them the time to see your brand as you see it. Time to trust you.

Targeting everyone

The old logic that widely cast nets catch the most fish does not exactly hold true here.

Yes, you will catch a great deal of fish, but will you be catching the kind of fish you want?

Targeting everyone only makes you seem like a spammer.

You need to pinpoint your niche, take the time to learn them and craft your message to speak to that target group specifically.  In marketing speak, dig into your Buyer Personas and build messaging around them.

Granted, this involves a lot more research, trial and error and a great deal of rejection. But once you fine tune your approach, you will find that even though you may be generating fewer sales leads, they will be more qualified with a greater likelihood of converting into sales.

You are not exactly asking

People, as much as they will say that they do not like it, need to be told what to do.

Your calls to action need to be subtle, yet very clear.

You need to find ways to speak directly to your clients and lead them in whichever direction you need them to go.

This will involve providing as much information about your brand as possible as well as finding out all you can about your target audience.

Once you have learned to communicate with them can you successfully direct them in the right direction through your sales and marketing funnels.

Not telling them what is in it for them

People are inherently self-centered.

This is not a bad thing, it is just the reality.

It goes down to our bones, the need to self-preserve.

For any lead generation tactics to work, you need to constantly tell people why they should be interested in what you are selling. 

Tell them what is in it for them and if your offers are compelling enough for your particular persona then your visitor to lead conversion rates will improve as a result.

This involves clearly stating customer-centric benefits of what you are offering and always delivering on value.  Providing constant value up front is a fantastic way of establishing trust and credibility with your prospects quickly.

Assuming that they heard you

Just because you have researched your target market, written the perfect sales pitch and posted it online does not mean that your clients heard you.

Yes, the content might be highly useful to them and on paper, should be highly converting, but did you get it in front of the right eyes? And if so, did you do it in the right manner?

Kevin Costner lied in Field of Dreams, 'if you build it they will not come'.  

With so much content going out and noise online these days the share for eyes and wallet is ever diminishing.  Gone gone are the days when just creating content was enough, you need to spend more time in getting it in front of the right people.

Channels, messaging, imagery, influencers, shares, likes, retweets, the factors involved are endless, companies need to embrace all methods and routes to address their prospects in the 'digital watering holes' they consume information.

All in all, sales leads generation takes a great deal of effort, trial and error and a whole lot of research into the targeted market.

The above 5 common lead generation mistakes are just a taste of the many mistakes companies are making but the easiest to action today in order to see some quick progress.