10 B2B Lead Generation Ideas to skyrocket your B2B leads

Procurement systems and buyers are a very different prospect than generating leads from individual consumers, so the right approach must be relevant to your industry, target audience, and the product or service you sell.

Generating leads is pivotal to growth, so here we've gathered together ten of our best B2B lead generation ideas to get you started.

How to Get B2B Lead Generation Right

Without regular leads, you can’t build a sustainable business.

The concept is simple; collect contact information and use that data to target communications or sales pitches to convert a potential prospect into a paid-up buyer.

However, the difficulty is that traditional lead generation strategies used globally in B2C markets don't work in B2B. You're going to be looking for direct email marketing leads, quality social media campaigns and making lead gen a key driver in your SEO planning.

B2B lead generation is more about nurturing that connection, showcasing the benefits you'll bring to your buyer's business, and prompting them to make a purchasing decision.

10 B2B Lead Generation Ideas That Work

There isn't a one-size-fits-all approach, and you'll probably end up testing a few B2B lead gen strategies until you land on the sweet spot.

While the right options will depend on your business, sector and client profile, here are ten of our best B2B lead generation ideas that we've seen deliver outstanding results.

Publish Informational Content and Research Statistics

One of the best ways to get in front of buyers is to publish content they're already looking for. 

Whether that's industry-specific research, buying guides or reviews to showcase the added-value on offer, it's content a buyer will be happy to consume.

The more content you have out there that informs and educates your audience about your brand, products and services, the more potential touchpoints where they'll come across your name and rely on the information you've provided.

Quality statistics and research tend to perform the best because a B2B buyer will want solid, quantifiable reasons to recommend a purchase or consider a potential new vendor!

If your business is their go-to source for information, data and trend analysis, you'll also be their first point of call when it comes to their next purchase.

Work on Your Website to Optimise Conversions

Trying to drive customers to your website is all well and good - but making the absolute most of that digital asset can transform your metrics when it comes to the switch from a casual visitor to a solid lead.

There are thousands of options, but we'd recommend:

• Using A/B testing to have confidence that the layout, graphics, colours and branding are engaging enough to encourage a visitor to sign up, create an account, or reach out for more information.
• Tweaking key landing pages to evidence your reputation - social proof is a great example! Quoting reviews or client results can be a powerful way to reinforce your online content.
• Creating bright, bold and attention-grabbing CTAs that buyers won't be able to skip past without seeing the advantage of signing up.

Remember, at this stage, we're not trying to guarantee a sale, but capture a lead, so you can use smart targeting and excellent information architecture to educate, inform, and overcome any obstacles to entering their details.

Focus on Top Quality Content Campaigns

Evergreen content is a huge asset to have in your back pocket, generating fresh leads for years after the first publication.

Awesome content that emphasises keywords that the target audience uses can climb up the rankings astonishingly fast, as buyers find useful posts that answer a question or help them meet an organisational demand.

Some tips to maximising your impact:

• See what your competitors are doing - and go bigger, louder and longer! If competing content pieces all explore the same concept and focus on the same search terms, you need yours to shine the brightest.
• Incorporate contributions, recommendations or ideas from third parties, specifically non-competing businesses with sterling reputations or whom your industry regards as an authority.
• Use outreach strategies to encourage your content to be shared as far and wide as possible and penetrate sector awareness beyond your own networks.

Perfect content, mastering the keywords that buyers regularly search for will continue generating traffic and sales leads ad infinitum. You can find out more about B2B content marketing ideas here. 

Leverage Social Proof to Build Trust

Social proof is a convincing lead gen tool for B2B businesses, allaying any reservations and showcasing the authenticity of the claims made about the value on offer.

Buyers that have easy visibility of social proof are considerably more likely to sign up, request more details and build a sense of trust in the legitimacy of your brand.

There are countless options, from adding social feeds to landing pages, capturing review snippets on social media posts or creating case studies to quantify your positive feedback metrics. Read more about social media for B2B companies here. 

Establish Yourself as an Industry Specialist

Content that educates buyers makes them more knowledgeable about your products and answers those all-important questions (that may be the barrier to registration!) is worth its weight in gold.

Some of the toughest aspects of B2B marketing are getting your content in front of your target buyer and identifying those queries that you want to resolve.

One option is to use Quora and other Q&A sites to showcase your expertise and flag up higher in the search engines when a buyer searches for an answer to the question that's troubling them.

A detailed, authoritative and factual answer either published in this way or through data-backed content is an opportunity to set yourself apart as an ace in your field.

Blend Static Content With Dynamic Video

Lead generation campaigns need to be as compelling as possible, with dynamic imagery and interaction to get your buyer interested.

Video content is hugely successful compared to conventional images and static graphics. Around 90% of marketers advocate for video content as a great way to repurpose your content and extract additional value.

YouTube is also the second most-used web search engine, so it can be an excellent way of differentiating your brand.

Informational videos, knowledgeable guides and explanations about the features of a product or service can all act as a lead gen asset and tie in with the rest of your content marketing strategy.

Build a Robust Lead Generation Magnet

Lead gen magnets are a fantastic way of boosting your lead database, offering something top-value to buyers in exchange for their email address or another piece of contact information.

The most effective lead generation magnets focus on specific buyer personas and the challenges they typically face that you can resolve.

Great magnets aren't the same as your general blog post and need to be seriously worthwhile to gain traction.

Think in-depth guides you'll not find anywhere else (for free, at least!), comprehensive tutorials, genuinely useful checklists or resource libraries to make a buyer's life that bit easier.

Make Direct Contact With High-Value Leads Through Professional Networking

Cold marketing takes a certain confidence and panache, but it can be wildly advantageous if done right. The most common platform to use is LinkedIn, where you can use paid advertising to grow your sales pipeline.

Competition is steep, and the cost per click is higher than you might expect, but the benefit of exact targeting can make it an investment well made.

If you go down the advertising route to grow your lead database, you'll need to offer a premium service and high-level content to grab attention and achieve returns.

Revisit Your SEO Strategy - and Get Specific

There are a couple of key ways to redirect your SEO approach to cater to a lead gen focus!

One is to work on very, very specialist long-trail keywords, which have low search volumes, but likewise can catch elevated purchase intents and require pretty low effort levels in exchange for quality leads.

Researching competitor keywords, looking at backlink traffic volume, and in-depth SEO research tools can help you see which low-competition long-tail keywords are well worth the time to attract and convert B2B leads. You can read more about B2B SEO here. 

Expand Your Reach With Well-Placed Guest Content

Finally, guest posts are a tried and tested B2B lead gen strategy, and it works if it's done properly.

Guest posting is great for link building, presenting your brand as an authority, and can enhance the effectiveness of every other approach we've discussed here.

The key to using a B2B lead generation idea is to road test some of the most suitable methods to land on what works best.

Seeing what works, where you gain the most engagement, how your buyers make those important procurement choices and pinpointing the pain points you can get in front of will help you finesse your lead generation strategy.

For more information about B2B marketing ideas discussed here, or to get your strategy polished and ready to launch, please get in touch with the B2B Digital marketing experts Tiga to chat about what we think the best approach is to transform your lead gen performance.