Surrounded by Industry 4.0. In the final quarter of 2019. And the much-loved landmark year of almost everyone’s list of predictions and forecast on the horizon. Isn’t the time high enough for a re-evaluation of your business strategies?
One amongst the many facets of business, and an important one as well, is B2B lead generation. There are some who have been successful, while there are others for whom the B2B lead generation has been a hard nut to crack.
According to HubSpot’s State of Inbound report, lead generation is the biggest challenge for about 61% of businesses.
But for every one of us now, there is something new to learn, or to tune-up old processes in newer ways to get the best result. Due to mainly the rapid innovation caused by emerging technologies, customer expectations are rising.
In a study conducted by the customer intelligence firm Walker Information, not price, nor products, but customer experience will be the number 1 brand differentiator in the coming days.
So let us now dig into 7 of the strategies that will help you to crack the deal in 2020:
Table of Contents
1. Regular & Quality Content on Your Website
A study by Hubspot revealed that 16 or more blogs per month leads to generating 4.5 times more leads compared to the ones who post less than 4 blogs per month. Further, 47% of B2B buyers take the content into consideration before making a decision.
Agreed there might be times when something goes viral, and your graph of posting blogs, articles, or Press Release shows a spike. But make sure it’s not the case that in one day you posted 10 blogs and did not post anything for the whole remaining month. Being regular and maintaining quality makes you look more professional.
2. References Work Even Today
Research shows B2B companies that utilize referral programs have conversion rates about 70% higher.
This strategy has been working since time immemorial. A satisfied client like a magnet will attract others and guide them towards you. The novelty of this strategy now lies in launching incentive-based referral programs. “Referral codes online,” “Refer to a Friend,” etc. have a positive impact on lead generation.
3. Branch Out on the Internet
Why be limited to your website and social channels when you have a lot more to explore? Expanding your online presence grows your credibility. Guest blogging, interview sessions, and answering questions of varied types for the users of Quora are some of the great ways of branching out on the Internet. As a subject matter expert (SME), you have the power to increase brand awareness and consequently build trust quickly.
4. Email Marketing is Still Numero Uno
As per SuperOffice’s State of B2B Email Marketing report, 77% of B2B marketers drive leads using email marketing.
Leverage email marketing to your advantage. To generate quality leads, you need to follow email marketing best practices and come up with an optimized email that attracts the users’ attention. Promote, engage, and build a strong relationship with the customers and see how the cookie crumbles.
5. Roll Camera, Sound, Action!
A study by Forbes titled ‘Video In The C-Suite’ revealed that over 75% of Fortune 500 executives regularly view video content, and about two-thirds of them visit the vendor’s website.
Reading is tedious to many, while some have little to no time for reading lengthy descriptions. The best alternative is to have a piece of important information relayed as short and crisp video content.
An Animoto study reveals that more than 60% of consumers purchase after watching the brand’s video content.
Besides, it increases your credibility in the eyes of the users. YouTube is becoming an integral part of the content strategy for many organizations, and the proliferation would continue in the future as well.
According to Adelie Studios, if you have a video on the landing page, your conversions can increase by 80% or more.
6. A Website not Supported on Mobile Devices is a Waste-site
50% of B2B queries are made on mobile phones. (~ Google)
That means you lose half of your prospective leads if you are not on their mobile phones! Long gone are the days when people, especially business executives, waited to reach their offices to switch on their desktops or laptops to do their business activities. Today, everyone has a smartphone at their disposal, and information is grasped and digested on the go.
60% of B2B buyers admit mobile phones played a significant role in their purchase. Also, 42% of the average share of revenues comes from the mobile route. (~ Recent BCG Report)
7. Leverage Emerging Technologies
On adopting a marketing automation solution, Thomson Reuters’ revenue increased by 172%.
Machine Learning & AI, Cyber Technologies, Automation, Robotics, Cognitive Technologies, etc. are not just an esoteric bunch of know-hows still under research and mentioned only by nerds to woe the ladies in a ball! These technologies are being utilized in the marketing landscape extensively and are giving a competitive advantage to its operators. For instance, machine learning has already revolutionized marketing in several ways.
According to Gartner, by 2020, at least one of the sales processes for about 30% of the companies will be done through machine learning and AI.
Summing it up
The impending year of 2020 is the best time to have a look over on your strategies of B2B lead generation. Form posting regular quality content on websites and external platforms to leveraging referral techniques; from utilizing emerging technologies in emails and other marketing endeavors to supporting your websites on the mobile platforms and including videos, these seven tips will simplify your B2B lead generation process, and enhance the results.
