Marketing Strategies to generate free online B2B leads: Best Practices & Templates

Marketing Strategies to generate free online B2B leads
  • Dec 20, 2021
  • Posted By: Robert Jordan
  • Category: Technographics Data

Lead generation is a lot of trial and error, and it is never a one-size-fits-all strategy. Instead, it requires work, experimentation, research, and a lot of patience.

According to a 2020 B2B buyer study by the Weidert Group, 76% of B2B buyers demand more face time with supplier personnel, and 77% are conducting deeper, more extensive research. And, to be fair, the hard work always pays off in the form of firm leads.

An effective B2B marketing strategy relies on generating quality leads and building a solid pipeline that will help businesses maintain a stable growth rate. Therefore, it differs significantly from B2C marketing.

Listed below are the six best ways to strategize to generate leads in the B2B industry. Read ahead to learn about these tactics.

Create Good Content

lead magnet

Image Source: Najmc

Creating good content is an oft-repeated and obvious but effective way to attract leads. Knowing one’s audience is the first step in developing captivating content.

First, a business should create client profiles or personalities and curate material for them based on keywords they’re already looking for. However, sometimes it will need more than well-written content to entice readers.

Please take into account what the buyer needs to make their task easier. What can the business offer them that will make them willingly hand over their contact information? Make it relevant and alluring to them and the company.

Effective Collaboration

It’s like magic when a business can find a firm that shares its values. The companies will most likely have a comparable target audience, thus forming a collaboration or co-partnership will also be simple.

Burger King and McDonald’s collaborated on one of the best projects in recent memory. On September 21, in honor of International Day of Peace, Burger King proposed collaborating with McDonald’s on “The McWhopper,” a mix of the equally famous Big Mac and Whopper burgers.

Burger King and McDonald's collaboration

Image Source: Marginmedia

And for small firms, there’s no better place to look for a solid partner than LinkedIn.

Run A/B Tests

Run A/B Tests

Image Source: Hubspot

We already know conducting A/B testing is a must to narrow down the options, and no marketer should limit their leads to a single landing page with a single call-to-action.

Change the color of the buttons; change the CTA message’s font; change the content’s language; resize, recolor, and reformat—the company has to try and test everything until they discover the ideal mix.

With landing page platforms, businesses can effortlessly create popups, sticky bars, and landing pages, as well as test them all.

Use Social Media

Use Social Media icons

Image Source: Protocol80

Social networking can help produce a lot of leads, but it’s not simple and requires a well-thought-out approach.

Social networking can help produce a lot of leads, but it’s not simple and requires a well-thought-out approach. 62% of marketers believe that social media sites like LinkedIn have demonstrated the potential to generate leads. It provides a space for brands and businesses to interact with prospective consumers.

Social media advertising is powerful, especially now since almost everyone maintains a Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram account. Considering that ads on these sites can be specified by location, age, gender, and hobbies, among other factors, they tend to be highly targeted.

Leverage Competitor Audiences

There are a few methods for a company to divert the audience of their competitors into their funnels, and it also works as a demand-generating approach. They should keep a list of direct and indirect competitors on hand. Combine this with keyword research to determine which terms should be targeted, and allocate advertising funds to those clicks.

Alternatively, the firm may generate material that positions it against a competitor. However, pay attention to how the material is written. Show the similarities and differences to the competitor, to be fair.

To prevent competitors from stealing a company’s name, a company can buy Google advertisements. Alternatively, they might use keywords to direct people to their own product or service.

collection of b2b competitive intelligence

Image Source: Riverbedmarketing

Cold Emailing

Cold emailing is tricky since there is no prior relationship between the sender and the company or person receiving the email. As a result, to generate results, a company must make a favorable first impression. Here are a few best approaches for generating more leads from cold emails.

b2b lead generation

Image Source: Fiverr

Catchy Subject Line

Effective cold emails must have compelling subject lines. If a business can’t persuade prospects to open their email in the first place, the odds of getting a response are slim to none.

According to Aweber’s study of over 1000 email subject lines, 82% of experts use subject lines that are 60 characters or less. So keeping the subject lines short is a wise idea too! In addition, it helps in optimizing the email for mobile phones.

Keep it Short

Don’t waste people’s time with marketing jargon and get right to the point. Keep paragraphs to a minimum of 100 words and the body to a maximum of 200 words. Instead, link to content or the website via white papers, links, or redirected links.

Personalization

Avoid using generic phrases and sales messages when approaching leads. It strips the email of individuality and replaces it with a robotic business-like tone that repels leads. Instead, look up the person’s first name and use that instead.

Insert an effective CTA

Excessive links and attachments identify emails as spam, but they also trigger the impacts of too many choices, making it more difficult for the recipients to take action.

Reduce the message to one central point and drive the audience to a single call to action.

Schedule Follow-up Emails

A company needs to send at least two follow-up emails. Things get lost in people’s inboxes, just like they do on social media. Sending two or three emails increases the chances of being noticed.

Be Funny

Humor may sometimes go a long way. It’s also a terrific method to stand out. Make the most of it and make sure you utilize it wisely.

Use Media Wisely

To stand out from the crowd, be inventive. Include animated GIFs or memes to capture people’s attention.

