The best lead generation companies offer inbound and outbound lead generation services with free automation tools and scalable plans at reasonable prices. Our evaluation revealed that LYFE Marketing and Apollo.io are the best lead generation companies for small businesses. LYFE Marketing offers a wide range of service packages at scalable prices. On the other hand, Apollo.io is the only free plan on the list with outreach campaign automation via sequences.
- LYFE Marketing: Best overall for cost-effectiveness
- Apollo.io: Best for free automated outreach via sequences
- SalesNash: Best for outsourced sales development rep (SDR) services
- Martal Group: Best for outbound lead generation
- Nerdy Joe: Best for guaranteed appointments
- LeadGeneration.com: Best for generating leads via website
- SocialBloom: Best for performance-based lead generation
- Cleverly: Best for inbound lead generation from content
- EBQuickstart: Best for inbound and outbound tactics
- Straight North: Best for search engine optimization (SEO) lead generation
Best Lead Generation Companies for Small Businesses
LYFE Marketing: Best Overall for Cost-friendly Lead Generation Services
Pros
- Transparent pricing that has a wide range of service packages and costs that fit any small business budget
- Great inbound lead generation services to produce opportunities via social media, email, ads, or content marketing
- Solid reviews for work quality and service delivery; relatively popular lead-generating services
Cons
- No direct outreach through cold calling to set up appointments
- Free consultation that is limited to just getting a free quote from the provider
- Price paid that is strictly for setup and delivery; no performance-based pricing offered
- You need cost-flexible lead generation services: LYFE Marketing is an excellent small business lead generation company because of the wide range of services that suit any budget. Whether you’re trying to bring in new leads through ads, social media, content, or email campaigns, plans start at just $350 per month.
- You want to leverage video content for inbound leads: Two standout attributes of LYFE Marketing are video production and ad services. With short videos becoming a popular way to connect with customers, it’s good to have a partner who offers this type of specialty to help with lead generation for small businesses.
- You need cold call outreach services: Unfortunately, LYFE Marketing is limited to just digital channels for inbound and outbound lead generation. Outsourced SDR solutions that do cold calling for your business to set appointments are excluded from the service arsenal.
- Alternative: SalesNash is our favorite alternative that primarily specializes in outsourced SDR and cold-calling services.
- You want a guarantee on appointment results: With lead generation, some small businesses may be weary of paying a large sum to not get any results. While LYFE Marketing is cost-friendly, there is no guarantee that you will get new leads or appointments as the provider doesn’t set minimums.
- Alternative: For these concerns, we recommend Nerdy Joe, which—depending on your plan—has minimum appointment goals and refunds your money if they aren’t achieved.
- Advertising: Digital ad design, deployment, and tracking through search engines like Google and Bing, as well as social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok to generate leads online
- Content management: Creation and publishing of post copy and videos for online advertisements or social media for lead generation
- Email marketing: Mass email marketing services with automated drip options to generate and nurture leads through email campaigns
LYFE Marketing Monthly Pricing Plans*
LYFE Marketing provides price ranges depending on the service and method for which you want to generate leads.
- Social media management: $650 to $1,250 per month
- Social media advertising: $750 to $1,050 per month for a custom plan
- Pay-per-click (PPC) management: Starts at $650
- Email marketing: Starts $350 per month
- Short video management: Starts at $1,000 per month
- Short video advertising: Starts at $800 per month
*Price ranges are based on a monthly breakdown and vary depending on specific service packages within each marketing channel. The cost stipulated above excludes advertising dollars and a one-time setup fee for each service. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to verify pricing independently.
LYFE Marketing cost calculator for email marketing services (Source: LYFE Marketing)
Our Expert Opinion
LYFE Marketing is an excellent agency for getting inbound leads using digital channels. We like that its price range options let you adjust your service package based on your budget and strategy. Whether you need short video production, mass email marketing, online ads, social media posts, or a multichannel solution, LYFE can support your next campaign.
