Practical Solutions for Qualifying B2B Leads

61% of marketers prioritize generating qualified leads that convert into ideal customers.

But with increasing competition and changing buyer behavior, achieving this goal can be challenging. Fortunately, there are ways that can help you qualify leads that are more likely to become paying customers.

In this blog, we'll explore practical solutions for qualifying B2B leads. Without further ado, let's dive in!

Provide Free Incentives

"The best things in life are free,"

and in this case, free content can be the key to unlocking a wealth of B2B leads.

Just make sure to provide high-quality marketing materials as a reward for sharing contact details.

According to a study by MarketingSherpa, 79% of B2B marketers found that offering valuable content is an effective tactic for generating high-quality leads.

All you have to do is design attractive and sophisticated landing pages that feature complimentary content, and you can convert casual website visitors into potential leads.

But your content must be filled with valuable information that resonates with your target audience. Also, explicitly emphasize its free availability. With a well-executed marketing strategy, your website has the potential to evolve into a formidable lead-generating powerhouse!

Here are examples of some free tools and incentives for your ideal prospects:

EBooks

These digital books have become a staple in content marketing, offering in-depth insights on specific topics. For example, HubSpot provides a wide range of free eBooks for marketing teams covering various aspects of inbound marketing, B2B sales leads, and customer service.

Try involve.me as it offers a wide range of lead form templates that are easy to customize and can be used for collecting valuable information from website visitors.

Besides, you can easily seamlessly integrate them into your existing website design and optimize your lead generation efforts.

Toolkits

Bundling a collection of valuable tools or resources can help businesses streamline their processes. Hootsuite, for instance, offers a free social media marketing toolkit, which includes templates and guides to assist B2B companies in enhancing their social media presence.

Free Research Tools

You can also provide complimentary access to research tools, as this can help businesses make data-driven decisions. Moz, a popular SEO company, offers a suite of free SEO tools which aid users in improving website SEO performance.

Guides

Knowledge is power, and providing guides equips businesses with the information they need to succeed in today's competitive landscape. In fact, guides assist businesses in navigating complex processes or challenges. Salesforce offers various free guides on topics such as sales strategies, customer experience, and digital transformation.

Free Templates

Templates can save B2B marketing team's time and effort by providing a framework for their projects. Check how involve.me offers an extensive library of free lead generation templates for creating visually appealing surveys, quizzes, forms and calculators.

Boost Your Credibility with Social Proof

As the famous marketer Seth Godin once said, "Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell."

And what better way to tell a story than through social proof? It's like having a group of cheerleaders shouting, "This product is amazing, you should definitely buy it!"

Thus, social proof plays a vital role in B2B lead generation strategies. It helps build trust and increases the likelihood of sales.

B2B customers are often more cautious when purchasing products or services, and as a result, their hesitation can obstruct lead generation.

Incorporate social proof into your marketing efforts, and you can alleviate their concerns and entice them to purchase. Here are some effective ways to build social proof for your business:

Customer Reviews and Testimonials

• Display user reviews and testimonials on your website, particularly on landing and home pages.

• Encourage customers to write feedback on review sites like Capterra, G2, and Yelp.

• Reach out to loyal customers directly for text-based or video testimonials or in-depth case studies, and feature the best ones on your website.

involve.me is a popular no-code builder platform that encourages customers to leave reviews on various third-party platforms.

Show Your Business's Stats

Provide objective evidence of your company's performance, such as the number of downloads or subscribers, to establish credibility and attract potential clients.

Look at how Shopify displays various statistics on its "Home" page, such as the number of merchants using their platform and revenue growth:

Leverage Social Media Plugins

Employ widgets that allow users to share your content on their social media accounts easily. This increases trust as more people share your posts.

Buzzfeed employs social media plugins that allow users to easily share their content on various social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Create a Dedicated Review Section

Dedicate a portion of your homepage or a separate page for customer reviews, testimonials, and case studies to instantly gain trust of visitors.

Booking.com has a dedicated review section where customers can leave feedback and reviews about their stay. This helps potential customers make informed decisions about where to stay.

Leverage Video Marketing

With 90% of marketers agreeing that video is the best way to repurpose B2B content and YouTube being the second-largest search engine on the web, it's clear that video marketing should be an integral part of your lead generation efforts. It not only delivers information effectively but also captures the audience's attention.

Here are some tips on how to make the most of video marketing tactics for B2B lead generation:

• Transform your existing blog posts, white papers, and case studies into informative videos that generate leads.

• Create videos with better engagement potential than images and text, ensuring your audience remains captivated and receives all the information.

• Maximize engagement by making videos concise and to the point.

• Make your videos easily discoverable on platforms like YouTube by optimizing titles, descriptions, and tags with relevant keywords.

• Expand your reach by sharing your videos across various platforms, including social media channels, your website, and email marketing campaigns.

For example, HubSpot, a leading marketing software company, has a strong presence on YouTube with its HubSpot Academy channel. This channel is dedicated to providing educational content on various marketing topics. They also offer a range of video courses and tutorials that can help businesses learn how to use video for B2B lead generation process.

