In the process of marketing and building B2B relationships, you would need first to need to search and establish a group of potential customers, who would likely find value in your products or services.
So, how are you going to do that?
With that said, every business or company owner can increase their B2B sales by generating more B2B leads.
What is B2B Lead Generation?
Firstly, let’s get back to the basics and understand what exactly is the B2B Lead Generation.
B2B stands for business-to-business, which describes businesses that primarily deal with or sell to other companies.
This relationship is unlike B2C or business-to-customers relationships where business owners deal directly with the consumers.
A B2B lead is a term given to people who have been identified as your potential customer for your business.
B2B Lead Generation is a process of identifying ideal or potential customers for your products and services, then attracting them to buy.
B2B lead generation is an important activity for the businesses’ sales and marketing team.
The bottom line for B2B lead generation is to create a consistent pipeline of high-intent prospects and turn them into customers.
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Why is B2B Lead Generation Important?
B2B lead generation is an essential key to the success of a business.
Without effective B2B lead generation, it will be harder for you to get your company out there and getting noticed; thus losing an opportunity to attract potential customers and business clients.
With that said, B2B lead generation can help build and grow your business in many areas such as:
- Building brand awareness
- Knowing your customers and where they spend their time
- Create better targeted, relevant and valuable content to your customers
- Measure and track your marketing activities
- Discover how much of the market will be responsive to your pitch
- Provide you with accurate and up-to-date contact data
- Improves sales process and increase conversion rates
- Build a predictable line pipeline of sale leads and invite higher-percentage of deals
What Are Some Facts about B2B Lead Generation?
Lead generation is one of the essential processes in marketing.
According to the Content Marketing Institute, in 2016, 88% of B2B marketers said that lead generation is their most important content marketing goal.
In the process of generating leads, the three most commonly used strategies in B2B lead generation are email marketing, event marketing and content marketing.
However, the B2B Technology Marketing Community stated that 61% of B2B marketers think that one of the biggest challenges is generating high-quality leads.
B2B marketers are competing in a vastly saturated market most of the time.
Therefore, there is a challenge in knowing who is going to be able to generate revenue and who is not.
There are few solutions to this, such as creating a sales pipeline, having multiple leads and making sure to pre-qualify them so you prioritise the prospects that you can actively pursue.
Besides that, B2B lead generation also requires nurturing as it is vital for the overall success. Nurturing, in this sense, means making sure you are in contact with your leads or potential leads.
If there is a lack of communication or nurture, other competitors will have a higher chance to come in and close the deal.
Therefore, it is essential that when you have a lead, to keep in regular contact with them continuously.
If you are used to nurturing leads, it can lead to a great return to your business or company as expertise in lead nurturing can result in a 50% increase in sales-ready leads.
On top of that, a higher level of return on investment also means you could use your time more effectively.
Thus, by nurturing leads well, you can also be 33% more cost-effective and at the same time, raise your success rate by 50% in generating extra business.
Here are a Few Tactics on Generating B2B Leads :
As mentioned, generating quality leads is the backbone of a good B2B marketing strategy.
Besides that, by establishing a strong pipeline, you will prepare your business in maintaining a steady growth rate.
With that said, here are a few tactics and strategies for all business owners to effectively generate B2B leads.
1. Attract B2B Leads through Content Marketing
It is said that 83% of B2B marketers generate leads by using content marketing.
That’s because, just like consumers, businesses would like to equip themselves with information before making a big purchase.
Content is vital in generating web traffic.
Therefore, as B2B marketers create content for their audience, it is essential to pack in as much value as possible.
You can market your content through various options such as through articles, videos, infographics, blog posts and more.
Blog posts are a great way to generate leads as B2B companies that blog generates 60% more leads.
That is because blog posts are incredibly helpful in demonstrating their experience and knowledge to potential customers or clients.
2. Build a Strong Online Presence with SEO
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is also a fantastic tool to create a strong digital presence in B2B marketing.
