The start of the fourth quarter of the year always signals a re-evaluation of old strategies and the search for newer ones to stay competitive in your industry. What is lead generation for b2b? What Should you know about lead generation for b2b? Here is your complete guide to lead generation for b2b.
B2B buyer behavior continues to evolve at breakneck speeds, fueled by a slew of new technologies and insights. Understandably, B2B marketers are finding it difficult to re-calibrate their lead generation strategies in this ever-changing landscape.
The proliferation of content addressing consumer concerns at every stage of the buyer’s journey has resulted in increasingly educated consumers. Furthermore, advances in technology have raised consumer expectations for customer service.
According to a Walker Information study, customer experience has surpassed price and product as the key brand differentiator.
Some B2B brands are getting better at converting prospects, while others are stuck in their ways, perhaps unsure how to spice things up.
However, 61% of businesses report that lead generation is their most difficult marketing challenge.
There are numerous free lead generation tactics available, but only a few will help you maximize your ROI. Here are some effective B2B lead generation strategies to help you up your game.
Create High-Quality, Evergreen Content
Because content is the currency of the internet nowadays, you should publish content on a regular basis. This not only boosts your credibility as an expert, but it also broadens your reach and exposure. You want your content to add value to your audience, not just make your brand look good. Once you’ve gained their trust, it’s much easier to convert them.
Your publishing frequency is also important. Publishing quality blog posts on a regular basis demonstrates to your target audience that you are willing to go to great lengths to provide them with valuable content that addresses their concerns.
According to a Hubspot study, companies that publish 16 or more blog posts per month generate 4.5 times more leads than those that publish only 0-4 posts per month. According to the study, 47% of B2B buyers use content for research and purchasing decisions.
More importantly, B2B buyers consume at least three to five pieces of related content before contacting a salesperson. Make use of this information by producing more content more frequently so that you can meet your audience’s information needs.
Gate Your Content Strategically
Not every marketer is certain about whether or not to gate their content. However, this is still one of the most effective ways to attract and identify leads who are interested in your company.
When done correctly, gated content can increase leads and conversions. Trading Strategy Guides, a finance and trading website, used a content locking script to add nearly 11,000 targeted subscribers to their email list in just one month. According to Unbounce’s gated content statistics, more campaigns have conversion rates ranging from 19 to 45%.
Putting out gated content is a good idea if you already have a library of content that you know your audience will enjoy. This way, loyal readers won’t be afraid to give you their names and email addresses in order to read what you wrote.
Offer content in exchange for an email address or personal information.
Make use of content offers that require contact information in order for users to access them. This will allow you to quickly expand your contact list and begin the lead generation process. Provide a variety of resources, such as eBooks, guides, whitepapers, checklists, tutorials, tools, and anything else that your audience members will find useful.
Other opt-in offers, such as newsletters and webinars, should be used whenever possible. Whatever you choose to create, make sure it is actually useful in the form of education, problem solving, or entertainment.
If you want to collect contact information from your visitors, you’ll need to use forms. The best practice is to limit the number of required fields and only request information that your sales team truly requires.
Build Communities and Personalize Social Media Interactions
Social media is no longer just another way to publish or promote your content. Social media is beneficial to business.
This is your opportunity to interact with your audience. The average person has 7.6 social media accounts and spends over 2 hours per day on them. Use this to your advantage.
Maintain an active and consistent presence across all platforms on which you choose to operate. It is suggested that you use at least three or four different social media channels to promote your brand. The ones you select should be based on who your target market is and where they hang out.
You can start a Facebook group to have regular discussions about pressing issues in your industry. Use hashtags on Twitter and Instagram to connect with people who share your interests or to raise awareness about specific causes or topics.
LinkedIn Marketing is critical because this social network is clearly the most effective platform for communicating with B2B prospects and informing them about your brand. As a B2B lead generation network, it has a lot of traction. Indeed, LinkedIn generates more than 80% of B2B leads, indicating that CXOs should broaden their social media strategy.
With every other marketer reaching out via social media channels, simply connecting with potential customers is no longer sufficient. Send personalized connection requests and messages to cut through the noise of spam and irrelevant marketing to reinforce the “humans” behind your brand. Being an active member of your community yields the best results.
Improve Your Landing Pages and Calls to Action (CTA)
Did you know that many landing pages include multiple offers? If yours falls into this category, it’s time to reconsider your lead conversion strategy. Marketing Experiments discovered that having multiple offers on one page can reduce conversion rates by up to 266%.
Optimizing your landing pages for lead generation entails following SEO best practices, focusing your content on the value of your offering, optimizing your signup form for engagement, and implementing a customer testimonial campaign.
These strategies will make your offer more appealing to your visitors and increase the likelihood of conversions.
To reduce distractions, keep each landing page focused on a single goal and be clear with your messaging in your Call-To-Action (CTA). Your primary goal is to convert visitors into leads, so make sure your landing pages and CTAs are convincing. Make it an enjoyable, simple, and natural experience for them to fill out your forms.
Your CTA buttons can make or break whether or not someone clicks through to your landing page. Make sure you have the correct colors, shapes, sizes, positioning, and any other attribute that affects how users see your buttons. A/B test your CTA buttons to see which combinations work best for increasing conversion rates.
Target the Audience of Your Competitors with Gmail Ads
According to SuperOffice’s State of B2B Email Marketing report, email is still the most popular lead generation channel—77% of B2B marketers use email marketing to drive leads.
There is a lot of value in capturing the attention of your competitors’ customers in B2B. Gmail ads allow you to target people who have received emails from your competitor in your Google Ads campaign. Sounds sly, doesn’t it? It is, but it works. It provides you with direct access to people who are already familiar with your service’s nature.
Social Media Sharing Should Be Automated
Promote your content on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and any other social platform that your target market uses.
Most marketers, however, have far too many responsibilities to prioritize social networking. There are a plethora of tools and apps available for automating social media or scheduling posts, shares, likes, tweets, and any other type of social engagement you can think of.
I use Hootsuite, but Sprout Social and Buffer are also popular among marketers because they not only automate sharing but also provide analytics to ensure you’re sharing content optimally.
