What is B2B lead generation?

Leads, lead nurturing, lead scoring… So many technicalities and so many strange words for someone who suddenly enters the marketing field!

When you get your head into this world it is important to understand how certain processes work, but for that you have to lay the foundations and that is exactly what we are going to do with this post you have in front of you.

At Meeting Dots we like to speak clearly and dispel your doubts, so we are going to tell you what a lead is and, of course, what B2B lead generation consists of, just as we would do if we were having a coffee with you.

And of course, we’ll also give you some tips on how to get those leads for your business. That is, only if you get to the end of this post.

Let’s get started!

What is a lead?

In order not to get bogged down in too many technical terms, we can tell you that, when we talk about leads, we always refer to potential customers.

That is, that person or company that may be interested in our product or service and that corresponds to the ideal or potential client that we have outlined to generate sales in our business.

Generally speaking, a lead is a person who enters, for example, a website and leaves their details when subscribing to a newsletter.

Thus, he/she goes from being a simple visitor to a contact.

It is precisely this conversion process that is called lead generation.

But what is the difference between a generic lead, so to speak, and a B2B lead?

Keep reading! ;)

Lead vs. B2B Lead

Actually, the basis is the same.

When we talk about a B2B lead, we also refer to the company or business that falls within the potential customer profile that we have defined to sell our product or service.

The difference between one lead and another lies in the difficulty of selling precisely to a company and not to an end customer, as it is a slightly more complex process.

After making this difference, the rest of the concept and process of lead generation is the same.

In this way, we will differentiate between:

• B2B Lead: this is the company or business that leaves us their data, accepts the privacy policy and becomes a contact that we will add to our database. this is the company or business that leaves us their data, accepts the privacy policy and becomes a contact that we will add to our database.
• Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL): these are businesses that have shown interest in our product or service more than once. They are called this because, after requesting more information about them, they agree to give it to us again.
• Sales Qualified Lead (SQL): this comes from the MQL and are those who have advanced in the sales process making it clear that they are ready to buy our product or service.

Imagine that on your website, you offer visitors a free half-hour meeting to establish a first contact.

To do so, they must leave their name, email and telephone number, for example. By doing so, they accept the privacy and data processing policy and the company in question can now be part of your database.

By taking this action, that company is already showing an interest in your product or service and has become a B2B lead.

To move to the next level, you will have to go through a nurturing process, which is usually carried out through email marketing strategies.

Little by little you will qualify the lead and it will be ready to buy.

For this process to be successful, as we said, you must take into account certain peculiarities that only companies have and not end customers.

Don’t get impatient, we’ll tell you about them right away.

What does B2B lead generation consist of?

With the information we have already shared with you, you can get an idea of what B2B lead generation is:

• It is the process of converting a visitor into a contact.

Now let’s answer the million-dollar question when talking about the central theme of this post: the more contacts you have in your database, the more sales you will close?

The answer is NO.

What is the point of capturing millions of unqualified B2B leads? No point.

In order to close more sales, you must reach your real potential customer, qualify them and guide them through the buying process so that those sales go up.

It is not about capturing quantity but quality.

That’s why B2B lead generation is an extremely important task for your business.

And we are not the only ones saying this, you can also come to this conclusion if you read the study developed by the Content Marketing Institute.

In a survey conducted for that study, it was concluded that generating leads is the most important task for 85% of the B2B marketers who took part in it.

Now it’s time to reveal the peculiarities of the B2B lead generation process:

• To outline the profile of your potential customer, you have to keep in mind that solutions designed for a business are more specific than if you think of an end customer.
• Because of this specificity, the number of potential customers you could target for inclusion in your database will be smaller.
• It is not as simple to target a specific person as it is with end customers. When trying to capture B2B leads you need to be clear about who will make the buying decision, and whether the decision maker will require the approval of a board, cabinet or committee.

Being clear on all of this will help you forge a good acquisition strategy and better B2B lead generation.

Remember that getting it right from the start is the key to success.

Tips to get B2B leads for your business

With these tips we finish off the game, so save the post in your favourites and take good note of them:

• Conduct active prospecting and forget about buying leads.

The best way to close sales is to actively and naturally prospect and generate leads. Buying leads will get you nowhere, well yes, one: constantly wasting money and time.

• Research

Search on social networks, especially Linkedin, use Google and try to do some research on businesses and companies that may correspond to the potential customer you have already defined.

• Think about some kind of downloadable content or similar for them to leave their details.

It would be good to share with your visitors an ebook related to your product or service or think of something similar to what we said before the free meeting; in order that they leave you their contact details and go from being a simple visit to be a lead.

• Work email marketing well

This is the best way to nurture your leads and guide them through the buying process.

• Set up a good editorial calendar and improve your web positioning

It is important that you are visible to search engines. Remember that businesses, like end customers, look to Google for solutions to their problems and you need to be there for them to find you.

• Never forget the needs of B2B customers.

Show that you know them, that you know how to help them, and they will never turn to your competition.

That’s it!

You’ve got everything you need to run a top-notch B2B lead generation process.

Any doubts? Don’t get overwhelmed, write to us in the comments and we will answer all of them. Of course, and if you want to go further, contact us and we’ll talk about whatever you need.