20 Winning Lead Generation Strategies
20 Winning Lead Generation Strategies to Boost Your B2B Sales Success
As someone who has spent a fair few years in online marketing I have seen the landscape of marketing & sales change so much, which is why I rarely post lead strategies as they can quickly be outdated. But knowing the desire and often urgency of businesses needing to win more revenues I’ve listed 20 of my personal favourite lead generation strategies that you can start today and will still be relevant for the next 5 years or so.
1. Content Marketing: Create informative and engaging content that offers value to your audience. From blog posts to e-books, providing relevant information will position your brand as an authority in your industry. Stats show that content marketing generates 3x more leads than traditional marketing, you are solving a challenge or problem that a business might have, so you naturally become of interest to the person reading (maybe like you are doing today)
2. Networking Events: Attend network events to build relationships with potential clients and partners. Covid had an impact on the way we converse but nothing beats a face to face meeting and a handshake to boot.
3. Influencer Partnerships: Collaborate with influencers in your niche to broaden your audience reach and credibility. An underused tactic as human nature says we can’t approach a celeb or influencer, we aren’t big enough, what if they say no? Change your mindset and reach out, influencers look for people to work with too, for some that’s why they are influencers.
4. Social Media Advertising: Target your key audience on social platforms including LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat with paid ads to expand your brand's visibility. I believe your audience can be on a variety of platforms, so you should be too.
5. Optimised Website: Stop sending your potential clients to a website that isn’t optimised. You reduce the chances of success if the site is slow, the pages don’t load, buttons don’t work, content is outdated etc. Spend a few minutes a day checking your site and making the changes needed ahead of any marketing. You can enhance user-experience by designing an easy-to-navigate website with clear calls-to-action and lead capture forms.
6. SEO: Optimise your website for search engines to drive organic traffic your way. It takes about 4-6 months to see SEO results, so start now! and keep reviewing, remember every page, blog etc. will needs the SEO adding as you go.
7. Cold Outreach: Experiment with various approaches such as keeping it short and sweet or offering value upfront, and remember to personalise your emails to cut through the noise. This strategy is an outbound approach so expect to not see great results in the beginning, but as your messages get more optimised and your brand builds things can really start to happen.
8. Webinars: Host interactive webinars to demonstrate value and attract new leads. People always appreciate your help if you can fix the challenge that they are looking for, so think about pain points that your potential clients have rather than an hard sell of your products.
9. Podcasts: Share your knowledge and expertise through podcast interviews, either as a host or guest, to reach a wider audience. This is a twofold strategy, you’ll get to build a relationship with the guest which can lead to business and referrals PLUS get content relevant to your industry to repurpose and showcase your expertise.
10. Video Marketing: 85% of businesses already use video as their top marketing tool as it captures attention and conveys information quickly. Take the plunge and start using in your business.
11. Online Communities: Join and engage in LinkedIn groups and other industry-specific communities to answer questions and showcase your expertise. The chances are that people in these groups are like-minded and will enjoy talking to you.
12. Referral Program: Create a win-win situation by offering incentives to clients and partners in exchange for referring new business leads. Referral is easily the best type of lead generation tactic (if the leads are qualified that is).
13. Retargeting: Track visitors and retarget them with tailored ads, so they don't forget about you! This is a great way to get those people who were close to purchase to actually purchase!
14. Strategic Partnerships: Join forces with complementary businesses to co-create content or co-host events. Be warned though, the person driving the partnership usually ends up doing a larger part of the work, so make sure the rules of the game are in place from the start.
15. Email Marketing: Cultivate long-term relationships with leads by regularly sharing insightful content, promotions, and updates. Don’t be scared, if your content is not relevant the customer can always unsubscribe. Just have a real purpose behind what you send and be respectful of people’s time.
16. Testimonials and Case Studies: Social proof is a powerful tool in winning new business. Share success stories that showcase your results and establish trust. Where possible work with the client to help get the highlights and successes of the project sold. Testimonials, Videos, Reviews, Achievements etc. all count when someone is trying to work out if they too want to work with you.
17. Google Ads: Take advantage of Google's massive reach and target your audience using relevant keywords. Remember people type in these keywords to find the answers to a challenge, could you be that answer?
18. Content For Data: Ask for visitors' contact information in exchange for access to valuable content like white papers, hints, tips, tricks, guides etc.
19. PR Outreach: Get featured on industry blogs, publications, or podcasts to establish credibility and build brand awareness. Just make sure your house is in order so that you look the part before trying this.
20. ABM (Account-Based Marketing): Focus on high-value accounts with a personalised, targeted marketing approach. By being focused on key targets allows you to really hone in on their business and their needs. Not everyone needs the same online marketing approach, in fact it’s rare to find businesses that use an identical approach.
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There you have it – 20 strategies to help you skyrocket your B2B lead generation game. Don't forget to test and measure, analyse, and tweak your strategies for optimised results.
