Is B2B lead generation really a big deal for business?

Let’s see:

According to Content Marketing Institute, 85% of B2B marketers say lead generation is their most important content marketing goal.

Ok, so it really is important.

But whoever has tried to increase business sales by generating more leads knows that: 

Lead Generation ISN’T easy.

So, you need to protect yourself from a lot of misinformation available on the internet that includes:

👉 Conflicting research about the best ways to generate leads.  

👉 Over-hyped case studies that worked for XYZ corporations who, with thousands of established buyers, increased their sales regardless of the tactic they used.

👉 Some new shiny strategies and tactics invented by so-called Gurus out there

Let me tell you, this random information doesn’t help in any way.

To generate leads for your business, you’ll have to tailor your approach according to your organization, industry, product/service, and buyer.

Because nobody knows what is the right source to get leads for your B2B business.

Don’t believe me?

Check out this chart by Hubspot in an attempt to figure out where do the most of the leads come from:

Did you spot the biggest source of B2B leads?

YES, apparently it is “Other”

I mean how does “other” help, haha. 

If experts can’t figure it out, who else knows?  

This data shows that even the industry authorities, with tons of data, struggle to pinpoint the best way to generate leads. 

But the question still remains:

What is the best way to generate B2B leads?

Well, there is not one. 

It is a mixture of different tactics and strategies.

As stated by one of the leading marketers, Jaako:

“The best way to generate more sales is to tailor your B2B strategy around your industry, product, and buyer.”

And that is exactly why I’ve selected and listed 26 Powerful Lead Generation Strategies and Tactics every B2B business must use to increase their flow of leads. 

All 26 strategies can be categorized under 4 Digital Marketing Disciplines that can be optimized for conversions:

• Website Optimization

• Content Marketing

• Paid Advertising

• Social Media

But, before we dive deeper into each of these sections, let’s understand…

What is B2B Lead Generation?

B2B lead generation is short for business-to-business lead generation, which describes businesses that primarily sell to other businesses. 

This is parallel to business-to-consumer (B2C) lead generation, where products and services are sold directly to consumers.

B2B lead generation involves collecting a potential customer’s information such as name, email, company name, and job title that you can then use to personalize communication and make sales.

After acquiring these leads, the next step is to nurture them via marketing automation and then pass them to your sales team.

The end goal of B2B lead generation is to create a consistent pipeline of high-intent prospects that could be turned into customers.

In brief B2B lead generation involves:

Step 1: Finding B2B leads 

Step 2: Reaching Out to Them

Step 3: Qualifying & Prospecting High-Quality Leads

Step 4: Closing Them

OK! So now you know the overall framework.

But in order to actually generate B2B leads you need to know and implement the strategies and tactics.

With that in mind, let’s begin with the first step, which is to…

Optimize Your Site to Generate B2B leads

Want to get some extra leads?

Convert your existing website visitors into subscribers.

Chances are you are losing a lot of leads by not optimizing your website for conversions. 

Here’s how to begin:

1. A/B Testing Your Website’s Key Pages

Will changing your landing page image increase conversions?

Will a homepage redesign convert more visitors into leads?

Well, A/B split testing is the only way to find out.

Let’s take an example:

You want to optimize your home page for conversions.

You want to see where people are looking at when they land on your page and, what all activities do they do.

By using the HeatMaps technology(more on that later), you can see where your readers are moving and clicking throughout your page.

Imagine how powerful this information can be.

Suppose you find out that people are not clicking on the CTA at the bottom of your page. 

Now here is where A/B testing comes in.

You create a different version of your landing page and keep everything the same.

You just change the position of CTA to a place where you found people to be looking and interacting on your page the most.

Then you run a A/B test campaign, and send traffic to both versions of the page to find out if the new version made people click on your CTA more than before or not.

If it does, you now know where the CTA needs to be.

If not, then may be something else is wrong on your page and you should then test other elements like:

• The Color of the CTA
• The Page Load Time
• The Overall Copy of The Page
• The Speed Of The Website, etc.

