Lead generation B2B is one of the key elements of sales growth for companies operating in the business sector. Website traffic alone is not enough if it does not translate into genuine business contacts. That is why it is so important to understand which activities and tools actually support the acquisition of high-quality leads B2B. It is important to reach those customers for whom the offer you wish to present will be of interest. You can reach them through various channels; what matters is effectively acquiring contacts, or so-called leads. These enable you to present a specific offer to those people who are known to be interested in it to some extent. This is because lead generation activities are designed to reach people who are interested in a service or product, or who operate in the same sector. This ensures that you do not acquire contacts who are unlikely to respond to your efforts anyway. If you wish to obtain precisely such leads from various sectors, without verifying whether they will be interested in the service, it is best to purchase a database or make so-called cold calls. In today’s article, however, we will focus on how to ensure that lead generation is effective in every respect.
What are leads?
The simplest way to put it would be to say that these are the customer’s contact details. In reality, this refers to any contact information left by a customer on a website, a Facebook page or any other platform. It isn’t necessarily always valuable or likely to result in a sale. That’s why such leads need to be verified. Only after checking to what extent they match the customer profile can they be classified more precisely.
Another type of lead is a marketing lead. This is a lead that is worth further follow-up. It means there is potential for the person in question to become a customer of the company. Such conclusions can be drawn based on the person’s behaviour – for example, the time they spent on the website or which pages they viewed. If we have access to, for example, that person’s LinkedIn profile, we can check where they work, which will also help us verify the quality of that contact.
See also: Online wholesale business – what is it and how do you set one up?
The final type of lead is a sales lead. This is, of course, the most valuable of them all. As the name suggests, it is a contact that is worth utilising for sales purposes. If a company is large and has several departments, such a lead will be passed on to the sales department, which will be responsible for presenting the offer and carrying out further sales activities.
How do you generate leads?
There are so many ways to generate leads that it’s difficult to list them all, as new ones are constantly emerging. Some will be universal and work well in any industry, whilst others will only be suitable for a specific type of business. A creative marketing department should come up with innovative ways to generate leads to help the company continue to grow. In today’s article, we’d like to highlight some of the most popular and, at the same time, most effective ways of generating leads. However, their effectiveness depends largely on the specific nature of the industry, as well as the quality of the tools themselves. It’s not enough simply to know which tool can be used to generate leads; it’s also important to use it correctly.
Content marketing
This is a very broad concept. In the past, it may have mainly referred to running a blog, but nowadays content marketing encompasses a much wider range of activities. Of course, we mustn’t forget about the blog – it remains a very valuable tool. However, it is important that the blog’s subject matter aligns with your business activities. This won’t always mean huge numbers of visitors, but any leads left in comments or via email will certainly come from people interested in the very subject area in which you operate. Webinars are currently very popular. They are simply the perfect tool for generating leads. People are always keen to expand their knowledge, so they’ll be happy to sign up for a webinar that interests them. What constitutes a lead in this context? Although the webinar itself is free and you won’t earn anything from it, signing up requires participants to provide their details: full name and email address. That’s the lead. Knowing that this is someone interested in the topic, you’ll be able to create a personalised message for them. It’s even better if someone asks questions during the webinar; then you can find out even more about them and use that information when creating an offer tailored to them. E-books work in almost exactly the same way as webinars. They are a little easier to create, as they do not require, for example, the courage to speak in public. However, they are just as effective. The advantage of e-books is that the knowledge they contain is more systematically organised, and you can refer to them at any time and extract exactly what interests you. The process for generating leads is the same as for a webinar. Research and reports are another excellent way to generate leads. The best method is to share excerpts on your website – for example, in a blog post – and allow visitors to download the full version after providing their email address.
Mailings and newsletters
These are further excellent ways to generate leads. Email marketing is, in fact, a secondary use, as you need to already have some contacts – in this case, email addresses – to set it up. However, you can use them to send information about specific offers, as well as simply to remind customers of your business. Newsletters serve a similar purpose; to subscribe, a potential customer must provide their email address. Of course, hardly anyone will want to subscribe to a newsletter for no reason. However, you can effectively encourage them to do so. This could be, for example, a discount code, or a preview of some interesting and engaging content that they’ll receive in the newsletter.
Social media
It might seem that generating leads via social media is only relevant for businesses such as B2C, but in reality this is not the case. Both Facebook and Instagram can prove effective for the activities described at B2B. It is important to create specific and valuable content. In both cases, a lead can be a comment left under a post or a private message. However, the social media platform specifically designed for business activities is LinkedIn. On this platform, though, it is definitely more worthwhile to build a personal brand. Private profiles – or rather, professional personal profiles – are far more likely to be viewed and read than company profiles.
See also: Facebook ‘B2B’ adverts – how to get them right?
Too much of a good thing isn’t healthy
It would seem that generating as many leads as possible should be the aim of every business. However, this depends to a large extent on the nature of the business. For companies selling a variety of goods where the sales process is straightforward and does not require lengthy sales discussions, generating as many leads as possible should indeed be the aim. Selling larger quantities of goods does not pose a major logistical challenge. The situation is different for certain services or specialised goods. In such cases, a large number of leads may mean there is not enough time to deal with them properly. Sometimes it is far better to filter the leads much more rigorously – that is, to reject a larger number in order to retain only those that are actually likely to result in sales.
Lead management
This is lead management, the aim of which is to process leads in such a way that it results in a sale. That is why it is so important to carry out an initial screening of leads, which will determine whether a particular lead is worth pursuing at all. It is equally important to route leads to the appropriate departments and individuals. This is why it is vital to analyse these leads and allocate them appropriately. It is a good idea to profile customers and assign them to sales representatives who are simply a better fit for them.
Summary
Effective lead generation B2B relies on a combination of the right tools and a tailored strategy. The quality of leads is more important than their quantity. That is why it is so important to focus on lead generation tools that provide the most highly targeted leads possible, which can then be easily converted into sales leads and passed on to the sales department, which should then contact them to close the sale. A higher volume of leads will not always translate into better sales for the company, as analysing a large number of contacts can, for example, be very time-consuming; this is why it is important to filter leads appropriately and, where possible, to do so automatically. A good lead – that is, one gathered using the most precise tool possible – will simply require less time during the sales process itself. It will be much easier to reach a customer who is genuinely interested in a specific offer.
Questions and Answers
What is a ‘B2B’ lead?
A lead B2B is a potential business client who has shown an interest in a company’s offering. This could be, for example, a contact obtained via a form or a request for a quote.
Why is lead generation on B2B more difficult than on B2C?
The decision-making process at B2B is longer and more complex. Leads often have to go through several stages of verification.
What activities help to generate leads B2B?
These most commonly include content marketing, SEO, advertising campaigns and social media activities. It is important that these activities are consistent.
What tools are used for lead generation B2B?
These include, amongst other things, forms, CRM systems, marketing automation and advertising platforms. These tools help to collect and qualify leads.
Does every lead at B2B have sales value?
No, that’s why qualifying them is important. Focusing on the quality of leads improves sales effectiveness.