11 Strategies To Generate Leads for Your B2B Sales Funnel
What’s the single toughest thing for you as a B2B business?
If you answered “lead generation,” then you’re not alone.
A lot of companies have all the right pieces in place, yet they don’t see the results they’re looking for.
Maybe you already see a lot of leads, but when it comes time for the sales process, you get ghosted.
Fortunately, you can change the narrative by trying new lead strategies that will get you in touch with the right decision-makers.
Today, you’ll read about:
- What lead generation is and how challenging the process can be for marketing teams.
- 11 genius tips for you to use to generate more leads for your B2B sales funnel.
- All the stats and research that prove how important these lead gen strategies are in B2B commerce.
To start, let me explain what lead generation is in a B2B context and show you just how grueling it can be to find the next sales prospect.
What Is Lead Generation?
Lead generation is the art of trying to get interested consumers into your brand ecosystem.
It’s the initial stage of a customer-brand relationship.
In B2B digital marketing, this typically involves capturing a decision-maker’s contact information.
As an example, think of when someone might provide their email address in exchange for some form of content that’s useful to them.
Once you qualify someone as a lead, you start to work on nurturing them down the sales funnel with your content by following up with them by email and phone.
The Challenges of Lead Generation
Even when you qualify someone as a lead, you can only expect about 10% to 15% of them to become paying customers, according to the available research.
But getting the right leads in the first place can increase your conversion rate.
Doing so is a challenge though.
According to jobsinmarketing.io, 61% of marketers think lead generation is the most challenging part of their duties.
And B2B leads are expensive.
As reported by the DeTorres Group, the average cost for a B2B lead can be anywhere from $75 to $1,000 while a B2C lead is from $5 to $80.
The cost can vary dramatically depending on the marketing channel you use.
Although the B2B sales lead generation process is challenging, it’s still one of the most important aspects of your business, and it needs to be sorted out if there’s an issue with your efficiency.
In a report from Content Marketing Institute, 85% of marketers stated that lead generation is the most important goal they have.
Because without it, you have nothing.
And if you’re stalling with customer acquisition growth, then you could be simply wasting your time and money on a dead end.
That’s what you need to keep your options open and be on the lookout for new strategies.
If your company is one of the many others that simply lacks the resources or manpower to fulfill your lead generation goals, then consider outsourcing your digital marketing efforts to AutoGrow.
We’ll save you valuable time, and you can rest easy knowing that you have a team of pros taking care of your lead gen demands.
Using our web-based app, simply tag your assigned project manager and provide the projects that you need to get done ASAP. Depending on the package you select, you can have up to 5 active projects at any given time with a 0- to 2-day turnaround, and a whole host of other features.
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How To Generate More Leads for Your B2B Sales Funnel #1: Utilize LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a great place to start searching for B2B sales leads because you can use the advanced search to find users with specific job titles.
That way, you can get in touch with the right people within an organizational hierarchy.
Or if there’s a particular company you have in mind, you can type in the company name to get your most relevant results.
From there, LinkedIn will show you the decision-makers that have a shared connection with you.
For example, if I ran an agency, I might search for “director of marketing.”
And I’d see a list of users fitting that description, with those with shared connections with me displaying first.
From there, I can browse their profile and see if they might be a match.
And if I think someone is a good fit for my product, I would reach out to my shared connection and ask for an introduction.
According to LinkedIn, 87% of B2B buyers have a favorable opinion of a salesperson who’s introduced to them through a shared network.
Besides using the search feature, you can also make your voice heard by joining Groups.
By joining Groups, you can build rapport with users in your target audience.
How To Generate More Leads for Your B2B Sales Funnel #2: Write Compelling Blog Articles for Inbound Traffic
Compared to the B2C sector, B2B products and services are usually much more expensive.
So buyers take their time with their path to a final purchasing decision.
They’ll come across multiple pieces of content from a single company before deciding to move on or not.
Among other things, you’ll need to convince them with blog content. And a blog is one of the best ways to position yourself as a thought leader. Someone who they can trust.
As reported by Demand Gen, 71% of B2B buyers say they review blogs along their purchasing journey.
