B2B stands for ‘business-to-business’ and generally means that you as a business are selling your products to another company rather than an individual consumer. Hence products/services must be designed as such. So should the customer service. It has been observed time and time again that B2B decision-makers prioritise high quality and data-driven information to make their jobs and lives easier. This is the kind of information that directly solves or provides solutions for their problems and prompts them to click the ‘buy now’ option.
To talk about leads, they are not just random consumers you see as potential customers but are actually the one a step away from conversion. These are the ones standing at your porch, a step away from ringing the doorbell. It’s your job to tempt them, though. Grab their attention and give them value while proving that your service is the answer to their problem.
And we know it doesn’t sound very easy, and to be honest with you, it is but for a reason. You see, generating quality leads is the pillar of developing an excellent B2B marketing strategy. And luckily for you, we have some tactics articulated for you down below that will surely ease out the process.
B2B Lead Generation: Tips and Tactics
Lead generation is generally about collecting a potential customer’s details such as their name, email id, job or company details etc. This information is then used to convert them through customized sales emails of sales, pitches or other ads and campaigns etc. A study by Hubspot suggests that about 14 percent of leads are achieved from SEO, 13 per cent from email marketing and 12 per cent from social media marketing. These three have proved to be the best lead sources for B2B companies.
But coming to the fundamental question: How exactly do we achieve them? With the sources in hand, we still need a strategy and a plan to catch those sales in the form of leads. Well, here is your answer, sir. Please take a look at some of our tips to help you become the ultimate magnet for B2Bs
1. Provide Top-quality Content
Showcase some of your premia and highest quality content to collect the details of new eligible leads that must be attracted.B2B buyers require only the best of the best. A study, In fact, shows that about 74% of B2Bs expect the access to content such as infographics with no registration, yet 77 per cent are still willing to provide the most bais of details for e-books and whitepaper.
Consider these tips to get the most out of your content
- Use intelligent forms and avoid the use of monotonous requests for ‘fill outs’
- Develop a landing page that is SEO optimised for each section of content.
- Set the landing page so that it redirects to a ‘Thank You’ message once a customer downloads the given material.
- Remember to add links for social shares here and urge the users to click on them.
2. Become the Co-Author of Your E-book
Another strategy is to form a partnership with businesses by co-authoring or co-branding an e-book. It’s a great way to increase your brand’s name. It gets a fresh and new audience along with great content for your partners to market. Though choosing partners must be an affair well carried out. The following points must be considered.
Choose a company whose services complement yours. This is something your potential customers will require.
- Choose an agency that has a good reputation. You don’t want to become part of a scandal or a wrong name generally.
- A company with a slightly different demographic than yours will do good for expanding your audience too.
- Experts in the industry that will bring a sense of reliability for your audience about your products.
3. Offer Free Trials
A great way to learn more about your potential customer’s likes and dislikes is to offer free trials and demos. This will assist you in getting in touch with the goals they want to achieve and the challenges they face. You can improve your services to suit their tastes. And if it already meets them, then Bingo! You earned some leads for yourself.
Make sure that the demo you offer gives only a taste of your actual product and keep space for feedback to keep learning. Offering an introductory trial will have customers over the threshold of buying and will present them with an easy path to continue buying.
4.Do More Social Shares
The owner of Videofruit, Bryan Harris, demonstrates the wonders of viral marketing tactics that make use of social sharing to increase leads. He says that by asking for a share to grow your audience, you have a chance at making it go viral. It’s a great strategy to get high conversions without paying for marketing, and what’s more, is that it only asks for a few seconds.
Bryan even showcased an example where a post received more than 3K shares on FaceBook after a customer signed up for the offer.
Another trick that follows is to use bonuses and extra offers. This shows you are becoming a trusted influence in your industry. When your customers share your offers among their circle, your name will increase without you spending on ads. Make sure your requests are self-explanatory and sound highly appealing. This is because it has been observed that chances of conversions increase when the shared bids don’t need additional captions from the person sharing them.
5. Using Quora Q&As and Reddit to generate more B2B leads
While marketing your product, a unique strategy is to answer the FAQs regarding it. The only problem is finding a way to get this content in front of consumers and find their questions.
Quora luckily solves this problem. As a social q/a site, it is an underestimated platform for B2B buyers. Di, you know that writer Nicolas Cole built a strong reputation there simply by answering questions with detailed and sometimes personal answers too. This stunt alone allowed him to grow his 7-figure content agency, The Digital Press. It’s time for you to identify your buyers, answer their curiosities, link back to your content and gain profits!
6. Publishing and promoting more case studies
We are not unfamiliar with B2B buyers being highly analytical and risk avoidant. They ask multiple questions, look for many reassurances and need the approval of numerous decision-makers before completing a purchase.
And though they are frustrating, to say the least, sometimes, but looking from a point that favours us, they admit that case studies give them a sense of credibility. Hence use the one you possess and showcase them proudly to quell them of their fears. This will not only ease out the lead generation process but will hopefully increase it.
In Conclusion
Generation B2B leads no walk in the park. It’s tough and requires consistent planning and analysis. A tip to remember is that B2B customers are hard to please and hard to lose. Once you gain their trust, the chances are that they will be staying with you in the long run. So don’t be discouraged if you can please them right away. Allow yourself the space to learn. That being said, good luck with finding your leads. I hope this article helps.
