The Wild World of B2B Lead Generation Strategies

 

The truth about B2B lead generation – what really works!

Want to know the greatest challenge in B2B marketing? And I swear it has nothing to do with what color dress one should wear in a presentation. The answer is “leads.”

Lead is a universe where it all begins. Without leads, there is no revenue, no clients, no raison d’être, no nothing. Without leads, you are a black hole in the universe.

And there arises a question – how do I get leads?

To produce B2B leads, marketing departments need to take a multi-channel approach.

Following are the lead generation strategies and channels for B2B businesses:

·         Social media marketing

·         Website optimization

·         Content marketing

·         Paid advertising

·         Email marketing

·         Referral traffic

Lead generation is an essential component of a well-oiled B2B sales and marketing operation. To attract more clients, it is necessary to do marketing of products and services first. A B2B lead generation company is the one that is interested in finding ideal consumers for your service or products. Also, content syndication plays a vital role in promoting thought leadership and create an effective relationship with a target audience.

Content syndication marketing – expand reach and win trust!

Content syndication marketing plays an essential role in lead generation. It helps tap a new audience or existing consumer, develops a positive perception of the brand, and adds visibility and authority that leads to qualified business inquiries.

The questions you must think upon

Is your website driving leads for your business? Is your website generating high-quality leads that your sales team can close?

Nowadays, buying journey is getting more complicated as we spend more time learning independently online than anywhere else. But the real success of a marketing leader is proven when the sales enablement services manage to convert, generate, and manage business leads and unlock new growth opportunities.

Concentrating on B2B demand generation and sales enablement services could help marketers develop a strategy to support lead management, enhance sales partnership, and develop strategic account-based marketing programs that could help buyers buy. Also, marketers must ensure that buyer enablement is available to all consumers across seller and digital channels.

Brent Adamson, Distinguished VP, Advisory at Gartner, said: “The hardest part of B2B solutions isn’t selling them‚ but buying them. Today’s buying journey has effectively reached a tipping point where it’s become nearly unnavigable without a significant amount of help.”

Demand generation marketing has so many things in common with lead generation. It acts like an umbrella covering marketing and sales initiatives from every touchpoint in the consumer’s journey – from initial prospect interest to upselling consumers.

Strategies used by demand generation agencies

·         Creating awareness amongst the target audience

·         Monetizing and converting the present in-market demand

·         Connecting sales and marketing teams for better results

Do you know?

Where do online leads come from?

The answer is your website. Here is the basic flow of how B2B website leads are produced online:

·         Traffic (visitors)

·         Website

·         Leads

Once a lead is generated and the consumer is in the target market, the lead becomes a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL). The digital marketing team will then begin promoting the lead via marketing campaigns.

Sales enablement – a key to unlock Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

Usually, lead generation models, sales, and marketing teams work together as a relay team. Marketing increases the number of produced leads, nurtures them, and hands them off to sales.

Account-based marketing transforms this process and links inbound and outbound marketing with sales to create demand in targeted accounts. Further, these coordinated account-based marketing campaigns engage and convert target accounts at every purchase journey stage.

A sales representative with a combination of account-based marketing and sales enablement becomes a social seller, engages targeted clients, and delivers insightful and powerful content that helps in the decision journey.

Takeaway

Today’s world of information overload has radically changed consumer behaviors and how they want to connect with brands. Gone are the days where marketers could rely on their product, brand, or service to attract and retain consumers.

“At the end of the day, consumers don’t just want you to show them that you know them; they want you to help them get something done,” added Adamson. “Proving you know the customer in the absence of helping them can do immense damage.”

All in all, a lead generation strategy leverages quality of content and thought leadership.

How to Generate an Ocean of B2B Leads at a Fraction of the Price

 The challenge

The renowned entrepreneur Bill Gates once said, “If I was down to the last dollar of my marketing budget, I’d spend it on PR.”

