Attracting new customers is vital for B2B enterprises that seek growth. Indeed, 85% of businesses consider lead generation as their most important marketing objective, and 53% spend more than half of their marketing budget on it . Given the strategic importance lead generation has for companies, this post will examine some of the innovative tactics being implemented today.
Analytics and big data
Despite spending half their budgets on lead generation, 61% of marketers say it is the most difficult challenge given that 79% of leads fail to convert . This is where analytics and big data are becoming increasingly useful. These powerful technologies enable B2B businesses to find customer behaviours and preferences in their data and predict which leads offer the greatest chance of conversion. As a result, marketers can tailor their strategies to target priority leads, ensuring that their resources are used more effectively. Furthermore, with AI and machine learning, analytics tools can learn from previous campaigns and provide more up-to-date and accurate insights over time, enabling companies to adapt their strategies in line with market changes and evolving customer expectations.
Account-based marketing
With the key leads identified, B2B marketers can then begin to implement another innovative tactic, account-based marketing. This is where sales and marketing teams work together to create customised buying experiences specifically for conversion-likely leads. This approach ensures that marketing will resonate with key personnel in the company and that it can adapt over time to meet changing needs or in response to feedback. For this to work effectively, interactions between the company and potential customers need to be effectively analysed so the campaign can be tweaked where required.
Automation and AI
Automation and AI can play two key roles in B2B lead generation. One of the most important, considering the budget lead generation requires, is streamlining human input. Not only can automation and AI undertake many of the manual tasks carried out by marketing teams; they can do them quicker and with less chance of error. For instance, AI can analyse customer data faster than traditional methods, while automation can deal with tasks like sending emails or updating CRM entries.
The other key role is that these technologies can engage potential leads in real time on websites. AI-enabled chatbots can respond immediately to customers’ questions and can provide them with the information they need to progress along the sales journey. They can even initiate conversations based on on-site behaviours. What’s more, today’s advanced models can also be programmed to detect a potential lead based on their chat data and use this to alert the sales team so that leads can be followed up promptly.
For more information, read: 10 Ways Online Companies Benefit From Marketing Automation
Social media tactics
Business-focused social media platforms, like LinkedIn, can be valuable for B2B lead generation, giving enterprises the ability to connect with potential customers and forge relationships. A social media strategy can operate through a number of channels. Effective content sharing can establish businesses as thought leaders in their field; targeted advertising can be shown to the right audiences; and participation in discussions can help make relationships stronger. All of these, meanwhile, help to increase visibility and brand awareness with key decision-makers.
Content marketing strategies
According to Forbes, 90% of businesses use content marketing and 74% say it is a proven tactic for boosting lead generation . Used effectively, it can guide and nurture leads through the sales funnel, providing them with personalised, targeted content, which delivers the right information at each stage of the sales journey.
To develop an effective content strategy, enterprises need to know the information that target audiences find engaging and useful. For B2B prospects, this can include whitepapers, case studies and detailed blog posts that provide insights into industry challenges and their solutions.
Read our Guide to Effective Content Planning
Personalisation
Personalisation can be highly advantageous for lead generation as it ensures that messages are customised for the needs and interests of individual leads as they move through the sales funnel. By utilising data collected during interactions and through segmenting audiences into groups with similar needs or behaviours, enterprises can significantly boost both engagement and conversion rates. Indeed, personalisation can even extend to the channel through which communications are delivered and the times they are sent, improving their chances of being read and delivering a better customer experience.
Of course, technology plays an instrumental role in ensuring the effectiveness of personalisation. Data analytics can help analyse the data collected and suggest audience segments that companies might not have previously considered. Additionally, modern CRMs can automate tasks like sending personalised communications at the right times in response to previous interactions, thus limiting the need for human involvement.
Find out How to Implement Customer Personalisation
Strategic landing pages
With 68% of B2B marketers utilising landing pages , they have a strategic role in converting leads. Ideally, if an enterprise has created different marketing messages for different audience segments, each of these messages should link to a unique landing page aimed at that audience. For example, marketing which targets leads looking for a cost-efficient solution should be directed to a landing page that emphasises the cost-efficiency of the product or service. Similarly, marketing that targets companies looking for enhanced productivity or performance should direct leads to a landing page that showcases those benefits. Additionally, the landing pages should guide visitors towards taking a specific action, such as requesting a demo or a callback.
One of the advantages of today’s web technology is that dynamic content can be used to personalise landing pages, providing even more precise information based on the customer’s needs and intentions.
Measuring performance
To understand how effectively B2B lead generation campaigns are progressing and make informed decisions to improve them, enterprises will need to set clear goals and track performance with a suitable analytics tool. Doing this will enable them to measure campaign performance in quantifiable ways and identify areas where issues need addressing.
Hosting requirements for lead generation
While the primary need for web hosting is to provide the right infrastructure and resources to run websites effectively, for enterprises implementing advanced B2B lead generation techniques, your hosting will also need to be capable of managing large-scale email campaigns and running the automation, data analytics and AI applications that campaigns need. Companies will also require adequate storage for the data they need to process.
For those running multiple apps with significant storage requirements, the two main options are cloud hosting and dedicated server hosting. Which option to choose depends upon the specific needs of individual companies, however, in basic terms, dedicated servers can have an advantage in performance while the cloud is better for reliability and scalability.
In terms of a web host’s services, strong security is vital given the critical nature of the website and applications, as well as the sensitive business data being collected. Managed services are also beneficial, removing many of the technical burdens and freeing up IT staff to focus on the actual campaigns. With the advanced tools being used, 24/7 technical support is also a must, especially for enterprises moving to a different type of solution.
Conclusion
Lead generation is vital for B2B enterprises seeking to expand their customer base and increase sales. Today, technologies like analytics, automation, big data, AI and powerful CRMs empower companies to run highly sophisticated campaigns that are data-driven, precise and focused. Armed with these capabilities and the right hosting solution, businesses can deliver more effective campaigns and drive more conversions.
Is your enterprise looking to implement advanced B2B lead generation campaigns? To ensure you have the right infrastructure in place from a secure and reliable managed hosting provider, check out our Cloud Hosting and Dedicated Server solutions.
