Effective B2B Social Media Lead Generation in 5 Simple Steps

Over 500 people registered for our B2B social media webinar early this week and I must confess that the response was overwhelming. At first I thought that I thought that my campaigning team had done an exceptionally good job (which they have indeed) but as the webinar was nearing to end I had a realization that most of the attendees where present because of the topic - B2B Lead generation from Social Media.

Now this gave us a reason to condense the discussion and present the steps and the steps and processes towards setting up an effective and successful lead generation program for B2Bs using social and online media in simple 5 effective steps:

1. USE EFFECTIVE MARKETING PLATFORMS TO GRAB ATTENTION, INCLUDING:

Search (the number one source used in B2B purchase decisions)
Online advertising
Social advertising

2. HAVE A STRONG CALL TO ACTION
Use clear language telling your audience exactly what you want them to do. Use a big red button they can’t miss.

3. CREATE A DEDICATED LANDING PAGE
Make sure your landing page matches up with what you’re promising in your ads.

Define a clear path for your visitors
Guide users to a single desired action (one offer)
Limit friction, confusion, and distractions

4. RETARGET THEM IF THEY DON’T CONVERT
Perhaps a prospect got to your landing page but didn’t fill out the form. Use retargeting ads to get their attention again. These ads display on third party websites to those who went to your website but didn’t convert. The goal is to bring them back. Your retargeted ad could offer different incentives or a softer sell.

An example of a re-targeted ad

5. AFTER YOU GET THEIR CONTACT INFORMATION
Our jobs as marketers don’t stop when the form is filled out. Sales and marketing must work together to connect with the leads after they've completed the form and ensure the messaging is relevant to that prospect. To keep it organized, track your campaign within your CRM. This enables sales and marketing to track every action including:

Where the lead came from
Campaign details such as media costs
Next steps/directions for sales (Summary info, qualification questions, email templates)
Use your CRM to create shared dashboards between marketing and sales to give everyone a transparent picture of how things are performing.