Whether you’re reading this in November or April, lead generation is always on your mind. It doesn’t matter that we are approaching the end of Q4, because lead generation strategies should be used throughout the year.
Was this a good year for you? Whether your answer is yes or no, you can always stand to capture more leads and turn them into customers. Nobody ever complains about too many customers generating too much revenue. That would be crazy.
Before we tackle our lead generation strategies, let’s first take a look at how your customer’s perceptions of your company can kill a lead in its tracks.
It all starts with trust. Your prospects form opinions about you based on your reviews, website appearance, and social media activity (to name a few) before they even make a first introduction with you. Here’s how:
Word of mouth: Word of mouth is the most powerful tool that customers have when making purchasing decisions, and it can be both good and bad. Especially in niche industries like healthcare, a good or bad review can have a large impact. If your EHR software company had a bad deal with a physician’s practice that turned out to be a poorly qualified customer, their negative review can really hurt future business opportunities if they are well connected. On the flip side, a good review can spread like wildfire. Keeping both sides in mind when conducting business will help ensure best practices are followed and that your business will generate more leads rather than losing them.
Level of transparency: If your business appears hard to navigate and hard to find information, your customers will immediately question whether they should trust you or not. Customers expect a certain level of transparency from businesses, whether you’re a B2B or B2C business. Failing to provide clear, honest, open answers could lead them to your competitors.
Visual appearance: Often overlooked when considering generating new leads is how those leads will form opinions about your business based on your graphic appeal. If your website is lousy, boring, and totally out of date, why would they bother finding out more about you? Your competitor’s website is modern, fresh, and easy to navigate. We’re not suggesting a complete website overhaul here, but if you haven’t updated your online presence in at least 1-2 years, it might be time to do so.
Social media activity: By now, you’ve (hopefully) developed a social media presence and are actively engaging. We recommend Twitter and LinkedIn as the most powerful social media tools for B2B businesses. If you are not being active on these outlets, you are losing out on one of the easiest ways to reach your prospects. And trust us, your absence can make a larger statement than your activity in some cases.
And now, the moment you’ve been holding your breath for, Our 7 Favorite (and Easiest) Lead Generation Strategies! Keeping in mind what we just discussed about your prospects forming opinions about you from the get-go, let’s delve deeper and find out what strategies work for turning more prospects into customers.
1. Blogs
The power of B2B blogging is tremendous. This stat from HubSpot alone is proof: B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads than those that don’t! 67%!
Blogging also increases your indexed pages on search engines like Google. More blogs= more indexed pages= higher chance of ranking.
Sounds like a no brainer, right?
Wrong. Tons of B2B companies are missing out here by not blogging. Your competitors are winning more leads and turning them into customers because they are providing remarkable, valuable, informative content for their prospects. Why aren’t you?
2. Newsletters
Newsletters are an added piece of content to put you in front of your prospects and customers. It gives a to-the-point way of reaching your audience by giving brief highlights about what’s going on in your company—the latest news, industry information, upcoming projects or events, etc. Unlike blogging where you can never generate enough, don’t oversaturate your audience with newsletters. Once or twice a month will suffice.
3. Infographics
The super easy, graphically pleasing, incredibly informative content generator: infographics. These fun data presenters are intended to be colorful, filled with facts and images, and meant to easily share with your prospects. They are great for reporting on industry trends, how-to guides, shocking facts, and a number of other things. Check out our post on free content generating tools to help get you started.
4. eBooks
In some ways like longer, more detailed blogs, eBooks are an effective way to present information to potential prospects. They help you establish authority and trust as a credible source on your subject matter. For example, take a look at our eBook on “Creating the Perfect LinkedIn Company Page”.
5. Videos
We’ve written numerous articles emphasizing the huge importance that video marketing services play for B2B companies. 92% of B2B customers watch videos online. Start creating videos that will inform, educate, and engage your prospects. Read more about the different types of videos you can make here.
6. Webinars
Webinars serve as a great platform to offer valuable information for your prospects and customers. Again, this type of lead generating tool positions your company as a trusted and credible source. Keep your webinar between 10 and 20 minutes long and open up the discussion for questions.
7. Twitter & LinkedIn
As we mentioned, we place the most value on Twitter and LinkedIn for B2B social media efforts. LinkedIn generates 43% of B2B leads for companies that are using the social media giant, according to HubSpot’s State of Inbound Marketing Report. These outlets allow you to put yourself in front of your prospects and interact with them about concerns, industry information, etc. These outlets are not meant to be used for selling, so don’t do it. Engage with your prospects with meaningful content and information and they will be more likely to share your business with others.
For any B2B company, no matter what industry or season they are in, lead generation is a top priority. Using these strategies to generate more leads will help you generate not only more leads, but more qualified leads. Are you doing everything you can in your in inbound marketing plan to bring more leads to your business?
Read more about the alignment between sales and marketing as the key to predictable growth. Click on the book below!
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