What Is B2B Lead Generation & How To Effectively Utilize This Weapon

28 minute read

Most clients don’t know what B2B lead generation is or how to effectively utilize it as a weapon. Leads are the lifelines of any business and here we will teach you how to use it to survive the online landscape and thrive amongst the competition.

So, how do we get more leads? To answer this question, we first need to be able to distinguish between a B2B and a B2C target audience. Knowing the similarities and differences between the two audiences can help prevent you from failing before you even start.

Table of Contents:

1. B2B Vs B2C Lead Generation
2. 6 Ways To Generate More B2B Leads (with Infographic)
3. 4 Types Of Content Known For Generating Serious B2B Leads
4. Marketing Automation & B2B Lead Generation
5. Leading Company For B2B Lead Generation

B2B Vs B2C Lead Generation

If you didn’t know, B2B means businesses-to-business. This is when companies sell products and services to other companies. They usually have to sell several different people within an organization such as the business owner, executives and managers.

In the B2C, business-to-consumer model, the company sells products and services directly to consumers. This is usually just to one individual with buying power such as your wife haha (no but really, 74.9% of women identified themselves as the primary shoppers for their households).

The ways marketers go about generating leads for the B2C model vs the B2B model differs substantially, but there are also some similarities…

Similarities Between B2B & B2C Lead Generation

The similarities in doing lead generation for a B2B and a B2C are due to the process of generating that lead. In both instances, you’re trying to attract potential customers. So like any good marketer, you’d try to figure out who the potential customer is and where they spend most of their time.

Another similarity between B2B and B2C lead generation is the use of content to attract and acquire customers. If leads are the blood cells which fuel the body, content is the nutrients which enrich and empowers those blood cells. It’s the fuel for the engine which is lead generation. Without content, you’re basically stuck! We’ll learn more about content and how content is used in the lead generation process later on in this article.

Finally, the biggest similarity between B2B and B2C lead generation is that lead generation is used in both business models to increase revenue, optimize profits and gain higher market valuation. That’s the bottom line, lead generation is used to drive sales and make your businesses profitable whether B2B or B2C.

Differences Between B2B & B2C Lead Generation

Now that we have a clear understanding of the similarities between the lead generation process for B2B and B2C businesses models, let’s take a look at the main difference between them. And that difference is in relationship to the buyer.

In the B2C model, the buyer is a consumer whereas the buyer in the B2B model is another business. Well, it’s someone within the business who has the power to make decisions. This decision maker is usually very knowledgeable and experienced in their industry. Therefore, he or she is not an easy sell, making the lead generation activity more complex and a bit lengthier.

The business owners, managers or executives focus more on industry trends, cost, benefits, and projections of future growth of their organization. Time is also a huge factor in B2B lead generation. This is not a fast pitch and bingo! It’s a slow back and forth process that requires the building of trust. It includes many phone calls, emails, video conferences and/or in-person presentations.

You have to really nurture your leads at every step of the way, engage with each and every decision maker throughout the entire process, answer the various concerns that differ from each department head and each higher up, and even keep communication well after the sale is closed.

It takes a different mindset and fortitude to generate B2B leads. You have to be sharp, knowledgeable, understanding, confident, organized, show great attention to detail and most of all trustworthy. Make sure you have all your bases covered BEFORE approaching a potential B2B lead and that requires thorough research. Research is vital for your comprehension of the personnel, the organization, their products or services, and the industry.

If you’re using a third-party organization to generate leads for you, make sure they understand your company and your mission. Build a solid relationship with them, because It is essential that the third-party company not only understand your business, but also the prospect and their role at the organization.

6 Ways To Generate More B2B Leads

Click to download infographic or to enlarge

We now have a clear understanding of what B2B lead generation is and how to nurture the potential lead through research and building a solid relationship with them. Let’s take a step back and focus on how we are going to attract these leads in the first place.

Realistically, there is no one set approach for generating B2B leads. There are a lot of factors to consider such as budget, whether they are a storefront or only online, company size, marketing in-house or through an agency, years in business, reputation, goal, timeframe, etc.

B2B lead generation requires a multitude of approaches to be successful and you should 100% diversify your strategy. The reason for this is, B2B lead generation is an ongoing process and usually depends on re-buys or renewals. That being said, simple concepts such as tweeting multiple times a day or posting funny memes on Facebook may not work well with B2B lead generation as it would with B2C. You’ll have to get more creative and more laser focuses on audience targeting.