Getting these lines from a multi-faceted personality like Mr. Gates gets us all thinking about the intensity of marketing as a function and the area where we as a business should prefer to spend the last marketing dollar.

Today, as we understand the force of competition and alternatives available, it still so happens that a lot of entrepreneurs and industry giants try to curb their marketing budget.

We understand that marketing is the only space that gives room for tweaking the budget compared to any other function or activity in the organization.

So, now that we know that the marketing budget most often is compromised, why not play smart and generate an ocean of B2B leads at a fraction of the price?

The face-off

B2B lead generation is inevitable for business success. But is it wise to deploy an in-house workforce whose primary KRA is to crack a deal and generate ROI and not leads?

Investing in in-house demand generation activities many a time is a failure and extremely expensive for a business. However, the wisest thing here is to sign up with a demand generation solutions company.

PS: We will also tell you how it saves on the marketing budget and offers more in less.

The solution

B2B demand generation is one of the essential fuels that power ROI.

Therefore, outsourcing the requirement for high-quality leads to a demand generation solutions company is the most recommended method to make most of every marketing dollar spent.

Talk to those who matter

Lead generation is tedious. It demands time, money, skills, and a valid database that comprises information about prospects.

Investing money in-house to get all this just to find leads indeed is a time taking and expensive format.

Considered one of the most essential marketing strategies, B2B appointment setting services help businesses acquire customers by arranging qualified and promising appointments. By doing so, the business saves money by just paying for services that deliver potential business opportunities and increase ROI.

Pay extra attention to promising leads

Data nowadays is omnipresent. But it is essential to understand which data is useful for growth.

Working on these principles and modern software,  intent-based marketing solutions make a significant difference to the bottom-line.

Designed to enable clients to allocate more budget to a section of the target audience who is more likely to buy, it does complete justice to the concept of intent-driven marketing and saves businesses a lot of money.

Bet on qualified leads

For sales and marketing to be extremely useful for a business, both teams need to work in tandem. However, sourcing these teams with quality leads by running marketing qualified leads campaigns is inevitable. This process helps align the balance between marketing and the sales-pipeline and impacts ROI by keeping a check on which marketing techniques and strategies work and which ones need to be discarded.

Essentially, it saves businesses a big chunk of money by getting rid of obsolete marketing strategies.

Market to people

People-based marketing solutions, also known as cross-device marketing, serve clients by leveraging technology to market to people across various channels. Remember, it is people who buy products and services and not devices. Hence, investing in people-based marketingsolutions eliminate the chances of wasting money in duplication and adds to return for your business efforts as it deals with real humans.

It’s a wrap/disclaimer

When we say, “generate an ocean of leads at a fraction of the price,” it does not mean look for solutions or services that cost less or involve in in-house activities. The fundamental is absolutely clear, and it is highly recommended to invest in solutions that have the capacity to build higher ROI, which eventually bring down the cost per lead.

B2B Lead Generation: Who is the Owner of a Complex Sale?

 Who should take the onus of B2B lead generation? Is it the sales or the marketing team?

In today's market space, where competition is cutthroat, we always hold someone or the other responsible when things do not turn out the way they are expected to.

When in a sales meet, I often hear the same issue. The sales and marketing teams are not doing a great job because they both feel it is the other's job.

But did you know both are right?

I will tell you how.

Companies often do not define what salespeople do as "lead generation" or "demand generation." Instead, they term it as business development, pipeline development, or prospecting.

Even with a rise in content and inbound marketing, salespeople find themselves carrying the burden of prospecting for their leads. This is where they waste most of their time, energy, and resources and still struggle to find the right people who will be interested in talking to them.

Remember, the primary catalyst that can surge the sales graph and add to the ROI is leads. (Realistically, not just leads but marketing qualified leads.)

Today the number one challenge faced by marketers is lead generation. And believe me, with millions of free resources already competing for attention, it is inevitable to sign up a B2B demand generation agency for professional services.

