Lead generation has truly started resembling an online dating scene.
Don’t believe us?
Think about how brands try to entice you into buying their product or engaging with them at the least. Do you want to swipe right for those efforts or ignore them?
Look at the lead generation cycle –
Source
Now, think about this in terms of dating – Attract, convert, close and delight for life.
In this post, we will discuss how you to ensure that your leads swipe you right and you have a date!
AWARENESS & ATTRACTION
Think about it for a second.
You want to date but you are ALWAYS cooped up inside the comforts of your house. No parties, no meeting new people, no social media, no tinder.
How would anyone know you are available to date? So, you start socializing and maybe, have a tinder account to attract new people.
But, is it enough to just have a tinder account? Nah!
Once you have put yourself out there, it is time to work on attracting the other party. No one would swipe right, if your tinder account is without a photo, message or any details about yourself.
Similarly, B2B lead generation does not happen on its own. You cannot expect a bunch of customers waiting to buy your product the day you release a product (unless, of course, it is a planned product launch).
Nada. Nah!
You need to generate awareness and demand for your product. As a business, you ensure that you get onto social media, spend time blogging, speaking, going to events, advertising etc and attract the right qualified leads (Marketing qualified or Sales qualified) for your product.
But, that is not enough!
You need to optimize your efforts with relevant information, brand voice, and details. Visuals should be attractive, social media optimized and any message that you give out should be charming (so, the other party is interested in learning more about your business). In other words, you should have a right lead capture page for this. Read Fieldboom’s article here to learn more about creating a highly converting lead pages.
You make use of the best tools for lead generation efforts. Here are a few relevant articles that can help you
- How graphics and UI can help in generating more leads
- Twitter vs Linkedin: Social media for B2B lead generation
- 18 B2B lead generation strategies that will rock your 2018
Similar to tinder, right? You put in the best of your photos and message to attract a prospect.
Qualifying your may-be-date (or lead!)
If you are into blind dates or online dating sites like Tinder, you know that we all qualify our dates. We look through their pictures (and wonder how edited they could be!), professions, cities, interests etc and see if they are to your liking.
By the way, tinder already shows you qualified date leads, because they ask you for age range and how far you are willing to travel before showing you any lead (oh! sorry, possible date!)
Basically, you do not right away swipe right to whoever pops on your screen.
Lead generation works similarly. You do not cast a wide net and try to catch as many fish. They draw a detailed buyer persona (which are like the Tinder specs – age, gender, industry, job title etc) and use them to qualify accounts.
Only when leads are qualified, marketers approach them. This is also known as the account based marketing tactic for lead generation
Source: Fract.
Sending the right message
Have you heard us saying not all leads are sales ready right? Similarly, not all dates end up in marriages.
If you meet someone on the first date and they talk about our children, you are sure to freak out. No more dates!
Similarly, if an unknown business gets in touch with you and claims to solve your business problems (without even talking to you about your actual business problems), you will probably NEVER contact them.
That is why, we all make sure that, we do not come off as too strong on the first few meetings. First dates are usually light, fun and focused on wanting to know each other.
Similarly, the first touch in lead generation is all about your lead – wanting to know about them, their pain points, interests, budget, needs etc. Marketing efforts for the top of the funnel leads should be always be focused on building trust, credibility and showcasing yourself as the right solution to their pain points.
Response and Nurture
You cannot force someone to date you. If they like you and your ideas resonate with them, they might date you.
Similarly, if you are doing great at lead generation, it does not mean your lead will ALWAYS end up being a buyer.
You cannot force a lead to respond.
But, when your leads or dates respond, you work on the relationship and nurture it. You align the content along the buyers journey.
LEAD SCORING – Take the relationship forward
When you are dating someone, you like certain attributes of that person (brownie points for that!) and you don€™t like others. If you want to take any relationship forward, you assess whether or not the future is bright (for example, are negatives more than positives or the positives more prominent than negatives). At a certain point, if everything seems right, you decide to marry or inform your parents.
In lead generation, you score a lead based on their behavior – give points for positive activities (for example, download a white paper against information) and deducting points for negative actions (for example, not opening an email or visiting your website for over 6 months). If everything seems good, at a certain threshold, the lead is passed onto sales to seal the deal.
Customer service and fulfilling a relationship
Problems occur in every relationship and people sort it out by talking. They do not break the relationship right away! In lead generation, this sorting it out is handled by the customer service and success wing. They build relationships by providing assistance to the existing buyers.
So, tell us, what has been your experience in lead generations? Have you done any of the creepy things we talked about?
Vikas Bhatt is the Co-Founder of ONLY B2B, a premium B2B lead generation company that specializes in helping businesses achieve their growth objectives through targeted marketing & sales campaigns. With 10+ years of experience in the industry, Vikas has a deep understanding of the challenges faced by businesses today and has developed a unique approach to lead generation that has helped clients across a range of industries around the globe. As a thought leader in the B2B marketing community, ONLY B2B specializes in demand generation, content syndication, database services and more.
