Inbound Marketing, Lead Generation

Five essentials tactics of a successful inbound B2B lead generation program

Let me tell you a secret today; if you’re searching for some effective inbound B2B lead generation techniques, well, there’s no magic bullet. No shortcut. No button that you push and leads fall in your lap. Your customers are no longer easily persuaded by flashy ads and boring marketing events but spend over 57% of their time doing online research before they even contact you

If you are someone who’s ever tried to increase B2B sales by generating more leads, you know it’s tough. It’s not that simple for B2B companies as the sales cycles have grown more complex than before due to the information onslaught.

Infact, 61% percent of businesses say that lead generation is their biggest marketing challenge. All the while, marketers are chewing over the ultimate question that outshines the rest:

How to find B2B leads through inbound marketing?

The simple answer can be: Attract and engage potential customers to your business through a combination of online and offline programs. It’s like opening the doors of a food villa so the smell drifts into the street, causing everyone to wander inside.

Well! It might sound easy but it’s not.

In order to drive potential customers to your website as part of your Inbound

In order to drive potential customers to your website as part of your Inbound B2b lead generation Marketing strategy, your business must have the right answer, for the right audience at the right moment. Right B2B lead generation Tools would be an add-on.

Marketing strategy, your business must have the right answer, for the right audience at the right moment. Right B2B lead generation Tools would be an add-on.

The Challenge

Finding out how those lead generation tactics will look when you present them to your target audience.

And for that, thorough research needs to be done. This is what separates the pros from amateurs.

From research, I mean getting to know your audience down to what kind of content they consume, where they source their content, their motivations, and aspirations.

Every nugget of data you obtain from your target audience can become a map point on your hike to success.

You want to generate more leads, so you calibrate certain inbound b2b lead generation ideas so they match what your customers expect from you.

On that, you’ve probably already gone through a handful of blogs, giving you lists of ideas to maximize your ROI and show you how to customize each one for specific audience groups.

Well, you’ll find a list here too, but I want to explain and put things into context a bit, before starting out with the list.

First Things First

YYou might be thinking what exactly is a B2B Lead? Without going in depth, I’d say a lead is where it all starts. No leads means no clients, no revenue and hence no growth at all. Without leads, you’re doomed.

In simple words, a stranger who has expressed interest in your product or service by sharing his contact details, is your lead.

So, what’s your job?

To generate that interest for your product or service with the aim of turning it into a sale.

That’s called lead generation.

What is Inbound B2B lead generation?

And what makes it different?

In a nutshell, Inbound B2B lead generation encourages people to probe with your business for their own concert, welcoming them in with relevant content. It pulls leads in subtly with content they want to see, read, and act on.

But how’s it different?

Let me demonstrate this by an analogy!

Suppose you pay for a Snacks ad to run during the IPL or Superbowl. Potential customers will buy those commercials, and then a small fraction of them buy those snacks. Isn’t it simple?

The problem is that it’s an extremely costly way to put your product in front of your potential customers. Though some viewers enjoy the commercials, others absolutely despise them when it plays again and again interrupting the game or their favourite web series, it’s just disruptive.

The truth is, outbound marketing activities are always disruptive even though it’s the best way to get leads promptly.

But what if, instead of pushing your unsolicited offer onto your target audience, you could create enthralling content to draw them in? What if they want to come to you without your warm invitation?

Amazing, right? That’s inbound marketing.

Sure, It’s not as easy as it sounds. It’s a complicated process and requires a diverse range of strategies to be effective. Also, it takes time to get going. Can’t deny that.

But once you have a totally engaged audience of quality leads and potential customers who find you trustworthy, lead generation becomes a piece of cake. No, that’s not bragging!

Why Is Inbound Marketing Lead Generation Important?

Simply because, more leads=more potential customers=more revenue for your business which ultimately results in success. And who doesn’t want that?

While we can generate using both inbound and outbound tactics, most marketers find inbound strategies more successful.

You know why, right?

Because outbound marketing pushes products or services on the audience with irritating pitches and sales rants.