Formula to align sales and marketing strategies for success

To stand out,  it is essential to think out of the box and be a little experimental.

But is it necessary to do all this in-house, involving the time and efforts of employees meant to close deals and increase the revenue?

A B2B lead generation company is an agency that understands the importance of volume and quality of leads for business success.

These B2B lead generation companies help businesses save time spent on nurturing and following up unproductive leads. They do this by offering a plethora of services.

What does a marketing quality leads provider agency offer?

A marketing qualified leads company is often involved in delivering services dealing with leads that show interest in what a brand offers. Basis the marketing efforts, these leads are often intentionally brought face to face with your enterprise as they had voluntarily submitted forms on the website, opted for a program, or added items to the cart, and so on.

In the marketing lingo, marketing qualified leads are classified as the ones with high conversion potential.

So let's find out other ways demand generation services help businesses obtain an enriched sales funnel.

B2B appointment setting services

We have heard about these types of services a million times. But did you know the drill followed to acquire such leads?

An expert B2B demand generation company works with the sales rep team, involved in the sales development activity. These activities include a trained sales representatives calling and nurturing qualified sales leads. It involves a sales rep setting appointments for another sales representative who will deliver a more in-depth and detailed sales pitch to close a deal.

Content syndication program

Technically, content syndication marketing is about republishing content on other sites in order to reach a wider audience.

How content marketing really works

Step 1 – Create and promote inspirational, impactful, or memorable content about your brand for the target audience.

Step 2 – People see the Ad or content, but they don't necessarily act on it right away.

Step 3 – Later, when the need arises, people

(a) do a brand search for your stuff

(b) do an unbranded search but are biased toward clicking and buying from you

On a professional level, content syndication service providers republish various digital content such as syndicate articles, infographics, video content, blogs, news, and articles. These activities help increase website traffic and ultimately the sales figures.

Conclusion

The secret behind B2B revenue growth lies in the expertise, data, and tools deployed to generate leads that focus on quality and quantity.

Attempting to carry out lead gen services in-house proves extremely time-consuming and expensive for any organization.

Hence, it is best to invest in services offered by a B2B lead generation company or data solutions company, or people-based marketing solutions company that aligns best with your business needs.

Avoid Marketing Pitfalls with Exceptional B2B Lead Generation Solutions

 

“A big business starts small.” – Richard Branson

I am sure we all unanimously agree with what the English business magnate (Mr. Branson) has quoted. Founder of the Virgin Group, he aspired to become an entrepreneur at a very young age. He commenced the Virgin Group empire at the age of 16, with a magazine called “Student,” and he never looked back since then.   

“Big success does not come without big challenges.” Unknown.

This is a quote that reveals the reality behind making it big and tasting success.

Small businesses indeed are the best as they,

·         Promote healthier communities

·         Drive innovation

·         Contribute to employment

·         And have a bright future

Interesting, isn’t it?

Despite an elaborate bright side, small and medium-sized businesses come with a bunch of marketing challenges that need to be dealt with expertise.

So, without any further ado, let’s find out how small businesses can overcome marketing pitfalls and generate B2B leads to erase that line between success and triumph.

1.     Finding customers

Finding customers is a big challenge faced by small businesses. Professional B2B lead generation services work as a reliable solution to this problem. We tell you how.

Lead generation is not an easy task. It is not just about calling or emailing any random person to crack the deal. In reality, marketers need to align several elements to hit that sale.

Here is how lead generation services help find customers,

·         They first determine your target audience

·         Set campaign goals

·         Revisit closed/lost opportunities

·         Actively engage with new leads

·         Optimize social media platforms to appeal to potential buyers

2.     Lack of resources

Challenge number two, faced by small businesses, is a lack of resources and a tight budget. Therefore, to make the most of every dollar spent, businesses should bet on customized B2B marketing solutions for a profitable outcome.

Here is how B2B marketing solutions make a difference.