1. Social Media

Out of all the social media platforms, the undisputed champion for B2B lead generation is LinkedIn. In fact, LinkedIn is the only major social media platform for which usage rates are higher among 30- to 49-year-olds than among 18- to 29-year-olds. LinkedIn makes up about 80% of all social media business leads, but that doesn’t mean you should neglect the other platforms like Facebook.

Just having a presence on social media is not enough. Utilize these tips to optimize your lead generation efforts and attract your targeted audience:

• Profile Images – Your profile must stand out and your profile’s image and cover/banner is what the user sees first. Make it bold and interesting so it grabs their attention and draws them in. Your logo must be centrally located within the profile image and should be the main focal point. Whitespace is your friend!
• A Call-To-Action (CTA) – A call to action should have a clear message and pop out from the rest of the page. A CTA is an image button on a blog page or a form on a landing page. Landing page forms that are placed in the header of the page or above the fold (within 500px from top of browser) are most effective for converting leads.
  • Free content offers such as an eBook, eGuide, tool, demo, webinar, or any valuable content should be gated, meaning the user will have enter their email address and any other qualifying information in order to view, participate or download that content they find interesting and valuable. The trick with this is not to ask too much right off the bat, just the specific info you need to either mark them as a marketing qualified lead (MQL) or not.
• Your Company Description – You need to make an impact within the first and second lines of your company description. This is the cutoff point in respect to what a user sees while scrolling through company profiles before they have to hit a see more link. Leave out statistics about your company and the hard sell. Instead, be inviting and let them know what your business is all about.
• Use Conversion Focused Updates – Make frequent updates to your content such as swapping out imagery, A/B testing call-to-actions, updating links to more related articles, reducing form fields, etc. The idea is to increase conversions on low performing pages and reduce bounce rate.
• Create A LinkedIn Showcase Page – Showcase pages are a powerful B2B lead generation solution created by LinkedIn. They allow companies to showcase their brand and nurture relationships among B2Bs.
• Save Your Searches – Search is now more analytical than ever. You are now able to filter your search down to a very narrow and unique target audience, which is made up of very distinguishable buyer personas and their stage of the buyer’s journey. So why put all this effort into your search and then delete the filter when you can simply save it and tweak it.
  • Look at it this way, if you’re selling a product or service, you’ll want to test different results. These search tests should all be very similar with only minor tweaks. You’re not likely to be selling the same service to two completely different buyer personas with nothing in common. You’re most likely going to be selling to buyer personas with similar traits, that actually make up a target audience.
• Use Groups  – Groups are a great way to find, attract, nurture and close leads. People of similar interest form groups. Therefore, if your offering is highly desirable by certain individuals based on their preferences, then by all means, find these groups on LinkedIn and Facebook and build a relationship with them. Do not try to sell them right away, be patient, make sure you understand their problems or interests, build trust, make them believe you are the go-to authority on this topic, then you can offer help and a solution.
  • Some groups will kick you out if you are too salesy.
• Form Your Own Group – If joining groups isn’t good enough or you’re just not finding the perfect one, why not form a group of your own? Forming a successful group has many perks. If you are a topic expert and your group generates a buzz, you’ll be generating more than just buzz, you’ll be generating leads in no time. Your fan base are now loyalist, will stand by your company, and even become advocates of it.
• Publish, Publish, Publish – Let the creative, social butterfly in you come alive. Social media is your megaphone and your followers are a treasure chest for B2B lead generation. Maximize your reach by using hashtags to extend it organically and paid campaigns to amplify your message on a budget. Post-useful content and make people like and share it.
  • It’s your responsibility to push your content without being invasive and make sure it answers the questions of your audience.
• Link To Your Website – You must have a link to your website within the header of your social media profile and also link to a specific webpage within your post. This is the most important attribute in order to drive traffic and generate a lead via social media. Make sure you are not just linking to your home page within your post, when the best page might be your purchase page or a webpage with more info about that post’s topic. Keep in mind, there is about a 50% drop in conversions every time a user has to click.