Whereas, inbound establishes your credibility, resulting in more qualified leads coming to you.

Now I’ll outline some of the lead generation tactics you can implement in your B2B marketing tactics that will skyrocket your ROI.

Let’s dive in!

Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

Today, ABM is the ruler of the marketing world. Using account-based marketing, we can target a fixed set of clients called accounts. The strategy identifies and targets the high-value prospects that ultimately convert in sales. The idea is to laser-focus their resources in a personalized manner to target a specific list of ideal accounts.

According to a study, more than 90% of B2B marketers consider it highly crucial and claim that ABM gives a higher ROI than any other form of B2B marketing. Another study shows that 40 percent of existing companies are currently using ABM plans to grow their business in future. This makes it an essential part of modern lead generation strategies.

Search Marketing

As per Google “Search marketing is the process of gaining traffic and visibility from search engines through both paid and unpaid efforts.”

Search Marketing includes the below two ways:

-Organic: Optimizing your website for listing in top pages of search engine listings also called SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

-Inorganic: Buying top listing positions in search results through paid means like Google Adwords or Bing Ads

Most B2B marketers perceive SEO or organic search marketing as only a top of funnel strategy as compared to inorganic. In fact, 85% of B2B marketers have found success with SEO and consider it to be the most reliable way of generating an opportunity pipeline. Also, SEO can drive a 14.6% conversion rate, if done properly.

All in all, if you are questing for successful strategies to generate more leads through search marketing, SEO is the one you can’t ignore.

Email Marketing

Email is still the most common as well as a famous lead generation channel. One of the reports by SuperOffice’s State of B2B Email Marketing says that 77% of B2B marketers use email marketing to drive leads.

According to a research, customers who buy products marketed through email spend 138% more than those who don’t get email offers. Surprisingly, email marketing has an ROI of 4400%. That’s just huge!

Some more interesting statistics from this list is that Email newsletters are regarded as most critical to content marketing success by 40% of marketers and 93% of B2B marketers use email to distribute content. Some of the common ways of email marketing is running campaigns, creating lead magnet, giveaways etc.

Clearly, email marketing to a B2B marketing is a rapport. We don’t say that; around 60% B2B marketers say email is their biggest source of ROI.

It gives you direct access to the target audience who are already aware of the nature of the products and services you offer. Use this opportunity to show what stands you out from other competitors.

Related: Building a successful B2B lead generation program through email marketing

Webinars

Webinars can be an amazing marketing tactic for anyone looking to obtain leads. And their popularity is growing. As per the report by Content Marketing Institute, over 60% of marketers currently use webinars as part of their effective content marketing strategies.

So, what are the benefits of B2B webinar marketing? Some of the benefits include-

Applicable for every stage of the sales funnel
Improved conversions and better ROI
Improves brand awareness
Target a larger number of prospects from across the globe
Increased engagement and content retention

Given that webinars as a B2B marketing strategy have many benefits, the shift is happening promptly.

Social Media Marketing

It is the social media age. Nothing is as powerful as social media when it comes to influencing people. More than half of the current world population use social media with an average person spending up to 3 hours a day on social media. Almost 54% of the audience use various social media platforms to learn about products and services. Even they research a lot on social media before buying any product or service.

The point is, people need time. About 96% of them just visit a website for the first time but aren’t ready to become a buyer. They need to have more than one interaction with you to feel compelled to take the plunge and become a customer. That’s where social retargeting and engagement comes in.

As the potential leads spend most of their time on various social media, it only makes sense to target your marketing efforts on the social channels and engage them continuously till they convert into qualified lead. That’s why 68% of marketers surveyed, now invest in social media retargeting to drive conversions.

Conclusion

It’s not wrong if we say that leads are the lifeline of any business success in B2B. Without proper info on potential customers, you are literally fishing in the dark and leaving outcomes mostly to chance. The only effective way to generate leads is strategic planning.

So, your goal should be; not only to have continuous generation of new leads, but to use existing aids and tools in such a way that lead generation gives ideal results in terms of quality as well.

Read Next: B2B Tools For Building a Inbound Lead Generation Program