5 Tips For B2B Lead Generation

Being able to generate business and also revenue has never been so important due to the current financial status of the world. Working in a business to business or B2B market has never been more competitive, and with companies tightening purse strings you need to focus on generating leads. In our latest blog we take a look at 5 tips for B2B Lead Generation that could really change the face of your business.

What Is Lead Generation?

Lead Generation is the process of using marketing and sales to approach and engage potential customers. By identifying who is interested in your products and services you can then use various methods of outreach to work them along your pipeline to turn them into paying customers. How you generate leads will be specific to your business, but most will use multiple marketing channels as well as call to actions on specific pages of their website as a method of data capture.

What Can I Do To Better My Lead Generation?

Lead Generation is a necessity in all businesses as it helps to generate extra revenue. Most will already have a lead generation plan in place, and will be utilising multiple sales and marketing channels. However, there is always room for improvement. Some of the tips below are ones that are commonly used and are proven to produce results when done correctly and consistently. The 5 tips for B2B lead generation include the following:-

Content Marketing

The use of content marketing is one of the most common and also most successful marketing channels in which you can use. By sharing content about your business and industry you can really help to build your reputation and following. By adding value to your potential audience and customers they will buy into you. 

Writing content can come in many forms such as articles, blogs or even news feeds. Whatever you choose, ensure that they are adding value at every opportunity. Now, it is not as simple as just writing a blog and leaving it on your website, you need to look at how people are going to find it. This is where SEO comes in. SEO or Search Engine Optimisation is the process of ensuring that your content can be found by your searchers. 

There are many elements to SEO, however a big focus is the use of keywords. Understanding what your audience searches for is key to being found. Therefore writing content based around these key search terms is required in order to generate extra traffic. Once they are on your website you can then look at how you capture data.

Social Media Marketing

Social Media is one of the best marketing channels you can use. This is mainly due to its amazing reach, but also its free use. Now in a B2B market you need to have a presence on all of the platforms, but LinkedIn is going to be key. By using this platform you can ensure that you build out your business network and connections which may become beneficial in the future. This is backed up by over 62% of marketers think that LinkedIn is the best B2B platform in which you generate leads.

Content once again is going to be key on this platform. Think of your audience and how you are going to promote your business to them. Most of the network connections you make will be business owners or key decision makers, so the need to remain professional yet engaging is going to be very important to success. 

Generating leads with social media is very possible as long as you have the right strategy in place. Understand that consistency on these platforms is going to be key, and ensure the content you use is engaging and will draw in your customer base. As with content, your social media content needs to be based around what others are searching for. Utilising a business and personal page is also the best way to see results.

PPC

When building a marketing and also lead generation strategy it is hard not to look at paid marketing or PPC. Content Marketing and Social Media Marketing are two of the longer gains marketing channels that you can use. However if you are looking for quick results then paid advertising is the way to go. 

As the name suggests there is some investment required in order to get this form of marketing set up and working. PPC works on the basis of keywords on Google. You pay for each time your advert is clicked on relating to the keywords you choose. The more common keywords cost more, but usually will end up with more hits. By putting yourself in front of your customers you can attract them with your products and services, or even to begin to capture their data. 

PPC is a great marketing tool in B2B, however you need to ensure you have planned properly and efficiently to use it. If not, you may find yourself losing money instead of making. Have a clear way to track your metrics and also results so you know that the money you are investing is benefiting your business.

Focus On Social Shares

Social shares is key to driving your network and reaching that wider audience. Social shares can really be called engagement. With most social media platforms you need engagement from your network in order to reach everyone. You cannot just put a post on and all 3000 of your connections see it. 

Begin with something a little more interactive, be that comment below your favourite place to holiday, or whatever is representative of your business. Engagement is going to be key for reaching your social media and content posts, but also ensuring that people who are not within your network also see your business.

Build An Email List

Data is one of the most valuable tools in the world of business. Therefore building an email list and sending out regular email marketing can be a real key to success. Email marketing is great for re-engagement with previous clients and customers, or just to touch base with those who may be signed up to your email list. 

To begin with, use the data from your website and your content to really figure out where people land the most. From here you can look to use calls to action, or data capture tools to help build that database. Once you have the database it is time to get emailing. Standing out with email marketing can sometimes be hard, however make sure that you have something that will engage people and get them interested. Usually a monthly email will do the trick. 

Email marketing is sometimes one of the forgotten fruits when it comes to being able to engage your customers. However, when done correctly it can be a great lead generation tool to find out who is interested in your new products and offerings.

To Conclude

So, the 5 tips for B2B Lead Generation show some of the best and most effective ways in which you can help improve your business. Lead Generation is a key component of business and must not be ignored. Embrace it and think outside the box in order to attract your audience into becoming customers. 

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