Having a business that sells to other businesses isn’t quite the same as selling to the consumer. At the end of the day, though, you still have clients or customers that rely on you.
To keep your business healthy and growing you need to bring in more customers. That’s generally done by getting leads and reaching out to them to talk about how you can meet their needs.
Since you aren’t selling B2C, though, it’s not as easy to just ask potential leads to fill out a form on your website or sign up for your newsletter.
Lead gen marketing is different at the B2B level, but it’s just as important for success.
Here are 4 steps to lead you to success.
What is Lead Generation in Marketing?
Lead generation is typically based on generating interest in your product or service. When you get people interested, you can work on turning that interest into a purchase.
With B2B lead gen marketing, though, you’ll be identifying potential buyers for the product or service you’re offering. Then you’ll use strategies that attract those buyers. It’s very similar to B2C lead generation, but it’s not quite the same.
Lead generation has traditionally fallen under the advertising area of a company, but it doesn’t necessarily have to.
Since lead gen marketing isn’t limited to only what your company can do through paid advertising, you can use multiple channels to reach B2B leads.
What are the 4 Steps of the Lead Generation Process?
The process of lead gen marketing always starts with making sure customers can find you.
If it’s successful, it’ll end with bringing on a new customer to keep your company growing. The lead generation process generally follows these four steps.
1. Awareness: The first step in any kind of lead generation process is awareness. If your potential customer doesn’t know you exist, they can’t buy from you. Even if you have the greatest product or service ever, customers can’t buy from you if they aren’t aware of you.
2. Education: Once a customer has you on their radar you need to show them why they should choose you. Even if you have a unique niche and value proposition, you’re still going to have competition.
Helping customers understand why you’re the best choice can go a long way toward success in your lead gen marketing efforts. You need to make sure customers see the value of what you’re offering.
One of the ways to do that is through quality content marketing.
3. Sampling: Especially for high-dollar products or services, you can’t expect a company to make a purchase from you without trying what you’re selling.
Providing a product demo, a free trial, or another way for a potential customer to see how your offering works for them is a crucial part of generating leads and moving them down the sales funnel.
4. Conversion: By the time you get to the “selling” phase, your potential customer should already be sold on what you offer. Then, all you have to do is make sure they see the value of your product or service and answer any questions they still have. When they see that your company gives them the solution they want, they’re very likely to buy from you.
Not every lead you generate will be successful. Especially in a B2B scenario, there can be plenty of reasons why a company chooses another offer or decides to go with a different solution instead of yours.
That’s why it’s so important to keep generating leads and moving them through the funnel since they won’t all make their way to a purchase.
4 Approaches to Lead Generation
Lead generation approaches are vital for getting customers interested.
There are four main ways to get the most from lead gen marketing, right from the start.
- Create Irresistible Opt-In Opportunities
- Write Excellent Ads
- Make Landing Pages Easy to Use
- Provide Better Offers
With the right approach, you can accomplish more.
Your lead gen marketing is a key growth strategy for your company, so you want to make sure you’re getting it right.
Lead Generation for B2B Companies
A B2B company focused on lead generation needs to make sure it has a handle on digital marketing because that’s the way to get more leads more easily.
When a B2B company dials in its digital marketing strategy it provides the content and value that its target market companies are looking for.
That means not only more leads but stronger leads that are more likely to convert into customers.
The Top 5 Lead Generation Strategies for B2B Companies
As a B2B company, you want to make sure you’re using the right lead-generation marketing strategy.
There are five strategies you absolutely want to consider.
- Retarget Leads On Your Site
- Quality Content Marketing
- Targeted Social Media Ads
- Automated Email Campaigns
- Case Studies to Provide Education
When you focus on what client businesses are looking for, you can give them more of what they expect.
They’ll remember that, and remember you took the time to learn their needs and goals.
Hire a Vetted Writer for Your Lead Gen Marketing Today
You need great ads, quality content, and targeted emails to make the most of B2B lead gen marketing.
By hiring a vetted content writer you can expand your business and give potential customers great reasons to buy from you.
Ready to get started? Sign up for a free trial of WriterAccess today and find a writer you can rely on.
