Simple B2B Lead Generation Tips

Lead generation is a critical step in running a successful business-to-business (B2B) company. If your company sells a product or service to other businesses, you'll need to generate qualified leads; otherwise, you'll waste valuable time, money and resources promoting your products or services to the wrong audience. Thankfully, there are some simple ways for B2B companies to generate more leads, some of which we're going to discuss in today's blog post.

Place Contact Information on Website

Assuming you have a website (and you should), display your company's contact information here so that prospective customers and clients can reach out. Far too many business owners overlook the importance of displaying contact information on their website, assuming that few-to-no prospects ever use it. But regardless of what exactly your company sells, chances are this will generate more leads. So, be sure to include your company's name, address, phone number, email address and other methods of contact that you have on your site.

Displaying your contact information is only the tip of the iceberg. Creating a well planned inbound marketing strategy is key to your website becoming your most production lead generation tool. 

Google My Business

Formerly known as Google Places, Google My Business is a powerful lead generation tool for B2B companies. This free listing service allows business owners to add their business's information to Google Search, Google Maps, and other related properties. If you haven't done so already, create a listing here using your business's information. Once Google indexes your listing, prospective customers and clients can find you more easily, which usually translates into more leads and sales.

Buying Lead Lists and Prospecting Data

Of course, one of the fastest ways to generate sales leads is to buy a lead list. This takes the burden of manually harvesting leads off your shoulders, allowing you to focus on other aspects of running your business. Don't assume that all lead lists are the same. Some may yield sales, whereas others will not. When buying a lead list, you really have 2 options.

1. Generic, static data base list; like SalesGenie, Data.com, InfoUSA, Hoovers. This is by far your least expensive option, and the volume may seem appealing, but you should expect 40-60% of the lead records to have missing or inaccurate data points; like email, contacts, etc. You also will not be able to get any relevent insights about the prospects other than generic firmogrpahic data. 

2. Custom lead generation solutions. This is typically when you partner with a company to understand your needs, who your target prospects are and what insights your team needs to effecitly engage with your prospects. They then do the process engineering, research, data mining and verificaiton specfically for you. This option is typically more expensive, and on a contractual basis, but the higher cost can typically be easily justified with increased productivity from your sales team. 

 The key thing to remember is that you want to choose a lead lists that's tailored for your company, with highly qualified leads who fit your target market and buyer personas. 

Want to learn more about custom lead generation? Click Here

Don't Forget Direct Mail

Sure, many companies are now using email to communicate with prospects with customers, but that doesn't necessarily mean direct mail is dead. On the contrary, there's no better time than the present to launch a new direct mail advertising campaign. With packages selling for highly competitive rates, this is a cost-effective way to generate more B2B leads. Contact your local post office to learn more about their direct mail packages.

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