The arrival of modern times changed the whole scenario with its key technological advancements. Things are no longer as simple as they used to be. Businesses witnessed a massive change in their organizational and functional structure. The competition in the market is intense, and you need a solid B2B lead generation strategy to make sure that your business outperforms the rest.
B2B lead generation is not like before. You must keep in mind that your customers are no more fools, nor are they primitive. Your customer base will consist of many young people who are tech-savvy and smart enough to catch your tricks. Numerous B2B lead generation companies are facing a downhill owing to a lack of strategy and carelessness.
What Is B2B Lead Generation?
B2B lead generation stands for Business-to-Business lead generation, which works primarily for those businesses that sell their products and services to other businesses. You can equate this method with B2C, in which the businesses directly sell their finished goods to the customers. It is the first step towards the success of your business which helps you gather leads and turn them into customers.
B2b lead generation is primarily concerned with collecting all the data concerning a prospect’s personal information. Such data may include their business name, email address, contact information, financial turnover, etc. Depending on this information, you will create the base for personalized communication with your customer business. After your team collects all the relevant information, it is all about nurturing the leads for sales.
Here comes the importance of marketing automation as it is responsible for nurturing work and sending them to the sales funnel once they qualify.
Steps Inside The B2b Lead Generation Procedure
You will need a strong lead generation process to determine the success of your B2B business strategy. Your company’s marketing and sales team must collaborate to ensure that your sales funnel runs smoothly.
You know that b2b lead generation has a process, but do you know what the procedure looks like? Let us look into the process now;
Step 1: Discovering B2b Leads
The first step of b2b lead generation involves finding out the contact information of your prospective companies. You can generate this information through inbound sources or some third-party lead generation company like https://exhibitorsdata.com/
Step 2: Reaching Out To The Prospective Leads
Once you get all the necessary information regarding your prospect, it is time to reach out to them via cold calling, emails, social media, etc.
Step 3: Finding Out The Qualified Leads And Prospecting Them
While you communicate with the leads, try to understand whether the chances are good enough to continue with the efforts. There are various metrics to help you decide this.
There are four stages in the buying process;
Awareness and Research: The customer is aware of their problems and thus searches for suitable solutions. It is where they start reading blogs, content posts, and articles to gather adequate knowledge about a possible solution source.
Consideration: Here, the leads will figure out what solution or what product will solve their problem. The results they get from their research will help them find out the solution. Then, they will search for vendors that will help them out with the necessary product. Now your company has to make its mark by displaying its products as solutions to the problems
Point Of Decision: This is the stage where the buyer will visit every possible vendor and their offering to make a final decision. They will look into the product quality, the prices, and other aspects of their concern.
Closure Of Leads: Out of all the vendors, the buyer chooses you for the aspects that satisfy them. You have to showcase your potential and show them how your product is the best. Your prospect finally turns into a customer.
Let us now discuss the 51 b2b lead generation strategy 2024;
Running A/B Test On Your Key Pages
You might think about changing your website’s background or making some startling changes to your homepage. WallMonkeys tried changing their wallpaper and adding a search bar on their homepage. It increased its b2b lead generation and conversions by 550%.
You will find another example in the work of WorkZone. This project management software witnessed an increase in sign-ups by 34% when they changed their testimonial bar from black to white.
Therefore this is one trick you can implement and wait for your lead generation to skyrocket.
Do Not Send B2B Links To Broken Pages
Never go for websites that sport a 404 error, broken links, or a loading speed as slow as a snail. These websites work negatively in hindering the lead generation efforts of your company.
Such companies will put a negative mark on your progress. Google will penalize you, and you might lose important website traffic. Such losses are not so easy to repair.
Use tools like Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, and SEMrush to conduct an audit for your website and remove all such broken links from your way.
Reach Out To New B2B Buyers Via Mobile
The modern generation brought a lot of young people into the market arena. Such people can act as great opportunities for your business to propel. Here you must try to use mobile phones as a medium for generating leads.
