by Slyvia Dougherty
The purpose of lead generation is to find potential customers and convert them into sales, but unfortunately, more than half of marketers do not succeed. A HubSpot study found that 61 percent of marketers struggle to generate leads.
What is the best way to find qualified leads and convert them into sales to help grow your business? In order to achieve this goal, wholesalers should follow these five effective marketing strategies:
Content Marketing
Content is important in order to attract customers. As Microsoft founder and entrepreneur Bill Gates famously said, “Content is king.” B2B buyers crave content that educates them about a product or service. According to Sagefrog, 69 percent of businesses use blogging and content marketing.
You can provide content in two ways:
1. Visual Content Marketing
Not only are videos fun, but they also make it easier for viewers to understand a product more clearly since they can see how the item can be used. According to CXL, 96 percent of consumers watch an explainer video to learn about a product.
You can present the video by:
- Presenting customer testimonials and reviews
- Creating competitive and innovative advertisements for your product or service
- Making tutorials to guide your customers through the product or service
Video-sharing platforms such as YouTube are recommended in order to share your content so they can get as many views as possible. You can also use some advertising money to boost your videos.
2. Written Content Marketing
Written content is a useful source to provide information in more detail, which is why many companies now have blogs on their website so they can educate buyers on both the products they sell and the industry in general. According to Marketing Insider Group, blogging is part of the marketing strategy for 90 percent of marketers.
If you want your blog to generate revenue and traffic, you need to:
- Write short sentences
- Use simple language
- Provide valuable information
- Show case studies
- Validate information through research and statistics
- Talk about tips from industry experts and decision-makers
Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the most effective methods to generate B2B leads. A 2017 study by Demand Wave revealed how B2B email marketing drove:
- Leads for 73% of marketers
- Revenue for 63% of marketers
Your email marketing strategy can become effective by using the following steps:
- Segment your leads
- Write compelling subject lines
- Implement personalization by using the target customer’s name
- Highlight the needs or issues of your buyers
- Show how beneficial your product or service is to your buyers
- Use strategic calls to actions (CTAs)
- Need a B2B email campaign? Inquire with WholesaleCentral.
Search Engine Marketing
Search engines let customers search for the products or services they are looking for, providing them with relevant results based on their search query. The purpose of search engine marketing is to rank your website link on top of the results page (SERP).
According to Pardot, 78 percent of B2B buyers start their buying process with a search engine, which means this is a great way to promote your business. There are two effective ways to do this:
1. Pay-Per-Click Advertising
This advertising method is a marketing model where you have to pay for displaying a link to your website on top of an SERP as well as clicks on your website link. Statista reveals that PPC advertising generates the highest return on investment (ROI) for 20 percent of marketers among digital marketing channels.
If you want to generate leads with PPC, you need to:
- Choose relevant keywords
- Use catchy title tags
- Write accurate descriptions
2. Search Engine Optimization
In contrast to the PPC model, search engine optimization (SEO) is an organic process of ranking your website on top of SERP. According to Marketing Charts, SEO is the most impactful source of lead generation for 59 percent of B2B marketers.
You can effectively optimize your website by using good SEO tools like Semrush, Google Analytics, and Ahrefs. These tools help you:
- Get relevant keywords
- Optimize your website and pages with Meta descriptions, Meta tags, and title tags
- Create backlinks to other websites
Produce content that is relevant to the trending keywords, and use these keywords in your content at least once. It will increase your website rank and help potential customers easily find your site or page.
- Improve your SEO by becoming a member of WholesaleCentral.
Social Media Marketing
Social media is a powerful medium to convey your message. According to International Data Corporation, 75 percent of B2B buyers surf social media during the buying process. You can reach your target audience via social media platforms, including:
Most B2B marketers use LinkedIn for social media marketing. As per Statista, 75 percent of marketers use it for promoting paid content worldwide. In order to succeed on LinkedIn, you need to:
- Build professional business pages
- Present the mission or vision of your business
- Post videos, images, and text to promote your brand
- Connect with your target audience
- Post articles at a consistent rate to stay relevant
Facebook is the biggest social networking platform in the world and is very effective for B2B marketing. WebFX states that the conversion rate of B2B for Facebook Ads is 11 percent. Your business can flourish on Facebook if you:
- Build a page with captivating posts, images, and videos
- Write catchy taglines and phrases
- Join groups where your target audience is active
- Promote your products or services with live videos and reels (short videos)
Instagram is a photo and video-sharing social media platform. According to Lyfe Marketing, 90 percent of brands use Instagram to promote their businesses. In order to grow your brand on this platform, you need to:
- Build a business page
- Design attractive advertisements
- Use taglines to grab the attention of viewers
- Produce videos and images with unique ideas
Twitter is one of the most popular social networking platforms. A 2018 study by Statista revealed that 67 percent of B2B businesses use Twitter for marketing. Here, you can tweet short and relevant messages. It not only saves you time, but also conveys your message without much effort. Your business can experience growth on Twitter if you:
- Interact with your audience
- Use relevant trending hashtags to make your post visible to your audience
- Promote industry-related content instead of just focusing on your business
Webinars
Modern technology has allowed buyers to attend online webinars instead of trade shows. A webinar is an online web conference where you can display your products to a group of interested prospects. They can view it from the comfort of their homes, or in their offices.
ZoomInfo reports that webinars are the best method for generating high-quality leads for 73 percent of B2B marketers. You can effectively use webinars by:
- Highlighting a trending and common industry-specific issue
- Demonstrating your product or service
- Answering buyers’ questions
- Participating in chat sessions
- Asking for buyers’ feedback
- Want fresh leads? Become a member of WholesaleCentral.