B2B lead generation is a vital component featured in top CRM and marketing automation platforms today. Requiring capabilities such as lead nurturing, customer profiling and data analytics, B2B lead generation is an endeavor that reaps the fruits of its labor only over time, owing to the high investment typically required for B2B products.
In a business landscape that’s primarily driven by digital media, many high-tech options exist for B2B lead generation to take place. From AI-powered IVRs to enterprise Unified Communications, the options are practically endless. This gives B2B lead generation teams much to innovate with, so no prospect falls through the proverbial cracks, and all KPIs are met successfully.
In spite of the ability to innovate with technology, B2B lead generation is a space that is still vastly benefited from traditional forms of B2B marketing, namely telemarketing and in-person networking. This goes to show that B2B lead generation strategies can reap positive results, while being independent from technology sources.
It can be reassuring for businesses that are looking to build a CX strategy and B2B lead generation plan from scratch; no matter what changes in the digital arena, all forms of B2B lead generation can continue without a hiccup. Of course, being completely independent from technology isn’t necessarily possible, or the end goal, as a matter of fact; avenues such as calling and newsletters may still use some form of cloud-based technology to facilitate tasks.
However, B2B lead generation can still thrive with less technology, compared to other forms of marketing. With numerous types of telephone networks to choose from, your B2B lead generation teams can get to work to attract quality leads in no time - it can be that simple, if you really wish.
Why B2B Lead Generation Strategies Are Highly Prone to Trial-and-Error
Taking time to truly understand your buyer’s story is one of the biggest reasons why B2B lead generation strategies are prone to trial-and-error. No matter how much you know your customer (or have an ideal persona in mind), perfecting customer intent always takes time - and is a constant work in progress. This is especially the case for new businesses that are still in their infancy, as their B2B lead generation strategies would also have less data to measure and extrapolate.
Excessively narrowing down an audience for B2B lead generation is a common mistake that many businesses make - especially during the early stages, and especially when executing an online lead management plan such as digital advertising.
Again, sole dependence on a buyer persona is the culprit here; no matter how accurate a buyer persona may initially be, it can only be truly honed following multiple B2B lead generation campaigns that are conducted with broader audience segments first. Once the results are in, visualizing data to identify patterns in terms of who is genuinely interested in your product and how your buyer persona differs (or doesn’t) can then be determined.
Not attracting the caliber of audiences that will convert into potential customers with your B2B lead generation strategy? At this point, your buyer persona can serve as the barometer for who is being reached by your B2B lead generation campaigns. Tweak your campaigns as you go, to resonate with target audiences more accurately and optimize your CRM pipeline. While there are numerous ways to fine-tune B2B lead generation marketing campaigns, A/B tests are a highly effective way to gauge which control points are deriving positive (or negative) results.
In short, it is key to strike the right balance between using your buyer persona as a frame of reference, and knowing when to experiment beyond it.
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Offline Marketing and B2B Lead Generation
Offline marketing channels such as seminars, workshops and store visits are still leading ways to conduct B2B lead generation. Owing to the in-person nature of such channels, B2B lead generation strategies often include a face-to-face conversation at some point across the sales funnel, along with a product-centric brand management plan. With most B2B products requiring significant investments of money, time and manpower, B2B lead generation strategies need to ensure prospects are provided with the information they need, in order to confidently proceed with a purchase.
Such B2B lead generation conversations rarely ever conclude in a day; they take time, and are typically spread out over the course of multiple meetings. However, they are essential during B2B lead generation, as customers require extensive clarification and reassurance, before signatures are finally placed on the dotted line.
Email Marketing and B2B Lead Generation
Email marketing is highly resourceful for B2B lead generation campaigns, owing to being easily personalizable and shareable across custom audience segments. By complying with applicable regulations, B2B lead generation strategies can make email marketing relevant with data gathered from cookies, website traffic and personalized searches, so your business is always able to stay top of mind for both prospective customers, as well as existing ones.
To take things a step further, sales teams can integrate CRM with email marketing to consolidate customer profiles and email marketing campaigns under one mainstream application. This ideally enables marketing teams to take advantage of existing customer data and build a custom B2B lead generation campaign that is tailored to offer what customers are most interested in.
Telemarketing and B2B Lead Generation
Telemarketing is still a classic B2B lead generation strategy as sales teams are able to reach prospects for immediate answers - provided a connection is established. Cloud VoIP solutions have further spearheaded the adoption of B2B lead generation strategies that are powered by telemarketing, as companies are able to purchase a SaaS subscription and hit the ground running with minimal configuration.
Unlike other forms of digital marketing such as display ads and social media, B2B lead generation strategies vastly benefit from the human conversation that is enabled by telemarketing. The human connection established here offers both prospects and sales teams the ability to raise and clarify concerns immediately, as opposed to waiting for responses via email, text messages or even live chat.
