B2B lead generation is the lifeblood of any company offering products and services to other companies. It means attracting and capturing the contact details of prospects, aligned with your offers, with a real need, if possible urgent and painful, and a corresponding budget. Faced with challenges such as competitive media noise, uncertain buyer behavior, and evolving technology, how do you stand out from the crowd?
Here, I share powerful strategies and tools to excel in B2B lead generation in 2024. You'll explore the crucial importance of this approach, learn how to deploy innovative initiatives, and discover the most effective tools for improving your performance.
Regardless of the size of your company, our recommendations are designed to adapt to your specific needs and help you achieve your goals. If you'd like to find out more, I invite you to discover our B2B lead generation service by booking a quick call with one of our experts.
Evolution of B2B lead generation in 2024
The B2B landscape has undergone a number of recent transformations, greatly influencing the way you engage and convert your prospects.
The transformation of the B2B market has been driven by a number of key factors, including :
- Over-digitization of purchasing paths since COVID 19 which has made B2B buyers more independent, well-informed and demanding. They do most of their research online, without interacting directly with sellers, and expect fast, tailored feedback.
- Increasing the number of decision-makers by dealadding complexity to the sales cycle. According to a study by Gartner in its book "The Challenger Customer", a B2B purchasing decision involves an average of 6.8 people, requiring you to fine-tune your sales pitch to each profile and hierarchical level.
- Exacerbated media competitionWith the advent of social networking, distinctions between offers are becoming increasingly blurred. In this sea of possibilities, capturing the loyalty and attention of B2B buyers is proving more challenging.
These changes are making B2B lead generation more complex, rendering traditional approaches inadequate.
The key lies in accompanying prospects at every stage of their buying journey, providing them with relevant content and proving your expertise and reliability.
Why B2B lead generation?
An effective B2B lead generation process is vital to your business, enabling you to :
Identify the prospects most relevant to your business
B2B marketing is often referred to as the 95-5 rule. This rule explains that out of 100% of the market potentially addressable by your company, only 5% is mature enough to buy a solution similar to yours.
We oppose often leadgen with demandgen :
- Where the requestgen aims to educate the target audience and create interest in the brand and product over the long term
- Visit leadgen aims to immediately convert an Internet user into a prospect (lead), which is why it's ideal to focus leadgen efforts on audiences who are already intent on conversion.
Increase your visibility
However, capturing leads is also an excellent way of gradually building an audience.
At this point, the lead's level of intent is less important, because the aim is not to convert immediately, but to get them into a scenario of lead nurturing strategyIn this way, prospects are "nurtured" over the long term with content (often email), until they mature and are then transformed by sales teams.
In short, B2B lead generation is one of your most important key b2b marketing strategies.
So, what are the best strategies and tools for generating B2B leads?
Which strategies and tools for B2B lead generation?
Discovering the importance of B2B lead generation is the first step. The next? Taking action!
TL;DR here is a summary table
| Strategy | Tools | Description | Channels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conversion Optimization | Unbounce, Leadpages | Create optimized landing pages to convert visitors into leads. | Web |
| Paid advertising | Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads | Targeted campaigns to attract qualified visitors with specific ads. | Social networks, paid search |
| Content Marketing | WordPress, HubSpot | Produce and distribute relevant content to attract prospects by demonstrating expertise. | Blog, SEO, social networks |
| Webinars | Zoom, GoToWebinar | Organize webinars that require registration, thus generating leads. | Webinars, email, social networks |
| Social Networks and Influence Marketing | BuzzSumo, Hootsuite | Collaborate with influencers and manage social networks to reach a targeted audience. | Social networking |
| SEO and Content Optimization | SEMrush, Ahrefs | Use keyword analysis to attract qualified organic traffic. | Web, Blog |
Optimizing content for SEO: an essential foundation
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is crucial to improving the visibility of your content on Google, Bing and others. This is a key strategy in generating B2B leads, enabling you to attract prospects looking for solutions like yours.
HubSpot reveals that 61% of B2B marketers place SEO at the top of their lead sources.
This blog you're reading is an example in itself, with Mangrovea gaining dozens of subscribers every week thanks to these articles!
For SEO-optimized content, it is essential to :
- Choose relevant keywords to your target audience, using tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush for competitive insights and analysis.
- Produce content of value, answering prospects' questions and encouraging them to take action, through various formats: blog articles, white papers, infographics, videos, and more.
- Structuring content via HTML tags (h1, h2, h3, p, ul, li, img, a, etc.), improving comprehension and indexing by search engines.
- Optimizing technical elements of your site (loading speed, mobile compatibility, URL, metadata, internal linking, etc.) for a better user experience and optimized ranking.
Optimizing your content for SEO will help you attract qualified traffic, increasing your chances of conversion.