Apollo.io: Best for Free Automated Outreach via Sequences
Pros
- Free plan available with unlimited email credits (10,000 per account monthly)
- Built-in sequences or outreach campaigns with several sequential contact points like email and phone call
- A feature to identify buyer intent for specific products or services
Cons
- Marketing features limited to email campaigns and cold calling; no social media, paid ads, or other digital marketing features
- No phone support; email priority support available for paid plans only
- Insight recommendations not available until the Organization plan at $199 (minimum of three users) per month
- You need an automated outreach service: We categorize Apollo.io as a sales management provider because it offers free automated outreach capabilities via sequences. Use basic sequencing for semi- or fully automated, repeatable processes to reach prospects and close deals. The Organization plan includes account-based workflow automation at $119 monthly for a minimum of three users.
- You need a buying intent feature: Apollo.io has a buying intent feature that enables users to filter company searches to prospects interested in specific products and services. The free plan includes three intent topics and six for the basic plan at $49 per user monthly. The intent topic limit increases as you upgrade your subscription.
- You need more robust digital marketing features: Apollo.io’s marketing features are limited to email marketing and cold calling. The provider doesn’t offer tools for social media marketing, pay-per-click (PPC), and SEO. This is a drawback for marketing agencies and other businesses wanting to generate marketing qualified leads using these strategies.
- Alternatives: Straight North offers SEO Search engine optimization and other marketing services for lead generation. Cleverly has excellent content management services. Moreover, LYFE Marketing offers ads, email, and social media services.
- You need a lead generation company with phone support: Apollo.io doesn’t have phone customer support. It offers email priority support only on its paid plans (not on its free plan).
- Alternatives: SalesNash has dedicated customer support. You can book a call directly through its website. On the other hand, SocialBloom provides 24/7 business support. LYFE Marketing also provides its contact number on its website.
- Prospect research and filtering to auto-create lead lists based on job title, location, industry, employee count, personas, technology stack, revenue, buyer intent, and other key attributes
- Email sequences to send out campaigns and automate follow-ups
- Built-in meeting scheduler to book meetings and auto-sync them to Google and Outlook calendars
Apollo.io Monthly Pricing Plans*
*Pricing is based on per month billed annually. Monthly billing is also available at higher prices. Apollo.io also offers a 14-day free trial for its Basic and Professional plans. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing.
Apollo.io automates outreach with AI-assisted sequences. (Source: Apollo.io)
Our Expert Opinion
Apollo.io automates outreach campaigns through sequences to generate more leads. Another key feature is its database, which allows users to filter leads according to specific customer profile criteria and buying intent. By determining the highly interested prospects, sales teams can generate more sales qualified leads (SQLs) and win more sales.
SalesNash: Best for Outsourced SDR Services
Pros
- Option for teams to just use the provider for contact lists and prospect research to save on costs
- High praise online for work quality and reliably delivering appointments
- Relatively scalable pricing; option for businesses to upgrade their plan when they’re ready to handle more leads
Cons
- Expensive starting price at $3,000 per month for Outbound Team Packages (outbound appointment setting)
- No option to customize plan (choose individual services to create a custom package); need to contact provider for pricing
- Database building plans (Research Team Packages) on separate pricing (can be expensive for some businesses)
- You exclusively need SDR solutions: If you need lead generation for your small business and all you care about is someone doing cold calling and sending email introductions to get appointments, SalesNash is for you. The provider is primarily an outsourced sales team that acts as dedicated SDRs for your business. But it comes with database building and sales strategy services too.
- You want a scalable service package that adapts to your capacity: Within SalesNash SDR service packages are scalable outcomes that can adapt to your needs. Depending on what you’re willing to spend and how much time you have, you can get anywhere from three to 25 appointments per month.
- You need a lower-cost provider for lead generation: SalesNash’s starting price for outbound outreach packages is $3,000 per quarter. The Starter plan includes semi-automated research for 1,000 to 2,000 prospects per month.
- Alternative: LYFE Marketing is the most cost-friendly option if you want to generate leads aside from appointment setting. It offers email marketing for lead generation starting at $350 per month. Cleverly’s starting plan is $397 for LinkedIn outreach services for 500 prospects per month.