If you’re not doing so already, you should stay on top of industry trends and write articles that will be useful for your audience.
By consistently producing high-quality content, you’ll attract more relevant B2B leads that you can convert into new sales.
Remember, if you’re going to turn your content into a lead-generating machine, then you’ll want to polish up your keyword strategy to attract the right audience.
How To Generate More Leads for Your B2B Sales Funnel #3: Put a Referral Program in Place
According to FinancesOnline, 84% of B2B buyers start their buying process with a referral.
And Influitive found that 86% of companies with a referral program experienced revenue growth over a 2-year period, compared to 75% of companies without a referral program.
With referrals being so important to B2B lead generation, you’d think every company would have a program, right?
Well, no.
In CustomerGauge’s “NPS® & CX Benchmarks” report, it was found that 54% of B2B professionals say they don’t have a referral program.
So if you start working on one now, you’ll have a big advantage over some of your competitors.
And you’ll start attracting more sales leads in no time.
How To Generate More Leads for Your B2B Sales Funnel #4: Business Directories
Business directories are websites that list business contact information like phone numbers, email addresses, and sometimes even summaries on how the company is doing.
Some examples of these types of sites are Seamless.AI, ZoomInfo and Lead411.
Using the search features on these sites, you can identify warm B2B sales leads that you can start nurturing.
With advanced filtering options, you’ll hone in on your ideal buyer persona and see exactly how you can reach out to them.
In one case study from ZoomInfo, one company was able to book 150% more meetings per month.
Not only that, the data that they tapped into was of high quality. As a result, they saw a 30% reduction in bounces post-meeting.
How To Generate More Leads for Your B2B Sales Funnel #5: Build Case Studies
Like blog articles, case studies are another piece of content that B2B buyers look for.
According to Demand Gen, 79% of the B2B leads you generate had likely read case studies.
As any form of social proof does, case studies provide an opportunity for you to demonstrate the value your company possesses.
It makes your lead trust you.
If possible, build in-depth case studies for clients from various industries.
That way, you diversify your portfolio and website visitors can find something relevant to them.
Additionally, you’ll have content suitable for leads you decide to reach out to.
How To Generate More Leads for Your B2B Sales Funnel #6: Cold Email
Email puts your pitch front and center.
And it’s hard for people to ignore.
Because they’re likely checking their inbox multiple times a day.
According to Clearbit, just 1% of cold emails receive a response.
But you can give yourself a much higher chance of generating a B2B sales lead from a cold email by making it more personalized.
For one thing, you should always include the individual’s name in the subject line.
OptinMonster says 47% of email recipients choose whether or not to open your email based on the subject line.
Besides addressing the name of your recipients, you should also dig up some research on them or the company they work for.
Because even if your subject lines result in a high open rate, the body text still needs to be personalized too.
Nobody wants to see a generic, copy-and-paste cold email. It’s insulting.
How can you show that you actually took the time to understand your lead?
What common interests do you have?
Are there any milestones that the company reached?
What kind of technology do they already use?
Paying attention to these kinds of things can establish a great first impression.
From there, you’ll have a good starting point for a mutually beneficial business relationship.
How To Generate More Leads for Your B2B Sales Funnel #7: Cold Calling
If you’re going to cold email to generate more B2B sales leads, you might as well make cold phone calls too.
Unfortunately, cold calling has a bit of a stigma to it.
Some say cold calling is dead.
But the reality is, it’s not.
In fact, 82% of B2B buyers book meetings through cold calls, according to RAIN Group.
And 57% of C-level and VP buyers prefer phone outreach.
So cold calling itself isn’t the problem.
Rather, it’s how it’s approached by business professionals.
Just like your website leads, you need to nurture your phone leads.
Refrain from the hardsell. That’s where you’ll lose them.
And just like with cold emails, you must personalize the call. Take your time to understand what the person’s role is within the company and talk about anything relevant to him or her.
You’re looking for icebreakers to demonstrate that you view your leads as individuals with a unique background and with unique pain points.
How To Generate More Leads for Your B2B Sales Funnel #8: Host Webinars
In 2018, BrightTALK carried out a survey asking business professionals from various industries a series of questions about their buyer journey.
