B2B Lead generation is a strategic process of collecting email or contact information from a prospect who has shown interest in a specific product or service to make a purchase from your brand or company. So you need to understand your target audience and reach out to them in a different way because not all your leads will come from the same channel. Marketers who have a clear understanding of potential customers generate more high-quality leads than others.
A statistic says only 35% of US marketing executives have a clear understanding of who their customer is, and differences are made here. So in this article, we will discuss everything about the B2B lead generation process, which will allow you to get pain points, interests, specific needs, and subtle to big issues of a potential customer to generate more high-quality leads.
Define ICP & Buyer Personas
There is a subtle distinction between an ideal customer profile(ICP) and a buyer persona, but they are connected in the same tree chain. An ideal customer profile describes a company that fits your service or product and most likely makes a purchase. Defining the ideal customer profile requires deep research and analysis on Industry, company size, revenue, pain points, geography, legality, budget, limitations, etc.
Now you know who is an ICP, so let’s move to the buyer persona. A buyer persona is an individual who makes the decision or influences decision-making. This can be a Managing Director, CEO, CTO, Head of Marketing, or any other employee. Someone who does not have a higher post but has the ability to influence decisions can also be a buyer person.
Key Differences:
- ICP is about companies; Buyer Personas are about people
- ICPs focus on firmographic data (industry, size, etc.); Buyer Personas include psychographic data (motivations, behaviours, etc.)
- ICPs help identify which companies to target; Buyer Personas help understand how to engage with the individuals within those companies.
So, for B2B lead gen, defining ICP and buyer persona is the first mandatory step, and both are equally important for generating high-quality leads. So, put enough effort into identifying which ICP and buyer persona fits with your service or product, then go ahead with the next step.
Data Collection & Enrichment
Data enrichment is improving the already existing data of a prospect or profile to improve the quality of a lead. Data collection and enrichment stand similarly in the lead generation process. There are different kinds of lead enrichment data that increase the quality and help improve the conversion rate.
- Contact data
- Firmographic data
- Demographic data
- Technographic data
- Intent data
- Behavioral data
- Geographic data
- Social media-related data
Updating the above information of a prospect improves the conversion rate by helping the sales team better understand the potential customer. You can use some tools or CRM (customer relationship management) to do lead data enrichment, such as
- ZoomInfo
- Clearbit (now Breeze by HubSpot)
- io
- Demandbase
- Leadspace
Those are the most used tools that help you collect updated data and lead enrichment. You can manually collect data from social media like LinkedIn using other channels. It depends on it, but make sure you do this in a more effective way.
Segment & Prioritize
Lead segmentation and prioritising are very important because they help organise prospects by category. Like lead scoring, in this step, divide potential customers by category. Sorting prospects by their demography, intent data, or anything that makes a difference creates a measurement of how much effort you need to put in or what strategy may work on them to generate leads. Or you can segment leads by specific industry, role, buying stage, etc, which fits your plan or strategy. Prioritise prospects’ data according to the potential customer interest or quality of leads, and then you can move forward to the next step of lead generation.
Craft Messaging, Scripts & Ad Copy
After segmentation and prioritising prospects for B2B lead generation, develop personalised email templates, ad copy, and cold call scripts. Focus on pain points, desired outcomes, and clear CTAs. A/B test different hooks and formats for better outcomes from prospects. Let’s take a look at how crafting a messaging script and Ad copy works with samples.
Messaging and Scripting
When you tend to send a message to a potential customer for generating a high-quality lead or conversion, you need to write the message following your company’s standard script in a very strategic and catchy way to attract the receiver and drive them into your sales funnel.
Example: Hi John, I am Tim Garret from RealXtate. I noticed you were looking at properties in North Dakota. Are you still searching? I would love to provide more details or schedule a time to see some homes. When is a good time to chat?
Ad Copy
Spending $1 on Google Ads, you gain a return on investment(ROI) from $2 to $10, so imagine how important it is for B2B lead generation. Ad copies are written text that is used to attract the target audience by showing it on social media, search engines, websites, etc. Let’s see a sample of Google Ads copy. Then you will get a concrete idea of it.
Example: Let’s say you are promoting a lead generation service for real estate agents. A potential ad could look like this:
Headline: Stop Wasting Time on Leads That Don’t Convert!
Copy text: Are you a real estate agent struggling to generate quality leads? Our B2B lead generation service helps you connect with qualified buyers and sellers, so you can focus on what you do best: closing deals. Download our free guide to learn how we can help you grow your business.
CTA: Get Your Free Guide Now!
Omnichannel Outreach Strategy
An omnichannel or multichannel outreach strategy uses a channel that suits the prospects, creating communication for lead generation. In this step, choose the channel according to the prospect’s availability and initiate communication for generating high-quality leads.