- You want a customizable plan: SalesNash’s Custom Plan offers an omnichannel outreach strategy (via email, LinkedIn, phone calls, Facebook, etc.). However, this is the highest-tiered plan with custom pricing (must contact provider).
- Alternative: Cleverly lets you customize your plan depending on the services you need. You can start your lead generation with its Gold plan at $397 monthly (LinkedIn outreach services with 500 prospects per month). The same is true for LYFE Marketing with its email marketing service starting at $350 per month. LeadGeneration.com also offers customized plans—a great pick if you exclusively want to leverage your website for inbound leads.
- Outsourced SDR services: Acts as an SDR for your business—placing cold calls and deploying introduction emails and email sequences to book appointments for you
- Database building: Centralized prospect and contact database and research team that generates contact lists of qualified leads
- Lead generation and sales reporting: Provides weekly meetings with delivered reports on prospects found and appointments set from the SDR and database services, as well as inbound marketing and SEO.
SalesNash Monthly Pricing Plans*
*Pricing is based on quarterly billing. SalesNash also offers packages for candidate sourcing, recruitment, deliverability support, and SEO. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing.
SalesNash’s case study shows the number of leads generated for its client. (Source: SalesNash)
Our Expert Opinion
SalesNash is the equivalent of having your own department of SDRs handle all cold calling and email outreach. Its lead gen services get high praise online for its results. And its database management and sales reporting capabilities give you that real feeling that its team is an extension of yours.
Martal Group: Best for Outbound Lead Generation
Pros
- Workflow that incorporates at least 15 touchpoints through outbound lead generation
- Resources to support industry-specific needs in verticals like tech, cybersecurity, SaaS, and many others
- Tailorable tiers that let you adapt services based on business requirements
Cons
- No transparent pricing
- No live chat support to clients; service team only available during standard business hours
- No web development services; content and marketing solutions limited to writing and posting blogs and email outreach
- You need to generate leads through outbound channels: Martal Group implements a multichannel campaign approach. Its workflow incorporates a minimum of 15 touchpoints through outbound lead generation tactics like email, cold calling, and LinkedIn over three weeks.
- You want B2B lead generation services with niche specialties: Martal Group is a great B2B lead generation agency for when you need to connect with decision-makers in specific industries. Its team has the experience and resources to deliver quality campaigns in verticals like cybersecurity, IT, logistics, insurance, manufacturing, software, healthcare, and emerging technology.
- You need broader website management solutions: While Martal offers end-to-end customer management services, it doesn’t offer any web development services.
- Alternative: LeadGeneration.com is the best alternative for getting inbound leads through your website and even offers web and landing page design services.
- You want to know your costs upfront: Like a few other business lead generation companies on this list, Martal Group does not provide transparent or clear pricing. Interested clients must contact sales for customized quotes.
- Alternative: LYFE Marketing, Nerdy Joe, Apollo.io, and SocialBloom indicate clear pricing on their website. These are popular business-to-business lead generation companies, offering cold calling, appointment setting, and other digital marketing strategies to acquire excellent, quality leads for sales teams.
- Outbound and inbound lead generation: Will conduct cold-calling campaigns, manage email marketing, run LinkedIn outreach, and create and deploy content to produce new leads, plus handle nurturing and follow-up activities
- Appointment setting: Will set up sales calls with qualified leads for your business through outreach campaigns, marketing, and cold calling
- Sales and account management: Will manage all activity in the pipeline after a lead is generated, including handling the discovery calls, closing deals, onboarding a new customer, and managing those accounts
Martal Group Monthly Pricing Plans*
Martal Group requires you to contact the company for pricing. It offers a free consultation to create a solution package for your needs. Its subscription plans are divided by tiers and priced monthly based on the tier and marketing objectives.
- Tier 1A: Outbound lead generation services
- Tier 1B: Inbound lead generation services
- Tier 2: Outbound lead generation, sales, and customer onboarding services
- Tier 3: Lead generation, customer onboarding, and account management
*Pricing reflects information available at the time of publishing. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to verify pricing independently.
