Not so long ago, a lot of emphasis was placed on personal contact in traditional B2B lead generation. But times are changing. Nowadays, B2B leads are mainly generated online. High-quality content, which you provide free of charge to your target group or your buyer personas and which offers them real user value, plays a particularly important role here.
The pandemic brought chaos – for a long time there were hardly any trade fairs and no events to cultivate contacts. Therefore, sales reps are faced with the huge challenge of generating leads, nonetheless. But merely blaming Corona isn't right either. After all, buying behavior had already changed radically before Covid 19.
Long before Corona, B2C and B2B buyers were already doing their research on the Internet before making the decision to buy a product. Covid-19 has only reinforced this trend.
That's why it's high time right now that you are also found on the Internet. But what should be found at all? It is important not only to make your company and its products visible, but also to offer your customers and prospects high-quality content along the entire customer journey.
You should be able to be found for all questions that your customers are concerned with, in the course of their buying process. Thus, the big challenge for B2B marketing is to offer individual content in the right format at the right time in the customer journey.
Have good, meaningful content on your website - e.g., a blog post, a whitepaper, or perhaps a video. This way you will be found for every question that customers and prospects are concerned about. Always keep in mind to only provide content with information that actually interests your target audience and is helpful to them.
To do this, define your buyer personas to find out what content interests different prospects and customers. With a mature buyer persona concept, you can target your marketing activities more precisely and thus achieve a much higher communication success.
Different Content Formats For Optimized B2B Lead Generation
With precisely tailored web content, you have the chance to grab the unrestricted attention of your buyer personas. This is how you can quickly increase reach or traffic. Try out which formats best suit your company or target group. Below is a selection of popular content formats that may be right for your business.
- B2B lead generation via whitepaper or e-book: A whitepaper offers you the opportunity to provide your target group with comprehensive information on a specific topic. The same applies to the so-called e-book. The difference between these two B2B lead magnets is that a whitepaper is very formally designed and text-heavy. An e-book, on the other hand, is designed in a much more varied way with images, graphics and tables, for example.
- B2B lead generation with case studies: With case studies, you can show your target group in a credible way how you have solved your customers' problems with your product or service. And you give your target group a taste of what it feels like to be your customer. Case studies are in high demand and can play an important role in your B2B lead generation.
- B2B lead generation through newsletter subscription: As part of your B2B lead generation, offer your website visitors the option to subscribe to your newsletter. This way, your target group will regularly receive the most important news about your company and range of services. This will keep you in the relevant set of your target group. As a result, you have the opportunity to gradually increase their interest in your products or services in this way.
- B2B lead generation via video: Shoot a video that shows how your product or service solves a problem relevant to your target audience. Offer the video for download on your website and post to social media. Videos are great for providing valuable information to your target audience. It can also be a visual representation of a tutorial, webinar, interview or presentation. This boosts your B2B lead generation.
- B2B lead generation using factsheets: Use factsheets for B2B lead generation. These are clearly laid out pages on which you briefly summarize all the facts on a topic that interests your target group. The information presented is illustrated or explained with graphics, tables and bullet points.
Test out different content formats and analyze which ones generate the most B2B leads and combine the formats.
One thing is certain: Creating good content requires a level of creativity, firm goals, a deep understanding of your target audience's needs, forward planning and targeted strategies. Take a big step in the right direction by implementing good ideas, making your content entertaining, informative and also varied. Thus, you will convey high quality content to your target audience.
When it comes to creating complex or meaningful content along the customer journey, our experts at Thought Leader Systems are here to help.