BCG researched to find the impact of mobile phones on B2B sales;
- Data shows that 80% of B2B buyers use mobile phones for purchasing purposes.
- More than 60% of the buyers exclaim that mobiles play a huge role in convincing them towards a purchase.
The research revealed that optimizing your websites for mobile phones reduces purchase time and propels customer loyalty. You should therefore work towards making your company’s website mobile-friendly.
Using Long Tail Keywords to Gain Qualified Leads
A long-tail keyword refers to a keyword consisting of three to four words, targeting a specific aspect. Normally such keywords do not get too much of a search volume.
Consequently, when you target the accurate long-tail keyword, you sport an intention of high purchase value, with minimum SEO efforts.
Use Competitor Keywords As A Base For Running Campaigns
Find out the sites your competitors are using for backlinks, along with the keywords they give priority to for optimization. It is a great opportunity for you, as they found out the best-performing keywords already.
You can use SEO tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs to take advantage of this by targeting the same websites and keywords to generate more traffic to your website. Try to run such keywords through small paid ad campaigns so that you can test their efficiency.
Implement Stronger Microcopy To Improvise Your Messaging
Veeam increased their click on the pricing page by 161,66% by replacing the word “quote” with “price”- one that customers preferred.
This short type of text which is suggestive, is microcopy. These words play a vital role in pushing the leads through the sales funnel. You can opt for using microcopy in your product, landing, and pricing pages to propel prospect conversions without making wide-ranging changes.
Observation Regarding How B2B Buyers Stroll Through Your Site
Observation is the key to understanding the behavior of your B2B buyers and planning accordingly. After reaching your landing page, you will find certain buyers who will hurry into the sales funnel. Some leads will test your patience and work culture.
They will take their time to download whitepapers and have some small conversations before turning into a customers. Your leads might be very effective in conversion, but there will be a point of a hindrance to stall your B2B lead generation efforts. Here scroll maps, heat maps, and other tracking instruments will help you overcome the problem.
Tweak Your Landing Page to Gather Quick Wins
Who does not like a fruit hanging low? Similarly, in the field of B2B sales, your landing pages are areas of reaping benefits. They are transformative points in your prospect-convincing journey. You can quickly generate leads through your landing page by following this procedure;
- Give your copy a backup of your social proof.
- Add relevance to your call to action.
- Go for a catchy headline to attract your customers.
Usage Of Leadbots to Gather More B2b Leads
You can find the perfect example of using lead bots through the initiatives of RewardStream. This company was striving hard to generate leads, but their efforts did not give them much success. Leads were not converting into customers.
Then they tested a lead bot to increase sales, which propelled their conversion of leads by 30% in the first 45 days.
Your leads will not be able to find answers to their solutions on your site always. Sending a lengthy email to meet their problems is also problematic at your end. The usage of lead bots makes the work easier by guiding the customer through efficient problem-solving conversations.
Scoring Leads To Increase Sales Instantaneously
You would be shocked to know that 73% of your leads are not ready for any purchase.
You have to avert wasting time on lower-quality leads and focus on scoring leads that land on your website.
It will allow you to concentrate your focus on leads with higher chances of conversion.
Give Your Leads A Smooth Experience
Designer Jared Spool exclaimed how removing the login button from his website generated revenue worth $15 million. Why do you think this one change made such an impact? – it reduced the friction.
Frictions refer to the bumping experiences and hindrances that might frustrate a lead out of the buying process. You need to ensure that your site is more customer-friendly and access the features without any hassle. It will help you in conducting better business.
Use Social Proof To Earn Buyer’s Trust
Social proof is a very important part of a b2b business. Your customers will not trust you and your products right away. When you sport your social proof to the customer, they will feel secure and will trust your business as an authentic one. It will directly increase your sales.
Use Dynamic Pages To Personalise Your Website
Personalization is a requirement for any B2B business website. You can add personalization to the buying experience on your site by using dynamic pages and content that your customer can relate to;
- Name
- Location
- Industry
- Company
It acts as a good addition to the buyer’s journey, thus propelling their personal experience.