Martal Group’s onboarding timeline shows results for lead generation. (Source: Martal Group)
Our Expert Opinion
The end-to-end capabilities that scale to your growth needs are a huge value-add if you choose Martal Group. From lead generation to sales and account management, it can do it all, so you don’t need to worry about recruiting costs. We also can’t ignore how vital it is for a lead generation or marketing agency to have industry-specific experience that lets it craft messaging, marketing assets, and campaigns that can get your audience’s attention.
Nerdy Joe: Best for Guaranteeing Appointments
Pros
- Free consultation plus free tools for optimizing email campaigns and getting prospect insights
- Minimum number of meetings per month based on the service package; money refund if provider doesn’t achieve goals
- Plans available if you’re looking for sales-ready or hot leads
Cons
- Strictly an outbound sales service; lacks ad or social media marketing for inbound leads
- Starting price ($499) for solely an appointment-setting feature and basic outreach services expensive for some business owners
- Expensive sales-ready subscription plans; DeLorean Tier costs $1,799 per month for 10 meetings booked with campaign strategy development and weekly reporting
- You want a guaranteed minimum number of monthly appointments: What we loved most about Nerdy Joe was its appointment guarantee. Depending on your service package, you can get at least 10, 15, 25, or over 50 meetings per month, or you’ll get your money back. This is a huge differentiator for sales lead generation companies that can give you peace of mind knowing you’ll get results.
- You need access to freemium service options: Nerdy Joe has a knowledgeable free consultant to help create an outreach strategy to book appointments. Additionally, its website comes with free tools such as an email subject line creator and data analytics to help get information on prospects visiting your website.
- You want to get inbound sales leads from ads or content: Small businesses looking to get inbound leads through published content or advertisements will need to look for other lead generation companies. Nerdy Joe does not provide any ad or content management solutions.
- Alternative: Cleverly is our favorite pick for lead gen services that heavily leverage content marketing. LYFE Marketing is also a solid pick that can do content and online advertising services.
- You need more cost-friendly small business lead generation services: Because of its guarantee of appointments, Nerdy Joe comes at a steep price—starting at $499 per month.
- Alternative: Apollo.io is another compelling alternative with a free plan. It offers low-cost pricing starting at $39 per user monthly (billed annually) with buying intent filters and AI-assisted email writing.
- Appointment scheduling: Outreach to B2B sales leads via cold calls and email to get appointments scheduled
- Lead research: Will help identify your ideal customer profiles and build a contact list to target your niche market for quality connections
- Strategy and performance updates: Will provide weekly and biweekly reports on lead generation progress, plus conduct strategy calls to make adjustments and ensure you get the best results
Nerdy Joe Monthly Pricing Plans*
Nerdy Joe also offers the following subscription plans for generating sales-ready leads:
- DeLorean Tier: $1,799 per month for 10 meetings booked, campaign strategy development, and weekly reporting
- Batmobile Tier: $2,199 per month 15 sales-qualified leads or appointments, sales coaching, and biweekly strategy calls (plus everything in DeLorean)
- Millenium Falcon Tier: $3,099 per month 25 sales-qualified leads or appointments, a dedicated lead gen specialist and account manager, and weekly strategy calls (plus everything in Batmobile)
- Starship Enterprise: $5,099 per month for over 50 meetings with sales-ready leads.
*Pricing is based on monthly billing. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to verify pricing independently.
Nerdy Joe’s lead generation process (Source: Nerdy Joe)
Our Expert Opinion
The assurance that teams can make at least 10 appointments per month with Nerdy Joe is a huge asset for anyone skeptical of lead generation agencies. There’s nothing better in business than a guarantee that your solution will perform as promised. That’s exactly what you get from Nerdy Joe if you’re willing to pay the price.
