Top Inbound Lead Generation Strategies for B2B Businesses

Today we're talking all things inbound lead generation for B to B businesses.
Why?
Well, here at Neighbourhood, we know that 53% of marketers spend half
or more of their budget on lead generation initiatives.
So quite frankly, I'd be rude not to offer some advice.
Hey guys, it's Cam here
from Neighbourhood, where we help brands find, sell and keep their people.
As a B2B business owner or marketing
manager overseeing your company's lead generation marketing,
how can you go about attracting more quality leads to your website?
The answer lies not with whistles and banners, but with customer centricity.
Now what exactly do we mean by that?
Customer centricity simply means making sure your business provides the right
answers to the right customers at the right moment in time.
That is the key to attracting quality
prospects and converting visitors into quality leads.
Success lies in the strategy.
So by the end of this video, you'll be in the secret circle and privy
to all our top B to B inbound lead generation secrets.
Today I'll be filling you in on what is B to B inbound lead generation.
The process behind the methodology,
B to B inbound lead generation strategies, and how to qualify a lead and convert.
So without further Ado, let's get into it.
First up, let's uncover what B to B inbound lead generation.
Even is.
Lead generation is the term used to describe any method by which a business
builds interest in their products and services.
Interest could mean anything from customers signing up to the company
newspaper all the way to making a final purchase.
In fact, lead is really just the overall
term to describe any contact made with a potential customer.
In reality, leads can come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes,
and there are four main types that every B to B marketer should be aware of.
Lead type number
One Marketing Qualified Lead A Marketing Qualified Lead is any contact who has
engaged with your marketing materials but isn't ready to receive a sales call.
They're still a bit shy, so give them time.
If you go in too strong, you may scare them away.
Lead Number Two Sales Qualified Lead A
Sales Qualified Lead is any contact who has actively demonstrated interest
and purchase intent in your products or services.
For example, sue from Adelaide who placed your super snazzy sweater in her shopping
basket but hasn't committed to a purchase yet.
Next is Lead type number Three.
Product Qualified Lead A Product Qualified Lead is any contact who has taken part
in a product or service demo and indicated purchase intent.
They're smart cookies. The PQL always does their research,
so you'll have to prove your worth with this kind of lead.
Then is Lead type number four.
Service Qualified Lead A Service Qualified
Lead is any contact who has indicated to a customer service representative
that they are interested in becoming a paying customer.
Your SQLs are like precious gold,
so make sure you hold them close and don't let them go.
Inbound lead generation is all about
letting the customer in their share a relationship with you organically.
An organic lead simply means that your prospects are people who are actively
searching for a product or service, usually through an Internet search engine.
Because of this, inbound lead generation tends to be better for generating long
term customer investment in your brand as opposed to short term sales.
So what's the process behind this principle?
Well, we'll break it down in these four steps.
Step one is the discovery step.
This is when your prospects discover your brand's hidden treasure.
When a prospect first encounters your
brand via one of its marketing channels, they enter the magical Wonderland that is
the first step in the inbound lead generation journey.
Step two is the click.
Hopefully, your marketing content has
a killer CTA or call to action backed by relevant content.
A CTA encourages users to take action, usually via a button or message.
Make your CTA irresistible enough and your
prospect will click without a second thought.
Step Three capture.
Once a prospect has clicked on your CTA, it will take them to your chosen
destination, which is typically a website landing page.
This is where you get your metaphorical
net out and capture all those leads and their contact information.
A great way to do this is to provide an offer in exchange.
For example, you might entice customers with an e book or a free course
that in return they must sign up with their contact information.
Finally, is step four a form suitably enticed by your marketing charms.
Your prospect will be happy to fill out a form in exchange for that dream offer,
which leaves you with a brand spanking new, fully organic lead.
You never know they might just become your most loyal customer.
There you have it.
You've graduated to the school of inbound lead generation strategies.
We've covered the basics and now we think you're ready for our classified secrets.
We're going to show you how to develop
a killer B to B lead generation strategy of your own.
The magic ingredient is communication, and the second magic ingredient is a variety.
You want to utilise a large range of these
lead generation methods to make your marketing efforts worth it.
Strategy One ramp up your content marketing with the best blog on the block.
Did you know that content marketing
generates up to three times more leads than traditional marketing methods?
