Two of the biggest marketing challenges facing your B2B business right now are:
- B2B lead generation strategy
- Lead enhancement for the leads you generate.
Not all leads are equal. Some will be mere inquiries that quickly peter out because they were just curious and had no real need for your products or services. Others will be rough diamonds – quality, qualified leads that are in the buying zone and are serious about learning more about the solution your business offers.
As you can see sales leads are the lifeblood of any B2B organization. That’s because once you have a lead, you can use the tools within your sales playbook to nudge a prospect along your sales funnel and convert them into a customer.
But how do you handle B2B lead generation in the first place?
Here are 10 proven B2B lead generation strategies for you to explore in your B2B organization:
B2B Lead Generation Inbound Strategies
#1: Help through BLOGGING
Inbound B2B lead generation starts with blogging. With a blog you can attract leads by creating and sharing quality, educational content that answers the questions your target audience are asking.
#2: Build relationships and positioning via SOCIAL MEDIA
As well as attracting traffic to your website by posting links to your blog, landing pages and other relevant online content, social media offers an unrivalled opportunity to identify prospects, engage in conversations and build relationships with potential customers.
#3: Demonstrate your expertise and business personality through WEBINARS
Due to the time investment, you can assume the people who sign-up for webinars already have an inherent interest in you or your business – and this interest can be leveraged to encourage them to sign-up to the next step of your sales process. In addition, because webinars are educational, you can use them to inform customers and begin to make you the obvious choice to solve the problem they’re facing.
#4: Optimize your website and content with SEO
Identify the keywords and search phrases your buyer persona is using when thinking about the products and services that you offer, and then seamlessly integrate these into your content to help you move up the listings and get found in organic searches.
#5: Attract paid-for traffic with PPC
Operating in a highly competitive arena? Then try Pay Per Click advertising and secure your spot on page one of Google. In addition, you could explore the various developing opportunities to advertise in social newsfeeds and timelines.
#6: Convert website traffic via LEAD MAGNETS
Offer prospects valuable content in the form of a white paper, eBook or video series in exchange for their contact details. Then once they’ve been added to your CRM, you can deploy sales tactics to qualify the leads and then start to nudge them further along your sales funnel towards a close.
Lead Generation Outbound Strategies
#7: Hunt out qualified prospects via COLD-CALLING 2.0
Make highly relevant “cold” calls to prospects that you’ve already identified to be a decision maker and interested in the products or services that you have to offer. This is entirely different to traditional cold-calling where a blanket message would be put out in an attempt to find interested people. In comparison, Cold-Calling 2.0 is a proven way to warm up leads and secure a face-to-face meeting.
#8: Get in front of lots of potential prospects at TRADE SHOWS AND EXHIBITIONS
With the right strategy and proper planning, trade shows and exhibitions can become a highly effective way to get in front of a large number of potential customers in a short space of time. If you hone your strategy for sifting out the time wasters from the real prospects and ensure you capture contact details directly onto your CRM, you can add a sizeable number of fresh leads into your sales pipeline in a short timescale.
#9: Attract leads and make sales via DIRECT MAIL
Whilst your own list will always outperform purchased lists, once you have snail mail addresses for prospects that fit your buyer persona, you can create a carefully crafted mailing campaign to new prospects.
And a bit of both…
#10: Identify relevant prospects and offer deals via EMAIL MARKETING
Create targeted emails that ask for referrals and you significantly enhance the effectiveness of any cold-calling by avoiding wasting time with a generic, blanket message. In addition, create offers and value added content to send to your list and encourage them to share to entice new subscribers to your door.
What’s missing from the list? What lead generation strategies have you used in you B2B organization? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments below.
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