There is a lot of confusion with B2B lead generation because of a misunderstanding of B2B systems. Most people associate their own personal journey with their personal lead generation style - which can be totally wrong!
So, what approaches should you take when trying to drum up hot leads for your B2B business?
Where do the most leads come from?
Hubspot conducted a study that showed where leads come from in a B2B business compared to a B2C business.
There are some key findings:
Social media is not as an big influence for B2B leads. However, it's still #4 on the list! It's harder to identify a person's job based on their social media feed and thus harder to target ads or paid posts to these people. It's also hard to tell whether they are the right person in the business to be targeting.
SEO is still big! Being found online is a great way to prove credibility.
Blogs and Email Marketing help establish credibility. If you can talk authoritatively about the industry and your service - especially while providing helpful insight to your potential customers, you'll be top of mind.
The "other" category is huge! Things like word-of-mouth marketing, partnerships, webinars and PR are still the best way to go. The long-game seems to be the best game.
What channels are the most effective?
While that previous chart is helpful, it's also helpful to consider where the best bang for your buck is.
ChiefMarketer conducted a separate survey that showed which channels are the most efficient for your marketing dollar. Here is what they found:
In the end, emails provide continued touch points, live events create relationships and SEO and content marketing create credibility for your brand.
Take-a-ways
So, what do we make of all of this?
The Long Game is the Best Game
In order to create a well-established B2B marketing lead gen program, you need to be patient, and make plans for a long-term strategy. Typically, that strategy needs to show that you're an industry leader by continuing to provide unique insights free to the customer and continue that communication through email, live events, content marketing and SEO.
The end goal is to make sure you're remembered as an option and not flash-in-the-pot "me too" company.
What have you found?
Comment below to help others know what they should to generate B2B leads