The coronavirus pandemic and the associated digitalisation have made it mandatory for many companies to rethink their B2B lead generation. This is because many companies are still losing out with outdated strategies.
For years, B2B lead generation was done very conveniently through cold calling. Sales employees used face-to-face meetings, e.g. at trade fairs or during on-site visits, to acquire new customers. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this outdated, time-consuming and therefore cost-intensive approach can only be used to a limited extent.
To make matters worse, the majority of customers now avoid face-to-face sales meetings of their own accord. Instead, they obtain their information requirements online and prefer to make their purchases online.
Nevertheless, sales and marketing must work together to fulfil and probably exceed the company's sales targets. This can only be achieved if marketing qualifies enough leads and passes them on to sales.
Many companies want to increase their online visibility with meaningful content for their potential new customers. The problem: only a few B2B companies had previously talked about the digitalisation and marketing automation required for this.
Modern solutions such as marketing automation or CRM systems offer you the option of creating automated lead scoring. This means that relevant actions of the lead on your website are assigned point values.
If a lead then visits a certain website more often, for example, or takes part in a webinar with a product demonstration, the defined number of points is added to the points collected so far for each action. When the lead reaches a certain value, it is handed over to the sales department, which takes over the further contact management.
Using lead scoring correctly helps you to categorise your leads better and classify them more specifically. Marketing then knows when a lead is qualified enough to be passed on to sales. This increases the supply of high-quality leads to sales. This makes the acquisition of new customers more efficient and effective.
High-quality content plays an important role in this context. This is because it makes visitors aware of your company and makes them curious. Providing valuable content on your homepage can attract leads like a magnet.
To reach as many potential buyers as possible, it is important to publicise your content on different channels. Make use of your company blog and your social media platforms to increase your reach.
Some interested parties, for example, are happy to leave their contact details for the free download of a useful white paper. However, keep the following principle in mind: less is more. The less data you ask for, the more willing your target group will be to provide it to you.
Use the specific selection of whitepapers as an indication of purchase intent. Because by downloading them, a potential buyer reveals their interests and you can deepen the newly acquired relationship in the next few moves to generate sales.
In the end, both sides benefit: The prospective buyer receives high-quality information and you receive a valuable contact who has already expressed an interest in your portfolio.
There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to lead generation. However, it is important to increase trust in your brand. Use the proven methods of inbound marketing and inspire your customers with your high-quality content. Use curiosity about your brand or specific products to obtain the desired data.
Get to know your target group and understand their needs. Find out how they spend their time so that you can reach them via the right channels and address them in the right way. Interested parties will then voluntarily provide you with their data.
It is important that marketing and sales always coordinate with each other so that there are no conflicts or different judgements regarding the quality of the leads. In this way, you avoid the conflict of when the lead can be passed on from Marketing (Marketing Qualified Lead, MQL) to Sales (Sales Qualified Lead, SQL).
Do you have questions about B2B lead generation? Let one of our experts advise you.