Use Content Marketing To Get Higher Quality Leads
B2b business is no longer a simple process. Such business transactions include a lot of decision-makers who scrutinize every aspect before finalizing a purchase. It proves the fact that you will not be getting easy customers.
- Every customer goes through 13 pieces of content on average to form an idea about a selling company.
- 69% of marketers use content to boost their lead generation strategy.
Use Guest Post to Boost B2B Lead Generation
Guest posting is still one of the best link-building strategies to boost SEO. No wonder why inbound lead generation leaders like Hubspot and Neil Patel still use guest posting to boost their business.
Incentives and Hard-hitting Lead Magnets
As the name suggests, a lead magnet is a key to attracting your leads and converting them into customers. You can create an effective lead magnet after analyzing your customer’s profiles and learning the problems they are facing. Your lead magnet can come in the form of in-depth guides, case studies, and comprehensive theories.
Set Your Popular Content For Upselling
Inbound lead generation is all about gathering customers. You might sit down to write great content, but it might not receive the expected response from your customers. Thus, it will be a waste of time.
You can work on upgrading your existing popular content so that the prospects turn into loyal customers. It will lead to high-quality leads.
Campaigns With Creative Content
Whenever you feel that your marketing initiative is going dull, try to go for a change. Devise something creative and take that leap of faith.
Publish Your Original Research
Numerous agencies tend to copy research from other websites without caring about plagiarism. Try to boost your inbound lead generation by being the provider of research work. It will portray the fact that you are authentic and keep all the necessary information on the subject. You can collaborate with buyers, industry experts, and even influencers to better your research.
Give Each Content Its Due Importance
Focus on developing each content, keeping in mind your b2b lead generation initiatives. You should write every piece of content with adequate information and interactivity. You can make this possible by executing the following points;
- Perform better than your competitors by giving more input.
- Gather contributions from other authorities and share them for better recognition.
- Be aggressive in your approach by using influencers to promote your brand.
Build a Tool That Adds Value Cost Free
Customers do not prefer paying money to use tools. The best option is to launch free tools that add value to their experience, thus propelling your lead generation tactics.
Free tools are best for your lead generation because;
- They allow the leads to give your product a try before finalizing the purchase.
- You get an edge over your competitors by allowing your customers to opt in or out.
Co-hosting Webinars
Research says that 73% of marketers and industry leaders consider webinars one of the top tools for generating leads.
You have a great example in the collaboration between marketing agency Impactbnd and Wipster, who hosted a webinar with 225 attendees and generated over 900 leads.
Webinar acts as that perfect platform for interacting with your prospects and sporting your products for selling.
Target the Visual B2b Audience Through Youtube
Here are two reasons why you should be using videos as a part of your b2b lead generation strategy;
- Data shows that 90% of marketers believe that video is the best way to transmit b2b content.
- YouTube is the second largest search engine on the web, making it a great platform for posting videos.
Creating Ebooks in Your Industry
Find out a key aspect about your industry or some important product that the customers find appealing. Now write a detailed guide which includes all the intricate information about the concerned product. This ebook will be of great help to the research purpose of your prospects, thus resulting in higher lead generation.
Use Cheat Codes To Attract Curious Leads
B2B buyers research a lot to find solutions to their problems. You have an opportunity to attract them into your sales funnel via slide templates or checklists that they can use instantaneously. The more you make their job easier, the more your chances of getting customers.
Using Podcasts To Fill Your Timeline
Podcasts are gaining huge popularity lately, and people like watching them for the informative content that comes along. You can either start one or go for some podcast that your customers regularly watch. You can generate leads by;
- Appearing as a guest lecturer on the show.
- Sponsoring the podcast so that your brand gets an advertisement among the target population.
Using Sparkling Infographics To Generate Backlinks
Neil Patel revealed that from infographics only, he generated around 2,51,296 visitors and 41,142 backlinks for his now-discontinued Kissmetrics blog.