LeadGeneration.com: Best for Website Leads
Pros
- Complete range of lead generation services through outbound sales and inbound marketing tactics
- Unique services available for crafting thought leadership white papers
- Free consultation included to help identify needs, create a strategy, and develop a service package
Cons
- No transparent pricing
- No supplemental CRM or sales enablement services
- Content development services limited to written assets; no video production or video advertising provided
- You want to focus on organic lead generation through your website: One of the best ways to generate leads is through your website. And LeadGeneration.com is a great service if you want to focus primarily on inbound lead generation. It offers expert website development services, content writing, landing page design, paid search advertising, and SEO services—all great for producing organic web traffic.
- You’d like to use both direct sales and marketing tactics for leads: LeadGeneration.com is a great partner for aligning sales and marketing functions because it offers a complete package of services for both inbound and outbound lead generation. In addition to email marketing, social media, digital advertising, web design, and content development services, it also provides cold calling, lead follow-up, and appointment-setting solutions.
- You prefer upfront, transparent pricing: While a solid provider for bringing in new business opportunities, LeadGeneration.com lacks transparent pricing. Everything is quoted and customized per the customer’s budget and marketing needs.
- Alternative: If cost transparency is vital in your purchase decisions, we recommend LYFE Marketing, Nerdy Joe, or SocialBloom, which all have clear upfront pricing. Apollo.io offers a free plan and affordable pricing for paid plans starting at the Basic plan for only $49 per user monthly.
- You want to use video assets for lead generation: Thought leadership to help build brand awareness and produce can be best exemplified through written assets or videos. While LeadGeneartion.com can generate white papers and blog posts, it cannot handle video production.
- Alternative: LYFE Marketing can produce and distribute video assets for your business.
- Online lead generation: Helps produce web traffic and leads online through social media marketing, SEO, email campaigns, and paid search ads
- Content generation: Development of marketing assets, such as white papers, landing pages, and social media posts, for content marketing to help generate leads
- Direct sales services: Appointment setting through cold-calling services plus lead follow-ups and nurturing via email and phone calls
LeadGeneration.com Monthly Pricing Plans*
LeadGeneration.com requires you to get custom quotes from its sales team based on needs, budget, and marketing goals. It offers a free consultation to help create a custom package for your business with the following add-ons available:
- SEO
- Paid search marketing
- Social media management
- Content distribution
- White paper creation
- Press release/Brand awareness
- Email marketing
- Website development
- Lead nurturing
- Landing page creation
- Call tracking
- Custom platform development
- Creative services
- Appointment setting
- Lead follow-up
*Pricing reflects pricing info available at the time of publishing. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to verify pricing independently.
LeadGeneration.com promises real-time leads. (Source: LeadGeneration.com)
Our Expert Opinion
While LeadGeneration.com has one of the widest ranges of sales and marketing services, it sticks out most for its website management capabilities. Regardless of where you are in the process, LeadGeneration.com can help. From needing a brand-new site to improving landing pages, SEO solutions, or crafting blog articles, this provider has the best capabilities for generating and converting web traffic into leads.
SocialBloom: Best for Performance-based Lead Generation
Pros
- Performance-based pricing with a custom prospect list, fully managed outbound campaigns, and ongoing campaign optimization
- Great option for multichannel outbound lead engagement like email, cold calling, and LinkedIn messaging
- Supplemental services to craft a sales strategy and playbook for your team to use
Cons
- Limited outreach capabilities to just email, LinkedIn, and calling; no content or ad marketing services for inbound leads
- Pricing based on reach and not leads generated; poorly executed campaigns could become expensive without any results
- No free plan or trial option
- You want to get inbound leads: Because it’s strictly an outbound lead generation service, you will be unable to use SocialBloom for inbound leads via digital ads, social media posts, content marketing, or organic web traffic.
- Alternative: If you want the most complete lead generation agency, EBQuickstart has more comprehensive offerings. There’s also LYFE Marketing, which comes with numerous content, ad, email, and social media services. And there’s LeadGeneration.com if you exclusively want to use your website for inbound leads.
- You prefer a guarantee on appointments scheduled: While the SocialBloom cost model is great for reach, there’s no guarantee that connections will equal new appointments.
SocialBloom Monthly Pricing Plans*
*While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing.
