Any marketing campaign pursues key goals - lead generation and customer acquisition. The only question is how to generate them. This is what will be discussed in today's article.
What are B2B Leads?
B2B leads are potential customers who have shown interest in your offer. The only key difference between B2B leads and B2C leads are that the leads are business representatives, not consumers.
Leads in B2B are individuals representing companies who have expressed a desire to discuss an offer, who have left contact details, or an application in any way.
Important! The business lead is not yet a client. But he can potentially become one because he has already shown interest in your proposal. The more effectively you are engaged in lead generation, the more potential customers you attract.
What are the Channels for Lead Generation in the B2B Segment?
You can attract B2B leads and increase their number in different ways and through different channels. Moreover, you may well use some channels even without the involvement of third-party specialists, like email marketing tools and others. But if you are not sure about your own experience, we still recommend working with experts.
Today, it is not difficult to find a B2B lead generation company among b2b marketing services. We can select Cience which is included in the Top Lead Generation Service Companies according to Belkins and uses advanced sales tools and extensive experience of its specialists to help every business find high-quality B2B leads in appointment setting, help with the search for prospecting customers to speed up the sales process, create an effective sales funnel, collect valuable data and optimize their sales.
So, what are lead generation channels? We will name five main ones.
1. Contextual Advertising Google Adwords
Contextual advertising is rarely used as the basis of B2B online lead generation, but it is a good auxiliary tool that can and should be used. However, there are some industries where contextual advertising may well be the main engine of lead generation.
2. Targeted Social Media Advertising
It is good if it is necessary to sell specific products for which there is still no formed demand. Targeted advertising is an opportunity to find "cold" customers, warm up their interest and bring them to your offer.
3. LinkedIn
If your company works for Western markets, if it is export-oriented, and especially if it requires IT B2B lead generation, its presence on LinkedIn is a must. By the way, the LinkedIn platform has proven itself well in promoting expert services that are provided by the commercial departments of various businesses.
4. SEO
The best tool for attracting B2B leads, working for the future. In addition, SEO promotion helps to reach "cold" customers who are still at the stage of searching for solutions to their problems and are considering various proposals.
5. SMM
SMM is a good choice for promoting complex products that require detailed familiarization of potential customers with the offer. Social networks are convenient platforms where you can place not only advertising, but also various instructions, tips, life hacks on your product, and much more.
Where Can I Buy B2B Leads?
Yes, you can buy business leads or otherwise obtain them by investing. Moreover, there are several options that you can use:
● Exchange CPA: These are platforms where webmasters give traffic and receive a percentage of sales or pay per lead. The only caveat is that such a scheme works much better for the B2C segment. But there are successful cases of buying leads and B2B businesses. But still, CPA exchanges cannot be called a universal solution for everyone.
● Own Partner or Dealer Network: For it to work, it is necessary to collect a pool of specialists who are ready to work with KPIs according to the pay-per-lead scheme. Thus, you can cooperate with marketplaces, launch your own B2B online stores, and so on.
● Lead Generators: A good way, but it works if you have a stable business and a strong sales force. You pay money to the lead generator, he acts as a guarantor of KPI fulfillment and minimizes possible risks. But. B2B markets are quite narrow, and therefore the lead generator is able to generate a limited number of leads.
● Internet Agencies: You pay the agency a subscription fee plus a KPI-linked fee, you get leads, and the agency gets profit. Such cooperation is, firstly, mutually beneficial. And secondly, the most personalized. Solutions are developed and implemented individually for a specific business, the results are analyzed and, if necessary, adjustments are made to improve efficiency.
Top 5 Stages of Lead Generation for B2B
The B2B lead acquisition strategy, especially with regard to new businesses leads, can differ significantly for objective reasons. The lead generation process in the B2B segment can be divided into five key stages:
1. Setting a Clear Goal: Without it, any further actions and their consequences may turn out to be unpredictable and ultimately lead to completely different results.
2. Clarification of the Client Profile: It is important to define the targeted campaigns you want to work with and at the same time form a portrait of the end customer and decision-makers in the company.
3. Increasing Interest and Awareness: You should be known. Without knowledge, there will be no interest in your offer. Therefore, a high-quality and well-designed advertising campaign is an indispensable stage of lead generation.
4. Interaction with Prospecting Clients: Not every lead will eventually become your client, this is logical. But you can increase the number of those by engaging and attracting potential customers, reminding them of your offer, sending a quality CV, etc. The main thing is not to be too intrusive.
5. Testing and Tracking the Results of Lead Generation: You must constantly analyze how leads are converted into sales, what percentage of them is, how much lead generation has grown, and so on. This is the only way to systematically increase efficiency by optimizing lead generation processes and the budget allocated to them.
Сonclusions:
There are no one and only true and 100% working rules for B2B lead generation. There are too many factors and variables influencing this process. But if we were asked to give advice in one sentence, we would recommend that you ask the key question: “Where are my potential customers, and how to properly attract their attention”?
Only by knowing your target audience and correctly applying the current channels for attracting B2B leads, you will be able to get the desired number of customers and even more.
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