I have been knee-deep into running campaigns, client meetings, and spreadsheets full of leads for a while now. And somewhere along the line, I had my epiphany moment, which not many marketing agencies will come out and say directly. Not all techniques work to fill your sales pipeline efficiently. Trying everything that comes your way will just be a waste of your time and money.
That is precisely why I will take you through the best B2B lead generation techniques that actually get things done. No fluff, no recycled information that you have heard a million times before. Just the practical tips and tricks that I would share with you when we meet for a coffee.
This guide is designed specifically for U.S. business owners and marketers, including the definition of the problem, a full list of tactics, lead scoring technique, ways to track progress and an extensive FAQ section. So make yourself a coffee and let’s get down to business.
Why Most B2B Lead Generation Campaigns Are Doomed from the Start
Let me give you the harsh truth I know from my experience working with many B2B companies. These firms go ahead and implement different strategies and tactics without figuring out what exactly who the true buyer is. They design landing pages, pay for ad space, and send out cold emails to cold lists. But then, they can’t understand why they get no response at all.
The real issue is even deeper than just some ineffective outreach emails. The buyer journey process has become very long these days. The decision-makers do all of the research online prior to reaching out to any company by phone. Those companies that don’t qualify leads properly end up losing whole weeks trying to convince people to buy who never would have done it anyway.
B2B Lead Generation Strategies That You Can Implement Right Now!
It’s time to move onto the nitty-gritty and talk about the actual strategies that generate leads faster. Over my career, I have tried a number of techniques and generated many leads for various businesses through them, irrespective of the industry and sales budget. There are some strategies that are quick, such as the use of LinkedIn Ads to target specific job roles. Other strategies take a few months to develop steam, including content marketing and SEO.
Below, there is a strategy list covering all three categories mentioned above. Remember, these are not concrete rules but rather strategies that can help you generate new leads, according to your budget, sales team size, and sales cycle duration. We will go over each of these in more detail under the upcoming sections.
SEO and Content Marketing
Search engine optimization is one of the most powerful strategies for generating leads in the long run. You write articles, guides, and case studies that answer the potential buyers’ questions. And in the process, you rank, and they come in by themselves – because they believe in your brand already.
Paid and Outbound Marketing Strategies
Paid ads and outbound marketing campaigns still hold their rightful place in a good outbound strategy. The platforms such as Google Ads and LinkedIn allow you to target particular job titles and company sizes. Cold emailing can also be used with great success in a personalized form, addressing real problems of the targeted people. Finally, referral marketing also works very well.
Account-Based Marketing for VIP Customers
In case the average contract size is large enough, account-based marketing should be seriously considered. Instead of fishing for clients, you make a list of VIP accounts and create the content specifically for them. This approach has allowed some of my clients to turn several such accounts into major clients in just one year.
Webinars & Interactive Demos
Webinars attract leads who are truly interested in solving a particular problem. After all, one can tell that a prospect really cares by having them sit through a whole hour. Interactive product demos achieve the same goal – your prospects get the experience of your solution. Reach out within 24 hours when they are still interested.
Qualifying and Scoring Business-to-Business Leads for Sales Success
Not all leads merit your sales team’s efforts, period. A good scoring model will quickly weed out tire kickers and window shoppers. All models employ a combination of firmographic fit, behavioral and intent indicators. The BANT framework works pretty well at determining budget, authority, need, and timeframe.
Below is an extremely basic template which I usually give away to clients asking me for lead scoring guidelines. You should consider it a starting point, and then tweak the weights according to your sales process. You’ll discover new patterns soon enough!
Firmographic Fit | Company size, industry, revenue | Matches your ideal customer profile |
Behavioral Engagement | How they interact with content | Downloads, email opens, page visits |
Intent Signals | Active research behavior | Visits to review sites, competitor pages |
The Correct Method of Assessing Your B2B Lead Generation Campaign
As they say, you can only improve what you measure. Unfortunately, most companies fail to track any numbers after launching the campaign, which is rather disappointing. By tracking correct metrics, you will understand where to invest your money for greater success. Besides, by tracking metrics, you will spot leaks in your funnel that can lead to the loss of money.
I always advise my customers to monitor their metrics monthly, not quarterly. Small but accurate changes based on metrics are better than big moves made without any reason at all. Information about the correct metrics that should be tracked is provided in the subheading below. You should have all three of them on your handy dashboard.
Important Metrics You Need to Monitor Monthly
To begin with, you should always follow the cost per lead metric, which indicates how efficiently your money is being spent. Secondly, the MQL-to-SQL ratio needs to be observed, since having too low a value means that your marketing activities are generating lots of bad leads. Lastly, pipeline velocity should be considered as well.
Quick Responses to Your B2B Lead Generation Strategies Queries
Here are just a few of the many questions that I get asked quite often by my clients and readers at large. This set of questions is actually quite a staple of all our consulting sessions. You’ll find some brief and practical answers down below. I suppose there will be no need for you to look for any other answers online.
Consider this as your “how to” manual of sorts. You are welcome to use it however you please. Practicality is more important than generalization in my book anyway. Let’s start!
Which B2B Lead Generation Approach Is The Most Effective For Small Companies To Consider?
In reality, there is no such strategy. It seems that organic marketing with the help of LinkedIn brings better results. Begin small and grow according to what gives you positive results. It will take you about three to six months to see some tangible results.
What is the True Cost of a B2B Lead?
This is going to have very wide variances depending on the industry you are dealing with, and whether the sales figures are big or small. The price tag of the B2B lead ranges from $20-$300 for each individual. The pricier the industry you are dealing with (software or manufacturing), the more costly it will become.
How Soon Do You Begin Seeing The Results?
With paid and outbound marketing efforts, you will start seeing leads within a few days. With SEO and inbound marketing tactics, this will likely take three to six months for you to build up some steam. Nonetheless, it will result in compounded and free traffic over time. My clients get the best overall results using both tactics combined.
Should You Focus on Inbound or Outbound Marketing For B2B Leads?
Neither is inherently better than the other – the honest answer is that the winning team uses both approaches. The inbound strategy is focused on compounding pipeline through inbound tactics and content. The outbound strategy is all about speed.
Time to Craft Your Own Lead Generation Pipeline?
Creating a steady flow is not only hard work but also requires patience and testing. The B2B lead generation techniques explained above do not have the power of magic. They become really effective when used on a consistent basis. It is enough to choose two or three approaches from the list and stick to them.
As noted by the U.S. Small Business Administration, proper planning within the sales and marketing functions contributes greatly to the survival of young companies. This is precisely what lead generation planning offers – some direction. If you want us to help you implement the plan, just contact us. We will be glad to develop a plan tailored to your budget.
Hi, I’m Kashaf Attiq, founder of SEOLeadz. From custom web development and content writing to advanced SEO and guest posting, I turn websites into powerful, lead-generating machines. Stick around for actionable tips, or reach out to scale your business!