Content marketing is one of the most
effective ways to attract people to your website.
Having a vast range of quality SEO optimised content for prospects to peruse
will guide visitors from the search engine to your landing page.
If your content offers value,
then you'll be sure to convert some of the visitors into paying customers.
Plus, content is the ideal platform for extending your branding initiatives as
well as providing potential leads with information.
Content communicate your brand ethos, values and personality so when customers
align with that ethos value or personality.
It's a recipe for longevity and a fulfilling customer experience.
So whether you're serious and factual informative but casual or super chill,
make sure your content shows your customers exactly who you are.
We recommend starting with your business blog.
If you've not already got a brand blog, then that's a great place to start.
You don't need to be the next JK Rowling either.
Your blog should just be a place for value
packed, informative content that reflects who you are as a company.
Some top types of content we'd recommend
to try out are authoritative posts, opinion pieces, industry research,
how to guides, infographics, video content, and trending topics.
Blog posts are also great places to use
promotional offers for conversion opportunities.
The beauty of a blog post is that you can
craft your content to support whatever end goal you have in mind.
For example, if you're selling CRM software to ecommerce businesses,
then writing blog materials about CRM benefits, use cases,
or even providing real life case studies is likely to be considered highly valuable
by your prospects at the end of your blog post.
Make it super easy for your readers
to navigate to your landing page, sales page resources or offers via
an engaging CTA logging will ultimately drive more traffic to your website.
Convert that traffic into leads by CTAs and encourage repeat business
and referrals strategy to lap up those social media conversion rates.
Social media, love it or hate it is a boon
for marketers, so it's time to put any strong feelings about this medium aside
and use this highly effective lead generation tool to your advantage.
If Facebook makes your blood boil well, tough.
You can recover later, but for now it's a sacrifice you're going
to have to make for the greater good of your business.
Social media is fantastic for building
brand awareness with BTB marketers, using social media platforms to turn
prospects into leads by guiding them towards desired actions through clever
CTAs, as this channel makes it easy to be creative with your calls to action.
You can choose the classic CTA button
at the end of the post, or you can mix things up a bit
with LinkedIn ads, Instagram stories, Facebook Liv, or reels in just one swipe.
Your prospects can be redirected to your landing page.
It's worth noting that the best CTAs spark enthusiasm by presenting a challenge,
creating a sense of urgency, asking controversial questions,
inciting pop culture, sparking conversation, or just being plain funny.
The top social media platforms for BTB businesses are LinkedIn and Facebook.
Linkedin ads is perfect for audience targeting, providing newsworthy
and topical ads, and for testing out new CTAs social media posts and brand images.
Facebook lead ads allow B to B users
to sign up for offers in a click without ever having to leave the platform.
That means your prospects will be able
to sign up to mailing list and offers directly from their social media account.
Strategy Three Show them how it's done
with product Demos One of the biggest struggles for B to B businesses is finding
ways to help buyers feel confident in purchasing their products.
Buyers will be grateful for any kind
of try before you buy option, and that's where product demos come in.
Demos are particularly useful for talking
prospects through a software, product or service.
It will give your potential buyer the opportunity to see exactly what it is
they are investing their money in, so a fantastic accurate and enticing
product demo is a sure way to gain qualified sales leads.
Strategy Four Invest in success with Pay per Click or PPC you may be asking,
why pay for advertising space when I can just get it for free?
We get it.
But here I found PPC is likely to give more than it takes away.
It's pretty generous like that.
Pay per click advertising is essentially paid advertising space.
Ppc allows businesses to target prospects
with much more precision by selling prime ad space across top advertising platforms
like Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Ad Role, and more.
Think of it like Billboard for the virtual world of the Internet.
Instead of plastering a 40 foot post from the highway, PPC allows you to pay us
your ad in prime search engine territory, but pretty convenient if you ask us.
Every time a prospect clicks on your ad,
you'll incur a small fee from the advertising platform.
Typically, revenues generated from PPC far outweigh any incurred expenses.
In fact, for every one dollars spent
on Google AdWords, businesses earn back an average revenue of $2.
Ppc makes for a great compliment to your organic content marketing,
but that doesn't mean it should replace organic marketing methods entirely.
It's all about finding the balance when combining the two.