This is how you can set up your whole website for conversion such that the maximum amount of your traffic gets converted into leads.

When you do this right, you don’t have to spend a dime acquiring leads from other sources.

You can simply convert your already engaged visitors into leads.

The next optimization you can do on your website is to…

2. Check Your Website for Broken Pages

This is one of the things businesses don’t care much about.

But it can sabotage your site’s ability to generate leads, and negatively affecting the User Experience of your audience.

If your website consists of Broken Pages, they can get it penalized by Google, cost you organic traffic, and even worse, cause visitors to bounce. 

So it’s important to ensure that your site does not contain 404 pages and broken links.

Fortunately, they’re easy enough to fix. 

You can use tools like Moz, Ahrefs, SEMrush to audit your site for broken links and then fix those links by either removing them or replacing them.

3. Optimize Your Website for Mobile

With a younger generation of buyers entering the workforce, optimizing for mobile is becoming an increasingly important part of an effective B2B lead generation strategy. 

Researching the impact of mobile on B2B sales, surveys found that:

• 80 percent of B2B buyers are now using mobile at work

• And more than 60 percent of these buyers report that mobile plays a critical role in their purchases. 

They also found that B2B marketers who are already optimizing for mobile are experiencing “reduced purchasing time and higher customer loyalty.”

These numbers prove how important it is to optimize your site for mobile.

But how and what to optimize?

This is where tools like Google Pagespeed Insights will help you out.

Enter in your website URL and run the page speed test.

Google will tell you exactly what all needs to be optimized to increase your scores in both mobile as well as desktop rankings. 

After you have the report, share it with your developer and ask her to optimize based on the findings.

Now, would you like to get highly targeted traffic to your site?

Here’s what you need to do for that…

4. Optimize For Long-Tail Keywords to Get More Qualified Leads

A long-tail keyword is one that is three or more words long and is very specific.

And yes, it usually gets very low search volume. 

But due to the low search volume, don’t make the mistake of leaving Long Tail Keywords out of your Content Marketing Strategy.

Targeting the right long-tail keywords which have extremely high purchase intent have the power to increase both your leads as well as the sales…

…and that too with very little SEO effort.

Neil Patel generated 173,336 qualified visitors for his business from long-tail keyword phrases in the past year – a 91% increase.

So make sure to include long tail keywords in your posts.

5. Run Campaigns Based on Competitor Keywords

If your competitors approach certain sites for backlinks, or…

…seem to favor optimizing a noticeable group of keywords…

…it means they’ve found winning keywords that are generating leads for them.

Using tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush, you can find out the keywords your competitors are ranking for.

You can then target the same or similar keywords to drive more sales-ready traffic to your site. 

6. Write Copy that Resonates with your Audience

Copywriting is the key thing that matters when it comes to Conversion Rate Optimization for leads and sales.

If what are you sharing is not resonating with your readers, what’s the point?

And if what you share doesn’t interest them, why would they subscribe to become a lead.

So, check whether your copy is performing well for you in terms of lead generation or not.

The best way to check is through the A/B testing method shared above.

If not, hire a professional to get it done for you and then notice the difference in conversions.

7. Use HeatMaps to Observe Where Your Users are Looking At

I mentioned this technology in the first tactic.

The thing is that there will always be some leads who land on your site and rush right through your sales funnel…

…but the rest of the majority move a lot slower. 

Regardless of how “warm” your leads are, when arriving on your site, they’ll all hit barriers that interrupt the lead generation process.  

This is where not just heatmaps, but scroll maps, and mouse tracking tools can help you disrupt those barriers in your lead generation process.

The reports and the data from these tools will literally blow your mind as to what all information is accessible. 

But all this is worth NOTHING if you don’t act on it and optimize your site based on how visitors are interacting with your site.

When you find out an area where your visitors are looking or clicking at the most…

…add in your opt in form at that position, or shift your CTA at that position, and see if it increases your conversions or not.

