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The Pocket Guide to B2B Lead Generation

6 February 2020
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When it comes to generating B2B leads, quality always beats quantity. A smaller but more refined group of potential customers will get your marketing efforts much further than scores of mismatched leads, hastily harvested from dubious sources.

For many companies, taking potential customers from top to bottom of the sales funnel can be a bumpy ride, but getting the right leads to actually arrive at the funnel is even more challenging. To address this issue, we discuss some of the places and ways you could generate your leads with flair.

When it comes to generating B2B leads, quality always beats quantity. A smaller but more refined group of potential customers will get your marketing efforts much further than scores of mismatched leads, hastily harvested from dubious sources.

For many companies, taking potential customers from top to bottom of the sales funnel can be a bumpy ride, but getting the right leads to actually arrive at the funnel is even more challenging. To address this issue, we discuss some of the places and ways you could generate your leads with flair.

B2B Lead Generation Channels

The first thing we should make clear about lead generation channels is that none of them comes with a guarantee of success. Your ultimate results will depend on many factors, including the niche you’re in or the audience you’re trying to appeal to.

For that reason, it’s essential that you use direct and trackable methods that will provide actionable feedback on what works and what does not. Here are some of our favourite lead gen options out there.

PPC Campaigns

PPC (pay-per-click) or CPC (cost-per-click) campaigns offer a complementary boost to the organic search your business gets from search engines. Run inside advertising platforms like Google Ads, Facebook Business Manager and LinkedIn Ads, they bring in new leads through a paid ad space that charges a fee whenever a visitor clicks through an ad.

Last year, WordStream updated their data on the performance of Google Ads PPC campaigns across twenty sectors. It’s clear that PPC offers great marketing potential for many industries, including automotive, consumer services, employment and finance.

adwords industry benchmarks

Using PPC campaigns can help your lead generation efforts in a number of ways. Their primary objective is to catch organic traffic from search engines that may be beyond your reach due to underlying SEO problems or fierce competition. By bidding against more specific, paid keywords, you’ll be able to fill in those blanks.

Another strong argument for using PPC is that it’s very scalable and suitable for any type and size of business. You can set daily spending limits and have full control over your marketing budget. Plus, you only pay when somebody’s really interested in what you have to offer.

Last but not least, PPC traffic is easily trackable. By coupling your campaigns with tools like Google Analytics, you can analyse keywords, particular ads or whole campaigns to see which yield the best ROI. This way, it’s possible to determine if your cost per clicks and conversions match expectations for a given channel.

Remarketing/Retargeting PPC

Since the B2B sales process is rather lengthy in nature, some leads may fall out of the sales funnel or bide their time before making the decision. One of the greatest strengths of PPC campaigns is their ability to be redeployed when needed and win back the leads that would’ve otherwise been lost.

In a nutshell, when people interact with your brand by visiting your website or using a mobile app, a tracking cookie is placed on their machine. That cookie then triggers your ads each time those users come in contact with an advertising network like Google AdWords Search or Google Display Network.

Here’s what Google says about the benefits of their remarketing system:

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Even if your leads initially don’t take any action that would lead to conversion, retargeting will keep them in the loop for longer. Think of it as a friendly reminder that there’s business to be done and you’re waiting for their move.

Remarketing On Social Media

Remarketing campaigns are not limited to the Google Ad environment. You can retarget your ads in a similar fashion using social media platforms.

For instance, Facebook Ad Manager comes with a functionality called the Facebook Pixel. Pixel is basically a piece of code, operating much like the one used by Google, which lets you analyse your ad traffic and see where the conversions are coming from.

Pixel also makes it possible to funnel the ad traffic to the leads who have already interacted with your brand and present the highest potential for conversion. Here’s a short video showcasing its implementation:

[Create and Install the Facebook Pixel: A Facebook Ads Tutorial | Facebook for Business - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQWfNB1EV7Y)

LinkedIn, on the other hand, uses the LinkedIn Insight Tag that tracks user interactions with your website and feeds that data into the Campaign Manager. Tagging gives you the ability to segment your audience based on the specific pages they browse and target your ads accordingly.

Review Sites And Directories

Trust and credibility, or lack thereof, are crucial factors in generating B2B leads. A 2017 collaborative report by G2 Crowd and Heinz Marketing found that 71% of B2B buyers who are at the consideration stage of the sales funnel look up online reviews.