LinkedIn, is by far the most important for B2B of all the social media platforms, but this doesn’t mean that you should neglect the others. In a study conducted by Social Media Examiner, they found that only 42% of marketers are able to measure their social media presence .You should be on at least three social media networks, because that is where your audience spends a lot of their time nowadays. Focus most of your attention on the ones that are working for you best, but you won’t know which is best unless you give each a solid try. They all have their unique features and paid targeting so use them wisely.

Social Media Marketing Statistics

• 25% of adult internet users use LinkedIn.
• LinkedIn is the only major social media platform with more users in the age range of 30- to 49-years than those aged 18- to 29-years.
• 72% of adult internet users use Facebook.
• 74% of Facebook users report that they use it for professional reasons.
• Facebook posts with images see 2.3X more engagement than those without images.
• Photos showing faces get 38% more likes than photos with no faces.

2. Trade Shows

There are many offline strategies which are highly effective at generating B2B leads. One of the most sought-after ways to acquire leads offline is the trade show.

The trade show is a central meeting place for businesses and customers. Businesses attend trade shows to display their brand, products, services, meet their prospects face-to-face, convert them into leads and close deals.

Make sure you are not just going into this blindly, setup a proper way to gather people’s information, push them down the funnel if they aren’t just sold on you yet, and remember you.

Trade shows allow you to add a human element to your marketing campaign. It’s one thing to advertise your company online, but having a face-to-face conversation is priceless. Being able to sell yourself, your business, your product or service, and close a deal is what trade shows are all about.

There’s a process before you get here which includes:

• The Game Plan – The plan should include what you need to do before, during, and after the trade show. It is also a wonderful platform for you to use the booth for display of your logo, brand, products, services, any printed or digital materials, and much more. If done right, this plan should encompass all aspects of enhancing your marketing efforts and converting strangers into customers.
• Pre-Show E-mails To Attendees – It is wise to start your marketing efforts prior to attending the trade show. How much time prior to the event? That depends on your business model and a host of other factors. E-mail marketing is key at this point. E-mail is efficient, it allows you to make connections with other participants of the trade show and also to build a segmented list. This will ultimately increase your reach at the trade show and also engagement. So, try to get your hands of the attendees’ list, introduce yourself and your company and start networking. Make sure to include set-ups for one-to-one meetings and focus on the benefits of your brand and what you provide for your customers.
• Pre-Show Emails To Your Customers – Email your current customers especially those close to the location of the trade show. Tell them to come check out your booth and send them information on new products or services which you’re launching. Give them discounts, get them excited and make them want to come and support you. Remember, trade shows are usually enormous and packed with competitors. So, imagine having some of your loyal customers there cheering you on and promoting your brand, now that would be sweet.
• Pre-Show Targeted Ads – These ads should be fully segmented and targeted towards audiences that are most likely to attend the trade show. Place product and service information on the landing pages of the ads to drive traffic. Messaging these leads who come through the landing page will show them that you care and then you can schedule a meeting with them at the trade show.
• Pre-Show Meeting Scheduling – Pre-show meetings should be scheduled prior to the trade show. Use your e-mailing wisely here. You need to hook your audience so, offer them an experience at the event. For example, if you’re selling skin care products, offer them free skin treatment. If your product is digital offer them a free subscription with limited time offer, just be creative.
• The Show – These trade shows are massive, and the attendees are scattered within a certain proximity to the venue. Therefore, using techniques such as geo-fencing can be useful for running ads at the surrounding areas. Ads will appear on the devices used by people from your target audience who are within the proximity to the location.
• Post-Show Emails – Always send follow up emails after the trade show. For those who you meet with and signed up or signed up online, thank them. For those who are still undecided, make sure to keep nurturing them and providing them with valuable information. It’s vital to do this within two weeks after the trade show while the event is still fresh on everyone’s mind.
• Post-Show Tracking and Analytics – After the show, you should collect data on all the activities that you did before, during and after the event.
  • E-mail – Metrics such as opens, clicks, sends and forwards should be analyzed.
  • Targeted Ads – Impressions (views) and clicks should be tracked. Clicks are more important than views, but more importantly you should note how many meetings were scheduled via targeted ads and how many email opt-ins were created.
  • Landing Pages – Page views, form completions, and downloads are important. Use Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager here to track these metrics.
  • Meeting Scheduler – Track links which lead to someone scheduling the meetings. Also note how many people actually showed up to the meeting after scheduling one.

