In today’s climate, B2B companies need to refocus on lead generation strategies. Studies show that many companies are failing to generate enough B2B leads and they need new strategies. In fact, 61% of companies consider lead generation their number one struggle. No leads mean no customers, making lead generation a top priority.
The way you market your business has a huge impact on the number of leads and sales you get. Thus, when you’re not getting enough, it’s time for a change in strategy. In this blog post, we’ll cover 6 ways to increase your B2B leads.
1. Understand Your Target Audience
Quality leads start with knowing your target audience. If you don’t know who you’re talking to, how can you provide them with the information they’ll be interested in? You won’t be able to speak to their needs and help close the sale.
At the same time, study your own marketing. Look at what you’re producing to see if you can alter or improve on it. A/B testing is a great way to find out which marketing strategies are working. We are not always the best judges of what our customers really want. It’s always a good strategy to take it directly to your customers. Ask and they will answer.
2. Create a B2B lead generation strategy tailored to the needs of your customers.
Don’t just churn out any old marketing tactic and hope it works. Many companies have a strategy that is more or less taking what’s considered best practices and marching to that drum. Best marketing practices become the best for a reason, however, nothing in marketing is one-size-fits-all. By treating marketing strategies and plans as such, these businesses fail to communicate a unique value proposition and generate quality B2B leads.
3. Become an authoritative voice in your industry by creating content that addresses their pain points and challenges.
Communicate with your marketing leads frequently. Show up and show up well. Find out what their problems and challenges are and solve them in content that you publish online.
By doing this, you position yourself as an authority figure in your field. A lot of the time, when the general population thinks of content marketing they’re going to think of business blogs, emails, social media, etc. And they wouldn’t be wrong. Much of the time, however, there is a misconception it means producing as much content as possible, putting as many keywords on a page as you can.
However, this has very little to do with a good content marketing strategy. Creating value-adding content: content that truly addresses the needs and questions of your target customer; is what will establish you as an authority in your industry. People will come to trust that you have the answers, which is crucial when they’re looking for a solution to their problems in their company.
4. Use social media to build relationships with potential clients and offer valuable information about your company's services or products.
Social media is a great B2B marketing tool for starting conversations and building relationships with potential clients. According to recent studies, 66% of marketers are finding themselves generating more leads with only 6 hours a week spent on social media marketing efforts. For B2B companies, LinkedIn and Twitter are typically the most effective, however, it’s important to research your specific buyer personas and look for where you can best connect with them. Regardless, it comes down to this:
Habits to Adopt: Regular Brand Monitoring – at least once a day and know what’s being said about you in the B2B space. You can do this through Google Alerts, Twilert, etc.
If you create valuable content – in the form of videos or blog posts – and share it through social media channels, quality leads will be able to find that information.
The key here is to make sure the content you’re sharing is valuable in the eyes of your target customer base. This marketing tactic can help you generate followers and industry status among your competitors.
5. Build trust through testimonials, case studies, and reviews from satisfied customers
To attract more of the same happy customers, you should always be on the lookout for positive outcomes. That means being able to spot customers that have had a wonderful experience with your product. A review or case study will help you attract more clients looking for similar experiences.
6. Add a Personal Feel to Sales
A sale is never just about the product. It’s also about you, your company, and what makes it special. If there’s a personal element on an organization or individual level, it will help build stronger relationships with B2B leads. People like to work with people they like. It’s as simple as that.
Generating Quality Leads is a Whole Picture Strategy
As you can see, there’s a lot of work that goes into generating quality leads for your company. If you want quality leads you need to cast a quality net. We’ve outlined some basic steps that have helped our clients grow their business and turn more prospects into paying customers. These steps are a good place to start to orient yourself and then you’ll need to prepare to go deeper to put strategy into a plan of action.