The beginning of the year always signals a reevaluation of old strategies and the hunt for newer ones to stay competitive in your industry. We’ll be ringing in 2019 no differently with a new set of B2B Lead Generation Strategies you should watch out for.
The digital marketing landscape is constantly changing, which means B2B Lead Generation tactics are evolving as well. Other brands are getting better at converting their prospects while some are stuck doing their old ways, perhaps unsure how to spice things up.
65% percent of businesses are saying that lead generation is their biggest marketing challenge.
Thanks to a new marketing funnel, converting visitors into leads are a bit more challenging, but it gives a lot more room for creativity as well. There are many free lead generation tactics out there, but few will help you maximize your ROI. Here are effective B2B lead generation strategies that will play up your game in 2019.
10 B2B Lead Generation Strategies
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Gate Your Content Strategically
Not every marketer is confident whether or not they should gate their content. However, this is one of the most effective ways to attract and identify leads who care about your business.
When done right, gated content can increase leads and conversions. Case in point: Finance and trade website Trading Strategy Guides added almost 11,000 targeted subscribers to their email list in just one month by using a content locking script. Unbounce’s gated content stats reveal more campaigns with conversion rates that fall between 19-45%.
Putting out gated content is wise if you’ve already built a library of content that you are sure your audience is enjoying. This way, loyal readers won’t be bothered to give you their names and email addresses to read what you wrote.
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Personalize More Touch Points
One-size-fits-all marketing is dead. Users are now craving for that human touch that allows them to cultivate deeper connection and more meaningful relationships with brands. In a SalesForce survey of 7,000 consumers, 57% of the respondents said they are willing to share their data in exchange for personalized offers, 53% for personalized product recommendations, and 52% for customized shopping experiences.
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Produce Evergreen Content
Moment marketing is a great way to stay relevant or go viral for a certain period but sticking to evergreen topics in your niche is a sure way to get noticed no matter what stage your potential clients are in the sales funnel.
Evergreen content works hand in hand with your SEO strategy, allowing you to stay fresh on search engines. In a case study by Miles Anthony Smith, he presented a growth of 575% in organic traffic after adding evergreen content on his blog. It’s helpful, informative, and shareable—all the things people love about high-quality content. Plus, it never goes out of style.
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Build Social Media Communities
Social media is no longer just an extra channel of publishing or promoting your content. This is your chance to engage with your audience. The average person has 7.6 active social media accounts and spends more than 2 hours a day on them. Take advantage of this.
You can start a Facebook group where you can have regular discussions on pressing issues relevant in your industry. Use hashtags on Twitter and Instagram to connect with like-minded individuals or specific causes or topics. LinkedIn is also a great platform to communicate with prospects and tell them more about your brand.
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Launch an Incentive-Based Referral Program
Don’t take word-of-mouth marketing for granted—it’s still the primary factor behind almost 50% of buying decisions. Statistics show that B2B companies with referrals reportedly have 70% higher conversion rates and 69% faster close time on sales.
Your satisfied clients are the best people who can market your business to others. Incentivize referrals! Make it more exciting for them by creating customized referral codes that entitle them to discounts. This also makes it easier for you to track where your leads are coming from, and which are converting.
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Optimize Your Landing Pages and CTA
Did you know that 48% of landing pages contain more than one offer? If you’re a part of this statistic, it’s time to rethink your landing page strategy. Multiple offers in one page can decrease conversion rates by 266%. Focus on a single goal for each landing page and be clear with your messaging in your CTA to reduce distractions. Your primary goal is to convert your visitors into leads, so make sure your landing pages and CTAs are convincing. Make it an engaging, straightforward, and natural experience for them to type in their information on your forms.
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Record the Actions of Your Website Visitors
An excellent way to diagnose why your website visitors aren’t converting is through analyzing their actions on your website. Tools like Hotjar or Mouseflow can allow you to record user sessions and plot heatmaps on most-clicked buttons on your site.
Many CRO experts swear by this step and maintain that it’s one of the fastest ways you can uncover the “whys” in your process:
- Why are they not converting?
- Why are they not filling up my forms?
- Why do they like this webpage so much?
From here, you can rectify a situation or apply more of the same strategy to your other pages. This is helpful for A/B testing as well.
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Encourage Online Reviews
Ninety-two percent of consumers read online reviews when considering a product or service. If your website doesn’t have a testimonials page or a reviews feature, it could be hurting your chances to get contacted. Create opportunities for your clients and customers to add a review and post it on your website.
Reviews build consumer trust, improve your local search ranking, and ultimately improve conversions. Consumers are likely to spend 31% more on businesses with stellar reviews.
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Expand Your Online Presence
The persona of your brand is not limited to your website and social channels only. Branch out and appear on other sites to grow your credibility, such as guest blogging, getting interviewed, or answering questions on Quora.
Quora alone can help you gain thousands of leads if you answer the relevant questions in your industry. Developing your brand as subject-matter experts can increase brand awareness and also help first-time learners about your brand build trust faster.
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Use Gmail Ads to Target Your Competitors’ Audience
Email is still the most popular lead generation channel—77% of B2B marketers use email marketing to drive leads.
In B2B, there is a lot of value at drawing the attention of your competition’s customers. Gmail Ads allows you to target your AdWords campaign to people who have received emails from your competitor. Sounds sneaky? It is, but it’s effective. It gives you direct access to people who are already familiar with the nature of your service.
Use this opportunity to show what sets you apart from the competitor. Use familiar language, optimize your email marketing layout, and give them an offer they can’t refuse.
The Takeaway
In the world of digital marketing, you can expect each year to get even more competitive than the last. However, that’s a good thing—your business gets pushed to aim higher and get more creative regarding devising tactics or building tools that work best for you.
Nailing your lead generation strategies is the foundation of all your other moves along the sales cycle. Be smart and creative in getting your visitors to engage and convert.
Looking to supercharge every aspect of your lead generation game? Download our Lead Management 101 Whitepaper today!
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