SocialBloom founder explains how to build a sales engine in 90 days. (Source: SocialBloom)
Our Expert Opinion
The performance-based lead generation pricing of SocialBloom stands out because it lets you make the most out of your investment. The fact that it can deliver widespread reach through email, calling, and LinkedIn messaging makes it a superb option if you want to leverage an entirely outbound strategy. Another plus is the supplemental sales strategy and CRM services to improve your revenue operation.
Cleverly: Best for Inbound Lead Generation From Content
Pros
- Guaranteed links and traffic with SEO services like keyword research and SEO-optimized content writing
- Plenty of sales and marketing service options that you can select from based on your needs and budget
- Scalable pricing tiers that let you upgrade as your capacity grows
Cons
- Focus on digital marketing channels only; no outsourced SDR solutions to do cold calling for your business
- Paid ad services that get expensive once you account for advertising budgets; about $500 to $1,000 price difference
- No supplemental CRM implementation or sales enablement solutions
- You want to leverage content marketing for leads: The main thing that stuck out for Cleverly was its content services. It offers cost-effective blogging and SEO capabilities to help you produce inbound leads organically through your website. This service also extends to posting and managing content on LinkedIn.
- You need a flexible, cost-scalable service for small business leads: Cleverly has a great range of services and lead generation tools for small businesses like LinkedIn outreach, blogging and SEO, cold email, paid ad management, and social media posting on LinkedIn. Additionally, depending on the package and service, you can get plans that start at just $397 per month with an option to do a white-label service for multichannel outreach.
- You want to get supplemental CRM services from your provider: CRM consulting services are a “nice-to-have” in a lead generation company as you can get new leads and ensure their data is properly stored and managed in a centralized system. Unfortunately, Cleverly does not have any supplemental CRM services.
- Alternative: SocialBloom, EBQuickstart, and Belkins are all great lead generation companies for small businesses that also have CRM implementation and maintenance services.
- You need outsourced SDR services for cold-calling campaigns: Cleverly is mostly a marketing service that does inbound and outbound lead generation through channels like social media, email, ads, and content marketing. That said, you can’t use them as an outsourced SDR to do cold calling.
- Alternative: SalesNash is our top pick for the best outsourced SDR provider for lead generation.
- Digital outreach services: Manages LinkedIn messaging and cold email campaigns for your business to produce appointments and leads on digital channels
- Ad campaign management: Creates, deploys, and tracks online advertisements via LinkedIn or Google Ads for your business to get more website traffic and produce new leads
- Content development and marketing solutions: Outsourced content development and SEO for inbound traffic
Cleverly Monthly Pricing Plans*
LinkedIn Lead Generation
- Gold: $397 monthly for LinkedIn outreach services (500 prospects per month)
- Platinum: $697 monthly for LinkedIn outreach and appointment-setting services (500 prospects per month)
- Teams: $891 monthly for LinkedIn outreach and multiple users (1,500 prospects per month)
Cold Email Lead Generation
- Growth: Custom pricing on a pay-per-meeting basis
LinkedIn Paid Advertising
- Starter: $999 per month (minimum $3,000 monthly ad spend)
- Scale: $1,499 per month (up to $10,000 monthly ad spend)
- Enterprise: $2,499 per month (up to $20,000 monthly ad spend)
LinkedIn Content Service
- Influencer: $997 per month for 10 monthly posts
White Label Lead Generation
- White Label Cleverly: $397 per month for multichannel, custom campaigns that target up to 500 prospects monthly
LinkedIn Recruiting
- Recruiting: $397 per month (500 candidates monthly)
*Pricing is based on monthly billing, and the provider offers a free consultation before generating a service package. While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to verify pricing independently.
Cleverly’s home page shows its lead generation process. (Source: Cleverly)
Our Expert Opinion
Cleverly is as much of a content development agency as it is a lead generation company. Its services include inbound marketing strategies to bring in prospects using ads, blog posts, and LinkedIn. It’s also nice for its cost-friendly and scalable options that match solutions with your lead generation challenges and budget.
