Top 10 B2B Lead Generation Strategies to Take Your Company to the Next Level

Top 10 B2B Lead Generation Strategies to Take Your Company to the Next Level

Lead generation. Everyone’s talking about it. 

And with good reason—a business can’t survive without it, and yet there is no magic formula for success. A multitude of differentiating factors come into play with, quite literally, every single company. Brand voice and culture, target audience, product/services being offered, budget…the list could just keep going and going and going and going and…wait, did the Energizer Bunny just walk by?

While the impossibility to nail down a formula for B2B lead generation might frustrate those of us who like things “just so,” the ability to experiment and improvise opens up the door for discovery. And the more you uncover in your journey, the more your company’s personal lead generation strategy will become clear. 

Today we’re going to share our top 10 B2B lead generation strategies to help you nail down a strategy that yields results for you.

Goals of B2B Lead Generation

To start, let’s remind ourselves of the top priorities we’re shooting for when it comes to B2B lead generation. 

• Increase lead quality
• Increase lead volume
• Improve ability to track and analyze the impact of marketing
• Improve the way marketing and sales work together
• “Do more with less” (improve efficiency of marketing efforts)

Keep those goals on a nice bright sticky note beside your workspace. You want those ingrained in your brain so every time you begin a new process you can frame your goals as questions:

“Will this increase the quality of our leads?”

“Does this make our marketing process easier? Will we save time and money?”

“Will this have the capacity to boost our lead volume?” 

You’re smart. You get the idea. 

So without further ado let’s dive into our top 10 B2B lead generation strategies. 

Top 10 Lead Generation Strategies 

1. Build a cohesive brand community on social media.

Whether you love it or hate it, social media is here to stay, and companies must embrace these platforms to survive. It might be a learning curve, but you have to go where your audience is, and for the vast majority of humanity, they are scrolling through their feeds and hangin’ out on social media. 

LinkedIn is an obvious choice for professionals, and it remains a top platform for networking and connecting. But other platforms like Instagram and TikTok are rapidly gaining ground as a way to build a strong brand voice and give your leads an inside view into your business and the people behind it. Plus, it is scientifically proven that the human brain processes visual information much faster than text, so images and videos are a sure way to distribute info quickly, efficiently, and in a way that engages your audience. 

Savvy businesses are flocking to these platforms as they offer a unique way to boost their B2B lead generation in a way that is creative and casual. It also allows you to engage in ways that are more personal than traditional marketing endeavors. You can connect on levels beyond the strictly “professional” through emotion, humor, and insight. 

And don’t forget about YouTube. According to the Search Engine Journal, after Google, YouTube is the second-largest search engine on the internet. For B2B lead generation, this means if you are producing video content on YouTube (whether that is a tutorial, product review, or instructional guide), your company is going to be one step ahead in the SERP game by making the most of these top search tools.  

2. Get creative with networking and outreach.

A little experimentation is all part of the lead generation process. You won’t know if it works unless you try it! 

Let’s say you’re a healthy snack vendor seeking to partner with local businesses. Instead of just sending an info packet, send along some free snacks to give them a literal taste of what they could have. 

The investment of a small gift can yield a big return in business. Even if they don’t bite, most decent companies will respond to a gift with a thank you, which opens up a line of communication and relationship that could lead to more. So many business opportunities come from a connection who “knows a guy…” so don’t drop a connection simply because they don’t become a partner. Seek to maintain those connections. It doesn’t take a lot of effort and you never know when it could pay off in a big way.

Our very own CMO and Lover of Tacos Paul Shin came up with the idea of a recurring event here in our lil’ corner of Utah called “Tacos Together.” Bringing people together over free tacos, live local music, and no-pressure networking has quickly proven to be a fun and unique way to connect with other businesses. 

Case in point: the latest event had 14 businesses sponsoring and over 300+ attendees. 

Moral of the story? Get creative. Think outside of the box. Try tacos. 

3. Set aside times for focused lead gathering.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking B2B lead generation has to be a 24/7 task. The truth is that depending on your working knowledge of your leads, some times and days may be better than others for contacting leads. 

As the experts on your team, consult with your sales and marketing teams and hear what they have to say about what works when it comes down to the “when” of B2B lead generation. They’ll know when they have to focus on active sales or other tasks, and the days they can really buckle down on generating leads. 

Looking over your metrics and/or using a sales tracker can also help you flesh out where there are gaps of time in the workweek, or low production days that can be filled up to increase effectiveness. 

4. Use SEO wisely to boost B2B lead generation.

You might have a great website and top-notch content, but it’s not going to bring in the leads if your leads can’t find it. The use of SEO best practices in B2B lead generation can be tricky but it’s imperative to getting your content on the top pages of the SERP. 

If you don’t have an SEO expert on your team, it might be a good idea to invest in one or give a promising member of your team the resources and opportunity to become educated on the subject. 

And SEO is so much more than just blogs. Optimization is needed for all your content—every site page and press release should have at least one target keyword.

Invest in a good keyword research or SEO tool to run through short tail and long tail keyword combinations. Get an idea of what your target audience is searching for and how they are phrasing their questions. This will allow you to really hone in on combinations that crawlers view as valuable, informative, and authoritative, leading to higher ranking, more eyes on your content and a higher return on your B2B lead generation efforts.