Follow the patterns, plan and execute these steps at your next trade show, and then track your numbers. Keep doing this and watch your return on investment (ROI) skyrocket. Trade shows are expensive and take some time to plan, but they can be a huge success story if done right.

Trade Show Marketing Statistics

• 83% of the attendees have some kind of buying power.
• 85% of decision makers say attending trade shows saves their company time and money by bringing vendors together under one roof.
• 79% of the attendees say that attending shows helps them decide on what products to buy.
• 91% of attendees say that trade shows impact their buying decisions because the competition is in one place allowing for comparison shopping in real time.
• Converting a trade shows lead to a sale costs 38% less than sales calls alone.
• Trade show visitors will tell 6+ people about their experience.
• 81% of attendees at a recent show agreed that trade shows help attendees become aware of new products and services.
• 91% of attendees tell us they get the most useful buying info from trade shows and events.

3. Website

Your website is the mecca of online presence for your business. It is the only place online which has all your information, pricing, deals, products, services, location, hours, CTAs and everything else. Therefore, having a well-structured, fully optimized, fully functional website if extremely important.

Your B2B client is well versed and expects a seamless experience when checking out your website. Let’s just say, first impressions count and their first impression with your business online will be your website.

Websites are different from social media in that, the user can explore more content. They are able to explore your blogs, events, products, services, pricing, reviews, bios, imagery, resources, and a host of other things. Therefore, it is important to have everything up-to-date with fast loading pages.

Websites are also very important due to search engines, because users search for answers to their questions and get a plethora of competition trying to best answer them. So ranking at the top of the results is important and requires long-term organic SEO efforts.

Your website is your focal point so make sure to pay a lot of attention to it and have all your other marketing channels lead back to your website where it can all be properly tracked and analyzed.

Website Marketing Statistics

• For B2B marketers, the ideal number of fields on web registration and download forms is between three and five for 79% of respondents, while only 16% said it was six or more.
• Nearly 80% of companies not meeting their revenue goals attract 10,000 monthly website visitors or less. For those exceeding their revenue goals, 70% report attracting more than 10,000 visitors per month.

4. SEO & SEM

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) can greatly increase your website traffic, B2B leads, and sales. Although, SEO and SEM both drive traffic to your website, they actually work in different ways. The combination of the two strategies running simultaneously is the key for success.

SEM allows you to pay for ads within the search results such as Google Adwords and is considered a short-term strategy. The great thing is if your organic SEO is not getting you page one results, pay-per-click (PPC) ads can get you there by winning bids. This is a good option if you have the budget for it and may be necessary if your keywords are highly competitive. Just keep in mind, once your budget runs dry, your ads stop showing and all those efforts end right then and there.

SEO is a longer-term strategy and requires some patience. The things to know about organic SEO that makes it so desirable is that organically ranking on the first page of a search result is by far the best form of online advertising there is today. Not to mention the chance of ranking several times on page one, which greatly increases your click-through rate. Being ranked on the first page, especially in the first or second spot will definitely increases your traffic. This strategy takes time and effort, but will continue to build momentum whether you keep paying for it or not over the next several years.

Keyword research should be completed before you even begin writing your content. You should look for related keywords with low competition and solid search volume. Then add those keywords to that pages content such as text, images, meta tags, headings, etc. Content is the core of SEO and presenting relevant content at the right time is the key to successful B2B lead conversion.

SEO & SEM Marketing Statistics

• 61% of marketers say improving SEO and growing their organic presence is their top inbound marketing priority.
• 72% of marketers say relevant content creation was the most effective SEO tactic.
• 72% of consumers who did a local search visited a store within five miles.
• 28% of searches for something nearby result in a purchase.

5. E-mail

We all know how effective e-mail marketing is to B2B lead generation. It’s the best bang for the buck, because it offers the highest ROI out of all the B2B lead generation tactics. E-mail marketing can also be very effective when it’s automated and used with your segmentation and workflows.

So, with all these benefits why is it that a lot of marketers, sales and businesses owners have such a difficult time with email? Well, they’re simply not using e-mail the right way or have dated contact info.

Here are a few things to consider when setting up your email campaigns.

