---
title: "Lead Generation: Definition and Examples"
description: "Lead generation is the process of finding people and companies that might buy from you and capturing their contact details or interest, through outbound..."
path: /glossary/lead-generation
family: glossary
updated: 2026-10-17
html: /glossary/lead-generation
sources:
  - "https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/beginner-inbound-lead-generation-guide-ht"
  - "https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/lead-generation-vs-demand-generation"
  - "https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/lead-generation-for-marketers/define-lead-generation"
facts:
  term: "Lead generation"
  also_called: "lead gen, B2B lead generation, sales lead generation"
  category: "Marketing"
---

# Lead generation

Lead generation is the process of finding people and companies that might buy from you and capturing their contact details or interest, through outbound outreach, inbound content, ads, events or referrals, so sales has names to work.

## What Is Lead Generation?

**In short:** There are two motions.

Inbound lead generation pulls people in with content, search, ads and webinars, then captures them with a form. Outbound lead generation starts from a target list: you pick companies that match your ideal customer profile, find the right people there and contact them by cold email, LinkedIn or phone.

Leads move through stages. A raw contact is just a name. A marketing qualified lead (MQL) has shown enough fit or interest for marketing to pass it on. A sales qualified lead (SQL) is one a rep has checked and accepted. Lead generation fills the top of that funnel, and qualification decides what moves down it.

## Lead Generation Example

Example: a 12-person agency sells IT support to dental clinics in Texas. It builds a list of 1,500 clinics, finds the practice manager at 1,100 of them and sends a three-step email sequence. 33 people reply with interest (3%) and 14 book a call. Lead generation produced 1,100 contactable leads. The 14 meetings are what sales counts.

## Lead Generation in Practice

B2B outbound teams judge lead generation by meetings booked and pipeline created, not by names collected. A list of 10,000 contacts that starts no conversations still costs data, sending volume and sender reputation.

## FAQ

### What is lead generation?

Lead generation is finding potential buyers and capturing their contact details or interest so sales can follow up. HubSpot breaks it into five stages: attract, capture, nurture, qualify and convert.

### What is the difference between lead generation and demand generation?

Demand generation builds awareness across a broad audience, mostly with ungated content. Lead generation turns that interest into named contacts, with a form, a gated asset or direct outreach. HubSpot's short version: demand gen builds a brand, lead gen fills the pipeline.

### What is the difference between lead generation and prospecting?

Definitions vary by vendor. A common split is that lead generation is one-to-many and often run by marketing, while prospecting is one-to-one work by a salesperson who picks specific people and contacts them. In outbound the two blur, because the same rep builds the list and writes the messages.

### What is a qualified lead?

A lead that fits your target customer and has a plausible reason to buy. Most teams separate marketing qualified leads (MQLs), which meet a fit or engagement threshold, from sales qualified leads (SQLs), which a rep has checked and accepted.

### Is lead generation sales or marketing?

Both. Marketing usually owns inbound lead generation through content, ads and events, and sales development reps own outbound through cold email, calls and LinkedIn. At small companies one person often does both.

## Do this in Ken

### Do This in Ken

Find people in Ken Search (250M people and 24M companies), then contact them with email and LinkedIn sequences in Campaigns. Replies from both channels land in Inbox.

- Link: [Do This in Ken](/how-it-works)

## Related

- [GTM Glossary](/glossary): Every GTM term, grouped by topic.
- [Prospecting](/glossary/prospecting)
- [Demand generation](/glossary/demand-generation)
- [Ideal customer profile (ICP)](/glossary/ideal-customer-profile)
- [Lead scoring](/glossary/lead-scoring)
- [Cold email](/glossary/cold-email)
- [Inbound marketing](/glossary/inbound-marketing)
- [How Ken works](/how-it-works)

## Sources

| Source | URL | Checked |
| --- | --- | --- |
| HubSpot: Lead generation strategies to attract businesses and drive growth | https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/beginner-inbound-lead-generation-guide-ht | 2026-10-17 |
| HubSpot: Demand generation vs. lead generation | https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/lead-generation-vs-demand-generation | 2026-10-17 |
| Salesforce Trailhead: Define lead generation | https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/lead-generation-for-marketers/define-lead-generation | 2026-10-17 |

## Changelog

- 2026-10-17: Page published.