Strategy Five Old school email marketing knows Best Email may feel like it's been
around since the Stone Age, but it's a tried,
tested and proven inbound lead generator that really does work.
89% of marketers still use email as their primary lead generation channel.
And no, it's not just because they're stuck in their ways.
Email has lasted because, well, it's the best.
Email really is made for B to B marketing.
Since, BTB businesses market to other professionals, it's encouraging to know
that 86% of professionals prioritise email connections.
So why is email so good at its job?
Well, there's a few reasons.
First, the people on your emailing list will already have shown active interest
in your brand by subscribing or opting in to email correspondence from your
company, giving you some pretty important contact info in the process.
That's a positive indication that they are
more likely to have a real purchase intent.
They are already familiar with your product or service and may only need
a little CTA shaped nudge to take action and buy.
So what can you do to improve your email marketing?
Conversion Rates Email may be good,
but it needs to be nurtured and sculpted in a way.
If you want to see amazing results,
we've collated what some of the best email campaigns have in common.
They always use concise personalised subject lines.
They entice prospects with value offers.
They include catchy CTAs linking prospects to a relevant landing page.
They segment mailing lists so
that targeted messages reach the right individuals.
They use marketing analytics to optimise their mailing list and email content.
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Strategy Six If it didn't work the first time, try and try again.
Now look, I'm not telling you to barrage your contact list,
but giving up when a promising lead fall through isn't the answer either.
The solution lies in something called retargeting.
Retargeting is all about going in from another angle and getting the best shot.
Retargeting ads offer BTB businesses a way to reengage customers who have shown
interest but failed to convert for one reason or another.
Perhaps they've read your content, watch your videos,
signed up for your ebook, but then dropped off the face of the planet completely.
If that sounds familiar, then rest assured knowing that it is
a very common phenomenon, a retargeting ad will remind your prospect
of what they're missing and redirect them back to your website,
where they will hopefully complete that sale strategy seven referrals Are
the Top B to B Lead Generator B to B lead generation is its own beast.
It's not a mirror image of business
to consumer marketing because B to B businesses are directing their marketing
campaigns towards other industry professionals.
And for business professionals,
referrals remain one of the most trusted sources of information.
That means one of the best things you can do as a BTB business owner or marketing
manager is to build up a large network of customers and brand ambassadors
that are willing to advocate for your product or service.
But why do recommendations carry so much weight?
Well, businesses respect the opinions of other successful businesses.
Plus, if an organisation is planning to invest in an expensive product,
then they're going to want to reduce as much risk as possible.
Knowing that another organisation has seen
success from using said product or service will encourage them to follow the latter.
So whatever you do, make sure your B to B
inbound lead generation strategy includes a healthy dose of referral marketing.
If you don't already have a huge network of referees, don't sweat it.
We'd definitely recommend the following to build some rapport with customers.
Make it easy for past customers to leave
recommendations on your website and social channels.
Don't be afraid to ask.
Reach out and ask past and loyal customers to make a referral.
Reward referees with an incentive such as 10% discount for those who refer a friend
and consider partnering with online influencers within the industry.
All right, you know everything you need
to know about B to B inbound lead generation.
So once you've generated tonnes of high quality leads, what's next?
Don't just leave your prospects hanging.
Once somebody has shown you that they're interested in your product or service,
it's time to cultivate that relationship even further.
Go out and knock their socks off by using
all that valuable content you've just garnered and share it with them.
Offer your top leads additional support
in the form of offers, exclusive content and exceptional support.
You're all ready to go out there and generate some tip top quality leads.
As a B to B business owner or lead
generation marketing executive, chances are you're always on the lookout
for ways to reach out to more potential customers.
Remember, communication and variety is the key to success.
Employing a wide range of lead generation strategies will also help you out a bunch.
Whatever methods you choose to include
in your inbound lead generation strategy, make sure that referrals are one of them.
Businesses trust other businesses when making big money purchases,
so don't lose out on the power of a cracking recommendation.
If you found this video helpful, feel free to share it with someone who you
know needs a hand with their inbound lead strategy.
You can also subscribe to our blog where
you'll find a bunch more tools, tips and templates to help you find,
sell and keep your people just like neighbourhood does.
That's it from me. Happy marketing.