8. Add Conversion Elements on Your Landing Pages

When it comes to lead generation, landing pages are the most transformative points in the buyer journey.

This is where the conversion is going to happen.

And that is why it is important to include conversion elements on the page that psychologically push your visitors to give you their contact details.

These conversion elements include:

• Backing up your landing page copy with social proof showcasing how much you’ve helped others with your services.

• Making your Call-To-Action (CTA) copy more relevant, instead of generic “Sign Up” or “Register”. 

• Upgrading your Headline to Attract Your Leads.

• Adding in bulleted lists that explain what’s in it for your visitors if they provide you their contact details.

• Adding testimonials from your customers/clients to build trust in their minds that you are a good fit for their business, and that they are not the only one to have invested in you.

Here’s an example by Zenefits:

9. Adding in Chat Support

Your leads won’t always find the answers they’re searching for on your site.

Even if you have a FAQ section on your site, people need answers fast.

And if they have an urgent question or objection that requires a lengthy email exchange to be answered, you’ve lost them. 

By integrating Chat Support on your site, you bypass frustratingly lengthy exchanges and cut straight to decision-making conversations.

Doing this can help you generate high quality leads and sometimes even sales, if the visitor is at the end of the buying cycle.

10. Incorporate Personalization in Your Website

Personalization is no longer a plus in B2B lead generation.

It’s a must. 

To personalize the buying experience on your site, use dynamic pages and content that adapt to your visitor’s:

• Name

• Location

• Industry

• Company 

Check out how this website displays the name ‘Nicky’ to convey a message:

This adds an intimate touch to the buyer journey that creates a powerful personal experience.

This will boost your lead generation rate in no time as people like it when someone makes them feel important. 

Human beings are like that.

Likeability is one of the most powerful conversion triggers one can use. 

That is why this tactic can be your lethal lead generation weapon.

Use it wisely and effectively, wherever possible.

These all were the steps that you can do to optimize your overall website for conversions. Let’s jump on to how you can…

Reach More High-Quality Leads With Content Marketing

Do you know how many content pieces does an average buyer go through before making the buying decision?

These content pieces can be blog articles on websites, reports, case studies, white papers, reviews, etc.

The answer is 13.

This is the reason why 69 percent of successful B2B marketers have a documented content strategy for their business to generate leads and sales.

You can do it as well by following the steps below:

11. Guest Posting

Guest Posting is an underused strategy that works. 

Don’t believe me?

Read what Neil Patel has to say about it:

“I’ve tried many different inbound marketing strategies, but guest blogging has remained my most treasured tool. QuickSprout wouldn’t have been as successful as it’s become if I’d neglected guest blogging.” 

Even though it has a controversial past, guest posting is still the number one link building strategy that SEOs recommend. 

Guest Posting allows you to cast a wider net for your B2B Lead Generation.

It presents you as an authority to a fresh audience of new B2B leads.

So if you’ve not been Guest Posting as of now, go ahead and look out for sites where your target audience is hanging out and check if you can guest post on that website.

Simple.

Guest Posting is about leveraging other people’s authority to your own benefit.

And this should remain an active part of your content marketing strategy.

With that out of the way, let’s find out how you can generate more leads from your own content itself:

12. Offer Lead Magnets to Lure In Leads

Lead magnets are the bread to your B2B lead generating butter. 

But most of the businesses make the mistake of creating generic lead magnets.

Why this is a mistake is because a lot of times that information is available inside a blog post which is just a Google search away.

Is that actually “Magnetic”?

No right?

So here’s what you should do. 

Instead of creating lousy, low value mini eBooks, offer heavy resources like:

• In-Depth Guides.

• Comprehensive How-Tos. 

• Detailed Case Studies.

• Done For You Templates

Just keep in mind that the lead magnets should be valuable enough for, often busy, B2B professionals to submit their contact details in exchange for it.

