Neither do we. Without an effective strategy and lead generation campaign , your business is doomed. Filling your sales funnel is first-year. But how do you go about doing such a strategy today?
In the era of targeted advertising and personalized content, B2B companies need to win the attention of their leads with strategy, knowledge and teamwork. Gone are the days of cold calling and emailing purchased lists.
So, here’s what you need to know before launching B2B lead generation campaigns .
1- How do you define a lead?
At its core, a lead is when someone is so interested in what you're selling that they're willing to interact with you and provide their personal information. If you can get them to give you data about themselves that makes it easier for you to entice them to move through the sales funnel, that's a plus.
The information they have to give you and how you get it varies, as it depends on the type of product, service or business model. For example, if you normally generate sales through your newsletter, getting their email address is the best lead for you.
2- What is your main process for generating leads?
For this step of your strategy, you'll need to meet with your sales team. Knowing your full sales cycle and how it relates to the sales funnel makes it much easier to know what steps to take in the lead generation process.
Ask your sales team about their process so everyone understands how potential customers find your company and move through the funnel.
3- How much does a lead cost?
This can be difficult to estimate, especially in the B2B sector where sales cycles tend to be much longer.
Calculating the cost associated with obtaining a lead helps balance your marketing budget and valuable numbers like ROI . If you're really not sure where to start with the cost of your lead generation process , take a guess and start tracking data for at least a year to calculate a more accurate number.
4- Will you need to create more content?
Starting any new lead generation campaign by looking at content both online and offline should help you in the lead generation process .
It’s important to prioritize and strategize before diving headfirst into content creation so you don’t become overwhelmed or burnt out. Create the most effective content plan for your B2B lead generation campaign with these steps:
Content audit. Key to understanding the content you are already generating in your strategy.
Ideal client. It is very important to know the content that they are interested in.
Keyword research. Use your ideal client and current content as a basis for keyword research.
Gated vs. Ungated Strategy. Traditionally, there are two ways to use content to attract leads: gated and ungated. The former refers to premium content that is locked to the user until they enter their information into a form. The latter refers to content that is not hidden behind any form and does not require the user to enter their information before they can access it.
Grab a seat, brew a fresh pot of coffee, and put on your thinking cap, because it’s time to brainstorm content! After this, you should have content planned for each part of the funnel and a strategic roadmap ready for any uncontrolled content. You should focus on awareness content, then consideration content, and finally sales content.
