Studies from Content Marketing Institute indicate that lead generation is a top concern for 85% of B2B marketers. However, 44% consider their efforts only moderately successful.

This doesn’t mean content marketing is ineffective – it remains a valuable strategy. However, it’s not the only tool in a B2B marketer’s arsenal.

Let’s explore 10 B2B lead generation strategies, including content marketing, and see how you can incorporate them into your marketing plan for maximum impact.

1. Content Marketing

Much like consumers, businesses value information before making significant purchases, making content marketing a crucial strategy.

Anu Ramani, founder of Isoline Communications, highlights research indicating that 47% of buyers review multiple pieces of content before engaging with sales, and over 65% of purchasing decisions happen before contacting a supplier.

Tony Mastri of Marion Integrated Marketing emphasizes the power of a consistent SEO campaign supported by B2B content marketing for lead generation. He recommends tools like SEMrush for keyword research and content length optimization, and advises creating highly specific pages and blog posts.

Mastri observes that organic traffic with compounding results is a preferred strategy in industries with high ad costs, as paid ads often struggle to deliver a positive ROI.

Similarly, Troop Messenger’s Md Mohsin Ansari explains how targeting a specific comparison keyword phrase, rather than broad terms, led to increased brand awareness, traffic, and improved search engine ranking.

Sneh Ratna Choudhary of MobStac reminds us not to overlook platforms like Quora and Medium for driving traffic to targeted landing pages and addressing potential customer questions.

2. LinkedIn

Unsurprisingly, LinkedIn is a powerful platform for B2B lead generation.

Zuza Witulska of Netguru highlights LinkedIn’s precise targeting options, enabling them to reach key decision-makers. Netguru’s successful campaign targeting fintech companies with an ebook resulted in over 240 high-quality contacts at a significantly lower cost than other lead generation efforts.

Choudhary echoes the effectiveness of LinkedIn Ads for generating high-intent leads.

3. Google Ads - Timing is Key

Capitalizing on a competitor’s outage, Constellix launched a targeted Google Ads campaign. They used phrases from customer reviews and forums in their ad copy, focusing on the benefits of switching providers. This strategy resulted in improved click-through rates, impressions, and quality scores.

For more insights on leveraging Google Ads for lead generation, check out this resource [link to resource].

4. Facebook Lead Ad Campaigns

Don’t underestimate Facebook’s potential in the B2B landscape. A study by HubSpot revealed that 74% of consumers use Facebook for professional purposes.

Alistair Dodds of Ever Increasing Circles Marketing shares his approach to Facebook lead ads, which involves split-testing custom and lookalike audiences, refining lead magnet offers, and testing different content angles, including benefits-focused and FOMO-driven approaches.

He shares an example of how a FOMO-driven campaign offering data analysis reports to mortgage brokers outperformed a white paper offer by a significant margin.

5. Live Chat

Guillaume Moubeche, CEO of Lemlist, shares how their focus on customer experience through live chat has yielded impressive results, converting around 30% of website visitors into leads.

6. Live Video

With 87% of businesses using video as a marketing tool, live video emerges as a powerful lead generation strategy.

Digital marketing specialist Sirarpi Sahakyan recommends exploring formats like webinars, Q&As, product launches, and how-to videos on platforms like LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook.

7. Facebook ThruPlay

Stacey Kehoe of Brandlective Communications recommends Facebook’s ThruPlay feature, particularly for brands with limited budgets. ThruPlay allows optimization and payment based on 15-second video views, enabling targeted messaging and cost-effective audience segmentation.

8. Gated Videos

While gated content often involves guides and ebooks, Phil Nottingham of Wistia suggests incorporating email collection into videos with compelling incentives.

He cites an example where a restaurant offering a discount in exchange for email signups saw a 400% increase in sign-ups without negatively impacting content views.

9. Personalized Videos

Vito Santoro of Vaetas advocates for personalized videos, highlighting their effectiveness in increasing cold conversions by 38% and warm follow-ups by an impressive 99%.

Wistia refers to these as “videos that don’t scale.”

10. Free Value-Added Offers

Offering something valuable for free remains a powerful lead generation tactic.

Sam Orchard of Edge of the Web emphasizes the importance of providing genuine value, even offering services competitors might charge for. Their free SEO audit offering has proven successful, with 30% of sign-ups converting into paying clients.

HubSpot offers a free product marketing go-to-market kit [link to kit].

Similarly, MobStac’s free QR code generator has significantly boosted their visitor-to-trial conversion rates.

Offering a closed beta version of their product for free, Crowdy.ai successfully converted 72% of beta users into paying customers.

Experiment and Find Your Winning Formula

These ten strategies provide a solid foundation for attracting high-quality B2B leads. Remember to experiment and analyze the results to determine what resonates best with your target audience. Good luck!