EBQuickstart: Best for Inbound and Outbound Tactics
Pros
- Broad range of services for generating inbound and outbound leads through content, social media, email, calling, and ads
- Acts as a full marketing agency that can run campaigns and do web development for your business
- Unique services like end-to-end sales process management with deal closing and account management
Cons
- Starting price costs $6,000 per month; can be expensive for some businesses
- Unclear pricing per service
- No live chat customer support for quick-fix account or billing issues
- You want a complete package to get leads using all methods: EBQuickstart is an excellent provider of complete lead generation capabilities. It offers inbound strategies like content marketing, ads, and organic web traffic conversions plus outbound tactics like email and cold calling to get appointments. The provider also has supplemental services like CRM consulting, database management, and data enrichment.
- You need help closing deals and managing accounts: Another great service feature of EBQuickstart is the extended sales capabilities. For example, you can have reps conduct sales meetings and close deals for your small business. Additionally, the provider’s team of experts will act as outsourced customer service and account management reps.
- You need transparent pricing per service from your provider: EBQuickstart states the starting cost is $6,000 per month to build an outsourcing team. But per-service pricing is not indicated on the website. You must contact the provider for a quote.
- Alternative: For transparent pricing, we recommend LYFE Marketing, Nerdy Joe, or SocialBloom, which all indicate outright pricing on their website. You can also consider Apollo.io because of its free plan and affordable pricing—the basic plan is only $49 per user monthly with annual billing.
- You only need minimum lead generation services: EBQuickstart, according to reviews, gets expensive and is designed to be an all-in-one solution for sales, marketing, and even post-sales activity. That said, it makes much more sense to use another provider if you only want to leverage a specific channel or sales tactic.
- Alternative: For just outsourced SDR and cold calling, we recommend SalesNash. LeadGeneration.com can help you create and manage a website for organic lead generation.
- Outreach and campaign management: Plans, creates, and delivers campaigns to prospects on various channels, including social media, email campaigns, content marketing assets, and through cold calling to generate leads
- Pipeline and deal-closing services: End-to-end sales pipeline solutions that will book appointments, handle the sales meetings, and even close deals and manage accounts for your business
- CRM and data management: Salesforce and HubSpot CRM implementation and maintenance services plus solutions for creating contact lists and keeping CRM data enriched with up-to-date information
EBQuickstart Monthly Pricing Plans*
EBQuickstart offers a free consultation plus a customized service package based on your needs, budget, and lead generation goals. Start building your team of outsourcing experts at $6,000 per month with the following included:
- One dedicated consultant
- One dedicated project manager
- At least one research specialist
Core services
- Salesforce consulting: Setting up and maintaining a CRM for your business
- Data: Database access to build and enrich prospect contact lists
- Marketing: Management for email, content, website, and social media marketing
- Appointment setting: Cold-calling services to set up appointments with qualified leads
- Sales: Meeting handling and deal closing services
- Customer experience: Customer support for inbound inquiries and outbound customer care
*While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing. EBQuickstart also offers three plans for Salesforce and digital marketing implementation services.
EBQuickstart’s sales development process chart (Source: EBQ.com)
Our Expert Opinion
EBQuickstart puts comprehensive solutions to a whole new level. Its complete arsenal of marketing, sales, outsourced customer support, and CRM consulting services makes it a great pick for small businesses that need it all. Another benefit is that even after leads are generated, the provider can do sales meetings and close deals on your behalf.
Straight North: Best for SEO Lead Generation
Cons
- SEO services for lead generation
- Other services like paid advertising and web design and development offered
- Free consultation that includes recommended strategies
Cons
- No email marketing offered
- No content marketing provided
- Could be too expensive as SEO services start at $1,500 per month
- You need to improve both your SEO and lead generation: Straight North offers local, national, and enterprise SEO services, catering to the SEO needs of any type or size of business. Greater online visibility brings more potential clients for businesses. This provider also offers PPC and website design services for lead generation.
- You want to improve your overall website strategy: It offers paid advertising and website design and development services. Straight North can help you acquire more prospective customers by including contact forms, improving your website design, and implementing SEO-optimized tactics on your website.