- Email campaigns
- Cold calling
- LinkedIn outreach
- Paid ads (LinkedIn, Google, Meta)
- Retargeting
- Content marketing (blogs, videos, guides)
Structure your outreach as a multi-touch sequence across 5â7 interactions because not all of your leads use the same channel, and not everyone will like the same format of content, so keep a variation.
Capture & Nurture Interest
Lead capturing is one of the most important phases of the lead generation process. You can capture leads through different methods like landing pages, forms, and CTAs. A professional and eye-catching landing page creates interest in the prospect’s mind and helps make them believe in your brand. Using a pop-up window in a landing page, blog post or using a form for capturing leads is also equally important. Set up email nurture workflows to share case studies, tips, tools, and success stories. Keep educating and warming leads until theyâre sales-ready.
Qualify Leads (MQL Stage)
Once you get the prospect’s information, you can’t directly approach everyone to set an appointment or sales offer. It may consume your time and effort because not every prospect is highly interested or qualified. Here comes lead qualification. A part of lead generation, because if your lead is not qualified enough, it will not be considered a quality lead for sales. For this, lead scoring is one of the most effective methods to qualify leads. Let’s see a lead scoring table on how you can score a lead and consider it as a marketing qualified lead(MQL).
| Actions | Scores |
| Job title | +10 |
| location | +5 |
| Company size | +5 |
| Opened email | +5 |
| Clicked link | +20 |
| Filled out the form | +20 |
| Unsubscribe email | -15 |
| Visited the pricing page | +15 |
Assign lead scores based on profile and engagement (example: open emails, downloaded whitepaper, joined webinar, etc) to ensure the label of qualification as Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs). You can route MQLs to sales using automated workflows or manual review, depending on what fits your process better.
Lead Routing & SLA Compliance
When your lead is qualified for marketing or sales, transfer it to the respective marketing or sales team for further processing, and this is what is called lead routing. Appropriate lead routing is essential because late routing causes disinterest in leads’ minds. On the other hand, SLA(service level agreement) is a commitment to lead and follow up on time. Both are very important because fast routing, like within 15 minutes, can bring better results from the sales or marketing team, and SLA keeps the lead warm by following up, keeping communication, and bringing more leads from the existing lead.
Sales Handoff (SQL Stage)
If your lead is sales qualified(SQl), then without wasting time, hand it off to the sales team for immediate action because delaying can change the plot or reduce the chance of a successful sales deal closing. The sales team further qualifies leads using BANT or MEDDIC criteria for a better sales process. If qualified, mark as Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs). You can book meetings, schedule demos, and push toward closing.
Close the Deal
Analysing information of the lead sales team should strategically deliver demos, custom proposals, and trials with visuals, CTAs, and rich content for attracting the prospect. After using demos or showing interest in the offer, you can close the deal, maintain communication, and follow up for further processing. Use testimonials, case studies, and ROI arguments to close, and it builds a better relationship with customers as well as smooths the sales cycle.
Post-Sale Growth
Ensure smooth onboarding and support because bad support increases churn rate. More importantly, monitor the satisfaction of our loyal customers. You can make some upsells and cross-sells based on the new needs of your customer. Sometimes you can create scarcity and demand by offering them a discount or competitive offers. Post-sales support turns happy clients into referral and case study sources for your brand’s marketing and helps get more new customers.
Analyze & Improve
Regular analysis and improvement keep your business alive. Otherwise, it will be difficult to stay competitive in the market. Track KPIs regularly, such as open rates, conversion rates, cost per lead, and ROI. Identify top-performing channels and messaging for better communication with potential customers. Refine audience targeting, content, and outreach strategies for improving engagement and in the end, it drives traffic, which becomes your lead.
Sales â Marketing Feedback Loop
Marketing qualified leads are nurtured by the marketing department, and after handoff to the sales department, they are reached out to with a sales approach. And if they face any issues or difficulties, they give feedback to the marketing team, and they work on it and send feedback on how the loop keeps running.
- Marketing Generates Leads
- Leads Passed to Sales
- Sales Engages Leads & Gathers Insights
- Sales Provides Feedback to Marketing
- Marketing Analyzes Feedback & Optimizes Strategies
- Marketing Refines Lead Generation Tactics
Schedule regular syncs between teams. Use sales feedback to adjust ICP, messaging, and scoring. Keep both teams aligned for better lead quality and conversion.
Compliance & Data Privacy
Compliance and data are crucial for lead generation to avoid legal issues, maintain relationships with customers, and build trust. Following the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) showcases data transparency, ensuring adherence to rules creates positive brand value. Make sure to follow the regulations below:
- GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).
- CCPA(California Consumer Privacy Act),
- CAN-SPAM(The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing)
Always offer opt-outs and manage data responsibly. Avoid purchased lists without verified consent.
Conclusion
45% marketers said that demographic information like name, age, gender, and location is most effective for the B2B lead generation process. So you can’t skip any of the above processes for the best result in the lead generation process for the B2B industry. Even if you are struggling to generate high-quality leads, book an appointment with CallingAgency for the best lead generation service in your location.
