Definitive Guide to B2B Lead Generation

Creating a lead generation strategy from scratch is hard, especially in B2B marketing. This is because common B2B lead gen strategies, such as social media and search ads in B2C, work differently with B2B audiences.

For starters, most B2B buyers use corporate email which in most cases is separate from their Facebook or Instagram accounts. And search ads will be effective only when the prospect is online during work time. This is because after-hours potential leads are likely to be using their personal accounts.

This does not mean, however, that B2B lead generation through these channels is impossible. What it does mean is that businesses need different methods to those considered “best practices” in a B2C marketplace.

Here are five steps to help you create a B2B lead generation strategy that works:

To nail this step, marketers need to align themselves with the objectives of step one, particularly the “goals and challenges” of buyer personas.

Relevant content is what helps prospective clients meet their responsibilities. And as mentioned, B2B audiences are highly educated so generic content will likely be irrelevant.

To identify relevancy, analyze common searches and trends. Reading competitor’s content can help identify pitfalls and common mistakes and make your content better. Content creation can also be facilitated by the data collected by B2B lead generation software and automation.

Businesses can discover what prospects are searching for - their challenges - and with the help of rival content, what types of businesses they are turning to for solutions. These insights can help B2B lead generation companies identify a niche in the market which is ripe for content marketing.

Another option is competitor displacement, in which businesses create content for the clients of competitors to win them over. The trick here is not to employ a “fast food duel” campaign, but rather to showcase how well your company can solve their challenges.

2.2. What Channels and Formats to Use

Market research will identify the media preferences of your target audience. Armed with this data, ensure content is relevant by catering to these preferences. Failure to do so will result in content being ignored.

Investing in a podcast, regardless of whether it is a popular medium, will not matter if your audience happens to hate them. The same goes for eBooks; if your audience isn’t a fan, don’t try to engage it through this channel.

Curate content in the right formats and promote it on the preferred platform. A prospective lead might be a heavy Instagram user, but if they use it to unwind at home then they probably won’t appreciate being contacted through it for work.

2.3. What About Ads?

Ads promote relevant content on a larger scale than is possible organically. Having already spent the time and effort to create relevant content, why not spend some ad money to ensure it gets seen?

Content works better than the same old, generic “buy now” ads our eyes have become accustomed to glossing over. So, focus on generating leads with ads that promote relevant assets.

This will increase opt-ins and your lead generation quota. Also, leads that download content tend to be more qualified than those generated via other channels.

Create text, video, and carousel ads, and send sponsored messages to prospect inboxes. Pinpoint your audience with criteria such as job title, age, skills, company size, and industry.

The LinkedIn ad platform allows businesses to determine objectives like B2B lead gen, traffic, engagement, or video views. For those reading this guide, lead generation and website traffic should be key goals.

Leveraging your staff as niche “thought leaders” can help create brand awareness and generate leads. Each employee has a network and if they share content then company reach will grow tremendously.

This is a free tactic that can be followed by simply asking staff to share posts. Consider the staff member’s position too; a developer should share more tech-oriented content while a Sales Development Representative (SDR) should share more marketing content.

With this method, B2B lead generation companies can tap into a similar but wider audience than their current one. Many platforms such as LinkedIn and Google allow clients to launch ads to look-a-like audiences.

Each platform has its own filters and algorithms for look-a-like audiences, and some perform better than others. Audiences are generated from demographic and behavioral data, incorporating metrics such as job title, age, means of engagement, interests, and so on.

Another option is to hire a demand generation partner with a look-a-like service that will generate an audience and target them on multiple channels for you, like the one provided by INFUSEmedia.

To implement a lead nurturing strategy:

• Create content cadence that addresses key challenges: Send emails with content, such as whitepapers, that educate leads on the challenges they face. Emails can be automated to save effort and maintain consistency, with the idea being to slowly develop a sense of trust.
• Consider your lead’s buying committee: For some, this is the key difference between regular and account-based marketing when it comes to lead nurture. Businesses should consider how the lead’s buying group decides a purchase and what content will be more convincing. For many buying groups, a comparison chart, a listicle, or even a case study with a media kit can be beneficial.
• Track results and optimize campaigns: Every asset sent should be tracked. If the open rate of an email is low, then run A/B or multivariate tests to figure out what is going wrong. If a campaign is proving particularly effective, evolve working best practices across your platform.
• Lead scoring: As leads interact with content, score them to know which are more sales-ready than others.

There are many ways to collect buyer intent data and marketing teams should combine sources to track leads more efficiently.

Options include:

• Product/service review pages: Reviews are deemed more trustworthy than content as opinions are less likely to be biased. If a lead accesses a review site like G2, for example, it means they are considering a purchase.
• Webinar attendance: Leads that watch a webinar, especially a product-focused one, signal buyer intent. Target these leads with soft-sell content.
• Website visits: Leads that visit specific web pages, such as pricing or case studies, signal buyer intent. Other metrics including time spent on page, number of pages viewed, and spikes in interest, derived from searching for a keyword on the blog for example, also signal intent.
• Third-party analytics: Companies specialized in crunching the numbers on your behalf can provide detailed buyer intent data from multiple sources beyond the scope of your website or social media channels. Learn more about INFUSEmedia’s intent-driven marketing here.

Lead Generation Services can vary. Some companies operate as full-service marketing agencies while others focus on lead and demand generation marketing.

With lead generation software, businesses still need to launch a content marketing campaign, create landing pages, send emails, and launch ads. What the software provides is lead generation tools and a hub to manage content across the channels of engagement and measure the results of campaigns.

With a lead generation service, the company generates leads for you by promoting your content across many channels, and in some cases even creates content for you.

More specialized solutions are available, such as appending lead pipelines to fix errors or analyze buyer intent data.

Prospects need to opt-in to become leads. And that happens on a lead generation landing page.

Each time businesses publish an asset, such as a whitepaper, they can gate it with a landing page form.
To learn more about gating content, watch INFUSEmedia’s To Gate, or Not To Gate webinar in the video below:

The landing page is the last stop once potential leads have clicked through from an ad or link provided elsewhere. It is at this point that businesses need to minimize bounce and capture interest with content.

To get the most out of a landing page:

• Write a magnetic headline: Demonstrate the quality of your asset with the fewest words possible.
• Use a short lead form: Long lead forms can make prospects quit. Ask for the name, job title, company, and email only.
• Provide social proof: Awards, testimonials, and statistics. Prove to the potential lead you know what you’re talking about.
• Bullet point copy: Like this list, write scannable copy with an overview of the asset.
• Eye-catching imagery: It can be an eBook cover, a software screenshot, or an illustration. Grab people’s attention and guide them towards the lead form.