- You need to generate leads through email campaigns: Straight North does not offer email marketing services. This can be a drawback for B2B companies that want to generate prospects through newsletters and emails.
- Alternative: LYFE Marketing is great for mass email marketing services, as well as Martal Group and LeadGeneration.com.
- You need to generate leads through content marketing: Some clients said the team sometimes didn’t fully comprehend the specific needs of their startup, which led to marketing strategies that were not always the right fit.
- Alternative: For content marketing tactics, we recommend LYFE Marketing and EBQuickstart. Cleverly is another solid option if you want to focus on inbound lead generation through content marketing, while
- SEO content marketing and creatives
- SEO for national, local, ecommerce, and enterprise markets
- Free SEO audit
Straight North Monthly Pricing Plans*
*While we update pricing information regularly, we encourage our readers to check current pricing.
Straight North’s broad range of SEO services (Source: Straight North)
Our Expert Opinion
Straight North offers different SEO services like local SEO for startups and small businesses. With greater search engine visibility, your business will appear on search results and gain more potential customers from web page visits. Inform your marketing strategies by incorporating SEO into your lead generation strategy to acquire more prospects interested in your offers. Moreover, Straight North offers PPC and website design services for lead generation.
How We Evaluated the Best Lead Generation Companies for Small Businesses
To determine the best lead generation services, we evaluated the specific capabilities of each provider regarding producing, qualifying, and researching leads. For example, we wanted to see services like producing niche prospect data, conducting outreach via email or cold call, and setting up appointments for your sales team. We also evaluated supplemental marketing services, such as social media, and looked at the cost of each company.
30% of Overall Score
We first looked at overall features and services we felt were must-haves in a lead generation company. Accessing a robust lead database, filtering niche-specific prospect lists, and scheduling appointments for your business, for example, are vital capabilities. We also looked deeper into the service quality and whether the provider could help plan and deliver outreach or marketing campaigns and provide expertise on lead generation strategies.
25% of Overall Score
We looked at the advanced capabilities of lead generating companies that are considered “nice to have.” We considered features like whether the provider could verify lead data and had the reporting and analytics to help you evaluate outreach performance and provide lead insights. We also evaluated email and marketing automation, social media management services, and whether customer relationship management (CRM) software was part of the solution package.
20% of Overall Score
Pricing considered the total costs and affordability of each agency and online lead generation service, along with the value included in the service package. We also evaluated whether the provider came with a free trial or consultation and the billing options where clients could save by paying annually.
15% of Overall Score
Extensive support ensures clients get the best possible experience with these lead gen companies in addition to quality leads. We wanted the providers to be available during extended hours or even 24/7 on various channels like live chat, phone, and email. We also looked at whether self-service resources, such as a knowledge base, case studies, community forums, or resource guides, were available to clients.
10% of Overall Score
In addition to first-hand experience with these lead generation services, we evaluated what actual clients say about each provider. We considered how customers felt to gain insight into the quality and comprehensiveness of the service package and whether it delivered quality leads. We also considered the general popularity of each provider.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
A good lead generation company has a rich database, a unique niche or stand-out feature, and a suite of digital marketing services. It has verified B2B contacts and excellent niche or industry-specific services or features you can customize to fit your lead generation needs.
To find a good lead generation company, first determine your budget. Then, search for provider comparison roundups or read online reviews and forums to evaluate services from different providers. If you’re still unsure, consider talking to other business owners in your niche or network. Finally, your local or state Small Business Administration (SBA) office may counsel you or connect you to other business community groups.
Costs vary for lead generation agencies depending on what they offer, their minimum service packages, and whether they do performance-based pricing. You can expect at least $500 to $800 per month for basic lead generation services. For solid, more guaranteed results, you can expect prices to be in the $1,500- to $4,000-per-month range.
Bottom Line
Lead generation companies for small businesses allow you to put your appointment setting and cold calling on auto-pilot by using specialists to deliver sales and marketing campaigns. Tons of factors, like costs, service capabilities, and past results, differentiate each provider. While LYFE Marketing was highly rated for its cost-flexibility and excellent marketing solutions, other companies could be better for your business needs.