All B2B marketing strategies need an effective, tried-and-tested lead generation pipeline. But what does this pipeline look like, and what tactics and methods should it include?
It’s important to remember at this stage that the key with B2B lead generation is to bring in high quality, fully qualified prospects. These leads are worth the time, money and effort you put into acquiring them.
Now, let’s look at some of the best ways to boost your B2B lead generation efforts and build a winning strategy:
High-quality content marketing, tailored to your target audience
Learn all you can about your target audience. You need to know who they listen to and trust, what their pain points are, what kind of content they enjoy and what kind of language you need to be using to engage them.
This research will underpin your content marketing strategy, which spans everything from social media marketing, SEO and email campaigns to blogs, white papers and even print marketing. This content is not necessarily ‘selling’ your business directly, but offering content of value to your target audience. You’re establishing your credibility and authority in your field, building loyalty and trust, growing your audience and paving the way to make or encourage further contact.
Get social
Social media advertising – whether paid or otherwise – can be very effective for lead generation, and not just for B2C. A study of 4,000 user accounts by Marketo found that social media conversion clocks in at around 1.95%, not far behind inbound strategies at 3.82% and well above email campaigns at 0.55%.
Social media for lead generation may be time-intensive, but it can offer better value for money and a broader reach than some traditional marketing channels.
But you need to choose the right platforms. Start with LinkedIn (the top social media platform for B2B marketers) and take a look at Facebook Lead Ads too. Of course, at the forefront of your mind when choosing channels to focus on should be – where do my target customers spend their time?
Referrals and affiliates
Trust is key when approaching potential new customers. You have so much more persuasion power when you have credibility and perhaps even a word-of-mouth recommendation to back up your offer. This is why it could be worth looking into building affiliate networks, gaining trusted backlinks and perhaps setting up a referral program.
Short on time? Try PPC
B2B lead generation takes time, and you won’t get brilliant results overnight. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t at least a few easy wins. If you have money in the budget and know exactly who your target audience is, consider a Pay-Per-Click campaign. Get it right and a PPC campaign could deliver fast results.
Consider outsourcing
A good B2B lead generation strategy requires time, energy, patience and not a small amount of skill and expertise. If you’re short on any of these necessary qualities, it could be a better and more cost-effective plan to put yourself in the hands of an expert instead.
A lead generation specialist like IT Focus can feed highly qualified leads straight through to your sales team, while you focus on what you do best. To find out more or to get started on your bespoke B2B marketing strategy, call the IT Focus team on 0330 058 0100 or email info@itfocus-tm.com .
