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By Cameron Katoozi, Marketing Consultant at Heinz Marketing
One of the most common challenges sales and marketing teams face is generating new leads. So many companies are stuck using their tried-and-true sales tactics, that they haven’t considered what modern channels and strategies consumers use today. Under this new digital landscape that modern B2B customers are adapting to, there are new lead generations trends developing alongside it them. Let’s go over the basics of lead generation and 3 new trends to incorporate into your strategies for 2022.
Leads: How do You Classify Them?
Leads are individuals who have recently entered your pipeline. They match with your ICP and target market but have not yet been qualified by sales or marketing. They are either unaware or in the early stages of awareness of your brand and its offerings. At this stage, you have some contact info on the individual but have not yet reached out to them. The overall goal is to attract interest in the lead, nurture them through personalized outreach, and convert them to opportunities that turn into paying customers. Personalization is becoming increasingly prevalent in the B2B space, as the more personalized your outreach efforts are, the better your conversion opportunities become. So, what are some lead generation trends to adapt to your 2022 strategy?
Being Data-Driven
B2B purchase decisions are more predictable than you might think and here’s why. They always involve a series of decision-makers and influencers, each of which has different personas that include their buying habits, methods of research, and more. Identifying these traits per decision-maker can help you in creating data-driven content that will truly resonate with them. By mapping out what your different buying committees will look like, you can determine which triggers will push your leads to buy.
Remember, these buying committees will differ between industries – a tech company will have a wildly different buying process than a manufacturing company. This includes differences in how they consume new information, the people that influence their decisions, the channels they spend the most time on, and more. This requires doing research on your ICP’s industries, their company, all the way down to the individual level. By accurately analyzing different lead data, you can better understand where your leads buy from, how they buy, and the best time to put your product/service in front of their eyes. These steps will ultimately lead to more personalized lead generation with higher conversion rates.
Leverage Social Media Presence
Every company has adopted social media to some capacity, but few have evolved their presence into a lead generation platform. There are many features and tactics across each social platform – almost too many to keep track of. Going live on any platform can open a new segment of leads you haven’t reached before. Companies who regularly host or attend webinars may consider Instagram or Twitter live to host smaller more intimate events. This way you can invite partners or sponsors to go live with you and have an active conversation with the audience through the chat function.
If your company is better suited through an audio-only event, you can pursue a whole different audience with Twitter Spaces and Reddit Talk sessions. This feature allows you to host live audio sessions and talk to people in different communities. Live talks are a perfect platform for topic debates or collective discussions with built-in moderation and management. Twitter spaces allow you to choose up to 3 topics to categorize your space in, while Reddit allows you to engage in Talks within specific Reddit communities. The potential with these is only getting started, as apps like Clubhouse have taken social audio rooms to their own platforms.
Expand Into Video Marketing
To attract your target market, you must meet your customers where they hang out the most. Similarly, we want to deliver content in the most common ways they consume it. Video is quickly becoming the most common medium on the internet. Not everyone absorbs information the same; with short-form entertainment, such as TikTok, Instagram stories and reels, etc., we’ve seen a shift in how people receive data. Not everyone wakes up in the morning and reads a newspaper. Instead, many are watching a YouTube video of what happened over the week, while making their coffee, answering an email, and doing laundry all at the same time. If you want to create something that they will remember throughout the day, then your outreach tactics must blend into an individual’s routine.
Expanding your video marketing efforts can help you make your mark and reserve real estate in that person’s mind better than repetitive emails. To keep up with changing demand, you must cater to your content to be on par or ahead of the trends. Videos have a wide variety of applications, such as product demos, on-demand webinars, or repurposing blogs into webinars. Adding new ways to consume the content you’ve already created can be more efficient for your creative team and bring in new leads.
Wrapping It Up
These 3 tactics are only scratching the surface of a list of tactics. Businesses are expanding their lead gen in 2022 but are already proving to be effective. Although you won’t see leads flooding your pipeline immediately, with time you will perfect your tactics to be best suited for your target. Remember to always keep your business goals aligned with your strategies to remain consistent with your brand, while expanding your reach.
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