Not every business is the same, so what works for you might not work for someone else. So then, why waste money and resources on generic ideas. This is where getting involved with a B2B demand generation company works wonders. And customizing what you need based on expert suggestions has the potential to drive maximum results even with the lack of resources and a tight budget.

3.     Production and delivery of content

In professional terms, we call this “content syndication marketing,” an activity involved in republishing content on other sites and platforms to reach a wider audience. Technically, content syndication marketing not just widens the reach but also builds links that help drive more traffic to the website.

Opting for professional content syndication services can do the job right.

4.     Keeping up with trends and technology

Another marketing pitfall small and medium-sized businesses face is keeping up with trends and technology. To make this easy, a data solutions agency has a plethora of options to offer.

Working in line with trends and technology is a daunting task for businesses that do not have enough resources. But a comprehensive set of B2B data solutions help you to zero-in prospects based on unmatched accuracy that aligns with the current market trends and turns data-driven-marketing into a strategic advantage.

5.     The ultimate checklist: BANT

B – Budget

A – Authority

N – Need

T – Timeline

Finding a good fit for sales reps to interact with and expecting a higher conversion rate can happen only when BANT is considered. A framework deployed to determine how qualified a lead is in investing efforts of the sales teams.

To get accurate answers to these questions, you need to tick all the checkboxes present in BANT.

Takeaway

"Si vous voulez vraiment voler, apprenez à vous lier d'amitié avec les vents."
~Curtis Tyrone Jones.

This means, “If you really want to fly, learn to befriend the winds.”

So, no matter what challenges you face, to make your small business big, it is time to build strategies and work in coordination with professionals and experts that can bring high qualified leads to your business.

Marketing is not just a one-time activity but a process. Remember, marketers at well-known businesses like Apple and Toyota don’t just sit around and wait for leads to come, even they make new efforts every single day. 

A Comprehensive B2B Lead Generation Guide to Find Interested Prospects for SMEs

The Coronavirus pandemic has played a catalyst to interrupt business and marketing plans across the globe. Thus, making it inevitable for marketers to expedite their B2B demand generation strategy to make sure their sales pipeline has enough fuel to maintain the bottom line and make a noticeable difference to the earnings.

Before the new normal when social distancing was foreign to our ears, hosting, participating and sponsoring trade events, business conventions, and conferences was a great way of networking to find interested prospects to generate sales.

As per a recent survey, B2B organizations’ investment in live events is expected to increase by 39% in 2020. However, the pandemic changed everything overnight, making it essential for humans to lose human touch and stay connected digitally. So, the current challenge for marketers is to blend in the new normal to ensure they continue to generate sales qualified leads.

SMEs, pandemic, and B2B demand generation

To reach the epitome of business, small and medium scale businesses require qualified leads more than anyone else.

In 2020,  small and medium scale businesses are among the most adversely affected sections due to the pandemic. Therefore, this is when professional B2B demand generation services such as digital marketing services, sales enablement services, content syndication program, and a few others can make all the difference.

Imagine kick-starting the week with over 10 sales inquiries in your inbox!

It is still possible.

Here are some important tactics for a healthy sales pipeline in 2020 and beyond

Never in recent history has the market witnessed such a tremendous shift overnight. Right from social distancing to work-from-home mandates managed to reshuffle a plethora of marketing elements. But the need for leads has not changed.

So let’s look at various ways to bag quality and qualified leads even during the pandemic.

Data management solutions

Believe it or not, the barrier to lead generation success is the lack of quality data. With the increase of mobile devices and wide acceptance of technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and more, data is easily available. But the data will make sense only if it tells a powerful story about your customer.

Remember, if your data is capable of getting into the prospect’s mind, then every bit of it is worth it. But I am sure a lot of you want to how to get this done. In a digitally progressing world, several data solutions companies offer comprehensive data solutions to sync with your lead generation strategy.

