B2B lead generation basics

If you supply goods and services to other businesses then the chances are you need to invest in lead generation.

In general, unless we're talking about ad hoc and low price purchases (like stocking up on photocopier paper), B2B sales don't happen on a simple click-and-buy basis. Instead, customers spend time researching you online before they make contact, and even then the sales cycle can be quite lengthy.

But before they can even do their research, they need to come across you in the first place.

Lead generation is the process of attracting the attention of potential customers, appealing to them as they consider whether your products or services are the right fit, and then encouraging them to start meaningful conversations about doing business together.

Done well, it brings together a range of promotional PR and marketing tools and techniques, all working together like cogs in a well-oiled machine.

These include:

Search Engine Marketing
Paid and Organic Social Media
Websites and Landing Pages
Content Creation and Distribution
Email Nurturing
Website Remarketing
Public Relations
Bespoke Events

It's very much a numbers game: for every lead you generate, there will be countless other potential customers that take a pass, which means you need to constantly get your business or brand in front of more and more people, and then stay in front of them for as long as possible until they're ready to engage meaningfully.

Check out our article 'Lead generation and the marketing funnel' next.

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