Use an incentive strategy to generate online sales leads. Every business relies on the quality of its sales leads - a commonly used term for key information about prospective customers. The richer your data, the more effectively you'll be able to approach them with your own offering.

Gathering such information can enable you to increase the success of your marketing activity, but it can be easier said than done - no matter how compelling your offer. Offering incentives can help you to create leads, and it's a tactic that is frequently used by businesses great and small, both offline and online. By looking at what works, we can formulate some tips for a successful incentive strategy.

This could be via their website, an email or even text message marketing. Such incentives include prizes, offers, discounts, money-off coupons, free samples or complimentary products or free shipping on orders.

Many businesses and organisations now offer free-to-download white papers/e-books as incentives. The fundamental requirement is: Prospects need to be able to recognise the value or benefit of your incentive. Offering the right incentive, to the right people at the right time can make a considerable impact on levels of response, which can help you to generate leads that hopefully you can convert into sales and a longer-lasting relationship with the customer. You must think carefully when deciding which incentive to offer.

Obviously, your choice needs to be cost-effective, because, for example, you don't want to end up offering an incentive that slims your margins too much or perhaps even ends up costing you money if you get it very badly wrong. When considering which incentives to offer, you must crunch the numbers and carefully think through the cost implications. The incentives you offer should have high perceived value, yet they need to be relatively inexpensive to your business. Knowledge of your customers will also help you to decide which incentives to offer - what is most likely to motivate them to take the action you desire? You could trial various incentives to see which ones prove most effective. Some of your customers might prefer one incentive, while others might like another. It can be wise to offer different incentives targeted at different "segments of your market".

To maximise their appeal to potential customers, you might change your incentives at different times of the week, month or year. At best, incentives are effective "deal sweeteners" that provide added motivation for customers to buy from you. They can also bring prospects closer to your business, keep your brand "front of mind" and increasing the chances they will buy from you in the future. In truth, incentives may or may not work for your business. If you need to generate more leads and have exhausted other means, you could try offering a few cost-effective incentives. Set some objectives (creating 50 new leads per month, say), as these will enable you to judge success and return on investment (commonly referred to by the acronym ROI).

If your incentives do deliver your desired results, perhaps you could look at ways to build on that success. To maximise your chances of success, you must put sufficient resources into publicising any incentives that are available from your business. Offering incentives does involve a measure of trial and error, even when you have a deep knowledge of your customers. You might have to change the incentives you offer, as well as where you offer them, but as with all marketing activity, you will be able to learn valuable lessons from your successes and failures.