Cold Emailing Templates

Since cold emailing is the best way to generate leads, here is a list of the best templates for businesses to ace their emailing game and close a deal.

The AIDA Template

The AIDA email template

Image Source: Singlegrain

Attract the attention of the lead. Appeal to their passions to keep them interested. To arouse desire, show how they might profit from the offer. Request that they click to respond, or make a transaction, anything resulting in an action. The ultimate goal is to get a reaction.

AIDA is a copywriting framework that has been around since the 1900s. It concisely summarizes the sales process, describing it from capturing someone’s attention to encouraging them to act. Almost every cold email, landing page, or advertisement uses the AIDA principle in some way.

The PAS Template

The PAS Email Template

Image Source: Medium

Problem – Draw attention to an issue causing grief or irritation. Agitate it. Explain what would happen if it happened. Solution – Provide a way to get rid of or prevent the discomfort caused by the situation.

The BAB Template

The BAB Email Template

Image Source: Klenty

Before — summarize the issue or difficulty that a lead is currently dealing with. After – Draw a picture of the problem-solving process or the situation improving. Show how the offer solves the problem and improves their life as a bridge.

The before-after-bridge formula uses motivation to effectively convey B2B cold emails that deliver results.

The BAB formula takes a positive attitude, whereas the PAS formula takes the opposite approach.

The SAS Template

The SAS Email Template

Image Source: Smartwriter

Introduce the protagonist of a story. This might be the business, an employee, a customer, or another business or person.

Describe the path or arch of the star, who is — or should be — dealing with a similar predicament to your protagonist.

Success – Show how the celebrity comes out on top or is better off in the end (of course, relating to the product or service offered by the company).

Humans are fascinated by stories. They rely on them to educate, caution and entertain.

The regions of the brain responsible for touch, sight, smell, and sound light up when people listen to a tale. The SAS template leverages this to create a connection with prospective clients.

The Relevant Question Email

The Relevant Question Email Template

Image Source: Leadfeeder

Asking a question is an excellent method to quickly get a cold email out. Generic queries, on the other hand, are ineffective.

A B2B cold email with a query must be suitable and unique to the lead. When done correctly, it works by implying that the message will be low-commitment and not time-consuming and piquing interest and promising a response.

The Valuable Resource Email

The Valuable Resource Email Template

Image Source: Localiq

Not all cold emails will end with meeting requests or phone conversations right away. It frequently necessitates the establishment of confidence. That’s precisely what the email with valuable resources achieves.

This is particularly effective with B2B cold emails since it allows a company to appear on a prospect’s radar while still in the “research” phase.

Recent News Template

Breaking the ice and making the first contact is easier with a recent news email.

Recent News Email Template

Image Source : Foranenterprise

A company can email a prospect informing them of a recent review, piece of news, or accomplishment and then introduce themselves and explain why they have been contacted.

Competitor Satisfaction Template

Competitor Satisfaction Email Template

Image Source: Gmass

This email allows a business to show prospects how they are different or better than a competition they might be considering. However, avoid criticizing your rivals. To explain why the company would be a better fit, combine a neutral tone with the USP of the company.

The Wrong Person Bypass Email

The Wrong Person Bypass Email

Image Source: Leadfeeder

Cold emails requesting the appropriate contact are typically deleted and disregarded. A company needs to prove that they have done their research and spoken to other associates the lead may know to avoid that miscommunication.

Instead of appearing as if the company is looking for a target to pitch, mention familiar names and provide a compelling reason for contacting a lead in particular.

B2B Lead Generation Tools

The more time a business can allocate to selling, the more sales they will make. Email reps spend most of their time working on emails, prospecting leads, data entry, and meetings.

Instead, they can automate routine activities and spend more time closing leads with the proper B2B lead creation tool.

B2B Lead Generation Tools

Image Source: xeo.marketing

While there are numerous sales tools available, the following are the absolute necessities for improving the overall B2B lead generation process:

  • Leadfeeder: Leadfeeder shows which businesses come to a website, even if they never interact with it or contact the company.
  • Sales Hub: Sales Hub was built with salesforce productivity in mind. It is essentially a one-stop-shop from email templates to follow-up automation, scheduling, and automated data entry.
  • Reply.io will help businesses locate prospect emails on LinkedIn in a matter of seconds. A company can automate LinkedIn email searches, personal email outreach, phone calls, and tasks.
  • By typing a lead’s name and the company where they work into Hunter.io, a business can retrieve emails. They can also look through all of an organization’s emails, entirely free for the first 100 email searches.
  • Bombara: Bombara examines the content consumption patterns of millions of businesses to identify the themes that potential prospects are looking for. It’s an excellent lead generation tool for grabbing B2B leads while they’re still in the research stage.

Summing Up

To sum up, this article wants to provide insight into some of the most effective strategies for B2B lead generation.

In addition to all of the basics like creating effective content, A/B testing, leveraging social media, and competitor’s audience, it emphasizes cold emailing. Moreover, it lists a few best practices in cold emailing as well as the best templates to utilize when sending out these cold emails.

Further, businesses can easily opt for an easy lead generation to simplify and streamline their work to reduce strain on email reps. In essence, this blog aims to serve as a mini-guide or quick introduction to lead generation. And, they are all proven to be effective – all a company needs to do is try them out for themselves!