Your B2B marketing campaign seemed a success on paper but turned out to be a total disaster in conversions?
Yeah, we’ve all been there. Before you start internalizing the issue, evaluate things objectively without too much emotion.
Maybe your target audience is a bit too large or uninterested in your products or services?
The most feasible approach is to start systematically niching it down to those categories of customers who will appreciate your solution and buy it simply because they understand its value. These are your targeted leads.
In this article, we’ll share some simple tips and strategies to step up your targeted lead generation game and boost your sales.
Outline:
Targeted leads: notion & importance
If you are still taking marketing as a race, you’d better stop.
Talking to everyone isn’t a solution. Say you increased the volume but failed to qualify your leads. You are guaranteed to end up being out of breath, time, and with poor results.
Quality is still king. Break down the large market into smaller segments, put all your effort into building a rapport with a defined group of leads, and get a pool of clients who fit your ideal customer profile (ICP). As simple as that.
Instead of reaching out to the whole market, focus on working with individual groups. For instance, if your audience is IT professionals, narrow it down to IT engineers in the top 100 IT companies worldwide. You can go even further and narrow down your results to those developing AI solutions and so on.
Targeted lead generation is essential to your business as it creates a win-win situation for both you and your targeted lead. Some of them are waiting for a product like yours to come their way! Targeted lead generation simply enables the two of you to finally meet.
If you are still wondering whether the targeted lead generation is worth your time, let’s wrap up its main benefits.
If you’ve already bought the idea of targeting, here are some strategies to attract as many B2B sales leads as possible!
9 headache-free strategies for targeted lead generation
1. Lead generation automation solutions
The pace of technological change is unstoppable, resulting in the automation of most manual operations. The same is applicable to lead targeting, which can be enhanced by various lead generation tools.
Take Snov.io Email Finder, for instance. With it, you can automatically collect high-quality leads from any website you visit, source leads from LinkedIn, or get emails from a Google search.
By clicking the “Find Leads” panel in your Snov.io account, you’ll effortlessly find relevant leads through name search, and domain search, database search, social URL search, as well as its Chrome extensions.
Using this or similar tools, you can build lists of prospects and send out scheduled email campaigns in a matter of seconds, saving your team’s time for more challenging tasks such as lead qualification.
2. Compelling landing pages
Landing pages are widely used to initiate your first interaction with a prospect. You never get a second chance to make a first impression, so do it wisely!
Each landing page has its strategic purpose, like inviting your targeted leads to free trials, product demos or offering them valuable content. By clicking a certain keyword or a Google ad, people should be automatically transferred to a unique landing page showing the exact solution they’ve been searching for.
These are general recommendations, but when working in B2B, highlighting your services is not enough. As much as your landing page seems excellent in pitching your product, targeted leads are more prone to be attracted to its value.
A landing page builder can help create personalized content that speaks directly to your target audience’s needs and interests.
Complement your landing pages with testimonials with “before/after” stories and real-deal solutions to the problems people faced before using your product. Pay attention to the signup process. Make it easy and simple. Bored leads don’t convert.
3. LinkedIn lead generation
From 2017 until today, LinkedIn has been the most effective platform for targeted lead generation. According to Dux-Soup, with reference to the Case for B2B Marketing on LinkedIn, 92% of B2B marketers choose LinkedIn over other platforms, and over 80% of B2B leads on social media come from LinkedIn.
The same thought can be seen in the review by HubSpot, stating that LinkedIn is 277% more effective in finding prospects than Facebook and Twitter.
If you are taking your LinkedIn as a reliable source of targeted leads, use LinkedIn ads to meet new audiences and introduce them to your business.
To maximize your lead generation efforts on LinkedIn, use LinkedIn Conversation Ads, a powerful tool that allows personalized and interactive conversations with potential customers, fostering stronger connections and driving conversions.
For better results, upgrade to the LinkedIn Premium version, as it’s packed with additional tools, including advanced search functions and a feature enabling you to track who’s previously viewed your profile.
Pro tip: If you are just a beginner in LinkedIn outreach, read our post on how to boost your search performance with LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Snov.io LI Prospect Finder extension.