While Lead Magnets are excellent for generating leads, there is one technique that can turn every piece of your content into a Lead Generating Machine, and that is…

13. Add Content Upgrades to Your Top-Performing Content

If you haven’t already, you can check for the top performing content on your website by looking inside the Google Webmasters Console.

The point is that Google and your target audience are loving that blog article you wrote. 

So why not use it as an asset for generating leads.

This is where Content Upgrades can help. 

Want to know how?

Let me explain with an example:

After writing massive guides, Brain Dean offers a complimentary content upgrade, which is nothing but a PDF or checklist version of the post to get more leads on his email list. 

You can use this strategy to your benefit as well.

Simply repurpose content from your top performing blog post into a form that’ll be easy for the readers to consume. 

Like a checklist, case study, cheatsheet, or may be the entire blog post for that matter.

At various positions while scrolling down your blog post, add in the option for your readers to get the content upgrade by filling in their contact information.

You can even add popups on your site to boost more sign ups to your content upgrades.

This one strategy can literally change your lead generation game for good.

14. Publish Original Research

B2B buyers crave original research. 

To skyrocket your inbound lead generation, be the company they get their research from. 

The way you can do this is by:

• Interviewing subject experts… 
• Survey your buyers, and… 
• Collaborate on content with industry influencers. 

This will not only help you with lead generation but will also improve your credibility, generate hordes of backlinks to your site, and naturally become the go-to source of industry information.

This is one way to generate leads for your business along with beating your competition. But one more way to do so is to…

15. Create Pillar Posts using SkyScraper Technique on “Money” Keywords that Buyers Use

SnackNation’s mega article on “employee wellness” dominates the no.1 spot on Google for a competitive keyword. 

What’s impressive is that the piece was published a few years ago, and continues to drive high-quality B2B leads to this day.

Their secret is this: 

Find your “money” keyword terms that buyers are bound to use, then, create a killer article around it. 

Well what this actually means is to:

• Outdo competitors by featuring more points. That’s how you build a skyscraper content piece
• Share a large number of contributions from other authorities in your industry, and
• Use an aggressive outreach strategy to get influencers to share your post.

Doing all this will help you with ranking better on Search Engines.

And if you’ve optimized your site for conversions using the first 10 steps explained above, the number of leads you generate will automatically increase.

The next super power to include in your content marketing strategy is to…

16. Collaborate, Interview & Host Webinars

There is this power in collaboration that you can’t get by fighting alone.

When you collaborate with your competition or some other business whose audience is a good fit for both, that is a win-win situation for everybody.

All involved in collaboration can present their content, offers and services to new audiences, hence increasing their chances of lead generations and sales.

By collaborating, you can interview people and host webinars to cross sell each other’s services. 

Infact, 73 percent of marketers and sales leaders report webinars as a top lead generation tactic.

Webinars kill multiple birds with a single stone. 

They not only pre-qualify leads, but also provide a platform to upsell and interact with leads to generate sales “on-demand.”

Isn’t that Powerful?

Want to know the next powerful step to include in your content marketing engine?

That is…

17. Creating Videos for Youtube and Raking in the Benefits of SEO

If you still aren’t using videos in your lead generation campaigns, here are two reasons why you should: 

• 90 percent of marketers agree that video is the best way to repurpose B2B content, and…

• YouTube is the second-largest search engine on the web.  

The math is both easy and appealing.

You don’t need blockbuster videos. 

You can simply turn your existing content into informative videos using which you can drive people to your opt in pages and hence generate leads.

With me so far?

Great.

Let’s move on to the next tactic which is to…

18. Create Podcasts for Your Industry or Be On Those Which Your Audience is Listening To

In today’s world not only podcasts are rising in popularity, but they are also boasting audiences with high purchase intent. 

Does this mean you should start one?

Not necessarily. 

It totally depends.

If you don’t want to start your own, you can speak as a guest on some.

This can work wonders for you as well because…

…you will get in front of a new audience, who can then check what you do on your website and can then turn into a lead for your business.

This might not sound like a hard core Lead Generation Hack but if you choose the right podcasts to be on…

…you can’t imagine the quality of leads you can get.

