The activation of inefficient land can provide a high-quality industrial carrier for rural revitalization. Clarifying the method of activating inefficient land is particularly important for promoting land development and industrial upgrading and transformation in rural areas. Taking Guangdong Province as an example, this paper examines the ways of activating inefficient land use and the benefits derived from different ways. The results show that the modes of inefficient land use mainly include land lease, land transfer, property owner management, property leasing and cooperative operation. Different modes of inefficient land use have different benefits. Among them, cooperative operation and lease of property leasing or plots have the lowest cost, lower risks and low economic benefits, which are more conducive to attracting industrial projects. The conclusion of the study is that the owner of the property has a strong ability to operate, and it is more advantageous to introduce industrial projects by self-management and activation. On the contrary, relatively stable and sustainable economic benefits can be obtained by using property leasing or land lease. The research suggests that the clue is to revitalize the inefficient land use, promote the prosperity of industries in rural areas, and explore the effective development mode of inefficient land use based on the principle of pilot first behavior.