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What is Lead Generation in B2B?
Understanding B2B lead generation is neither complicated nor complex. In fact, it is the same as how lead generation works in B2C or business-to-consumer markets. Getting leads for a business engaged in a B2B setting might seem a bit daunting, but once you understand how the whole process works, it’s going to be a walk in the park.
Before we get into that further, you will find it easier to understand if you knew what these terms are.
What is Lead Generation?
Lead generation is the business process of acquiring new leads or prospects – generally, people who might be interested in a particular company or business. If you’re selling automotive parts, then the leads you need would be people who have cars!
If you have a dental clinic, the leads you should have must be people who are looking for dental services – you get the point.
What is a B2B Business?
B2B is short for business-to-business and is a business model that is used and utilized by businesses that sell to other businesses instead of to consumers. One of the best examples of a B2B business is a manufacturing company that makes ketchup. They manufacture ketchup, usually hundreds to thousands of kilograms a day. Instead of them finding consumers who would purchase from them, they would find businesses like groceries, convenience stores, and retail outlets in which they could sell their products.
In a regular setting, a lead is a consumer that might be interested with a product or a service that a particular business is offering. Based on our examples above, a person who is looking for dental services would be a good lead for dental clinics, since, it’s what he is looking for. B2B leads, on the other hand, are business leads, which means that they’re businesses, entrepreneurs, or entities that are given to a particular business.
Going back to the ketchup manufacturing example, a grocery store and a convenience store are two of the best leads for the manufacturing company. Since they’re not the ones that would consume the product, and they’ll be offering it to consumers themselves, too, they’re considered as a B2B lead.
Now that you have a better understanding of what B2B leads are, how do they work? B2B lead generation can be done and performed in a lot of different ways – some are just deemed and considered to be more effective than others. Akin to how B2C lead generation is done, B2B lead generation can also be categorized into inbound and outbound leads.
Inbound Leads are the types of leads where a company would create a website a social media platform or profile and will use strategies like SEO, SEM, and others to lure in businesses that might be interested in what they’re offering.
Outbound Leads, on the other hand, are the leads that are forcefully taken by companies through any external manners. It can include cold calling, cold emailing, business events and seminars, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertisements, and many more.
They’re both different and you can use them depending on what you need. But what is more effective? What’s the better way of generating leads or digital marketing?
While both of them might seem effective, a lot of businesses prefer the former because of the capabilities and the wide range of possibilities that it can offer. Because inbound marketing would usually focus on what the business or the company can offer, it’s seen as the better option.
Don’t confuse yourself too much; B2B and B2C lead generation generally have the same structure and composition. The only difference would be in terms of the content and how it’s presented to clients. Since you’ll be catering to other businesses too, it is important that you have some form of proof that you are legitimate and that you have found success with other clients.
But, to give you the general structure of how lead generation in B2B companies is as follows:
- Creation of a website or a platform for clients to see or know more about your business;
- Development of content to optimize your website and to appear on the first page of search engines
- Using marketing and ad campaigns to reach your target audience and people who might be interested in what you are offering
- Testing and assessment of the campaigns you’ve launched or the website to see if some contents need to be changed and modified
As you can see, it’s not actually far from how B2C lead generation works!
Why Go For Inbound B2B Lead Generation?
Inbound lead generation has seen a steady increase in efficiency and effectiveness in the past few years. It would entail the creation of a website, the development of a strategy, drafting and publishing of unique content, and so on. Apart from the fact that you’ll have more control over the leads, you can generate, inbound lead generation or marketing can also appear as more legitimate and more trustworthy. Compare having a website that is filled with valuable content from cold calling and emailing – which one would you trust more?
In addition to that, inbound lead generation is not only for the sole purpose of driving and acquiring leads. It can be also be used for other purposes too such as showcasing what your business has to other businesses, proving that your business is effective and that you have developed a strategy, and the like.
Do You Now Know What Lead Generation in B2B Is?
To summarize, it’s just the way of driving business leads for a particular business. It can be through inbound or outbound lead generation; and the goal is to be able to introduce and showcase the business to other businesses for the chance of acquisition. But, you need to be more cautious and more careful because you’re dealing with business clients; they can have impacting results and decisions that can lead to the making or breaking of your company or your business.
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At NXT LVL ROI Business Consulting Services, we focus on driving results to our clients. Our bottom line is to see your bottom line grow significantly. Even though our three core service offerings are business consulting, digital marketing, & lead generation, we also offer a wide variety of ancillary services. That’s completely based on your business & professional needs, and completing a strategy session with you to find the best solutions. If you’re seeking something more specific that may not be listed in the services section below, simply get in contact with us by either call us at (866) 389-1138 or by submitting a form on our contact page. Below are our list of additional services:
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