Optimizing your website for conversion
Optimizing your website for conversion (CRO - Conversion Rate Optimization) is fundamental to converting visitors into qualified leads. This approach adjusts the various elements of your site to improve the rate at which visitors complete a desired action, such as filling in a form or signing up for a newsletter. Adopting a strong CRO strategy can significantly increase conversion rates, optimizing the return on investment of your marketing campaigns.
- Improving UX : Perform usability tests with Hotjar or analyze visitor behavior via Google Analytics to reduce friction and ensure intuitive navigation.
- Create clear CTAs Use Unbounce or Leadpages to place visible and effective calls to action on strategic areas of your site, encouraging interaction.
- Simplify forms : Facilitate form completion by reducing fields to essential information, with tools such as Typeform or Gravity Forms that enable extensive customization.
- Use A/B Testing Optimize conversion rates by testing different versions of your pages with Optimizely or VWO, allowing you to identify the best-performing elements.
- Optimizing for mobile Make sure your site is responsive and fast on all devices, especially mobiles, by using Google's Mobile-Friendly Test and PageSpeed Insights to assess and improve loading speed.
- Integrate pop-ups intelligently Engage visitors without compromising the user experience by using pop-ups strategically with Sumo or OptinMonster, triggered by specific behaviors to maximize impact.
B2B Conversion Rates By Industry - 2024 - First Page Sage
Content Marketing: A Pillar of B2B Lead Generation
Content marketing is essential for attracting and engaging qualified prospects by providing them with useful, relevant information. This strategy relies on the creation and distribution of content that addresses the specific needs of your target audience, helping them to solve their problems and make informed decisions.
Developing valuable content
The key to successful content marketing is to produce content that resonates with the needs and interests of your target audience. This can include:
- Blog posts : Well-researched posts that address topics relevant to your audience, positioning your company as an authoritative source in your industry.
- White papers and e-books More in-depth content that addresses complex issues and offers detailed solutions, ideal for capturing leads in exchange for downloads.
- Infographics Visual presentations of data or information, easy to understand and share, excellent for attracting attention on social networks.
- Videos Multimedia content that can explain complex concepts in a simple, visual way, increasing engagement and time spent on your site.
Effective distribution strategies
Producing quality content is important, but distributing it effectively is just as crucial to reaching and engaging your audience:
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization) We were talking about it earlier.
- Marketing automation : For example, with tools like Waalaxy or Lemlist to distribute your lead magnets.
- Social networking Share your content on social networks such as Linkedin, which is an excellent channel for distribute leadmagets.
Paid advertising : Accelerate B2B lead generation
Paid advertising offers a fast, targeted way to reach B2B prospects, with a focus on LinkedIn and an overview of how to use Google Ads.
LinkedIn Ads with Lead Gen Forms
LinkedIn stands out as an essential tool for B2B lead generation thanks to its Lead Gen Forms. These forms simplify data collection by being pre-filled with user profile information, facilitating submission and increasing conversion rates. Precise targeting by position, industry and company size enables you to reach key decision-makers and integrate data directly into your CRM.
Google Ads
At the same time, Google Ads helps to capture prospects when they are actively looking for solutions online. Although less specific than LinkedIn for B2B, it offers immediate visibility on search engines, crucial for reaching audiences at the active search stage.
Webinar and interactive content platforms
Creating and distributing content that engages your prospects via webinars and interactive content demonstrates your expertise, makes it easier to present your offer, and generates leads by encouraging registration and participation.
Some platforms of choice :
- WebinarJam: Offers live or recorded webinars with a variety of features. Trial from 1 $ and annual subscriptions from 499 $.
- Outgrow: Create interactive content such as quizzes and calculators. Free trial and plans from 14 $ per month.
- Wistia: Specializing in professional videos, it offers advanced features for engagement. Free version and subscriptions from 99 $ monthly.
Using these platforms will help you attract and engage your prospects, increasing B2B lead generation and retention.
Conclusion
This article explored the keys to B2B lead generation success for 2024. Lead generation is crucial to staying competitive, adapting to market changes and seizing growth opportunities.
To acquire quality B2B leads, it's essential to adopt innovative strategies. These include SEO optimization, marketing automation, personalization, strategic partnerships and co-marketing.
Applying these strategies requires the right tools, including marketing automation and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, artificial intelligence (AI) and chatbot tools, webinar and interactive content platforms, and advanced data analytics tools.
You now have the essential elements to boost your B2B lead generation in 2024. Now it's time to take action. Don't delay in implementing the suggested strategies and tools and evaluating the results. You'll see a marked improvement in your B2B lead generation, propelling your business forward. So why wait? Start generating more B2B leads for your company today!
