How to Build a B2B List of Leads in 2024

I am going to unload a truth bomb here; if you are looking for that golden ticket one size fits all lead generation tool, it doesn’t exist. I am sure you already knew that. Just looking at the lead generation industry, you can see that by the sheer number of solutions on the market. You have probably read multiple blogs already on what tool to choose. Well, you will read a list of tools here as well. Hopefully, where this one is different is it will help close some gaps in knowledge and give you insight on which tools would be best for you. Anyone and their dog can create a list of the best ways to build a B2B list of leads, but not everyone can tell you why these tools and strategies may be best for you and help you decide. 

Where To Start

There are dozens of factors that come into play when you are choosing any new tool or strategy. First, you need to understand the problem you are trying to solve fully. If you do not completely understand what problem you are trying to solve, you may find a tool that covers most of the issues, but misses key sections. This can be a frustrating and expensive slip. Second, you need to know what tools are currently in your tool chest. By listing out your current tools, you can keep an eye open for a tool that will work best alongside these tools. This will help your sanity down the line. After understanding these two important factors, you can start to look at some tools and strategies.

This is where we come in. 

Old Faithful: Email Marketing

I am sure you have had the conversation (internally or externally) of not knowing what to do to gather a B2B list of leads and not wanting to break the bank. The easy way to answer this is “email marketing and, of course, content.” 

Now you might be thinking, “if I have someone’s email, they are already a potential lead,” but simply having the email does not make them a lead. Email marketing is a vital way of establishing this email as a viable lead or not. Your content will bring in the volume, but then your email marketing efforts sort through and find the leads. And yes, you can use cold emailing to generate leads. This has become increasingly difficult, but not impossible; you simply need to ensure you are following the data privacy laws in their region as well as yours. Then make sure you are not spamming people. 

High-Quality Content

Content can be excellent for B2B lead generation, but it can come at a cost. High-quality content can be challenging to create and can require a great deal of planning, resources, and time. Creating high-quality case studies, infographics, eBooks, podcasts, videos, photos, and other types of content can sometimes take weeks to put together.

I am not trying to scare you off creating high-quality content; I am just trying to prepare you for the potential investment. You should absolutely be creating this type of high-quality content, but you should also be dipping your toe in to test what works for you. The key question you need to ask yourself is, “would you hand over your contact info for this content?” Then ask other people the same question. You could be using this content to drive people’s traffic to your site or other channels in some instances. Then you have to ask yourself, “Is this content I would search for?”

Now, if this sounds daunting or you don’t have the manpower to support this type of initiative, plenty of marketers are willing to help. Having a seasoned veteran perform some of these tasks for you can be beneficial as it gives you a standard. Then when you are able or willing to take it in-house, you know the level of quality to aim for. 

Blog Your Life Away

A common complaint heard around the industry is that their blog doesn’t generate enough leads or traffic. Or it is generating traffic, but that traffic isn’t converting into leads for the business. There is a hard reality to this, and it can be summed up into one helpful tip. Be better. Have a plan for what you plan to talk about and execute it. Don’t just take someone else’s thoughts and put them on your paper; describe your own experiences. 

The key here is to write your posts in such a way it can be read by other humans. That may seem vague and obvious, but it can make all the difference. This boils down to that most industry professionals don’t want to read line after line and blog after blog of strictly technical and analytics writing. 

We have all read that one blog that you wish they would just explain to you or discuss the topic like having a conversation. This type of writing is very difficult to read and stay interested in. If you write like you are having a conversation, it is much more engaging and will get the same point across. The only difference in the outcome is your readers will actually get to the end of your article. 

Get Scrolling: Social Media

Typically speaking, social media has always been controversial when it comes to B2B companies. But the truth is, social media is a great source of leads if you know where to look. Looking into online communities on social media platforms in order to target your audience can be a lead-rich avenue. More often than not, these groups forbid posting solely promotional content, so take a look at the rules and guidelines beforehand. 

Also, having an online presence on social media can never hurt. Most people (myself included) will look at companies’ social media presence when looking at new tools, software, or business, just to see if they are relevant and up to date. It can put you off a company if they only have four posts on their social media, and the last one was from 2017. 

Renovate Your Website

Pushing traffic to your site is all good and well, but only if you have a site that is operational and optimized. This is one of the best ways to either turn a visitor into a customer or turn them off indefinitely. While having a typo here or there may not be enough to have them running for the hills, having a poorly optimized website or a slow loading website will. 

I’m sure we have all clicked on that one site, and the moment you saw the page taking too long to load, you left and probably didn’t go back. This can be an absolute deal-breaker. In a world that is all about speed and how fast we can consume information, you can’t afford to be lagging behind. 

One way to gain a bit more insight into how your site is performing and potential ways to speed this up is through the Google PageSpeed Insights. This will allow you to see the good areas on your site and the areas you need to improve. 

Target Your Competitors Clients

One of the best ways to do this is through your competitor’s bad reviews. What better way to gain a lead then to find someone who doesn’t/didn’t like your competitor and show them why you are better. The best way to do this is to go on review sites such as G2 and Capterra and find your competitors. Then go through their reviews but focus on the bad reviews. 

Typically the individual leaving these reviews will give their name, position, company, and sometimes just used their LinkedIn account to create their G2 or Capterra account. This makes it extremely easy to find them and target them with a campaign or personal reach out. 

Website Visitor Identification

A great way to build a B2B list of leads is through anonymous website visitor identification. What better person to target than those who have already been on your site and actively looked around. They have done half your job for you and now you can do the fun part, close them. With a website visitor identification tool like Visitor Queue you are not only able to see the companies that visit your site. But you are also provided their visiting metrics, company information, and contacts at that company. All of this information is in an easy to use dashboard and allows you to create reports, filter your data, integrate it with your favourite tools and more. 

What Now?

These are the main and recurring ways you should be tracking down and gathering leads for your B2B business. The important part of finding the best way to build a B2B list of leads is to understand the financial and time commitment you are able to give. From there, you can determine which strategies you can focus on and then test which works best for you. There are plenty of tools your team can use in order to generate leads, but that is for another blog post. Hopefully, you have some good starting points on how to grow your B2B list of leads and can take action and grow your business. 

You can also check out our monthly web series, What The Growth!? Where our CEO, Nick Hollinger, goes through tips and tricks on how to grow your business. Now, not every video will be directly relevant to generating a lead list, but there have been multiple videos on how to do so in the past and more to come in the future.