Have a Professional and Optimized Website

To make the most out of your online presence, it's essential to have a professional and optimized website that captures potential leads' attention and drives them to take action. Some best practices to ensure your website is up to the task are:

• Fast loading time: Studies show that 40% of buyers will leave the site before they even see the first page if a webpage takes more than three seconds to load. Ensure your website loads quickly to keep your audience engaged and prevent them from clicking away.

• Proper use of SEO: Optimize your content for relevant keywords that describe your business and its offerings. This will help potential buyers find your site when they search for products or services like yours.

• Mobile optimization: With more than half of B2B-related online searches being conducted on smartphones, having a mobile-friendly website is crucial. Mobile devices account for 56% of global internet traffic, making mobile optimization a must for all site owners. A mobile-friendly website helps you reach a wider audience and improves your search engine rankings, driving more organic traffic to your site.

• Clear calls to action (CTAs): Create compelling CTAs that motivate your ideal buyers to take action. Place them strategically, deliver a direct value proposition, make them stand out, and evoke a sense of urgency.

Let's take example of a global e-commerce giant, Amazon. The company has an optimized website that provides a seamless shopping experience for users. Some noteworthy features include:

• Webpages load quickly, ensuring users don't abandon the site due to slow load times.

• Mobile app and mobile-friendly website cater to the growing number of users accessing the internet through smartphones.

• Prominent CTAs, such as "Add to Cart" and "Buy Now," encourage users to take action and complete purchases.

• Personalized recommendations based on users' browsing and purchase history increase the likelihood of conversions.

Expand Your Reach with Referral Marketing

A referral program is a powerful method for effective B2B lead qualification process, as prospective clients are more likely to trust and listen to the recommendations of their peers who have had positive experiences with your business. Research indicates that 84% of B2B buyers take purchasing decision after a referral. By implementing a well-designed referral program, you can generate and nurture more leads, boost your conversion rate, and enhance customer loyalty. Here are some steps to develop a successful referral program:

• Provide rewards such as free training, discounts, and event invitations to encourage customers to refer others.

• Regularly get feedback from multiple customers. But keep your surveys short and precise for higher response rates.

• Calculate how likely customers are to recommend you using the NPS, which will help you identify potential brand ambassadors.

• Offer content that customers can easily share with their friends, making it simpler for them to refer others to your business.

Checkout Dropbox referral program:

The company rewards users for referring new customers to their service. Through the program, Dropbox users can invite their colleagues, friends, and family to try Dropbox for free, and both the referrer and the new user can earn additional storage space for free.

Capture Leads with B2B Email Marketing

Currently, there are more than 4 billion email users worldwide, and this number is projected to grow to 4.6 billion by 2025, so ignoring the email channel is not an option.

In fact, email marketing is the top choice for 59% of B2B marketers when it comes to capturing leads. But what makes this method so appealing?

Simply because:

• Email marketing allows businesses to reach prospective customers and build long-term relationships with current customers.

• You can target audiences with personalized and relevant content to increase engagement.

• This approach is relatively low-cost and provides measurable results.

• With the ability to track open rates, click-through rates, and other key metrics, businesses can quickly evaluate the success of their email campaigns and make adjustments to improve their performance.

Here are some tips to make the most of email marketing and use it for qualifying leads.

Create an Irresistible Email Sign-up Form

First, you must embed an email sign-up form in your site's lead magnet. This will allow you to collect contact information from marketing-qualified leads interested in your product or service. Make your sign-up form noticeable but not distracting. Avoid pop-up windows, as they can be annoying to visitors.

Pro Tip: Use involve.me to create visually appealing and user-friendly sign-up forms that seamlessly integrate with your website, increasing the likelihood of visitors providing their contact information.

Automate Email Marketing

Now that you have your potential prospect's email addresses. Streamline processes and improve efficiency by automating tasks like segmenting email lists, sending targeted campaigns, and responding to abandoned carts. Also, use marketing automation tools to ensure timely responses to customer actions. All this increases the chances of converting leads into satisfied customers.

Craft Engaging Email Content

Avoid a hard-sell approach, as it may lead to unsubscribes. Instead, offer valuable content that enriches the lives of your customers. Your content should be consistent with your brand, thus incorporating elements like your logo, brand colors, and fonts into your email design.

Use storytelling techniques, humor, or personalized email to make your content more engaging and memorable. To keep subscribers engaged, always share relevant information, such as products, services, events, industry news, and blog posts.

Improve Email Deliverability

Maintain consistent email frequency to manage subscriber expectations and avoid spam filters. Ensure to clean your email lists regularly to reduce bounce rates and maintain the quality of your leads.

Look how Dribble generates qualified leads by emailing businesses in the design industry, offering a 40% discount on their product design course. The strategy incentivizes subscribers to try their courses and become long-term customers.

The Bottom Line

If you want to grow your business, focus on identifying and nurturing B2B leads. Implement practical B2B lead generation tactics, including social proof, video marketing, complimentary incentives, website optimization, referral programs, and email marketing, as it empowers you to qualify leads and increase conversion efficiently.

Take advantage of involve.me, a user-friendly no-code platform, to create visually appealing sign-up forms and other interactive content, which can seamlessly integrate with your website and help you capture valuable leads.

So what are you waiting for? Get started now!