With attention of human beings less than 7 seconds, if you are on a podcast that people are actively listening to…

…you know that the audience is serious and is highly qualified.

So don’t lose out on this amazing opportunity.

Including all these techniques in your Content Marketing Strategy will boost the amount of leads you generate for your business. 

Let’s now learn how you can…

Skyrocket Your B2B Lead Generation with a Powerful Paid Advertising Strategy

All the strategies untill now help in generating inbound leads.

Inbound lead generation can take a lot of time and money.

Though it should definitely be a part of the overall marketing strategy of your business, it should not be the only source of traffic to rely upon.

Every business needs to test a lot of things, do a lot of experiments to determine…

…what works for their business and what does not, and that too As Quickly As Possible.

This makes paid advertising a smart and aggressive solution to generating new B2B leads. 

To quickly generate leads without waiting for search engines to bless you, try these tactics below: 

19. Using Facebook Ads

Facebook is one of the most powerful lead generation platforms out there with over 2.6 billion monthly active users.

A lot of businesses invest in Facebook Ads to generate leads for their business.

Somehow most B2B marketers don’t take Facebook Ads seriously. 

They think that B2B is not a source of good leads for their business but it is far from the truth.

Actually, not using Facebook Ads is costing them leads. 

Because B2B marketers who are using Facebook Ads are actually generating high-quality leads with relatively lower costs. 

Adam Goyette, for example, turned Facebook into the top-performing paid lead generation channel for his agency and secured leads from companies like IBM and Salesforce.

So don’t make the mistake of neglecting this Social Media Giant to generate leads for your business.

Now that we’ve talked about the elephant in the room, Facebook Ads, want to know the most preferred method for effective B2B Lead Generation?

20. Using Linkedin Ads

Everybody knows that LinkedIn is a network of Professionals, most commonly working in B2B, and that…

…LinkedIn members are known for being career and skill minded. 

These two qualities make LinkedIn THE place to go for “big deal,” high-value B2B lead generation. 

So, if you have: 

• A premium product or service that you offer…
• Carefully mapped out the buyer journey of your customer…
• Calculated the average Life-Time Value of every single customer…

…then you should definitely use LinkedIn ads for generating leads.

The reason the points above need to be checked off is because:

Cost-per-click is higher on LinkedIn compared to other platforms, but…

…the tradeoff is the ability to hyper-target your audience using the amazing filters that LinkedIn provides.

One B2B sale can actually cover all your LinkedIn advertisement costs if done right, so do try them out.

21. Place Ads on Niche Sites

Everyone wants to get featured on sites like The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, etc, but achieving that feat is not easy organically.

If you take the paid route, even while in B2B, the costs can be huge.

But the way to avoid all that costs and struggle, but still reach out to your target audience is:

Placing Ads On Niche Sites

Take advantage of the authoritative sites in your industry that offer an option to buy media ads, like banners, or shoutouts. 

Pay them to reach your target audience without spending a ton of money.

This will open new doors for your business as a new, highly targeted audience, might click on your ad and land on your optin page and subscribe to your business.

Want to know one more Super Powerful and Cost Efficient way to generate leads via paid media?

22. Leverage the Power of Retargeting Ads

Have you ever visited a website and later got an ad from that same company on Google or YouTube? 

Well, guess what?

You have been retargeted, haha. 

What actually happens is:

• You land on a website.

• You get “tagged” by the site with a tracking code. 

• When you browse the internet elsewhere, you are served with ads due to the tagging.

• This way you are subconsciously interacting with the ads which will generate interest and desire in you to check them out, and eventually convert either into a lead or a sale for that website you visited in the first step.

Isn’t this powerful?

Now that you know about it, wouldn’t you want to do the same thing for visitors who landed on your site but did not convert?

By reaching back out to visitors who’ve drifted away, you create multiple “touchpoints” and inspire them to interact with you again.