4. Multi-channel advertising
Effective B2B sales are only possible with ads on every social media platform where you expect your targeted leads to spend most of their time. These might be YouTube, TikTok, or Facebook, you name it!
Ads are amazing in the way that once the algorithm figures out what they’ve been previously searching, it will pop up on every other platform they are using.
For better results, redirect your social media users to your landing pages to obtain more of their personal data. At the same time, you can segment your ads for specific demographics to narrow your audience to meet your ICP standards. None of these benefits come for free, yet they are worth the price. To assist you in this process, you can use a Demand-Side Platform (DSP).
Pro tip: Use retargeting tools! Show your ads on other websites to your former visitors. If your prospect is browsing a certain page, you can offer them a case study about what they are reading now. On top of it, suggest subscribing for more information on the topic they were interested in.
5. Live chat, chatbots, and widgets
This is another great way to keep your business going 24/7, with prospects reaching out to you regardless of their time zone or day of the week.
Statistically, customers find it psychologically easier to address their questions via a live chat than by talking to a real person. Plus, this is definitely faster than waiting for an email reply!
But there is so much more about live chats than simply prompt answers! They give your team a deeper understanding of your prospect’s needs and help determine whether your solution can generate value for your prospect. Usually, prospects resorting to live chats are more open to your offerings since they reached out first.
As for widgets, they work similarly to live chats, popping up at the bottom of your page to provide feedback. Most of your visitors might immediately close the form, but those who visit your website to find out more will ask specific questions.
Last but not least, current AI allows for setting up a chatbot that answers any questions following a script. You can integrate it with your CRM or website to ensure you get all the targeted lead opportunities.
6. Public relations
You might be wondering what PR has to do with generating targeted leads. Well, a lot!
By providing engaging content on the ongoings of your company, you are gaining more publicity and attracting potential customers. With a well-thought PR campaign, you can highlight your brand’s positive approach, establish a better rapport with prospects, and build a solid reputation.
To expand your lead coverage, make regular press releases to drive more traffic to your website.
Pay attention to the online reviews you get. The lion’s share of B2B decisions is made based on honest reviews about your product on Google Reviews, G2, Capterra, and other websites. Encourage customers satisfied with your services to leave positive feedback to attract more leads.
Another great way to boost your online presence is by answering relevant questions on Q&A websites such as Quora, which might become a new source of sales leads for you. Monitor questions and give comprehensive answers to those covering your business interests. Make sure you can offer solutions that meet your prospects’ needs.
One more feasible option for better-targeted lead generation is sharing your views on specific industry forums to get to know your current customers, showcase your expertise, and build trust. Similarly, join relevant social media groups on Facebook or LinkedIn and engage in big conversations to be seen by many.
Finally, you can always use someone else’s audience to grow your targeted leads through guest posting. It’s really promising in terms of sharing your message with new audiences.
Pro tip: Get the most out of your PR campaign for better conversions! Find out how.
7. Brand awareness
The more prospects are aware of your business, the better.
To get more targeted leads, focus on building your network. Take it as a part of social selling! Be creative and compassionate about people’s needs. This energy will be reciprocated, especially when your intentions to serve and help are genuine! People smell fakeness from miles away, so try to present your product in the most honest way possible.
Attend social and industry events such as webinars, seminars, workshops, and conferences to meet potential customers. Do not miss your chance to speak so that more people will remember you as an expert in the field.
Always collect contact information of the new acquaintances you interacted with and keep in touch with the existing customers whenever you meet them outside your corporate space.
To leverage your networking, start an advisory board to provide valuable recommendations on specific areas of your business. As a B2B seller, you can also list your company on directories to attract more leads looking for your particular services.
Last but not least, if your networking resulted in you becoming popular in your own circles, turn your talk shop sessions into a private blog. This gives you a fantastic opportunity to curate your own industry-oriented articles where the value of your product can be explained most thoroughly.
Pro-tip: Get to know your competitors that are endorsing a similar product. Reach out to their unsatisfied customers with a better solution.
