Your Ultimate Guide to Utilizing B2B Lead Generation Services (2021)

Quick Read

In the end, the most important part of running a business is getting leads. That means you have to do research into the best way of getting both inbound and outbound leads. Here are the best tactics for B2B lead generation:

Inbound Lead Tactics

  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Website Design
  • PPC Advertising (Google Ads)
  • Social Media

Outbound Lead Tactics

  • Cold Calling
  • Email Marketing
  • LinkedIn Networking
  • Referral Programs

With all of these tactics, and how difficult and time-consuming they are to properly pursue, it is a great idea to look into outsourcing your B2B lead generation services. Handling them in-house is often less effective and takes too much time away from running your business.

Leads mean sales and sales mean a successful business. The problem? Leads can be nearly impossible to get if you don’t know what you’re doing. Getting effective leads in an efficient way is an arduous process with many complex aspects to it. Don’t get lost on your way to high-quality leads, follow this guide and grow your business.

Types of B2B Lead Generation

Before we can go over how qualified leads can be generated, we have to take a look at the types of leads that you can get. There are two types and you get each through completely different means. Those types are:

  • Inbound Lead Generation: These occur when a potential customer contacts you directly or through one of a variety of referral channels. Examples would be someone who read through your company’s social media or someone who found your website on a Google search result.
  • Outbound Lead Generation: You get outbound leads by being proactive. An outbound lead is any potential client that didn’t open direct communication with you.

The first step to achieving successful lead generation is to understand what your goals are. By knowing how leads come to you, whether inbound or outbound is key.

B2B Lead Generation Tactics

The reason that you have to understand the different types of leads is that the tactics used to get those leads are very different. Here are some of the top tactics people use for both inbound and outbound leads:

Inbound Lead Generation Tactics

  1. SEO: The first position on Google gets a third of the clicks. The first half of the first page of Google gets 75% of the clicks. Research by Chitika has shown this to be a fact. You have to rank highly or you won’t get organic traffic to your site. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the key to ranking highly for the keywords that are important to you. With SEO you can grow your business and generate leads organically.
  2. Website Design: Your website needs to be optimized to generate leads. That means making it user friendly, putting at least one call-to-action in the viewport, and ensuring that your website runs quickly.
  3. PPC Advertising: Some view this as targeting outbound leads, since you are sending a message to potential clients. PPC Ads, most famously Google Ads, are actually inbound because they target potential clients based on the keywords that they enter. This is best used as a way to get on the first page of Google if you are not organically ranking there.
  4. Social Media: You don’t have to go viral. Too many businesses have wasted time and money attempting to be the next big social media brand. The truth is, you just have to be there for when people look you up and target them to your site. This is especially true as a B2B business. Leave the funny tweets to the fast food restaurants.

Outbound Lead Generation Tactics

  1. Cold Calling: The second oldest tactic in the book, right behind door-to-door sales. It may seem dated, but research from Hubspot shows that half of buyers still like to speak over the phone.
  2. Emails Marketing: Sending effective cold emails can be tough. They’re so easy to ignore after all. That being said, doing things such as personalizing the subject line will drastically raise the clickthrough rate, and these emails generally do have a good return on investments.
  3. LinkedIn Networking: Decision-makers in B2B companies often spend their time on social media on LinkedIn. Connecting with these decision-makers and sending them an introductory message can go a long way.

Referrals

  • Referrals deserve a section of their own. These come naturally, for the most part, and depend on the quality of service you provide to a fairly large degree. There are things that can be done, though. By offering credits or upgrades or even commission, you can set up a good referral program that drastically increases the amount of referrals you get. These convert at an incredibly high percentage compared to inbound and outbound leads.

Inbound and outbound leads are both key for B2B businesses. Inbound lead generation puts you in a position where people find your business and sets your business up so that people who do find your business are interested in working with you. Outbound lead generation is when you actively pursue individual leads through direct contact or through encouraging referrals. Set yourself up to succeed by pursuing both inbound and outbound leads.

Why You Should Outsource Your B2B Lead Generation

As you can see, B2B lead generation is incredibly complex and requires a lot of work in the long-term. Whether you’re offering a product or a service, you need to be spending time on that, not lead generation.

Trusting the experts means getting better leads more efficiently. Not only do those who specialize in lead generation have the skills necessary to get good leads in both the short and long-term, but they will have access to all of the technology necessary for these tactics. By going with a B2B lead generation service company, you are trusting people who have the experience to know what will work for you.