Wouldn’t it be nice to grow your business without worrying about where your next clients or customers were coming from? Most B2B companies know they want to scale to new heights, but struggle to create a steady stream of qualified B2B sales leads. A key aspect to growth is how you generate more B2B sales leads and how you are able to do so and sustain this process.
But savvy business owners tap into tried-and-tested strategies and the latest lead generation tools to automate their business growth, sustainably.
In this guide, we’re revealing 20 proven strategies for attracting more B2B sales leads to your business, without the stress.
What is a B2B Sales Lead?
A B2B (Business to Business) sales lead is a company or point-of-contact at a business that presents as a potential client or customer. This contact is at the very beginning of the sales process and indicates their interest in another company’s services or products.
If you own a B2B company, then you’ll want to generate B2B sales leads to fill your pipeline and create a consistent influx of potential customers. Lead generation is a critical step in your sales process.
Why Engage in B2B Sales Lead Generation?
The growth of your business depends on you being able to attract new customers or clients. Sometimes this happens naturally (through brand recognition or referrals), but usually it requires that you invest time and/or money into lead generation.
B2B sales lead generation is important because:
- It works to attract new leads to you
- Helps you qualify leads so you land your ideal customers
- It establishes a consistent, automatic lead generation system
- It allows you to grow and scale sustainably
Consider these 20 B2B lead generation strategies and tools to help you attract more traffic, clients, and customers to you.
20 Ways to Generate More B2B Sales Leads
1. Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing is a preferred type of marketing where prospective customers or clients are attracted to you, rather than you having to reach out to them. Marketers often prioritize this type of marketing because the leads tend to be warmer and more likely to buy.
For example, if a prospective customer searches for “best business accounting software”and your website pops up in the search engine results, this is inbound marketing in action. In this case, the lead is coming across your business instead of you cold calling or emailing them.
Some examples of inbound marketing include:
- Posting high-value, attraction-based posts on social media
- Publishing videos on YouTube
- Conducting webinars
- Content marketing (sharing your content across multiple channels)
The key here is to create content that appeals to your target audience and will catch their attention wherever they are interacting with brands online. We’ll dive into another effective type of inbound marketing – search engine optimization (SEO) – in a later section.
2. Facebook
Facebook is one of the largest social media platforms and attracts regular consumers and business owners alike. B2B businesses can use the power and reach of Facebook to generate more B2B sales leads without blowing their marketing budget.
Facebook Lead Ads, Facebook Groups, and Facebook Live videos are three great ways to attract more leads to your business. Whether that means investing in some pay-per-click ads or sharing your content in niche Groups, you can reach potential decision-makers and fill your pipeline.
Check out these 5 Ways to Use Facebook for Lead Generation.
3. Quora
Quora is an online forum where people can post questions and get answers from industry experts. There are loads of business owners on the platform looking for advice, the latest industry tools, new blogs to follow, and more.
As a B2B business owner, you can sign up with Quora to respond to user questions and gain some visibility for your business. You can also link to your own website, products, or resources to drive traffic to your site.
If a user loves your answer to their question, they are likely to follow up and ask about your services.
4. Email List Providers
They say “The money is in the list-“ and when it comes to B2B lead generation, the experts are right. Grow your email list and you’ll have a growing pool of potential B2B sales leads.
You can research the best email list providers to find industry-specific contacts to add to your email marketing campaigns. These providers charge a small fee for access to their database, and you can make a huge return on investment (ROI) if you strike gold.
Work with a skilled email copywriter to craft a high-converting campaign that turns a cold list into a treasure trove of new leads for your business.
5. Marketing Automation
Marketing automation tools like Zapier and HubSpot make it easy to create set-it-and-forget-it marketing workflows to generate leads and moves them down your sales pipeline.
Rather than spend countless hours posting, commenting, emailing, and call scheduling, you can use marketing automation to streamline all of these processes for you. The result is automatic lead generation and follow-up, for half the price.
6. Networking
In-person and online networking may be a more time-consuming method of lead generation, but the results can be quite lucrative. This is because building authentic relationships is likely to result in profitable partnerships and a vast referral network.