8. Free product trials
Through free-trial marketing, you let your product speak for itself!
Shower your prospects with demos or free trial periods for particular solutions to show your product in action. Make sure these free trials are offered without any commitment from their side whatsoever.
A 15 or 30-day trial is enough for your prospects to think about your service’s impact on their business and make conscious decisions. For better results, offer free trials on your landing page to give your prospects real value in exchange for their contact information.
For those who are only at the doorstep of your sales funnel, encourage them to engage with your product by offering them free reports, white papers, guides, tips, templates, or tools. Depending on what your leads download, you can infer their interests and further target them based on that.
9. Referrals
Be ahead of your targeted lead generation game by using your current customers! Referral marketing is still unbeatable as it follows the old word-of-mouth principle.
Don’t hesitate to resort to your existing clients to generate targeted leads. They might give you access to their own network. Simply encourage them to pass on referrals to their colleagues or fellow network members.
Give discounts for your affiliate programs. It’s beneficial both for you and the customer as you get a new sale, while the customer gets more reasons to opt for your services.
4 steps to successful targeted lead generation
To make all of these strategies work, follow these simple tips to get more targeted leads!
Step 1: Outline your ICP
Sometimes it takes work to define who you should approach first, as your initial expectations can be too far from reality. However, with your ICP figured out, you are bound to get long-term customers who will eagerly promote your product through word-of-mouth.
ICP covers firmographic, demographic, and behavioral data that corresponds to your product’s potential and matches your business direction.
However, there is another notion to differentiate, which is Buyer Persona. It is close to the ICP and describes people individually involved in the buying process.
Unlike the ICP that covers decision-makers, company details, and metrics, Buyer Personas provide psychological portraits of your leads through their job titles, social media behavior, income, and so on.
To identify your ICP, you need to compile a list of your solution benefits. Pay close attention to the problems your product can solve. Group companies that ideally correspond to your criteria and start looking for their decision-makers. Keeping their pain points in mind, visit their websites and process the information.
Step 2: Verify your database
You don’t need to do it manually anymore! Just select an automated sales tool to make sure your lists include only relevant emails.
Snov.io Email Verifier allows you to check email addresses either individually or in bulk and significantly improve your email campaign sending results. You can also try out its API, which can be built directly into your platform for integrated email validation at registration or lead form sign-up.
Such tools will help you update your lists, clean them up from outdated, invalid leads you can’t contact, lower the bounce rate, and boost overall deliverability.
If the idea of buying a ready-made database has ever crossed your mind, forget about it. You might be encouraging scammers to continue selling GDPR non-compliant inaccurate data. We are looking for targeted leads here, not hefty fines!
Step 3: Segment your lists
You will immensely facilitate your targeted lead collection by segmenting your database considering the following:
- Geographics – implies differences between prospects based on where they reside.
- Demographics – covers physical and professional differences between your prospects.
- Psychographics – gives you an understanding of your prospects’ personalities.
- Behavioral – includes differences in your prospects’ action patterns.
By structuring your data, you can concentrate on small groups of targeted prospects to keep them moving through your sales funnel.
Step 4: Plan your outreach
After properly segmenting your data lists, you can begin targeting and engaging. Each prospect needs to be reached out to with personalized content.
Before compiling it, again, resort to your ICP and formulate how your product can solve your prospect’s problems and what type of content would best explain the benefits of your service.
You can turn to cold outreach automation platforms to avoid tedious hours of typing and sending out emails manually. Many platforms, such as Snov.io, offer user-friendly digital tools to craft bulk email campaigns with personalized templates to nurture your leads automatically in a matter of seconds.
Wrapping up
We hope with all strategies and tips on targeted lead generation, your B2B road will be less bumpy! Make sure you monitor your progress by regularly checking which strategies work particularly well for your business and what needs further improvement.
Don’t miss out on trying Snov.io tools absolutely for free! Apply them to the targeted lead generation plan and leverage your marketing campaigns, email verification, lead nurturing, and anything in between!
Please share your results on the targeted lead generation before and after using our features.