If you want to leverage the power of trust in your lead gen efforts, make sure that your business is present on review sites and directories like Trustpilot, Yelp or FinancesOnline, just to name a few.

screenshot of website

While this is definitely a long-term strategy, investing time and effort in building credibility is something you should do alongside your active marketing campaigns. Apart from being an additional source of leads for your business, the presence on reputable sites will positively impact your SEO in the long run.

E-mail Marketing

Augmented by AI and machine learning, e-mail is the only medium that has managed to age gracefully and remain a staple in modern marketing efforts. It remains the go-to content-distribution channel for 93% of B2B marketers.

Statistics show that UK businesses are allocating substantial parts of marketing budgets to this channel, and for good reason. In 2018, DMA put e-mail ROI at £32.28 for every £1 spent.

data bar chart graph

In order to take full advantage of e-mail comms, you’ll need a handful of things to get started:

  • A CRM solution coupled with a robust e-mail marketing tool like MailChimp or GetResponse to segment your leads and automate the process. According to Campaign Monitor, segmented campaigns can boost e-mail revenue by 760%.
  • A strong lead magnet (e-books, webinars, courses, market reports) to drive leads your way and offer enticing introductory value. Video has become one of the leading marketing tools, with 87% of businesses incorporating it into marketing efforts.
  • A refined e-mail structure that checks all the boxes of high-quality electronic communication, including irresistible subject lines, mobile-friendly layout and a gripping CTA (call-to-action). Your e-mails should also rely on plain-text to keep them out of SPAM folders.
  • A personalised approach based on collected data and behavioural patterns of specific users. Do people open your e-mails? Do they click on links? Which links get the most attention? Analytics tools will help you answer these questions and improve your results.

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing used to be persistently ignored by the B2B sector. After all, why would serious, professional brands engage in such a trifle?

Fast forward to today, active presence on social media platforms is a must for every company, no matter the size or industry. Online communities provide uninhibited means of communication, a great deal of publicity and scores of leads to tap into.

So, where should we start?

With well over 500 million professionals using the platform, LinkedIn is the obvious choice for B2B companies who want to make their mark in social media. The most enticing aspect of the network, however, is that 45% of its audience holds an upper-management rank, so it’s a great place to generate high-profile leads and directly connect with decision-makers.

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While Facebook may not seem as business-oriented as LinkedIn, 54% of B2B marketers state it’s their favourite network. In fact, HootSuite 2018 report found that 89% of B2B businesses use Facebook in their marketing efforts. Facebook ad campaigns are yet another source of quality leads, provided that you approach them with solid social proof and very specific copy that will sieve out unqualified leads.

These are only two of the networks suitable for lead gen purposes, but it’s a solid start if you’re not into social yet. Just make sure you’re not an idle observer and actively participate on the platform you choose.

Content Marketing

Content marketing deserves honourable mention among lead generation strategies. Although it works best on the intersection of other channels, it also constitutes the most valuable asset you can distribute freely to attract a very specific audience.

CMI’s 2019 research into B2B content marketing found that 90% of top tier marketing professionals believe delivering relevant and quality information is more important than sales and promotion. Such a non-transactional manner may not immediately harvest scores of leads, but it helps build authority and establish a company as an expert in its niche.

bar chart of spending increasing

The same research also suggests audio-visual (videos, live streams) and written content (blogs, articles) are gaining popularity among B2B marketers as effective ways to drive traffic. Sharing exclusive industry insights and helpful content that’s relevant to your niche is an effective strategy to spark attention and secure conversions in the long run.

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How To Prepare A Lead Generation Campaign

Regardless of the marketing channel you finally settle on, you should make proper preparations to launch your marketing campaign without hiccups. The following is a quick wrap-up of key considerations you can refer to or discuss with your creative agency.

  • Make an inventory of all the services and products that will become part of your lead generation campaign. With that in hand, proceed to craft your USP for each channel (unique selling proposition) and decide on the benefits that will connect best with the audience you’re going to approach.
  • Create campaign-specific landing pages and signup forms that will be personalised and unique for each channel, with a CTA included.
  • Determine your profit margins and the amount of money you’re willing to spend on a lead. For PPC campaigns that would mean establishing a desired CPC (cost-per-click), CPA (cost-per-action) or CPM (cost-per-mile).
  • Leave some headspace for improvements and A/B testing. Here’s a handy little testing guide from Optimizely to get you started.

If you’re still looking for your dream lead gen campaign, look no further. Let us know and we’ll get one tailored just for your business!

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