Try connecting with business owners and thought-leaders on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to start the conversation. Ask them what they are working on and open the door you possibly working together. You never know who you might meet.
7. Search Engine Optimization
SEO is a type of inbound marketing that involves optimizing your website to attract organic traffic from search engines. This is a long-term strategy that works great for businesses that want a consistent stream of new leads.
Invest in SEO to improve your website’s structure, speed, content, and backlink profile. You may want to work with an agency to generate backlinks for you, improve your technical SEO, and identify the right keywords to target on your site.
8. Website Live Chat
Website live chat software like Tawk.to prompts website visitors to send you a message to inquire about your products or services. Using this software can significantly increase your website conversion rate, as it’s more convenient for users to send you a message right there in live chat. Then, your team can follow up with the lead within seconds and move them down your sales pipeline.
9. Business Directories
Business directories like Yelp, BBB, and Google My Business help your business reach more potential customers due to their wider reach and greater domain authority. If your website is struggling to generate traffic on its own, consider submitting your business information to reputable directories, as well as high-traffic industry-related directories.
10. Google Ads
Many B2B companies see lucrative results from Google Ads, because it allows them to reach potential customers in search engines, even for the most competitive keywords.
While it does take money to invest in pay-per-click advertising, doing so can be one of the best ways to break out in a saturated niche. The key lies in finding the right keywords to target so your brand pops up when your potential customers look for businesses like yours.
11. Blogging
If you are a B2B business owner, do not treat your blog as an afterthought. Blogging on a consistent basis by publishing high-value content is one of the most effective ways to attract traffic to your site.
Blogging can also further communicate your expertise and build trust with your audience. Then, as users visit your site, you can use lead generation tools to identify the people who visited your website and turn them into viable leads.
12. Guest Posting
Reach out to industry-related websites and blogs for guest posting opportunities. By publishing content on other high-traffic sites, you can broaden your reach, increase your domain authority, and drive traffic to your site. Then, you can turn this new traffic into leads and sales.
13. Cold / Warm Outreach
Cold outreach is low on the list because we highly recommend inbound marketing over outbound marketing. However, outreach can still be a good way to add leads to your contact list.
Use social media, email list generators, and networking to connect with new people and tell them about your business. If they are interested, move them along your sales funnel. Just know that cold leads tend to not convert as well as warm leads or leads earned from inbound marketing.
14. Press Releases
Have some exciting business-related news to share? Work with your marketing team or a PR firm to submit press releases to major publications. If they find your story news-worthy, they may direct more traffic and leads to your business.
15. Referrals
Grow your referral network through online and in-person networking. As you connect with people in your industry, you can offer them a referral bonus for every new client they send your way. With this approach, you’ll essentially have an expansive team of lead generators sending more business to you.
16. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is one of the best platforms for B2B lead generation. Build Connections with people in your industry by interacting with their content, chatting them up in direct messenger, and sharing your own content on the platform. Just be sure to keep the conversation flowing instead of hitting them up with a cold sales pitch.
17. Podcasting
Podcasting is super hot right now as people are more inclined to listen to content on-the-go. If you have advice and insight to share about your industry, you can launch a regular podcast to attract listeners”¦ and potential leads.
18. Speaking Events
Increase your brand’s authority by speaking at industry-leading events. The better you are able to communicate your knowledge and the value you provide, the more likely business owners will be to ask you for more information about your services. Plus, you may get a lot of free publicity by simply being featured at the event.
19. Strategic Partnerships
Much like building your referral network, you can form strategic partnerships with brands that may send new business your way. For example, perhaps you provide call forwarding software for businesses and choose to partner with an IT company that needs to source this software for their clients.
The best partners may not be obvious right away. Look for opportunities where you might be able to provide a benefit to another brand’s clientele, perhaps in exchange for using their services for your own customers.
20. Website Lead Generation Tools
There’s no warmer lead than a business that has already expressed interest in your company. That’s why one of the best ways to generate more B2B sales leads is to use tools that identify who has already visited your website.
Visitor Queue collects contact information from your website visitors and organizes it into a list of new leads for your business. Then, you can follow up with these leads who have visited important pages on your website.
Want more B2B sales leads? Get started with lead generation software for free.
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