12 effective B2B lead generation methods

Understanding Lead Generation

Lead generation is a multi-faceted strategy aimed at attracting potential customers into your sales pipeline. 

It primarily involves gathering contact information from individuals who have shown interest in your company’s products or services, thereby qualifying them as leads.

Successful lead generation can help you fill your sales pipeline, build an email distribution list, identify high-quality prospects, and personalize your marketing and sales initiatives. 

With a robust lead generation strategy in place, you’re well on your way to converting interested prospects into loyal customers.

1. The Cornerstone of Lead Generation: Opt-in Opportunities

One of the most effective lead generation strategies is to provide abundant opt-in opportunities for your website visitors. 

These can take various forms, including webinars, free reports, live demos, and more. 

The key is to make these offers irresistible and ensure that they provide genuine value to your prospects.

For instance, if you run a software company, you might offer a free trial of your product. 

If you’re in the business of building backyard decks, you could provide a downloadable PDF guide on deck maintenance. 

By offering something of value, you incentivize your website visitors to share their contact information, effectively converting them into leads.

2. The Role of Sales Intelligence in Lead Generation

Sales intelligence tools can significantly enhance your lead-generation efforts. 

These tools crawl publicly accessible websites to gather relevant B2B data, keeping your customer data fresh and accurate.

Sales intelligence platforms like Cognism or Zoominfo allow you to set up sales trigger alerts. 

These alerts notify you when a significant event occurs in your target company, such as a new C-suite hire. 

This real-time information can help you identify qualified leads and close more deals.

3. The Power of SEO in Lead Generation

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a potent lead-generation tool. 

By optimizing your website for search engines, you can improve your organic rankings on relevant search engine results pages (SERPs), driving more traffic to your website.

SEO also offers a competitive advantage. 

The higher you rank for topical keywords, the more likely you are to attract clicks from your rivals. 

For instance, if you run an e-commerce platform, ranking higher than your competitors for “e-commerce website builder” can significantly boost your website traffic and, subsequently, your lead generation.

There are several great tools to help you with SEO optimization and writing out there, for example Semrush and Ahrefs.

4. Harnessing the Potential of Live Chat

Live chat functionality is a lead-generation strategy that’s often overlooked. 

By enabling live chat on your website, you can quickly answer queries about your products or services, reducing the chance of potential customers abandoning your site due to a lack of information.

Moreover, live chat can be used to collect lead data.

For example, an AI bot can invite users to request a demo or speak to an expert, prompting them to share their information and discuss their needs.

ActiveCampaign is a great example of how to use live chat to not only help customers but also to generate leads right on the website.

5. The Impact of A/B Testing on Lead Generation

A/B testing, or split testing, is a data-driven method for comparing two versions of a webpage or marketing material. 

This technique can be combined with various lead-generation methods to maximize conversions. 

For example, you could compare landing page headlines, find out which ad types perform best, or test different quotes in your case studies.

6. Leveraging Positive Reviews to Generate Leads

Positive reviews can significantly enhance your lead-generation efforts. 

Many people rely on their peers’ opinions before engaging with a brand. 

If you’re a local business, Google reviews are particularly important as the quality and quantity of ratings can impact your visibility in Google’s map listings. 

But don’t focus just on Google reviews. 

When building a land page, including your existing clients’ reviews can have a massive impact on conversion.

If you’re selling a SaaS, you might take advantage of popular websites such as G2, Capterra and GetApp.

Encouraging your satisfied customers to leave positive reviews can instill confidence in potential leads.

7. Remarketing: A Powerful Lead Generation Strategy

Remarketing involves displaying ads to users who visited your website but didn’t convert. 

This tactic can be highly effective for lead generation as these website visitors have already expressed interest in your brand. 

It’s easier to get them back to your website to leave their details than to find new users who might be interested in your company but still don’t know you.

They might just need a little extra time or convincing to provide their details.

8. Using Contests or Giveaways to Generate Leads

Contests, giveaways and quizzes can be great additions to your lead generation strategy as they incentivize people to provide their contact details. 

For example, if you’re selling a project management tool to agencies, you can create a quiz to help them discover where your tool can help them get more productive and save their time.

The key here is to collect the right type of data and ensure you get users’ permission to follow up.

Great example of how to do this in the B2B industry is Mari Smith who launched free 30-day social media contest which engaged almost 1,700 participants.

9. Offering Free Tools or Trials to Generate Leads

If your business operates in the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) industry, offering free tools or trials can be one of the most effective lead-generation strategies. 

By providing real value to users, you attract people likely interested in your solution.

Hubspot does a great job offering various of free tools to marketers, for example Brand Kit Generator, Persona Maker, Email Signature Generator, etc.

10. Hosting Online Events to Gather Leads

Hosting an online event that requires attendees to register in advance is another excellent way to gather valuable data about potential leads. 

Make sure to focus on a niche you’d like to sell to in order to generate high quality leads.

The pre-registration process creates a sense of anticipation and commitment, leading to higher participation and engagement levels.

Providing added value in webinars not only help you generate more leads but also increase trust of your potential customers and helps you create a community of active members.

Miro is doing great job with constantly educating their users with Miro Academy that helps users with onboarding as well as using the platform the right way.

11. Publishing Case Studies: A Proven Lead Generation Tactic

Case studies are one of the most effective types of content marketing for lead generation. 

They demonstrate the value of your products and services, helping to prove that your business meets customers’ expectations.

Whether prospects might not be interested in case studies in the top of the funnel, having your case studies published can be of decisive importance when a potencial buyer is deciding on the choice of provider.

Brandwatch made sure to publish all relevant case studies on how global brands like Samsung, Brit Awards, Skyscanner and other use their platform to leverage the power of mentions.

12. Creating a Referral Program for Lead Generation

Creating a referral program that rewards existing customers for referring new ones can be a highly effective lead-generation strategy. 

The key to success lies in providing a strong incentive and maintaining high levels of customer service.

Referral program can a be a powerful tool before launching products, where signing up to a list can give you a feeling of being part of exclusive community.

 Alen Sultanic did the similar thing before launching his platform Nothing Held Back, offering users who already signed up to share their link in order to move up the line.

Lead Generation: Best Practices

Regardless of the tactics you employ, it’s crucial to adhere to some overarching best practices for lead generation. 

These include conducting audience research, focusing on quality over quantity, using data responsibly, analyzing user data, measuring your results, and iterating your approach.

In conclusion, lead generation is a critical component of any business’s growth strategy. 

By employing a combination of these effective lead gen strategies, you can attract a wider audience, qualify high-quality prospects, and ultimately convert them into loyal customers.