These companies often offer the following –

·         Clean and concise database

·         Reliable data

·         Customer profiling supported by research

·         Data-driven segmentation

·         Improved engagement

Installed base campaigns

 

Installed base marketing campaigns help businesses get quality customer insights of users that use one or more of your products or services. It also analyzes install base data of partners to derive newer and better buyer profiles and preferences’ insights to open doors to a plethora of new brand new opportunities to cross-sell, up-sell, and drive more and more customers to what your company has to offer.

B2B appointment setting services

In simple terms, B2B appointment setting services is the act of networking with leads and setting up sales meets to further discuss business opportunities.

This is why SMEs should use B2B appointment setting services,

·         To get more sales leads

·         Focus on your target market

·         Identify buyer personas

·         Nurture leads

·         Accomplish revenue goals

Note: In addition to these, companies can also explore services such as Account-Based Marketing Service and HQL services provided by professional B2B led generation companies.

Conclusion

Investing in reliable B2B lead generation services is like fishing in a pond full of fish. A professional workforce, suitable tools, strong networking, and experience help boost the bottom line of businesses from different industry verticals.

Therefore, make a clear choice for business success by investing in the most suitable B2B lead generation services for your business.

The A to Z of B2B Lead Generation

How to sell?

Bootstrapping or running a multimillion business empire, we often know what we want to sell. But the million-dollar question is, do we know how to sell?

Every product is different, and so are the people who consume it. Therefore, applying a universal marketing fundamental is going to do no good. This is where professional B2B lead generation services make a difference.

Finding target prospects that can be your ideal customers

B2B Lead generation is not about having excel sheets full of lead data. Instead, it is about working with a plan that helps businesses not miss out on target prospects that can be future customers.

Remember, a lead is where it all begins. Without leads, there are no clients, and no clients mean no revenue. So, concisely, leads are the essential element responsible for business success.

Now, the obvious question for every marketer is, how do I get these leads?

Tips on finding high-quality leads

B2B lead generation is not as easy as you think. In the digital era that offers several options to grab user attention, almost every marketer has a list of their favorite leadgeneration strategies. Therefore, investing in the right assortment of solutions is a must.

The supporting cast

Want to bank on promising leads? Take a look at the supporting cast. 

Website Optimization

Content Marketing

Content Syndication

Social Media Marketing

Email Marketing

Automation and more

Interesting statistics

Outsourced lead generation is likely to be 43% more effective compared to in-house

Interestingly, cold calls receive a 46% higher success rate on Wednesdays compared to Mondays

61% of marketers believe that generating traffic and leads is their top challenge

Decoding robust B2B lead generation solutions

Marketing qualified leads

Marketing qualified leads is a concept that focuses on quality rather than quantity. Therefore, smaller sets of promising prospects are way better than hundreds and thousands of people who do not exercise any purchasing power.

Benefits of signing up for marketing qualified lead generation services

·         Saves time and efforts

·         Enhances sales workload

·         Better aligns sales and marketing

·         Offers higher ROI

 

Demand generation services

 

For some businesses, there is no shortage of leads that make the top of their sales and marketing funnel. However, the challenge here is to enhance lead quality and push only the promising leads to the sales department, making testing and quality a critical element.

 

Therefore, it is essential to choose solutions that focus on -

 

·         Lead scoring process review and refinement

·         Lead nurturing program design and development

·         A/B testing and campaign improvement

·         Reporting and analysis

 

People-based marketing solutions

 

People-basedmarketing solutions deploy data collected by marketers to identify exact customer and customer behavior.

 

Growing in popularity, with the fundamental of targeting people and not devices, people-based marketing facilitates a better understanding of customers and results in optimal reach towards marketing campaigns.

 

Hiring these solutions helps businesses learn more about how their customers like to purchase, the different ways to connect and communicate with them, and what they think about the product.

 

Benefits

 

·         Helps understand the customer better

·         Facilitates effective retargeting

·         Eliminates targeting bots

 

Content syndication services

 

Content makes a difference. And if you are serious about generating leads that convert, it is time to work-around with content.