• Segmented List – when considering an email campaign, having a segmented list is the first priority. We must know our target audience and categorize the similarities into specific lists. The more personalized those lists are, the better the campaign results will be. That is why 83% of companies are using at lease basic segmentation for their email marketing campaigns.
• Content – after we define our segmented list, we have to develop the right content for the right list. This step is vital because we might have the perfect buyer in mind, but providing them with the wrong content can cause them to unsubscribe.
• Platform – an email campaign depends a lot on the platform used to execute the campaign and its limitations. You should know your platform from the inside out so that you get the full potential from it. For instance, you have to check a box in Mailchimp to add Google Analytics tracking to it.
• Reporting – once the email goes out, you should have the proper reporting set up to track it and know what each metric means to properly analyze your results. This is important for future campaigns and to get a better understanding of your potential leads. If the open rate is low, it can mean that your subject line was poor or somehow triggering spam filters. If your open rate is high, but click-thru rate is low, maybe you need to have a stronger and more clear CTA.
• Workflow Automation – there should be an automated process in place to take that potential lead and pass them to the proper sales person so that they can get followed up with. There should also setup an autoresponder that lets them know what is going on and even provide more information about the topic they’re interested in. This should be a seamless process, with lots of testing, to best push them further down the funnel.

Email Marketing Statistics

• 54% of marketers say increasing engagement rate is their top email marketing priority.
• Email notifications about abandoned carts have a 40.5% open rate.
• Email subject lines that include the words “thank you” have the highest above-average engagement levels.
• The open rate for emails with a personalized message was 17.6%, compared to 11.4% without personalization.
• 42% of marketers do not send targeted email messages; only 4% use layered targeting.
• Segmented and targeted emails generate 58% of all revenue.
• Three-quarters of companies agree that email offers “excellent” to “good” ROI.
• 86% of professionals prefer to use email when communicating for business purposes.
• Two-thirds of emails are read on either smartphones or tablets.
• 75% of Gmail users access their accounts on mobile devices.

6. Word Of Mouth

This the oldest form of marketing and is still one of the most effective channels to spread your brand’s awareness. When someone recommends a product or service to you, you take them seriously and you trust them because they are close to you.

Now, in today’s digital economy where everyone is connected via a device or social platform, they’re expressing their opinions everywhere and to whoever is listening. When you think about a product, what’s the first thing you do? You go to where the product is being sold and you check out the reviews. Same thing goes for services, but most likely it will be a third party source such as Yelp.

What about that new ad you saw on Facebook? You go to the comments and check out what people are saying about the product. Well, all of these are examples of word of mouth. It can be very helpful or even your worst enemy.

So, to get your message and your brand out there you have to be visible, publish content, become social, speak at events, provide webinars, manage your online reputation, and much more. You should also leverage social influencers and get their audience to buy into your business. This type of activity will take your business to places it has never been before.

Word Of Mouth Marketing Statistics

1. 88% of consumers placed the highest level of trust in word-of-mouth recommendations of from people they know.
2. 64% of marketing executives said they believe word of mouth is the most effective form of marketing out there.
3. Word of Mouth marketing impression results in 5x more sales than paid media impression.
4. Word of mouth marketing accounts for about $6 trillion of annual consumer spending and is estimated to account for 13% of all consumer sales.

4 Types Of Content Known For Generating Serious B2B Leads

As mentioned above, leads are like blood cells, they fuel the sales funnel. Content is the nutrients which enrich those leads. To understand the importance of content to a B2B lead generation strategy you have to understand the target audience. On average, B2B marketers allocate 28% of their total marketing budget to content marketing according to the Content Marketing Institute.

In B2B lead generation, the buyers are business people or higher up within the company. They are highly knowledgeable about their industry and have worked hard to get to where they are at. But where do they get their information? Your audience gets their information from conducting research. Whether it be physical books, eBooks, white papers, blogs, guides, comparison charts, webinars, case studies, infographics, or any other form of content. Therefore, their process which leads up to making a purchase requires a lot or reading, analyzing and comprehension before signing off and making the purchase.

Because the buyer has to be informed before making their purchase, it is essential that you provide them with valuable content. The more valuable your content is to the potential buyer the better your chances are of closing the deal. Rich content sells itself. You have to provide the buyer with insights and show them how your product can make an impact in their professional life. Focus more on benefits, less on features.