Infographics are a must because they spoon-feed your company with information that you can easily understand and share. Spare your infographics for the high niche content to increase the chances of customers citing your link or content. You do not need to hire any extra designer as you have tools like Canva at your disposal.
Tailor Your Content As Per Lead Requirement
Often we see marketers going for long and confusing content for their websites. Such content might seem appealing to industry leaders who are well-versed in technical terms, but not to normal customers. Zach Balby stated that his leads increased after he shifted to non-technical content with simple language and good readability.
You should, therefore, not work on long and confusing content, but rather content that your customers will feel helped after reading.
Use HARO For Extra Exposure
HARO is the abbreviation for Help A Reporter Out. It is responsible for connecting reporters with possible interviewees. Once you sign up with your brand’s name on the portal, you will get regular emails from reporters looking for people to interview.
Once you get an opportunity to represent your brand, you will propel b2b lead generation via;
- Once you get published on a recognized new site, your name will develop as an industry thought leader.
- You will get a boost for your SEO. A few backlinks will help you raise the ranks through profitable keywords.
Start Outreach Through Backtracking Content that Customers consume
Numerous companies often find it difficult to track the information of the company profiles that visit their website. They used to gather a lot of traffic, but the viewers left the website without leaving any contact information.
You need to figure out from which companies you were getting warm leads and the content they viewed. Once you find such a piece of information, you will find some contact information and contact them via favorable channels.
Send Cold Emails
Some people say Cold emails are no more effective than they used to be. It is not completely correct as against the casual opinion. The following data will make you lose faith in using cold emails;
- Laura Lopuch grew her business by almost 1400% in just four months of using cold emails.
- Kristian Karelia locked Leadfeeder’s biggest deal of all time.
- Aggressive launching of Sumo by Sean Baster to $5 million.
Using CTAs In Your Content
Call-to-actions are crucial in getting leads for your business via email or website messages. You have to evenly spread your CTA and make it a part of your content by;
- CTA at the bottom of the post.
- CTA that appears in between the content.
- Sidebar CTA.
It will help you attract heavy traffic and garner permanent leads.
Utilizing The Power Of Videos To Increase Subscribers
When you compare other forms of content with Videos, video has been shown to increase engagement by a significant margin.
Keep the video simple and sport your offering for free. This will lead to immense growth in your email list, the highest being 800%.
Dedicated Follow-ups For Your Leads
An analysis by the Woodpecker team revealed that when they followed up with their over 20 million outbound emails 4 to 7 times, they had a reply rate of 27%. Therefore you can understand how follow-ups are important in generating leads by giving them due importance.
Experiment With Your Creativity
A copywriter at The Middle Finger Project named Ash Ambridge garnered a response rate of 100% through emails of physical roofing shingles to the prospects.
A little bit of creativity can help you stand out against the rest of the flock, thus acting as a catalyst for your b2b lead generation.
Catchy Subject Lines
Do not write lengthy, confusing, and boring subject lines. It will take away all the enthusiasm even before the prospect starts reading it. You can make your subject catchy by;
- Making them short and crispy.
- Target the curious side of the prospects.
- Inject personalization in the title wherever you can.
Be Selective With Your Words
You should write your email in such a way that makes the prospect feel something too important to ignore. Only when you add some value to your text, the prospect will think of conducting business with you. What you can do is inject powerful words into the text to increase its aesthetic appeal.
Using Emoticons And GIFs
These days emojis and gifs are in regular use, primarily in the area of text messages. Even businesses are reaping benefits out of it. A study by Campaign Monitor showed that businesses that use emojis in their emails witnessed an increase of 56% in their unique open rates.
You can stand out among the serious and professional lot by injecting humor into your conversations to make them customer-friendly.
Organic Building Of Your Email List
You can boost your B2B lead generation by catapulting the quality of your leads. When you purchase contact lists and information, you are likely to get lower-quality leads. The primary antidote to this problem is the organic creation of an email list. You can cut down on unwanted expenditures and time waste via the organic building of emails by;
- Addition of CTAs to all of your content.