And don’t forget to apply this to any pre-existing content, too. Take the time to modify site pages and older content to get the most reach and boost authority in the eyes of the crawlers.

5. Highlight compelling case studies.

After blogs/articles and e-mail newsletters, case studies currently rank third as the most-used content type for B2B lead generation. And no wonder: numbers don’t lie. There’s nothing that makes a lead do a double-take faster than a well-written case study highlighting impressive results. 

This isn’t the moment for generalities—get specific on the numbers. How much money did your client save or make after working with you? How many hours of work did your services save the company? How many products were sold? Whatever service or product you are offering, cater to your audience and show off what you’ve done for others in a way that’s real, verifiable and compelling. 

6. Experiment with A/B tests.

Experimentation with B2B lead generation involves even the smallest of details, like the wording on your CTA button. Perhaps your audience responds better to a “soft” CTA like “Learn More” instead of “Sign Up Today.” Test it out! 

In the midst of formulating your B2B lead generation strategy, don’t forget that your target leads are living humans with emotions and personal preferences. Even if you have an incredible product or service, something as seemingly insignificant as an outdated color scheme could throw off potential customers and cost you sales.

So if you think something isn’t working or performing as well as it could, change it up! Try a new font, color, or format. Tweak the copy on your content to sound more engaging and less clinical. And as you do, closely monitor your metrics and keep track of the numbers coming in to see what’s working and what isn’t. 

7. Gather buyer reviews/client testimonials.

This is a very practical and effective way to give your B2B lead generation a hearty boost. Just think about it: before you buy anything, before you even read the product description, you scroll right to the reviews. Why? Because we know that any company can talk highly of themselves and their products, but the proof is in the pudding. If the customer ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. On the other hand, positive reviews can do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to drawing in leads.  

No reviews can be (almost) as bad as negative reviews. So make it a priority to gather honest, positive reviews to use and display on your website, social media, other review websites,  and marketing materials. It lends authority and credibility to your company, no matter what stage you’re in. 

Even if you are a company where honesty and integrity business matters, your leads are going to trust the voices of their peers first. So let their voices be heard. And don’t let this be a one-shot task—gathering and creating customer reviews should be an on-going campaign. Ask current and new clients for their testimonial. If you’ve done your job well, they should be all too happy to shout your praises from the rooftops! 

8. Get involved at events, conferences and tradeshows.

Whether online or IRL, a company’s presence and involvement at conferences, events, and tradeshows encourages B2B lead generation by putting real faces to the company name. This creates a far stronger connection than if a lead simply read an article or newsletter, no matter how interesting and engaging. 

Make sure to select key representatives for your company when you attend or present at an event. Know your target audience and who would fit best to interact at a particular event. You will have eyes on you and your company, and if it is a virtual event, you have the opportunity to cast a wide net since attendees are not bound by a physical location and can tune in from anywhere. 

And don’t forget to set clear goals for B2B lead generation ahead of time, and strategize on how to make the most of the opportunities and connections available at specific events. 

9. Collect quantitative data/quantitative analysis from your team.

Mix one part high-quality data reports with one part sales team analysis and you have a recipe for B2B lead generation success. Tracking leads and how they respond creates a roadmap guiding you to positive results. Your data also helps you to put together a lead-scoring system to better sort through and qualify leads quickly and efficiently. Optimizing processes mean more time to generate more leads and make more sales.

Speaking of sales, everyday your sales team is gathering critical real-time information on lead behavior. Their insights combined with the cold hard data can prove to be a powerful force for mapping your lead activity and trajectory, helping you stay one step ahead of the game. 

The quality of data reports and other reports made by the sales team is essential for success here. Incomplete, sloppy, or unclear reports can do more harm than good and will frustrate any B2B lead generation strategy right from the start. This information is crucial to understanding the customer journey, so if you are having problems in this area, get them sorted and resolved ASAP. Until you do, you’re losing opportunities and flushing potential revenue down the toilet every single day.. 

10. Organize campaigns for customer retention and re-engagement.

Sometimes gathering new leads means revisiting old ones. Lack of follow-ups, incomplete data, or a simple misplacement can lead to prospects falling through the cracks. Leads can grow cold very quickly, and working though those dead or cold leads in your data can open up a whole new world of opportunity for B2B lead generation. 

After confirming your data is up to date and your point of contact is correct, dive in and investigate where things were left off. Did the prospect have a problem you were unable to solve? Was there something they weren’t happy with? Were they just not willing to commit at the time? If there are any specifics make sure you’re prepared to address them and wow them right out the gate.

When you reach out, make it memorable: a special offer, an intriguing statistic catering to their pain points—anything that offers real value to the customer and won’t just waste their time. You established at least some sort or relationship or contact in the past, and it’s up to you to stir those coals into flames.

*EXTRA SPECIAL BONUS TIP: Choose Squeeze.

When you choose Squeeze as your sales experience partner, we actively support you in your B2B lead generation journey. As the bridge between your marketing and sales teams, we offer daily, high-quality, comprehensive reports to help you gauge how your customers are behaving and what they are responding to. We specialize in digging into your current data to find and revive dead leads and substantially increase your revenue opportunities. Plus, we do it all with your success as our ultimate goal, working directly with you and your teams to maintain a cohesive brand experience centered around exceptional customer care.

This is a step you don’t have to wait or debate on. Just contact us today to start making the most of each and every lead!