Did you know content marketing has grown over the years as one of the main forms of marketing used today by the largest organizations in the U.S.A? Let’s discuss the top 4 types of content formats used today to attract potential buyers and generate leads:

1. Blog

When we talk about generating B2B leads, there is one digital content format that stands out from the rest, and it is blogging. The blog is the go-to format for both business people and consumers. Blogs are simple, effective, and you can pump a lot of them out each week. Did you know that marketers who prioritize blogging are 13x more likely to achieve a positive ROI on their efforts? That’s crazy!

Blogs are specific to one topic and can easily be linked to other related articles (internally and externally) simply, which makes them highly favored by search engines since they love links. So, if you want to be found on Google or Bing, when your potential buyer is searching for your topics, you need to optimize your blog for search, add visuals, and a clear call-to-action. Post these unique, quality content pieces often!

2. Video

If your product or service has a viral component, then video is the format you should be focusing your attention on. YouTube is the leader in video content. YouTube has over 1 Billion users on a daily basis. It’s the go-to platform for people looking for instructional videos and for those wanting visual content to help them learn more about a topic. Therefore, when it comes to a content strategy, video outperforms all other content mediums for online shares.

Creating engaging and informative YouTube videos is an excellent way to promote your brand, products & services. It can act as the first form of contact between you and your potential buyer. Providing a link to your website is key to channeling your viewers to your website for more info or even a possible conversion.

Video is the ideal format for those looking for quick, visual aids on specific topics so make sure you publish them online regularly. It is natural that the more videos you create, the better they will get in quality as well as engagement.

Please note that although YouTube is the leading platform for online videos, other social media platforms like Facebook are gaining traction. Ever since Facebook launched its video streaming service (Facebook Live), the expectations are through the roof, because of the powerful combination of great organic reach and paid targeting.

3. Webinar

The webinar is another great visual learning format that users love. Unlike regular video, webinars go dive deeper into complex topics and are lengthier than a regular video. If you’re a business person looking for a product or service to optimize or improve a processes, or maybe even resolve or minimize risk in your operation, then you would want an extensive explanation about the product/service so you know what to expect.

Webinars are also extremely valuable, because they attach a face to your business.  This makes the potential buyer a little more comfortable with you and your brand, which makes it easier for them to make that purchase decision.

Webinars are a powerful form of content, and with the right planning & execution, they allow you can capitalize on the opportunity to spread the word about your brand or business.

4. Research Paper

We’ve all done research papers in school. They are similar to webinars in detail, but they are less interactive. Research papers are long documents, with charts and graphs, that focus on certain data points or features.

As a business person, you’ll always be looking for information to improve your business and research papers are a beneficial content source to find this type of information. Therefore, research papers are a valuable B2B lead generation content format. When formatting your research paper, make sure there are CTA’s and other subtle features to draw the reader in and push them down the sales funnel.

Content Marketing Statistics

• 72% of marketers say relevant content creation was the most effective SEO tactic.
• 53% of marketers say blog content creation is their top inbound marketing priority.
• On average, B2B marketers allocate 28% of their total marketing budget to content marketing.
• Only 30% of B2B marketers say their organizations are effective at content marketing, down from 38% last year.
• 47% of buyers viewed 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep.

Now that we’ve discussed what content marketing is and the various forms of content you can produce to attract traffic and convert leads. Let’s shift focus a little and discuss how content should be distributed in order to maximize your content and B2B lead generation efforts.

Your content means nothing if you’re not converting sales. The whole purpose of creating this valuable content and giving it to your target audience for free, is that they will eventually buy something. There’s a saying in economics which goes, “there’s no free lunch” and the same goes for marketing.

You’re not creating all this content and spending all this time & money on it just to give it away for free (unless your primary goal is to sell ad space). You have to ultimately get managers and business owners to purchase your product or service.

So what’s the most valuable thing you can get in return for your “free” content? It is generally an email address.

Yes, a simple piece of information such as an e-mail address can provide you with tremendous value over the long run. So when distributing your content, make sure your premium content is gated with a form and request their email address along with other qualifying fields.

This is called the give and get. The user gets highly sought after content that will help them and you get a little bit of info that can help you push that lead down the marketing & sales funnel.

