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.
