As B2B digital marketers, although we have our own set of data and analytics that we routinely track in order to reach specific goals, we always have that one main purpose that all those smaller objectives are helping us work toward: gaining qualified leads and converting them into paying customers. But getting those leads is easier said than done. In fact, according to HubSpot, 61 percent of marketers consider generating leads and traffic to be their biggest challenge.
So, how exactly can you effectively and consistently gain highly qualified B2B leads?
The key here is to start by finding out which B2B channels you should focus on using in order to gain them.
However, in a hyper-connected world that brings us so many options, figuring this out can feel like a pretty daunting undertaking. From physical to digital to social media to advertising, there is a daunting amount of B2B channels to choose from.
To help you narrow down your search, here are three of the top marketing channels for gaining qualified B2B leads and converting them into customers.
1. Your Website
If you’re going to do business in any way, shape, or form in today’s connected landscape, an online presence is par for the course. Your company’s website is essential to your online existence and ability to generate qualified leads. But it’s not quite as simple as just having a website.
In order for your business website to convert visitors into paying clients, it needs to contain these elements:
- Good design: Based on our own B2B research into the connected consumer, we discovered that poor web design or difficult site navigation was the most common aspect that would discourage B2B consumers from buying from a particular company. B2B consumers want a clean, easily navigable site without too many sales tactics, making it imperative for businesses to invest in high quality web design in order to increase their sales.
- A lead capture mechanism that provides value: Offering site visitors valuable gated information (the type contained in a white paper or case study) for free will entice them to give you their email addresses, which is a vital step in allowing you to stay in touch and gradually turn these visitors into customers.
- Impactful content published on a consistent basis: Your company website should be full of useful content for visitors. It could be in the form of blog posts, articles, podcasts, or videos. When you provide good content, potential clients see you as an expert in your field. Be sure to also produce content on a regular basis, or search engines will start to ignore it — and so will your potential leads.
2. Landing Pages
The first stage in many purchase journeys is a Google search, and B2B buyers are no different. One of the best ways to get into the early stages of the purchase journey is to create lead generation landing pages optimized for search and hyper targeted to your ideal customer.
Here are some tips for how to build a high-powered landing page that grabs and keeps the interest of potential leads:
- Be relevant: Your offer has to be something your ideal customers are looking for.
- Ensure it’s well-designed: Beyond capturing the attention of leads, design can also impact your ability to rank in organic search. So be sure to spend time optimizing your page layout and design.
- Focus on benefits: Many prospects read the headline and skim the copy, making a benefit-oriented headline and impactful copy critical to your landing page’s success. And make sure to also translate every feature into an outcome.
- Make it personal: Your copy should additionally be personalized to your target audience, speaking directly to their questions and what they are trying to achieve.
- Simplify your CTA: The less information prospects are required to fill out, the more likely you are to get a conversion. In fact, it was even found that removing a single form field can boost conversions by 26 percent.
3. LinkedIn
As the social platform for professional networking, it’s no secret that LinkedIn is a hot spot for B2B lead generation. In fact, LinkedIn accounts for over half of the B2B traffic driven by social media.
To successfully gain high quality B2B leads from LinkedIn, here are some things you should do:
- Connect with prospects: The key to connecting with leads is to build meaningful relationships with them right off the bat. When you send a request to connect with a prospect on LinkedIn, be sure to add a personal message that includes your reason for wanting to connect, as well as the value you can offer them.
- Share quality content regularly: Whether it’s your own content or the content of others, consistently sharing posts that are relevant to your niche enhances your credibility with possible leads, while giving you the opportunity to improve your status on the site at the same time.
- Participate in Groups: Being active in LinkedIn Groups is a great way to engage and build relationships with decision makers in your industry. It’s also important to be strategic when choosing the right Groups to join. Look for a large number of members and a good amount of discussion going on.
- Publish articles: Posting valuable articles written by you on LinkedIn will immediately increase your visibility on the platform, making it more likely that you’ll connect with other decision makers, generate leads, and gain more clients. To ensure that your content performs well, check out our guide on writing LinkedIn articles!
There are more channels at the disposal of B2B marketers than ever before, and choosing which ones to work with can feel overwhelming. These three B2B channels are some of the top-performing ones for many businesses. Essentially, it comes down to hitting the right audience with the right message. And with omnichannel selling becoming increasingly prominent and channels becoming more connected, consistency is more important than ever as you implement your brand across all the channels you choose to focus on.
