How to Build a B2B Lead Generation Program



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Leads – that elusive, ephemeral term – you can never, ever have enough of them.

Consistently nurturing and converting leads is the lifeblood of any organization. This activity affects almost all business metrics and signifies the financial health of the organization.

So, how to start? Where to begin? What to prioritize? Before we do a deep dive into some of the lead generation strategies, lets do a What / How / Where.

Who?
The first step is building an ideal buyer persona. Who buys your product? For what use? How much of the product would he buy? Is the product an indispensable part of his workflow (lucky you!). In short, you need to know everything short of the DNA profile [or perhaps the marketing DNA equivalent] of the prospect. Read more about what buyer personas are and how to create them in this Hubspot article by Pamela Vaughan here.

How?
Now we move on to the consumption habits of the ideal buyer. What is he reading? What is he doing before making a purchase decision? What factors influence his decision making journey? Once that is done, we will organically gravitate towards the correct “How” strategy.

For example, your ideal buyer may be consulting websites, attending trade shows and reading emails from prospective suppliers to make a purchase decision. Hence it would make sense to invest in these activities. In case your ideal buyer is not social media savvy, you may want to deprioritize this activity as opposed to these other activities which are much likely to influence his/her decision.

Where?
What lead generation activities should you invest in would be governed by where your buyer is.

Now, moving onto the B2B lead generation strategies


1. Website

We can’t be discussing this. No. Your website has to be on-point, with minimal down-time. Your website is like the proverbial shop window to the window shopper. If it ain’t good, they are not coming. So make sure that you have dedicated your best resources to your website

  • Make sure that the opt-in forms are quick & easy.
  • Add testimonials and social proof to your website.
  • Add micro-conversion opportunities [download a recent whitepaper, eBook, or webinar through a contact form]. In short, incentivize them to sign up.


2. Search engine optimization


At the heart & soul of every marketing effort is this word. User intent – and that is the actual meaning behind the keywords typed in a search bar. Why is SEO important for B2B [or for that matter any market] – because search traffic is primed to buy. So treat SEO with the respect it deserves.

To understand the power of the keyword, consider the fact that 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine. The lifetime value of good SEO is immense. You may exhaust your PPC budget, or your social media advertising budget, but a sturdy SEO strategy will help you create perpetual value. To know more about how to use SEO to generate leads, read this article How To Generate More Leads For Your Business With SEO and 



With SEO, there are not short-cuts. You have to build a sustainable SEO ecosystem: keywords rich content, links and flanker content assets [blogs, industry forums, and so on]. 

3. Paid search (PPC) 
In case the prospect is aware of his needs / wants, then a PPC strategy is worth investing in from the start. Otherwise you might want to build in the category awareness first through other marketing channels such as email marketing. 

Develop a buyer persona and use that information to write your marketing copy. You may want to use market research first to understand what level of customer awareness exists already in the market, use that information to understand where your solution fits in [is it a replacement offer or a transition offer? Is it doing something better or cheaper? Does the customer need substantial education to understand more]. The more customer-centric information you have, the better your PPC content will be. Understand more about B2B PPC strategy by reading this article by Neil Patel How to Improve the Quality of Your B2B PPC Leads


4. Events / tradeshows 

This is huge lead generation source for B2B marketers. Industries do tend to have congregations centred around industry events. Think CES, GSMA, PACK – fertile lead development ground.

Few things to keep in mind 


  • Evaluate the RoI from each event 
  • Make your event promotion one mini-event, generating even more content and attracting perhaps those leads that cannot or could not attend the main event. 
  • Incentivise visitors to visit your stall: Either a give-away that gets activated upon stall visit. 
  • You can read more about event promotions in this article by Mike Thimmesch here.

5. Email marketing 
Email marketing for B2C – oh yes, that works – but what about B2B email marketing and how is that different. 

Nobody ever bought an airplane after reading one email 

But don’t get disheartened. You can create a lead generation pipeline through B2B email marketing [unless of course, you are selling airplanes]. Read about how you can leverage emails for a B2B lead generation strategy here in this article 9 B2B Email Marketing Examples


6. Inside sales
I would tread carefully on this one – B2B buyers may be wary of cold calls. However, a lot depends on the way the inside sales program is structured. In case a lot of work is done on the pre-qualification of leads, you have information about the buyer’s past purchase behaviour and have some understanding of his needs / wants, then you can engage with the buyer at a level that might pique his interest.

7. PR & Publicity
Now, we aren’t talking about a PR blitz here. We are talking about a selective, focused PR strategy that is vertical specific. The correct articles in the right trade magazines can help you build your credibility and visibility both. However, do bear in mind that is more a long-funnel activity.

8. Social media
Really? B2B lead generation through social media? Oh dear!

Yes - B2B lead generation can happen through social media. You have to choose the appropriate platforms and the correct content strategy. More often than not, B2B lead generation can happen through a B2B networking tool like LinkedIn, where professionals, industry leaders and influencers congregate. You may want to consider Twitter, widely considered as the stock ticker for all things business [and otherwise]. Don't completely discount Facebook yet. You may first want to evaluate the audience / platform fit and create the content strategy accordingly. Long form content for LinkedIn [industry articles and how-to-s] as opposed to short form content [company news announcements / awards won] on Twitter. You can read more about B2B lead generation through social media here and in this article 10 B2B Lead Generation Tactics For Social Media.

Each of these elements merit their own article, so look out for more information. Be back soon!


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