And two notable findings were:
- Webinars are the most preferred form of content among B2B buyers (91% of respondents favoring it)
- Roughly 54% of B2B buyers engage with online webinars on a weekly or daily basis
- 84% of the respondents stated that they watch video content to stay up to date with their industry
At AutoGrow, we’ve found that we acquire a good portion of our new clients from webinars and on-demand videos.
That’s because it adds a human touch to the buying process. And it’s also easier for us to show off our platform in video form.
Webinars attract B2B leads that are already interested in your industry or even your product specifically.
Whether it’s to discuss how your product works or it’s a presentation on industry trends or something else entirely, it’s your chance to show your credibility.
Unlike someone that simply signs up for your newsletter, a webinar attendee is likely already more toward the bottom of your sales funnel.
According to some research done by GoTo, 73% of B2B marketers and sales leaders state that webinars attract the highest-quality sales leads.
And they also found that webinar titles that indicate listed content or “listicles” generate 43% more registrants than non-list titles.
How To Generate More Leads for Your B2B Sales Funnel #9: Google Ads
Using Google Ads will allow you to find sales leads that are already interested in what you have to offer.
But that’s assuming your ad copy and design actually appeal to your B2B audience.
Because, the thing is, sometimes your ads can receive a lot of clicks, but they’re not high-quality users.
By bidding on hyper-targeted keywords that your buyer persona would search for, you can make them aware of your business.
For example, pretend that you run a cybersecurity SaaS company and you’re targeting startups.
You could use keywords like “cybersecurity threat for startups” or “setting up cybersecurity for a startup.”
As long as your headline and other ad copy convey the value that you offer to startups, then you’ll attract the ideal B2B professional while lessening the chance of uninterested individuals clicking your link.
And you can make your ad copy dynamic to reflect the exact search inquiry.
So back to the previous example. If you also targeted enterprises, you could display a similar ad that replaces the word “startup” with “enterprise” and also link your ad back to a landing page more relevant to an enterprise B2B buyer.
Although the findings are a little dated, Google says that you can expect to earn about $2 for every $1 you spend on Google Ads.
To learn how to get results faster with Google Ads, check out Matt’s video below.
How To Generate More Leads for Your B2B Sales Funnel #10: Leverage Live Events
As someone looking for more B2B leads, you could easily use big events such as conferences or trade shows as a means to network with your target audience.
By attending live events, you can build relationships and exchange contact information with anyone interested in your product or service.
From there, you can follow up with your leads and nurture them down the sales funnel.
On the flip side, you could host an event yourself.
According to Demand Gen, B2B marketers believe events generate the highest quality of sales leads (68%).
And Bizzabo finds that 55% of B2B companies spend over one-fifth of their budget on events.
Events can be held either in-person or virtually.
In fact, event marketing is becoming more and more virtual.
According to research from LinkedIn, 64% of marketers believe events will be held virtually or at least hybrid in the future.
And in case you’re wondering what the difference between a live event and a webinar is, it’s simple: A live event is much larger in scope and usually lasts a few days.
On the other hand, a webinar is more narrowed down in its educational purposes and typically lasts between 30 to 60 minutes.
How To Generate More Leads for Your B2B Sales Funnel #11: Use Automation
Technology is there to make our lives easier.
And it’s no different when it comes to the lead generation process.
As found by VentureBeat, 80% of companies using marketing automation see a positive increase in leads and 77% see an increase in conversions.
Besides generating and converting more leads, marketing and sales automation has the following benefits:
- Reduced costs
- Saves you time
- Keeps marketing and sales teams in sync
- Track reports easily
- Make better business decisions
- Reach out to leads faster
Conclusion
As you know, getting more qualified leads into your sales funnel can be a tedious process.
If you’re looking for ways to make the B2B lead generation process easier on your business and start more sales conversations with high-quality prospects, I hope this article with 11 strategies was worth your time.
With these tips in hand, I’m confident that you’ll have an easier time of lowering your cost per lead while also reeling in more qualified decision-makers who will become customers or partners for life.
And before you go …
Tell me anything that you found of value in the article in the comments below.
Thanks for reading and keep AutoGrowin’, stay focused.
Mark
