Lead generation is the initiation of consumer interest or enquiry into products or services of a business. Leads can be created for purposes such as list building, e-shots list acquisition or for sales leads. The methods for generating leads typically fall under the umbrella of advertising, but may also include non-paid sources such as organic search engine results.

Leads may come from various sources or activities, for example, digitally via the Internet, through personal referrals, through telephone calls either by the company or telemarketers, through advertisements, and events. A recent study found that 89% of respondents cited email as the most-used channel for generating leads, followed by content marketing, search engine, and finally events. It is well known that direct traffic, search engines, and web referrals were the three most popular online channels for lead generation, accounting for 93% of leads.