Originally published on Forbes in Sep 2025. This article has been republished here.
16 Smarter Strategies For Generating Leads In A Tough Economy
When company budgets begin shrinking, sales and marketing teams must pivot quickly to find a more strategic way to boost brand loyalty and growth. But no matter what the economy looks like, real brand influence rarely stems from simply selling. Instead, it’s earned by building community through genuine service and engagement with others.
So whether it’s co-creating with noncompeting, like-minded industry leaders or gathering feedback from your latest cohort of brand ambassadors, authentic efforts to share stories and solutions are highly unlikely to go unnoticed—especially in a world of instant gratification and short attention spans. Here, 16 Forbes Business Development Council members offer nontraditional, but effective, ideas for generating leads in a tight global market.
1. Open Up To Your Industry Community
Embed yourself in your industry’s community, devoid of a sales agenda. Actively participate, learn, contribute and help others. Become a trusted resource. Serving your industry community genuinely builds trust and positions you as a thought leader, naturally creating opportunities for growth. – Maria Youth, PATH2RESPONSE
2. Collaborate With Like-Minded Companies
In today’s tighter economy, businesses need to get creative without compromising value. One smart approach is partnering with like-minded companies to co-host webinars or create joint content. These collaborations help you tap into new audiences, share resources and deliver value without a large spend—building credibility and trust along the way. – Paul Marcantonio, Ecommpay
3. Implement Guerrilla Marketing Strategies
By definition, guerrilla marketing strategies for lead generation are unconventional and innovative methods aimed at attracting maximum attention with minimal cost. While this is a broad category, such strategies are consistently seen as bold and out-of-the-box. They are especially effective in environments with limited budgets and tough economic conditions. – Dima Raketa, Reputation House
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4. Showcase Your Value In Hyper-Niche Markets
I focus on hyper-niche community engagement by identifying specific groups where my audience gathers—for example, industry forums and LinkedIn groups. I engage in discussions, provide guidance and offer mini-workshops to address specific pain points and solve problems. This builds credibility without direct advertising, generating warmer, qualified leads who’ve experienced my value firsthand. – William DeCourcy, AmeriLife
5. Resolve A Single Pain Point
In a strained economy, orchestrate product-led micro-missions—offer exquisite, bite-sized solutions like automated audits or optimization scans that elegantly resolve a single pressing pain. This low-risk, high-reward approach doesn’t just delight; it sparks expansive, trust-laden conversations that blossom into premium leads. For us, solving a small pain builds trust to cure it all. – Praneeth Kudithipudi, Sacumen
6. Turn Your Most Loyal Customers Into Creators
We’re experimenting with the idea of turning customers into creators. Invite power users to co-host live demos and teardown sessions. It builds trust fast because prospects see real people solving real problems. It’s a low-cost method that provides high credibility and shortens the sales cycle. – Vipin Thomas, SparrowGenie
7. Share Some Success Stories
Buyers connect more deeply with stories than with specs. When your homepage highlights how your product helped customers achieve specific results, it creates trust, relevance and urgency. This narrative approach increases engagement time, improves lead quality and differentiates you from competitors who focus only on features. – Jigar Kothari, Aisera
8. Study Past Winning Patterns
Leverage AI to spot patterns in past wins—then build offers that solve real problems up front. Share insights, not pitches. In a tight economy, leading with value builds trust faster. When prospects see you understand their pain before the sale, the door opens. – Michael Fritsch, SavvyCOO
9. Uncover A Market Gap
One core component of lead generation never changes, regardless of the type of economic times you are facing: It is your obligation to identify and uncover a gap that your product or solution can fill. To this day—in the age of analytics and outcomes—consumer buying decisions are still made on a brand’s ability to satisfy a potential customer’s emotional needs—the rational justification comes after. This angle should never be underestimated. – Mustansir Paliwala, Zomara Group
10. Make Yourself More Accessible To Others
Focus on knowledge-sharing and authentic connection, not just selling. In tough markets, relationships and reputation become your strongest lead engines. People remember who offered insights and value—and deals often follow naturally once trust and credibility are built. This creates a powerful network effect and can open unexpected doors you might never reach with pure sales tactics alone. – Anna Jankowska, RTB House
11. Ask Your Customers For Feedback
One unexpected strategy we use is inviting potential customers to give feedback on early product ideas, even before we sell to them. It turns cold leads into collaborators. They feel heard, we learn what really matters to them and, often, they come back ready to buy when the feature goes live. It’s lead generation through co-creation. – Alexey Kachalov, UniOne
12. Stay Focused To Avoid The Noise
Stop chasing noise and build a repeatable system focused on warm, ideal customer profile matches with direct calls. Using targeted outreach, consistent messaging and channel-first positioning, we’ve seen compounding results without scaling chaos. Translation became adaptation. Quality over quantity works when every move aligns with value. – Curtis Brinkerhoff, Impartner, Inc.
13. Host Small Virtual Roundtables To Exchange Ideas
Create a micro-community centered on a specific pain point that your ideal buyers encounter. Host small virtual roundtables, share insight-rich content and let prospects learn from each other. It builds trust, keeps costs low and turns education into qualified leads, especially when budgets are tight. – Eddy Vertil, Vertil & Company
14. Seek Out Partner-Led Referrals
Partner-led referrals from adjacent industries are key. During tight economies, trust is everything, so tapping into established relationships—like complementary tech providers or service partners—brings warmer, higher-converting leads. It scales credibility without scaling spend. – Luke Boddis, Checkout.com
15. Schedule Post-Convention Meetups With High-Intent Prospects
One nontraditional strategy that works for me is attending geofencing conventions and setting meetings with the people I meet, outside of the events. You skip the costly booth but still connect with high-intent prospects. It works because you’re targeting the right people at the right time—without the noise or overhead. – Scott Hozebin, DirectCare AI
16. Moderate Essential Industry Conversations
Host “knowledge-sharing roundtables” where you invite prospects and existing clients to discuss industry challenges together, positioning yourself as a facilitator rather than a seller. This works because it creates genuine value through peer learning while naturally showcasing your expertise, generating warm leads from participants who see you as a trusted advisor rather than a vendor. – Vivek Vishal, Honeywell
