What Is B2B Lead Generation (And How You Can Succeed)

If you pay attention when talking to B2B sales teams, you’ll keep hearing one word - leads. But what is B2B lead generation, and how can you make it even more effective in your organization?

While the answer to the first question is relatively straightforward (as you’ll soon see), the second one can only be described as elusive. Truth be told, generating B2B leads is an effort that varies between industries, and rarely will a technique work across the board. For instance, it’s not uncommon for successful companies to struggle to generate leads.

However, this doesn’t mean all hope is lost. Yes, you may have to try a few to see what sticks, but we’ll provide you with strategies we’ve seen work more often than not.

What is B2B lead generation?

In simple terms, the question of what is B2B lead generation can be answered by saying it’s a process of identifying potential buyers and enticing them to make a purchase.

Marketing and sales teams will employ different strategies to attract interest from their target audience and work hard to guide them into the sales funnel. This is a crucial process, as the company’s success will largely depend on attracting the right type of customers. 

Traditionally, lead generation used to fall under the advertising umbrella, yet in the modern era, it doesn’t happen strictly through paid ads. For example, a successful strategy will explore various tactics such as social media outreach, cold calling, and content marketing. 

How important is B2B lead generation?

Now that you’re more familiar with what is B2B lead generation, youhave a clear idea of why it’s fundamental to success in business - with no leads going through the sales pipeline, you have no sales, and ultimately, no customers. 

Furthermore, lead generation efforts also help organizations gather business-critical data necessary to make key strategic decisions. Using this data, businesses can:

• 
  Identify their ideal customers
• Build brand awareness
• Discover new markets
• Increase conversion rates
• Optimize their sales cadence
• Generate more revenue

Effective B2B lead generation strategies

With the basics out of the way, it’s time to read up on productive strategies that are surprisingly easy to implement. Here are the top 5 B2B lead generation tricks that work:

1. Optimize your content marketing strategy

Content and generating leads go hand in hand, especially nowadays when SEO rankings are determining who gets the cake. While ranking high in search engines is important, your campaigns also need to have practical value. 

What do we mean by that?

Let’s say your company sells garden gnomes (bear with us, this example will eventually start making sense), and you rank the highest for “dark-haired garden gnome with a blue hat”. This sounds good on paper, but if your target audience and your main competitors are focusing on searches for “best garden gnomes”, your number one position for your keyword is meaningless.

What you should do is optimize your content to also rank for general keywords, then track clicks, optimize until you see improvement, and rinse and repeat to perfection. 

2. Run A/B tests

In lead generation and marketing, it’s impossible to get a strategy perfect on the first try, which is why you should perform A/B tests until you find the optimal combination of elements. 

For instance, you can try experimenting with different messages, colors, and formats to see what delivers the best results. B2B leads are primarily concerned with value and how a product can help them increase their bottom lines, but they’re still humans. Changing a CTA button placement on the landing page can boost visitor engagement and increase your conversion rates - you only need to track the stats and make fine adjustments.

3. Personalize your online content

Although it’s easier to have only one version of your content, it could be detrimental to your B2B sales. At the moment, the most successful organizations are experimenting with account-based marketing, and so should you.

This type of marketing allows you to tailor your online content and website to cater to individual leads or the most promising segments of your audience. 

Moreover, it’s also possible to code a website to recognize a visitor’s IP address and show them content relevant to their geographic location. 

4. Invest in social media selling

You might think social media seems too casual and is better suited for B2C lead generation, yet by not leveraging social selling, you’d be losing out on a lot of potential. 

Take LinkedIn as an example. It’s a known fact a large number of decision-makers are using this platform to check out other companies so you should be out there, actively promoting your business.

Other, less business-oriented social networks may also provide massive opportunities, particularly in reaching business representatives who are casually scrolling through.

5. Invest in video content

Videos can generate huge amounts of leads. No matter how simple (think ukulele music and a bunch of stock photos with graphs), a video can work if uploaded to the right place. 

YouTube is second only to Google in terms of search volume, and it’s a platform where a wide variety of users look for detailed videos of different products. This means posting high-quality guides and instructive videos can help you stand out from the crowd and snag valuable B2B leads in the process. 

For example, if a prospect is interested in a particular type of software, they may check if there’s an online tutorial first. Since Google results may be hit and miss, they’ll turn to YouTube, where your high-quality video tutorials will be prioritized in the search. As a result, your solution will seem as most accessible, and by extension, the no-brainer choice.

Are there alternative ways of generating leads?

B2B lead generation is not a simple process, and considering the impact it has on a business, there are only so many mistakes you can make until your revenue starts taking a serious hit. 

In the event you’re struggling with attracting leads and don’t have the time or the resources to do it, there’s no shame in outsourcing your lead generation to a dedicated service company such as Aspen Media - a full-service firm that has been generating leads for all types of businesses for over 30 years. 

By letting us handle this aspect of your business, you’ll save on personnel costs and infrastructure without any of the headaches that usually come with the territory. When you combine the low cost with the shorter sales cycle, you’ll save money all the while increasing your revenue.

Call Aspen Media at 800-853-2240 or fill out our contact form for more information.