Lead generation is one of the first and most essential stages in the sales funnel. While it is essential, it is also one of the toughest. 65% of businesses consider lead generation as their biggest marketing challenge. It is about collecting all the relevant information about potential customers, which needs meticulous planning and strategizing.
In the B2B sales process, this information would usually include the target company’s name, the contact information of the decision-makers, their job titles, the total number of employees, etc. Every lead then goes through the nurturing process before it is passed on to the sales team for further qualification. As such, lead generation is a specialized process to create a perennial flow of high-intent prospects who can eventually be turned into customers.
There are different types of marketing techniques that are prominently used to generate leads. These include:
Email Marketing
It is one of the most effective marketing techniques that can provide a high percentage of ROI when performed correctly. It is estimated that 280 billion emails are sent daily, and the figure is estimated to touch 333 billion by the end of 2021.
Social Media Marketing
The popularity of Social Media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc., has gradually led to the success of social media marketing. Each of the social channels can be effectively used by enterprises to optimize engagement with their target audience. PWC has found that Social networks are one of the biggest sources of inspiration for consumer purchases, with 37% of consumers finding purchase inspiration through the channel. It has been found the content marketing can be quite useful in building loyalty with customers and engaging potential customers.
Content Marketing
Using relevant, valuable, and engaging content can is the ideal technique to attract leads. From Blogging to microsites and infographics to videos, different types of content achieve different types of goals.
Search Marketing
Research has found that 93% of buying decisions start with an online search when it comes to the B2B domain. Organic search marketing has evolved as one of the most efficient long-term strategies for generating B2B leads. With the ever-growing number of Internet users, search marketing, which includes Search Engine Optimization and PPC (Paid Search Marketing), has become critical for business growth and development.
Discussed below are some of the lead generation strategies and tactics that are simple yet effective.
A/B Testing
Building a functional landing page and optimizing it regularly is imperative before initiating a marketing campaign. The landing page must have the right amount of content. While it must be minimalist, it should have a clean and organized design. As most users use mobile as their preferred browsing device, it is important for the landing page to be mobile-friendly, backed by a compelling CTA.
Your website and landing pages might look elegant and functional. However, the only way to check if they are effective from the conversion perspective is to test them. A/B testing is one of the ideal procedures that can help marketers determine the right place for all the content elements and optimize the lead generation process.
Lead Gen Tools
The rapid digitalization of the sales and marketing process has made it imperative to use automated tools for lead generation. Sales automation software is one such tool that can boost productivity and maximize efficiency and profitability. The software is essentially an integrated application of customizable sales tools. These tools work in tandem to automate and streamline the sales cycle.
For instance, a typical sales automation software can include a database that is integrated into a CRM. The data from the CRM can then be used in tandem with an automated emailing solution. Similarly, marketers can also use lead generation software to automate the mechanism of capturing the lead from multiple channels. When integrated with CRM, Lead generation software can automate the process of attracting and gathering leads online and capturing all the relevant information by itself.
Targeted Campaigns
Marketers can identify the effective keywords from the competitors and optimize their sites to rank for the same keywords. Similarly, the analysis of competitor backlinks can also be quite helpful. A robust backlink profile is usually rewarded by an increase in organic rankings in search engines.
In addition, there are many more strategies, such as using lead magnets and lead forms, making the webpage responsive, personalizing content, etc., which can go a long way in optimizing the lead generation process.