Every sales team is looking to improve their lead generation. Competition in B2B is as strong as ever, so it is important to be constantly refining and optimizing your lead generation strategy to get the most qualified leads.

Before we dive into our 8 lead generation improvement tactics, let's talk about what lead generation even looks like in B2B.

What is lead generation in B2B?

Lead generation is the process of attracting potential buyers to your brand. In B2B, this involves capturing your buyers' interest and converting them into a qualified lead, which means they meet the criteria your company knows would make for a successful customer. Once you've identified a lead, your job is to guide them through the sales funnel through nurturing sequences, tailored content offers, and ultimately converting them into a meeting with your sales team.

1. Content marketing

Content marketing is an effective lead generation strategy, as it involves creating and sharing valuable and relevant content to attract and engage your target audience. By providing valuable information, solving problems, and establishing your expertise, you can build trust and credibility, ultimately driving leads for your business.

How to use content marketing to generate leads

Step 1: Define your audience 

Understand your ideal customer profile and create buyer personas. Identify their needs, pain points, interests, and preferences.

Step 2: Set goals 

Determine the number of leads you want to generate, the quality of leads, or specific actions you want prospects to take.

Step 3: Develop valuable content 

Consider different formats such as blog posts, videos, infographics, eBooks, whitepapers, podcasts, or webinars.

Step 4: SEO-optimize your content

Conduct keyword research to understand the search terms your target audience uses and (naturally) incorporate these keywords into your content, including titles, headings, and body text.

Step 5: Utilize lead magnets

Offer valuable resources, such as e-books, templates, or guides, as lead magnets. Require visitors to provide their contact information to access the content.

Step 6: Promote your content

Share your content through various channels such as your website, blog, social media platforms, and email newsletters.

Step 7: Capture and nurture leads

Use lead capture forms on your website or landing pages to collect visitor information. Set up automated email marketing campaigns to nurture leads over time.

Step 8: Monitor and analyze results

Track the performance of your content using analytics tools to identify which types of content and channels are generating the most leads, then optimize your strategy accordingly.

Step 9: Continuously optimize and iterate

Based on the insights gained from analytics, refine your content marketing strategy. Regularly update and repurpose existing content to keep it relevant and drive ongoing lead generation.

2. Build a free tool

Building a free tool on your website, such as a ROI calculator, can be an excellent way to drive lead generation. Offering a valuable tool that addresses a specific need or solves a problem for your target audience can attract a significant number of visitors and potential leads. This increased engagement on your website enhances the chances of capturing visitors' attention and offers them additional value, enticing them to take further action.

3. Publish case studies

Publishing case studies can be a powerful tool for lead generation as they demonstrate the value and effectiveness of your products or services through real-world examples. 

Case studies provide potential customers with tangible evidence of how your offerings have positively impacted others, which can build trust, credibility, and confidence in your brand. By sharing specific examples, you provide proof of your ability to deliver results, which can resonate with potential customers facing similar challenges or seeking similar outcomes.

4. Optimize your website

Optimizing your website is crucial for generating leads in B2B sales. A well-optimized website can attract more traffic, engage visitors, and convert them into leads.

Ways to optimize your website:

• SEO

By optimizing your website's content, meta tags, headings, and URLs with relevant keywords, you increase visibility and attract organic traffic.

• Landing pages

Create dedicated landing pages with compelling content, a clear value proposition, and relevant CTAs that encourage visitors to provide their contact information.

• Lead capture forms

Place lead capture forms on your website that clearly communicate the value or benefit of filling them out.

• Mobile optimization

B2B buyers often conduct research and browse on their smartphones or tablets, so a responsive and mobile-friendly website is essential for providing a seamless user experience.

5. Promote on social media

Using social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to connect with your target audience provides a powerful channel for lead generation. You can increase your brand’s visibility through targeted advertising, engaging content and storytelling, and influencer collaborations, as well as gather user-generated content (UGC) and track the performance of your efforts.

6. Create webinars and online events  

Host webinars, virtual conferences, or online workshops to showcase your expertise and provide valuable insights to your target audience. Webinars and online events allow you to attract a specific target audience. By choosing a topic that aligns with your target market's interests and needs, you can attract individuals who are already interested in your products or services. This increases the likelihood of generating high-quality leads.

7. Create A/B testing landing pages

Work on optimizing your campaigns by creating different assets and testing out which ones convert at a higher rate—also known as A/B testing. This approach helps you gain a deeper understanding of your target audience's preferences and behavior. By testing different variations, you learn which elements resonate better with your audience, what messaging or design elements attract their attention, and what motivates them to take action. 

A/B testing landing pages allows you to optimize lead generation by improving conversion rates, making data-driven decisions, understanding user preferences, challenging assumptions and biases, facilitating continuous optimization, and exploring personalized and segmented approaches. 

8. Try conversational marketing

Using B2B live chat, also known as conversational marketing or chatbots, helps you engage with visitors in real time to provide immediate assistance, answer questions, and guide potential leads through the customer journey. Chatbots can also help qualify leads by gathering relevant information before connecting them with a sales representative. 

This strategy plays a crucial role in lead generation by enabling instant engagement, lead qualification, personalized guidance, relationship building, lead capture and data collection, lead nurturing, and leveraging analytics for continuous improvement. By leveraging the power of real-time conversations, you can enhance the lead generation process, build meaningful connections with potential customers, and drive business growth.

Lead generation is a critical aspect of any business's growth strategy, and implementing various tactics can significantly impact success. By combining multiple strategies such as content marketing, free tools, case studies, SEO, social media, A/B testing, and conversational marketing, you can create a robust lead generation system that maximizes your chances of attracting and converting high-quality leads. 

By incorporating these lead generation strategies into your marketing efforts, you can create a comprehensive approach that can maximize your pipeline generation.

Remember that each strategy complements the others, and continuous monitoring and optimization are key to refining your approach and achieving long-term success.