This way you not only can convert more visitors into leads but also do so in a cost effective way, because…

…retargeting ads are cheaper in comparison to other ads where fresh audience is to be found.

23. Advertise on Bing to Get Leads at a Lower Cost

You might be thinking I never mentioned about Google Ads to acquire leads.

The reason is that while Google is the most popular paid search platform, and you should definitely use it, it’s not the only one. 

The process to run ads on Google and Bing are quite similar, but here is why I personally prefer Bing:

• More control –  Bing offers more control over which search partners send traffic to your site.

• Granular mobile & device targeting – Unlike Google Ads, you can target users based on the devices they use. For example, you could target a search from android devices only. 

• A cheaper alternative to Google Ads – Bing has less competition and a cheaper cost per click.

So, do invest in Google if you want to, but if you want to do lead generation on a budget, try Bing.

With this we have covered how to get leads via paid ads. Now let’s learn how to…

Boost Lead Generation with an Effective Social Media Strategy Organically

Social Media can definitely help in B2B lead generation, but…

…generating leads from social media is much more than sharing some pictures and tweets in a week.

Here’s how you can make it work for your business:

24. Use Quora to Amass an Audience of B2B Buyers

Quora?

Is it even a social media platform?

Well, Quora is where millions of people connect to share their questions, problems, doubts and solutions.

They engage with each other by commenting and voting the answers.

It is a place where people congregate.

So even if it is not similar to giants like Facebook and Twitter, you can still use it to generate leads for your business.

The challenge that most B2B marketers usually face is:

• Getting content in front of buyers.

• And finding questions that buyers are asking. 

Fortunately, Quora solves both of these problems.

You get the exact questions that buyers are searching for, and can give as insightful of a response as you want. 

People can then look at your profile, visit your website and subscribe to learn more about your business.

Isn’t it cool?

You can even find keywords and trending topics in your industry by looking at what people are talking about.

Using those keywords you can also create content on your website that will also help you rank via SEO, hence increasing the traffic on your site, and the chances of lead generation.

Using Quora can really help your business in the long term, so start answering questions on this amazing platform.

25. Connecting with Buyers Through Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups are ideal for long-term social selling campaigns. 

They’re best suited to establishing thought leadership and building relationships.

The key to driving leads from Facebook groups is to add value first. 

Answer and ask questions, offer insights, provide value, and support group members. 

And when it’s time to share the link to your opt in page, make use of a strong lead magnet, like a case study to generate leads.

26. Publish Experience-Driven Posts/Articles on LinkedIn

As you know that LinkedIn is a professional network, the way you can organically generate leads from it is:

By providing value in the form of Posts and Articles.

With so many career and skill-focused users, experience-driven posts are extremely well-received on LinkedIn. 

Using the two types of content sharing formats, you can also share aspects of your company’s journey or learning experiences. 

This will motivate or educate potential leads about why you do, what you do and how you do.

You know what else is great about LinkedIn?

Out of all the other social media platforms out there, LinkedIn has the highest organic reach today.

If you post good content, consistently, your post can go viral and reach hundreds and thousands of users who you are not directly connected with. 

Imagine the number of leads you can get when those people check your LinkedIn profile and learn how you can help them with your services.

Conclusion

Woo Hoo

You reached till the end.

Congratulations my friend.

You really are serious about generating B2B leads for your business.

But as you’ve already understood after reading the post above…

…generating leads and increasing B2B sales is challenging, but it’s not impossible. 

The trick is to use the right strategy, at the right time, and for the right audience.  

So don’t overly rely on some Marketing Gurus to increase sales. 

Instead, use empathy to discover:

👉 Where your buyers hang out.

👉 Who they turn to for research.

👉 How they make purchase decisions.

👉 What their biggest concerns and aims are. 

And then try to implement as many strategies shared above as possible…

…one by one, in order to increase the amount of leads you can generate for your business.

One good B2B lead can actually solve all your business problems. 

So tell me, which is the first technique that you are going to implement for your business, which you haven’t tried yet?