One of the biggest challenges a business faces and one of the key reasons they fail are a lack of clients. B2B demand generation is the process of developing interest in your products or services through various activities and strategies. Finding high-quality leads can be difficult and time consuming. Here are a few B2B demand generation techniques that will keep your rock star sales team busy with closing deals:
Leverage Keyword Optimized Blogs
Unlike the popular Kevin Costner movie Field of Dreams, simply building content doesn’t mean the leads will come. Your blog articles may be a great resource for your target audience but if they are not ranking well on Google, they are essentially invisible. Your B2B demand generation strategy must start with finding the right keywords to incorporate in your blog articles. You also need to make sure that you develop content for varying stages in the buyer’s journey. This is known as the sales funnel.
Leads at the start of their journey are referred to as the top-of-the-funnel. At this stage they are usually researching for educational content that will help them find a solution to a current problem or pain point. You must learn the most common keywords used by your prospects and understand the search intent associated with it. Those who are in the evaluation phase are looking for content that will give them in depth information and this is when case studies are most useful. When a lead is ready to buy, they have narrowed down their search to a few options and may be looking at your product spec sheets. The key is to develop content appropriate for the different stages they are in coupled with the right keyword strategy.
Capitalize on Your LinkedIn Through Posts and Interactions
It’s no doubt that LinkedIn comes on top when it comes to B2B demand generation. But without putting in effort to actively post original content as well as sharing insightful third-party resources, it will be difficult to be relevant and build credibility amongst your network. Frequent engagement is also necessary to build familiarity and gain the trust of your connections. Publish updates that encourage conversation rather than being overly salesy.
Joining LinkedIn groups frequented by like-minded individuals helps you connect with your ideal customer profiles. Their posts, comments and feedback can be a great source of information. You can use this information as an opportunity to reach out with a proposition to address their needs.
Engage in Targeted Email Campaigns
While it’s true that open rates for emails have dramatically decreased over time, the right strategy can still make email marketing a B2B demand generation machine. This starts with a clean and accurate email list that allows you to reach the right prospect. A CRM system helps you keep track of contact info and store details of previous interactions.
Developing buyer personas and segmenting your list according to relevant details such as geography, company role, business goals, motivations, etc. can help you craft the right message that resonates. You can then employ email automation to simplify the process. This will save you time and improve efficiency. Don’t forget to include a clear call-to-action (CTA) for every email campaign you set up.
Drive Interest Through Google Ads
While its best to try to rank on Google organically through SEO, this takes time to see results. To be able to get in front of your leads now, a good B2B demand generation strategy is to invest in Ad Words. If you bid on the right keywords, you can appear on search pages within hours. The great thing about it is that you only pay when a user clicks your link. You may need to run and test a few ads to see which messaging works and if you are hitting the right quality prospects.
Consider Outsourcing Your Sales Efforts
Outsourcing can make you more efficient when it comes to prospecting, lead generation, nurturing prospects, and sales conversions.
Maintaining a sales team in house means you need to hire, onboard, and consistently motivate your employees to reach their quotas. Training takes time. You also need to consider the overhead expenses and other benefits that you need to provide your sales team.
Sales outsourcing may be the best solution to quickly scale your business by getting the expertise of seasoned sales professionals. They can help you expand to new markets or verticals, support a new product rollout or provide you with sales advice.
If you want to learn more about B2B demand generation and other sales and marketing tips, sign up for our newsletter. If you are looking for sales outsourcing help, contact our team to schedule a consultation.
