Lead generation is challenging for all types of businesses. But B2B lead generation may be the most difficult. When motivation only takes you part of the way in your pursuit for new clients, you need a list of strategies that will take you all the way to the finish line (over and over again).
What Is B2B Lead Generation?
B2B lead generation, or business-to-business lead generation, is the process of finding and attracting new clients or customers. It’s a journey that never ends because you will always need new clients to keep your business afloat.
While the goal of B2B lead generation is simple, it requires constant thought and planning. You’ll need to evaluate what’s working and where you can improve to strategize shifts in your strategies over time.
With lead generation, your goal is to gather contact information from potential clients or customers. And in order to do that, you’ll need to create something that entices people to actually give you their contact information. This is where offers, lead magnets, and downloads come in really handy.
Unfortunately, constantly developing and executing lead generation strategies can easily lead to burnout—unless you have enough tactics to draw from.
Why Is B2B Lead Generation Important?
The effectiveness of your B2B lead generation plans can make or break your business. You must continue to generate fresh ideas for lead generation if you want your consulting business to truly thrive.
There are three main reasons why this should be a top priority for your business.
It Creates Continuous Demand
The purpose of developing strong B2B lead generation strategies is to create a pool of clients for your business to pull from. No lead generation means no direction for your sales strategy or movement through your sales funnel!
You’ll be able to predict future sales and create realistic goals for growth.
You Can Expand to New Customers and Markets
When you throw out your client fishing net (that is, your B2B lead generation strategy) you sometimes catch companies that you didn’t plan for. Do you throw them back? Of course not!
Often, lead generation can shine a light on the untapped potential of an entire group of clients or customers you had previously missed. No matter the expertise of your B2B business, allow the lead generation process to broaden your horizons.
B2B Lead Generation Helps You Build Credibility In Your Industry
The quality of your B2B lead generation processes represents your brand as a whole. This means that boosting your business reputation (and taking steps to become a sought-after resource) starts with lead generation.
For example, if you are a new business owner with few followers and clients, B2B lead generation can put more eyes on you. By next year, your brand could be the next big thing!
5 Exciting B2B Lead Generation Tactics for You To Try
Want to bulk up your lead generation game? These five great strategies can help make lead generation a bit less stressful and far more rewarding.
Create a Community on Social Media
Who knew that social media would become such a tremendous resource for all types of businesses?
Put a little time and attention into your business’ Facebook or Instagram accounts (to name a few platforms). You’ll become a safe place for clients and customers to discuss their needs in the industry.
What’s more, you can contribute to conversations happening on other business pages to draw attention to your brand. In little time, your social media followers will double as potential clients.
Build an Online Course or Host a Masterclass
This is a terrific B2B lead generation strategy! You can reach a ton of new leads by offering some free online courses, workshops, or masterclasses about topics in your niche.
The process of taking on new clients and customers via an online masterclass looks like:
- Invite friends or “finds” from the industry to join your free class about ‘x’.
- Ask for their contact details upon registering.
- Host an online educational event that knocks their socks off!
- Invite them to sign up for your consulting services at the end of the course.
- Hold onto the contact information of all those in attendance for future reference.
You can make the occasional masterclass a regular part of your lead generation plans and watch your client pool expand. Or, create an evergreen, prerecorded masterclass or workshop and run ads for it so that your leads generate on autopilot.
Related: 5 Effective B2B Lead Generation Tactics
Collaborate with Micro-Influencers in Your Niche
Think of someone several notches below Will Smith in regards to fame, but far more popular than the average Jane on social media. You can reach out to your favorite Internet personalities to ask them to endorse your brand!
Pick the right influencer and you could have a few thousand people viewing your business profile in a matter of minutes. The right influencer for your lead generation would have to be someone with B2B business followers and some connection to your niche.
While influencer marketing used to focus on those with hundreds of thousands of followers, micro-influencers can be much more powerful. Usually, micro-influencers have between 10,000 and 50,000 followers, but sometimes even less. Although many people don’t think about influencer marketing for B2B lead generation, it’s a powerful tactic to collaborate with thought leaders and industry experts.
Hold a Q&A Session Online with Quora
Think about it: thousands of people flock to Quora with their most pressing issues. If you find the questions that relate back to your industry expertise, you can help people and sell your brand.
Of course, you should be super casual on Quora. Customers respond to friendly, like-minded individuals and should be interested in your content links—if you’re playing your cards right.
Create a Waitlist for Out-Of-Stock Products or Services
Granted, out-of-stock emails only apply to product-based businesses. But you can create a waitlist for services that are all booked up, too!
For example, if your consultancy offers financial advice, you likely have a calendar of appointments that fill up rather quickly during tax season. You can generate a waitlist or list of interested businesses for future reference. Target them next year or reach out to them with upcoming promotions when your calendar opens up again.
Related: How to Market to a Warm List
All business owners grow tired of the lead-generation roller-coaster. But you can use these five tips to create a smoother ride and ultimately grow your business! Once you get into the habit of using these new tactics regularly, B2B lead generation won’t be such a hassle anymore.
Lead generation doesn’t have to be overwhelming! Book a discovery call and take the stress out of lead generation by outsourcing the strategy and implementation to the experts at WindWater Marketing.
