5 Lead Generation Strategies to Increase B2B Leads

Are your lead generation strategies exuding credibility?

You’re, after all, asking businesses to place their well-being in your hands and trust your solutions.

Your plan needs to go further than just marketing your products/services. It needs to incorporate strategies that focus on prospective customers’ unique needs and address their concerns.

We’ll delve into five such strategies below and learn how to increase b2b leads

  1. LinkedIn Marketing

There are plenty of tips you can leverage for LinkedIn prospecting, but most won’t work if your profile looks dubious.

Your audience needs to see that the organization you represent is a real business and not some dodgy guys trying to steal from them. 

So, work on your profile, the About Us section, and what you do/offer.

Other best practices include:

  • Find common ground. Icebreakers or conversation starters help remove connection inhibitions and personalize your outreach. Perusing the prospect’s profile may help you catch something worth mentioning in the prospecting message to increase the probability of receiving a good response.
  • Double-check your facts. Personalization is great because it illustrates that you’ve done your homework but double-check your facts before assuming they are what the prospect goes by. You might end up creating elaborate sequences around facts they don’t consider relevant.
  • Keep your sales pitch out of your first message. The platform is more about building meaningful business relationships than a marketplace. Start with a dialogue that’s focused on initiating a relationship and barely hints at your offer. Save that for the  second or third message.
  1. Interactive Content

A valuable interactive feature may help build your company’s reputation while simultaneously presenting your solutions in a meaningful context to potential customers.

People seek value, meaning the features that engage audiences are those that focus on sharing valuable and relevant information tied to their issues and industry. 

As audiences deem your brand an essential resource provider, you surface as the company that provides solutions for important issues.

To help you draw closer connections with potential customers, consider the following:

  • Build interactive content that feels modern, engaging, and essential to your prospects’ needs.
  • Stay ahead of the competition by crafting interactive content that represents the current issues your prospects face.
  • Present content that showcases value to audiences before they come to the market for your products/services. 

Examples of worthwhile interactive content include

  • Interactive calculators. ROI calculators, in particular, allow audiences to quantitatively evaluate your solutions’ benefits and these figures may help persuade individuals to work with you.
  • Self-Evaluators. These encourage users to assess their current solutions and what their desire. These evaluators point out flaws in their existing solutions potentially opening up the possibility of considering your services.
  • Surveys and Questionnaires. With this content, you’re likely to receive plenty of responses on varying topics and get a feel of what your users think of your solutions.
  1. Cold Calling

Unlike other strategies where you have some time to craft charming messages, cold calling calls for thinking on your feet, literally. 

Because conversations can take a different turn from what you initially anticipated.

The beauty of these interactions is that they are unmasked, allowing you to discern the prospect’s genuine feelings, their pain points, and intentions. 

As you build intimate rapport with the prospect, it may help increase trust in your brand and even lead to quicker conversions. Read here for more on how to have great discovery calls with prospects.

Consider the following:

  • The call is one of many touch points you’ll have with the prospect. You’ll probably have several more before closing the sales. Don’t dive in with a diehard pitch. Focus on identifying your prospective customer’s needs and your solutions’ ability to meet them.
  • Develop a script. Anxiety is real with many salespeople rambling away, tripping over words, or worse stating incorrect facts. Crafting a script allows you to organize your thoughts, keep useful information on hand, and may help steer the conversation in the direction you need it to go.
  • Prepare for voicemail because you’ll encounter several of them. Craft a voicemail script that evokes interest and motivates prospects to pick up the next time you call. Briefly describe your value and leave your contact information in case they choose to call you back.
  • Make follow-ups. Relentlessness is a virtue in cold calling. Drop an email or make another call if you haven’t heard back from prospects. Keep track of prospects who agreed to phone calls at a later date and call them too.
  1. Social Proof

It’s true that we’re oftentimes swayed by the thoughts and actions of people around us, including strangers. And this is what makes social proof so powerful.

Of course, this is easier for B2C brands than those serving the B2B sector. What are the odds that a B2B software management company will have as many likes or followers as Apple, for example?

The numbers may not come close, but if you can skillfully leverage social proof in your space, you’ll see increased lead generation.

How do you do it?

  • Through product/service recommendations. Buyers look through reviews or testimonials before contacting an organization. So, request loyal clients to tout how fantastic your brand and solutions are.
  • Include numbers or statistics. Ever visited a website and seen a small pop-up that continuously highlighted the people who’ve purchased this website’s solutions? Did it spark a sense of “I have to get this too”? People love brands that have many customers—it says you’ve tested and tried, and you’re probably worth it.
  • Utilize trust seals. Industry certificates and accreditations speak volumes about your credibility and expertise. Add them to your website, blog posts, and other marketing materials to boost consumer confidence
  1. Guest Posting

Guest posting exposes to you an audience larger than the one you serve.

It’s a strategy that enables you to maximize brand awareness and build a positive image as an expert and grow your influence. With these, you’re likely to get more organic visits and queries from interested parties.

Top tips include:

  • Setting guest posting goals. Is there a particular service you want to increase visibility for? Perhaps you’re gunning for a thought-leader position in your niche? Determining your goal enables you to identify the right website to pitch to.
  • Prepare content. Look up the website’s guidelines for guest posts to ensure you design content that is fit for their audience. Let your post provide real value to readers as opposed to just selling your products/services.
  • Prepare your pitch. Some websites have specific requirements for pitching, so you’ll want to confirm that yours aligns with their terms to improve the chances of acceptance. Give your pitch your tone of voice, add information about yourself, and where possible, share links to past published work.
  • Write an inspiring Author Bio. Here’s where you can promote your brand and solutions. Keep the bio succinct and add a link to the product/service you’re promoting or your social media page to increase your following.