B2B lead generation is the process of recognizing your target customers and encouraging them to buy your company’s products and services. It allows you to identify market segments that are likely to respond to your pitch. You can also use it to reach that segment more efficiently through the latest, most relevant information.
B2B lead generation is more complicated than conducting cold sales calls or hoping that earned media exposure will attract more inquiries. These strategies can be useful during your company’s first few months in existence, but your methods will need to evolve as your business grows.
We’ll discuss a few proven methods you could use to give your B2B lead generation the boost it needs.
1. Run a cold email outreach campaign
A cold email campaign is an excellent B2B lead generation strategy. Data from Mailchimp has found that cold emails can have an open rate of 15.22 to 28.46%. But before sending out cold emails, you need to understand who your target audience is in the first place.
To do this, have a look at your website ranking using Google Analytics. Consider using heat maps as well. These will help you understand what sections of your website users visit most. Then you can build your B2B buyer persona. A buyer persona highlights specific characteristics about your ideal customer like location, age, gender, among others.
Here is an example of a B2B buyer persona:
After creating a buyer persona, you need to create an email outreach program and connect with potential leads by offering them viable information and building trust. A buyer persona can help you segment your email list, which will lead to more efficient campaigns.
2. Harness the power of SEO to attract traffic
One of the best ways to generate online leads is through Search engine optimization (SEO). While there’s a lot of complexity to SEO, the fundamentals are straightforward. You need to select appropriate keywords and create high-quality, relevant content that satisfies user intent.
There are three steps to this content creation process:
- Conduct keyword research to identify suitable terms to target
- Create and optimize your content for those keywords
- Promote the content and try to get sites to link to your resource
You can use various tools to conduct keyword research. If you’re operating on a small budget, I’d suggest using a Google Chrome extension like Keywords Everywhere. The extension provides you with search volumes for keywords to see how many people search for a term each month.
Keywords Everywhere doesn’t provide the level of comprehensive insights that you’d get with a tool like SEMrush or Ahrefs. It’s affordable, though. You can get started for just $10.
For optimizing your content, I recommend using a tool like Surfer SEO or Clearscope. These types of tools provide you a list of relevant keywords and headings to include in your content. Essentially, it helps you create a keyword optimized article.
Sharing a guide on how to build backlinks is out of the scope of this article. There are some great resources available online if you want to research this further, though.
Finally, you will need to monitor your Google rankings on desktop and mobile. Effective monitoring allows you to analyze the success of your SEO efforts. If your rankings are improving, that’s a good sign. If you have a sudden dip in traffic, you will need to identify the cause of the issue and take appropriate action.
3. Experiment with quizzes and contests
Consider running quizzes and contests if you’re looking for a subtle way to acquire your website visitors’ contact information. For B2B businesses, giveaways for contests typically include valuable discounts, free trials, or cheaper ticket offers to popular industry events.
Quizzes help you gather data that you can use to segment your target audience. Quizzes are an effective way of converting your website visitors into leads. However, you need to make sure they are fun and interactive because users are less likely to participate if your questions are lengthy or repetitive. They’ll also help you collect emails of potential leads.
4. Offer eye-catching lead magnets
A lead magnet is a free product or service offered to potential customers for providing their contact details. Popular examples of eye-catching lead magnets include online courses, free trials, and ebooks. Building a lead magnet means being fully aware of your target audience’s needs and wants. For example, if your research indicates that your potential customers are inclined towards reading case studies, you may offer a case study as a lead magnet.
Source: Googleusercontent
Once you’ve decided on which lead magnet to use, the next step is to use a lead generation tool to inform visitors about your website. Pop-ups, for instance, are an excellent lead generation tool as they highlight your call to action (CTA).
5. Make use of social media platforms
Using social media platforms is essential to keep your business running in the digitized, rapidly advancing world of today. Social media platforms also refine your lead generation as they offer a targeted approach.
Past research conducted by LinkedIn found that 79% of marketers strongly believed LinkedIn to be an efficient social media platform for lead generation. Research has also found that 84% of C-level executives actively use social media in their decision-making process. You can use these platforms to promote your products through ads or publish industry-related content and opinions.
6. Invest in pay-per-click (PPC) marketing
It can be frustrating to have people leave your website without providing their contact information or buying your products–this is where PPC marketing comes in. Research has found that PPC marketing can also help increase brand awareness by 80%.
PPC is a model of internet marketing that involves advertisers paying a fee every time a user clicks on your ad. One of the most well-known forms of PPC is search engine advertising, which includes Google Ads. When you use Google Ads, your site shows up in searches for your chosen keywords.
7. Experiment with affiliate marketing
If you’re unsatisfied with your business outcomes after generating leads yourself, you might want to turn to affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing will help you lower costs, lead to increased ROI (return on investment), and targeted customer traffic.
You’ll get affiliates to generate leads by using similar tactics as you, and you have to pay them a commission when they convert a lead. The following image illustrates the affiliate marketing cycle:
Source: Affise
Before you start affiliate marketing, you need to define your goals clearly, undergo any research, and ensure you find affiliates who can help with generating revenue. Joining affiliate networks can give your products exposure to content creators who are willing to promote your products.
Bottom line
B2B lead generation is an essential part of any business, and using the proper methods can help your business flourish greatly. While customer satisfaction is one of the main goals of any entrepreneur, it’s also essential to know who your target customers are in the first place.
Not only does this help you offer lead magnets accordingly, but you’ll also know which social media platforms potential customers are most likely to use. Study your audience, do your research, set your budgets if you wish to do affiliate or PPC marketing, and watch your leads increase in no time.