- Putting all your lead magnets to tests all over the website.
- Creating influential content in whitepapers, research, and case studies add value to the customer’s research.
Using Affiliate Marketing To Amplify Your Lead Generation
Affiliate marketing refers to an act where a person promotes your goods and service in exchange for a commission. You have to keep the following things in mind when you want to begin with affiliate marketing;
- Fix an adequate budget to start with affiliate marketing.
- Flaunt a strong incentive that will energize the affiliates to give their best in the promotion.
- Make sure that the affiliates connect with your brand.
- Cross-check the fact whether the affiliates have access to suitable customers.
B2B Lead Generation Via Facebook
Facebook gives one of the best opportunities for b2b lead generation owing to its huge social base. This platform flaunts around 3.03 billion monthly users and is the third most visited site on earth.
However, B2b marketers do not take paid advertisements seriously. Conversely, Facebook is generating high-quality leads at a minimal cost. No wonder why it should be one of the most favorable platforms.
Target Leads On LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a great platform for entrepreneurs and people looking for work. Such a platform will be a great opportunity for you to generate leads. Templafy generated around 25 marketing leads within a week, which gave them a 475% return on investment. Reed Exhibitions got a 20% added revenue via LinkedIn for their SNSR risk and security Expo.
You have to offer the following things to utilize this platform;
- Larger lifetime value for your product that ensures rich B2B service.
- Offer them high-quality content because all of these educated people are looking for career development.
Use Gmail
Gmail will give you vast opportunities for lead generation. You can access them over a billion users, and for
- Targeting the leads who visit a particular website.
- Target the Leads who deal with a particular domain.
- Targeting your easing leads to pushing for continued business through amplified marketing.
Try To Gain Exposure Through Non-competitive websites
You can promote your brand and its service via other websites that are not a part of your industry. You can do this via;
- Banner ads on their website.
- Promote their company to your email list and get your brand promoted in theirs.
- You can appear as guest presenters on each other’s webinars and meetings.
Chuck Out The Low-Quality Leads
Eliminating the low-quality leads from your sales funnel is necessary; otherwise, they will hinder your progress. You have to detect the people who are not buyers; failure will deprive you of the budget. You have to look out for;
- Unnecessary searches.
- Non-buyers like students
- Low click-throughs in a search for high-cost searches.
Sponsorships
You can advertise your brand on various forums. However, you need to have a strong base of existing leads for this. Only when you have an adequate budget and qualified leads you can sponsor other websites in return for promotion.
Design Landing Pages For Advertisement
Your landing page should be a reflection of what you promise in your advertisements. It can include;
- Free software trial.
- Free and detailed analysis or quotes.
- A particular piece of information you promised.
It will increase the importance of your advertisements and reduce the costs incurred in pay-per-click. Thus, your chances of lead generation increase by manifolds.
Advertising Through Bing
No doubt, Google is the most popular search place, but Bing is another area of promotion. There are a few reasons why you should promote on Bing;
- Advanced control: Bing gives you extended control over your prospective customers and the search partners sending traffic to your site.
- Targeting devices: Bing allows you to target prospects depending on particular devices like Android.
- Fewer expenses: Bing requires a lower expenditure compared to Google because of lesser competition.
Answer Doubts On Quora
Quora is a platform where people post questions, and other people or experts reply with their opinions. When you reply to such questions, people start depending on you for research and advice. Thus, they start becoming your loyal customers.
Ask For Feedback
When you seek feedback from your customers for your products and services, your customers and prospects feel important. They will try to give the best suggestions they can. Such methods will attract them to your site and also help you work towards better performance in the future.
Appease Your Customers
Your customers are your utmost priority. Their pleasure will help you propel your business, and their displeasure will crush your business. You can try to satisfy them with personalized offers, discount coupons, or giving them what they desire.
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