Generating B2B leads does not come naturally to every company. Lead generation plays an important role in the B2B sector. The era where sales people actively approached customers is coming to an end. Instead, many marketers implement pull-marketing. That means that you offer relevant content and position yourself as company with knowledge of the product to make customers come to you themselves (= B2B inbound marketing). In exchange for e.g., knowledge in form of a whitepaper you ask for the visitor’s details. Read more about lead generation in this article.
What is lead generation?
Generating B2B leads is something that is very important for many B2B companies. 85% of B2B content marketers indicate that B2B lead generation is the most important goal of their marketing strategy. B2B lead generation is about offering relevant content that website visitors are interested in and then in return leave their data behind. This can be for example, downloading a whitepaper, signing up for a newsletter or requesting an offer. All actions revolve around leads making themselves known by leaving their data behind. You can then determine which data is valuable and which less valuable. Afterwards, you can set up a follow up plan.
Tips for B2B lead generation
- Don’t forget the personal contact
If a website visitor leaves his data in exchange for the monthly newsletter you probably do not have to follow up on it immediately. But what is important is not to forget that personal contact still plays a role in B2B lead generation. At certain times or with certain purchases (think mainly of capital goods and view our client cases) there is still a need for personal contact. This can be done by telephone, a webinar, a video call or through an appointment. The more sophisticated technology becomes the more often this is forgotten. The salesman (expert) ultimately makes the difference to make a deal from a lead. - Give some form of value in exchange for the data
You can not always ask for data. The website visitor must get something valuable for it in return. Knowledge is one example of value for the visitor. A white paper, an e-book, or a study are further examples. You can also ask for data in return for updates or a newsletter. If you request data for a newsletter or updates and promises to send them e.g. once a month, that must also happen. At all times the data must be exchanged for something valuable. - Carefully examine your organic content
This appears logical but is good to remember. When the SEO is not good, the website is not properly indexed by Google and this in turn affects the lead generation performance. On the other hand, optimized SEO leads free visitors for your website. People click on organic results more often than on advertised results. Our research also shows that the conversions from organic are more likely to result in a purchase compared to paid advertisements. - Use the right content in the right context
Since the percentage of B2B companies using content marketing continues to increase there is a high demand for high-quality content. You can give yourself an advantage over competitors by taking into account the SEO rules when writing content. Furthermore, it is important to keep in mind the reader when writing content. Who is going to read the article? What do they want to know? Think about what type of content will fit best. Is the item about the usage of a product? Maybe a video is your best option. Does the piece of content need many graphic elements to be understandable? Think about using an infographic.
B2B lead generation – what does the B2B stand for?
Many companies in the B2B sector are starting or expanding lead generation. Research shows that 63% of B2B companies do not find the current effectiveness of their lead generation activities sufficient. In the study a distinction is made between four phases in a sales process. These are: from suspect to lead, from lead to prospect, from prospect to hot prospect and from hot prospect to customer. (Online) marketing can be held responsible for the first two stages of this funnel, from suspect to lead and from lead to prospect. As mentioned earlier, good content marketing is crucial to this. 44% of respondents indicated that they wanted to create unique and distinctive content, however that is not always easy. Many marketers focus a lot on sending commercial information. The focus should instead lie on sharing information that the visitor truly cares about e.g., tips or substantive (technical) information. 75% of the respondents indicated that they wanted to generate leads through content.
When to generate B2B leads
Not every visitor is in the same phase of the buying process. When the visitor is at an early stage he probably does not want to be bombarded with information about your products and services. Therefore wait, look at what you know about this visitor on the basis of the data obtained and let him orientate himself. When the visitor is in the middle of the customer journey it is a perfect moment to actively do lead generation. At this point, the visitor is familiar with the company and is prepared to leave his data for more in-depth information about the company’s services. This content is often specific. Think of reports, an e-book or a content video. What is important is that the visitor really gets added value in exchange for his data.
Generating B2B leads with Jelba
Generating qualitative leads is a challenge for every company and an important part of B2B marketing. We at Jelba are specialized on B2B and therefore have a good understanding and more specific knowledge in that sector. The B2B sector is very different from the B2C sector. We generate leads for different B2B companies every day. Do you want help with generating B2B leads or with other marketing activities? We would like to help you!
Finally
The goal of all our clients is to realize more sales via the internet. We ensure that they succeed in this mission. If you are a B2B company, we will gladly provide you with an insight into your online opportunities. And give you an advice where you are now compared to your competitors. Click here to request a scan.