Lead generation is a key facet of success for all businesses but especially in B2B where big ticket sales are often linked to relationships. Without a robust lead gen mechanism, most companies would find their sales pipelines starts to dry up and their growth is stalled.
Done well on the other hand, lead generation can propagate and drive sales well into the future. It will provide a boost to profits, and build a strong customer base to support growth as well as current success.
As lead generation is so crucial to business success, it’s important that businesses are good at it. At Blue Donkey, we know a thing or two about lead generation. Over the years, we’ve developed a range of effective practices that are guaranteed to boost results. To help you achieve the success you’re looking for, here are a few of our favourite B2B lead generation techniques.
Focused blogging
Blogging is a fantastic lead generation tool. If you post an engaging piece about your specialist area, businesses searching for related services are more likely to come across your site. When they see that you’re an authoritative figure in your industry they will be more inclined to get in touch and use your company. Focused blogging is also great for SEO and can be shared on social media, boosting your company profile and helping to spread the word about your business. When planning titles for your blogs, think about the questions that you’re most often asked by other businesses. When other companies search for these queries online, the link to your blog should appear.
Build a social network
Social media is a powerful lead generation tool, even when you’re dealing with other businesses. In fact, according to The Content Marketing Institute, 93% of B2B marketers use social media, making it the most common B2B marketing tool. Of those, 54% said they’ve generated leads via a social media platform.
When building a network on social media, it’s important that your company is an active participant. Share content, like content and interact with businesses in your network. This will ensure that yours is the first company businesses think of next time they need your products or services.
Telemarketing
Done well, telemarketing is an incredibly efficient method of lead generation. A good telemarketer won’t just be able to deliver a powerful and engaging sales message, they’ll also be able to address concerns, collect valuable data and build a positive B2B relationship. However, it’s important that businesses use a skilled and experienced telemarketer, like Blue Donkey, as a less competent telemarketer could damage your reputation and put off potential customers.
Great telemarketing does more than just generate meetings and sales opportunities. It’s a long term solution for business growth. To begin with, proficient telemarketing can be used for investigating and capturing the names of key decision makers within your target sectors. Getting past gatekeepers to have an intelligent conversation with those decision makers is a vital next step. Using powerful open question techniques to get them talking about their needs and how your product or service will fulfil those needs, in addition to gaining opt in, and gaining commitment to the next step in building a firm relationship.
In some instances, this can all happen in a single call, in others, systematic cycles of intelligent telemarketing will generate it over time.
By setting yourself up as an authority in your industry, connecting with other businesses on social media, and following up your good work with some powerful and well placed phone calls, you can dramatically improve your lead generation success rate. If you’d like to learn more, take a look around our site or contact a member of our team.