Marketing Automation & B2B Lead Generation

When business owners hear the word automation, some get excited and some get nervous. The ones who get excited know that it will lead to higher efficiency, better profit margins, and free up a lot of time to do other things. The others who get a sense of anxiety, probably haven’t used any type of automation before or are a worried about change.

The same is true in the marketing industry. Marketing automation is a major buzzword that marketing agencies use worldwide, but because of the stigma that goes along with it, it is a very under utilize tool. It’s estimated that ONLY 35% of businesses use marketing automation in their arsenal.

Marketing automation is the process of delivering the most relevant content to the most receptive potential buyer for the product or service in which the content is centered around. Basically, if you know there are certain segments of your audience that will be most receptive to certain content, marketing automation allows you to pinpoint that segmented audience and market directly to them automatically.

Marketing automation software has the ability to track the potential lead from various online channels through a CRM system. Then, the lead nurturing process takes place based on the behavior of the lead through messaging and then the lead is passed down the marketing funnel to the sales team.

Marketing automation can be super beneficial to your B2B lead generation strategy, but there are a few factors to consider before purchasing marketing automation software. It’s not a cheap and it all depends on your goals and how you will be using it.

BEFORE buying your marketing automation software, consider the following:

• You have the budget necessary to purchase the software and also the time for it to kick in and start working. This is because it will take some time to segment your target audience, setup workflows, develop the messaging, and figure out the right candidates to nurture.
• In order for marketing automation to be effective, you have to already be generating leads from your website. Think about it, this software executes automation, which means takes the human element out and uses algorithms to target the right group for the content.
• Your website should be gaining a substantial number of visitors per month in order for the marketing automation software to work properly.
• Your social media has to also be active. This will allow the software to have better results when tracking the potential lead on the web and in social media.
• Your content marketing has to be ready. This is an obvious facet of your overall marketing strategy and it pivotal for the marketing automation success.

Marketing automation is definitely the future of marketing. As technology becomes smarter and faster, there is no restrictions to the amount of data that will be processed and analyzed.  These learning systems will make better decisions and produce better results the longer they run. This inevitably leads to more leads being generated, more leads being converted into paying customers and more revenue injection into your business.

Marketing Automation Statistics

• 75% of all businesses that use a marketing automation solution see a positive ROI within the first year.
• Companies that use a marketing automation system have reported up to a 451% increase in qualified leads
• B2B marketers say the #1 benefit of marketing automation is the ability to generate more and better leads.
• Marketers using automation software generate 2X the number of leads than those using blast email software and are perceived by their peers to be 2X as effective at communicating.
• 67% of B2B marketers say they see at least a 10% increase in sales opportunities through lead nurturing, with 15% seeing opportunities increase by 30% or more.
• Marketing technology spend is now higher than advertising spend for companies.
• Nurtured leads produce, on average, a 20% increase in sales opportunities versus non-nurtured leads.

B2B Lead Generation With Tag Marketing

At Tag Marketing we specialize in capturing leads for our clients and are 100% client focused and results-oriented.

We love to partner with local B2B companies that want to unlock their true potential and accelerate their growth long-term with focused, creative, growth-driven, well-executed inbound marketing strategies.

We are a family company and we treat our clients as part of our family as well with respect, professionalism, and dedication. We pride ourselves on building your brand and taking your business to the next level.

Our clients come to us dazed and confused about the transparency of marketing their business, gaining new clients, nurturing their current customers, and increasing their revenue. Most are lost as to what converts, and not quite sure if the money they’re spending is an expense or investment.

We believe in the quality results, not just random numbers thrown together in a report. In doing so, we produce more marketing qualified leads (MQL) based on your criteria and put smiles on your sales team face when they spend less time closing more sales qualified leads (SQL). We close the gap by looking at conversions and sales, to report your true ROI.

As a team, we will review the lead quality for each marketing channel so we can maximize your budget. By doing so, we can correctly gauge the success and failures of each marketing campaign in order to adapt and refocus to stay on-target with your goals. We like to be transparent, and in full disclosure tell the story exactly as it is.

Our success is built in direct relationship to your success. Call Tag Marketing today for a free consultation at 773-680-6952.

If you’d like to learn more about lead generation, check out our Beginner’s Guide to Generating B2B Leads. Its jam packed with the top lead generation channels you should be using, optimizing content, best practices, social media, helpful tools and more.