In every phase of the lead lifecycle, content plays an essential role. Hierarchy wise, at the top of the funnel, quality and relevant content can create awareness and drive initial response.

In the sales cycle routine, content syndication focuses on nurturing programs and adds power to the sales team. Moreover, content syndication services also focus on republishing content on several websites and platforms to garner exposure.

 

Benefits

·         Exposure to the target audience

·         SEO boost

·         Brand Reputation

 

Conclusion

“Do Something Today That Your Future Will Thank You For.”

The anonymous quote comes across with a deep meaning, and associating the concept to the world of business indeed triggers a thought of making the right move right now, to be able to relish the fruit of success, growth, and consistency in the future.

So why not bank on qualified B2B sales leads that can be celebrated at the annual success party?

PS: “No one knows where B2B leads come from.” Therefore, investing in the right mix of B2B lead generation services is a must.

Take a Look at New Magical Era for B2B Marketers

In most companies, it is an ongoing process to generate interest among buyers for their products and services. There are continuous efforts made so that the product or services don’t go missing.

 But the results aren’t always 100% or even 80%. The reason is inadequate preparation. Some of the companies haven’t upgraded themselves. You might not know what works best to attract your customers until you peep into your competitor’s plan. Nonetheless, digging into the mindset of your prospect can work too.

 The CSO Insight study reported, “42 percent of sales reps feel that they don’t have the right information before making a call.”

 However, you can still lead the race if you know how to market. Your business portfolio can be strengthened. You can turn more prospects into customers by putting more accurate customer data and the right strategies to use. 

Here’s how to do it.

Generate demand and create customers

You do not have to go a long way from where you are. You are already targeting customers based on their choice, location, and preferences. There is just a slight change to the previous approach. Try for a personalized way to market your product and customers. That’s it.

Installed base campaigns

This involves studying the database of users who use one or more of your products. Also, one needs to analyze the data of competitors, partners, and complementary products/services. This approach will help you understand the buyer’s needs and preferences and make a stream to cross-sell, up-sell, and retain your customers.

Therefore, the installed base campaign refers to considering multiple factors such as technology, choice, location, and trends related to people so that the results are accurate.

B2B data management services

Be it a retail setup or commercial plan, one cannot survive in the market unless they can manage the data well. To help companies incorporate, organize, and collect data, there are various data management services offered by B2B marketers. B2B data management services further include deduplication, data migration, data verification, and data quality maintenance.

B2B demand generation services

Your business might need a revamp, and that could be done with demand generation and lead-nurturing strategies. Some businesses are dedicated to attracting top-of-funnel leads via paid media or delivering the tailored message through marketing automation. All of it comes under the B2B Demand Generation Services.

It is recommended to opt for customized lead generation or demand generation services to achieve your business goals.

Account-based marketing solutions

Since a few old customers or accounts are well-known to a business, personalized message or customization is possible. Marketing to these people is one of the keys to getting the most value from the largest accounts. This account-based marketing takes a holistic view of marketing and goes beyond lead generation.

PBM service provider company

PBM refers to person-based marketing, which is a personal approach to marketing. It relates to personalizing the message and delivering the campaign at an optimal time. The marketers in a person-based marketing service provider company focus on each consumer as a unique target, rather than categorizing them into different groups. They gather customer data from other online and offline sources, and combine it all to target the detailed and rich customer profiles.

Not only this, but there are data management solutions, high-quality lead (HQL) services, sales enablement services, and lead generation services too in the list of a marketer.

It’s endless.

But B2B marketers don’t have the leisure to walk away from these multitudes of platforms as they want to execute a comprehensive marketing strategy. All that they can do is gather bits of valuable data from each of these strategies and execute their well-intentioned plans.

To survive, you know what to do next?

Hire the right B2B marketer.

When data management, lead generation, demand generation seems challenging to be managed by your internal team, take the right help. Once you know that cold-calling, targeting a large group of people together won’t work, change it immediately.