5 B2B Lead Generation Strategies to Promote Sales
When it comes to B2B sales—or sales of any kind, really—the most obvious first step to success is lead generation. It seems straightforward: unless you’re a monopoly, if you can’t generate interest in your product, who will you sell to? But it’s also critical to promote quality leads. In fact, according to the 2021 Copper/Outfunnel Revenue Marketing Report, lead quality ranks as one of the most important metrics for business success.
Lead generation can prove a strong indicator of a company's success at maximizing sales with low cost. After all, the highest quality leads are the ones that are easiest to convert. On the other hand, low-quality leads involve heavy investment, but a lower conversion success rate. The higher-quality your leads, the better your sales vs. cost ratio should be.
But how can you bolster your B2B lead generation efforts. Consider integrating the following strategies into your approach to boost engagement, expand outreach and lock in more sales.
1. Publish Original Research and Case Studies
Case studies are an excellent, time-tested way to boost lead quality. In fact, HubSpot reports that case studies are the fifth most popular form of content, behind blogs, eBooks and visual content.
When it comes to B2B lead generation in particular, case studies are your best friend. Unlike many B2C shoppers, the B2B customer is looking for more exacting performance metrics. A case study presents an opportunity to get in the weeds regarding how well your product performs. You can also use case studies in conjunction with other forms of content, such as blogs and sales collateral. Keep a few case studies prepared and on hand—you never know when they’ll come in handy.
Of course, a case study is only useful if prepared correctly. A difficult-to-follow study will quickly lose audience attention, or worse, make you seem unprofessional. As content specifically intended to boost your credentials, a perception of amateurishness is the last thing you want.
For best execution of your case studies, follow these guidelines:
- Lead with results
- Focus on specific results
- Add visual content, such as graphs and charts, to depict data
- Divide sections thematically for better flow
- Integrate customer quotes
- Add a clear call-to-action (CTA) at the end
2. Reach Out Through Email
Even as new forms of outreach come and go, email remains one of the best—and simplest—ways to begin and maintain a relationship with a prospect and further generate interest in your products.
Many worry about the “cold email” approach. Similar to the “cold call,” this entails sending out emails without an existing connection. While email remains a popular form of business communication, the deluge of emails the average person receives means that many spam filters are set on high-alert. How can you ensure that your “cold emails” break through and arrive safely in your prospects’ main inboxes?
To produce B2B email campaigns that actually lead to lead generation, personalization and plainspokenness are the name of the game. Make sure you lead every email with an appropriate subject line, and avoid spammy, shouty (all-caps) language like “FREE! LOOK HERE! NOW!” Be straightforward: make your request clear and your value easily identifiable. With an intro email campaign, the aim is to spark a conversation, not push a sale. Finally, remember to give a contact point. Always provide the seller's name, contact, website and social media links.
Writing and sending off a perfectly-composed cold email does not automatically guarantee a stellar success rate. That depends on outside factors like your audience’s goals, mood and experience. Patience is key when using an email campaign for B2B lead generation.
3. Exchange Content For Information
How do you build a contact list? Especially today, in a world rife with scams, prospects are loath to offer up their personal information for no good reason. The answer? Give them a reason. Offering up free information—think eBooks, tutorials, demos, courses and other guides—in exchange for contact info turns the process into a fair exchange for leads.
From the get-go, your prospects are looking for more information about their choices. By providing them with free content from the moment they engage, you appear both eager and transparent in the interaction. This can endear you to a data-driven B2B client, and result in quicker lead generation down the road.
As with anything, there are dos and don’ts to consider for this strategy. For example, don't spam your prospects. Make sure that you actually offer the potential customer something of value, not just a gimmick to ask them to buy products.
You also want to make sure your outreach is well-designed. You can offer the most compelling freebies in the world, but if it’s not presented in a way that catches the viewer’s eye, they’ll pass you right by. Intuitive software like Ingage can help you craft head-turning content and presentations that are sure to pull in leads.
The content-for-info exchange is a timeless strategy that is almost certain to pay off—but you have to take the time to do it right!
4. Use Video to Reel Your Buyers In
A picture says a thousand words—so imagine how many a motion picture can say? Video remains a powerful marketing tool because of its multi-sensory engagement and easy consumption. Videos stimulate multiple receptors, which means that even if your viewer is not actively watching, they are still digesting information on some level. You should integrate videos into all of your B2B lead generation efforts.
Additionally, videos are easy to convert to other material. Advanced speech-to-text tools make it easier to transform video dialogue to natural copy, rather than the reverse. You can also extract audio from a video to make a podcast episode. Video provides an easy springboard into a multimedia campaign.
Video media is particularly effective for testimonials. It’s much harder to refute someone’s experience when you see them saying it with conviction, rather than reading text transferred without a face.
Your content strategy must be intensely focused if you're banking on video marketing. Viral videos may generate millions of views in a matter of hours; however, the number of views don’t matter if only 1% of the viewers are part of the intended audience. You want to produce targeted videos that show you understand your market and existing products.
5. Post Online Reviews
Online reviews are a proven form of testimonial that increases credibility and attracts new customers. Customer reviews signal to shoppers that real people have used your product already, and have real opinions about it.
Search platforms such as Google and Amazon also base their listings on product reviews, boosting results with reviews rather than their counterparts who don't track user feedback. Search rankings are critical for maximizing engagement and sales, especially if your business operates in a relatively crowded field. Positive feedback in particular increases your lead flow, and suppresses negative reviews that may push your profile lower on search result pages.
Considering its importance, you should encourage customers to leave positive feedback as often as possible and respond to all reviews, whether they’re positive or negative. You want to address critique constructively and in a timely fashion (though perhaps not right away, as it may appear defensive). Start with an apology, and look for ways to take the issue offline.
Enhance Your Content With Powerful Presentations
Whether it’s B2B or B2C, a coherent, savvy marketing strategy is essential for lead generation. Integrating these suggested approaches can help boost your rates. But regardless of your chosen approach, a powerful, captivating presentation is always a must. That’s why you need an innovative presentation platform like Ingage at your disposal.
Ingage gives you the tools to include marketing content, video and online reviews in one cohesive platform. Plus, robust analytics help you further respond to feedback and adjust materials accordingly while an intuitive, collaboration-oriented interface keeps your whole team on the same page.
What are you waiting for? Reach out to Ingage for a free demo and level up your sales presentations today!