By making use of SEO services for your website, you can increase web traffic flow and your website’s visibility on search engines.
That means that companies or potential leads will have a higher chance of noticing you online through finding your website on the search engine.
With that said, SEO services are a great tool to tap into the digital market, reach a wider audience and gain more potential leads.
You can always opt to do it yourself, or engage in trusted content agencies to help you with it.
However, SEO is only part of it. Without engaging and relevant content, it still won’t matter as much if you’re easily visible online.
3. Utilise Professional Networks such as LinkedIn
Many businesses promote themselves on LinkedIn. It is no surprise because LinkedIn has shown significant benefits to B2B marketing.
For example, 65% of B2B companies have successful lead generation through LinkedIn. Not only that, but more than 80% of leads generated through social media comes from LinkedIn.
With that said, LinkedIn is one of the most useful networks in the B2B world.
Through LinkedIn, B2B companies can connect and interact with key decision-makers, owners and business development teams directly.
On top of that, LinkedIn lead generation ads were said to give users specific targeting criteria, and generate high-intent leads.
4. Social Media Marketing
Who could leave out social media marketing at this time and age?
Social media allows you to refine your lead generation process for a more targeted approach. It is not only an excellent tool for brand awareness but also converting followers into leads.
Besides LinkedIn, other social platforms shouldn’t be discounted for. B2B companies can utilise social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter and more.
For instance, Facebook has helped 39% of B2B marketers generate leads.
However, a more significant effort must be invested in marketing to B2B through social media as you might gain traffic from actual consumers and not companies or business clients.
That is why a well-thought-out social media marketing strategy is essential if you want to generate more leads.
5. Create Lead Magnets
Lead magnets are pieces of content or tools to attract your customers or potential leads to interact with your brand.
It is a great strategy where you trade a valuable part of the content for your customers’ information, such as their email address.
The best lead magnets offer a value far beyond what you post on your blog and useful for your customers to enjoy.
Some examples of lead magnets include free demos for your app, free trials for your software, E-book, free trials for tools and more.
Overall, whatever your appeal may be, make sure you highlight its value during the lead-generation process and nurture your lead by following up with them regularly.
6. Make Use of Lead-Generation Software Program
What if we told you that you have the option of generating your leads automatically instead of manual B2B lead generation?
You heard that right. If you’d like to explore more on lead generation software, you can try out Leadfeeder or Hello Bar.
Through lead generation software, you can enjoy conveniences such as identifying companies that have visited your site, obtaining employee contact databases, qualifying leads and focusing on value, generating leads from your current traffic and more!
Not everything can indeed be automated. It could be ineffective in the long run, or you could lose touch with your audience.
That is why balance is crucial, and B2B markets could automate what they can so they can devote as much time as possible to what can’t be automated.
7. Master Lead Nurturing
B2B marketers also must not underestimate the importance of nurturing the leads or potential leads they have.
That is because businesses who nurture leads make 50% more sales at a cost 33% less than non-nurtured prospects.
Overall, lead nurturing is essential to have a positive conversion rate.
Once you have a qualified lead, it is essential to keep in regular contact with them. Some tactics that B2B can use in following up on their prospects is by telemarketing or email marketing.
Another important tip as to why it is so important to nurture leads is because their requirements or needs might have changed throughout a period.
Thus, it is beneficial to stay updated and adapt your process to best support them.
There you have it!
B2B lead generation is much more important than we thought. It should be a key focus for many businesses as the return on investment is worth all the extra effort.
Overall, B2B lead generation does not have a one-size-fits-all plan that works for every business. The key is finding a strategy that is right for you and your company.
It all comes down to knowing your audience and how they interact with your business.
With that said, your efforts in B2B lead generation can be elevated with the help of credible creative and digital agencies.
As we discussed earlier, services such as branding, web designing, copywriting, social media marketing and SEO services are essential in a marketing strategy.
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