How to Leverage SEO for B2B Lead Generation

An important tactic for generating high-quality B2B leads is developing a substantial SEO strategy. The goal of SEO is to use search engines to drive visitors to your website where they can see your value proposition.

SEO for b2b-lead-generation

How to Use SEO for B2B Lead Generation

The B2B marketing landscape is continuously changing as businesses increasingly use the web to find products and services. SEO is becoming progressively more challenging with steadily more companies purchasing SEO packages to acquire new business leads. Although SEO is becoming more competitive, statistics still support the fact that utilizing SEO is a straightforward path for generating B2B leads. In fact, according to Hubspot, “61% of B2B marketers say SEO and organic traffic is their top inbound marketing priority and they plan to dedicate a ‘substantial marketing budget’ to it.” Adding SEO to your B2B Lead Generation strategies will yield many benefits. By adding some SEO-friendly content, based on targeted keyword research, your B2B Lead Generation campaign can be quickly strengthened.

Here are 3 steps that will help you build your online presence and generate new, targeted b2b leads through SEO.

  • Keyword Research – Finding appropriate keywords is the first step in any effective SEO campaign. You can use online tools such as Google Trends, Google’s Keyword Planner, and even Google Autocomplete to help you discover popular search terms in your industry. Once you create a preliminary list of keywords you would like to target, you can use professional resources like SEMRush or ahrefs for more in-depth statistics, such as search volume, competitiveness, and estimated traffic for each term. Once you have the data, prioritize your keywords to make sure you’re spending your time on search terms that will generate the highest number of B2B leads.
  • Content Creation – Creating valuable content is one of the pillars of any SEO strategy. The content on your website is one of the most powerful tools for generating B2B leads. However, mass publishing irrelevant content can have an adverse effect on your lead generation strategy. When attempting to rank for your target keywords, it is important to create informative/useful content focused on a topic related to the keywords you choose. Creating high-quality content is certainly an important piece to the puzzle, but don’t forget to follow the best on-page SEO practices for your pages and posts. According to Demand Gen Report, “B2B buyers typically consume between 3 and 7 pieces of content before speaking with a salesperson.”
  • Optimizing Existing Content – Return to content that you have already created and analyze the success these pages have at generating leads. Tracking and reporting tools like Google Analytics will provide you insight into what step website visitors are getting to in the lead lifecycle. Prioritize pages that generate high numbers in traffic but do not yet yield high numbers of B2B leads. If this is the case, rework your content to earn the trust of your visitors and add content that will drive visitors towards a form submission. There is no one-size-fits-all method for optimizing content in a way that will attract more leads. If you are struggling to bring in an adequate number of B2B leads you may want to consider speaking to a B2B marketing professional.

A recent study found that SEO exceeded the ROI for lead gen from other online channels such as PPC, Social, Youtube, etc.

 

B2B Lead Generation FAQs

What is B2B Lead Generation? 

B2B lead generation is an essential sales and marketing activity in which a company identifies and attracts potential business customers for their product or service. Lead generation initiates a potential customer’s interest in a business’s product or service and brings them into the sales funnel.

What is the B2B Sales Funnel?

A B2B sales funnel depicts how leads are captured and progressed through various levels of engagement before they either make a purchase or exit the funnel. The sales pipeline reflects the buyer’s journey during the sales process, as well as the potential for revenue at any given moment.

Is Lead Generation Sales or Marketing?

Lead generation can be either sales, marketing, or both. Based on their goals for sales or customer acquisition, organizations can subsequently decide what their lead generation goals are and adapt the approach to meet said goals. For example, leads, once acquired, might be added to the marketing department’s newsletter list, to the sales department’s cold-call list, or both.

Some companies use lead generation to attract potential long-term customers to a recurring service, so they might choose to use private access blogs, white papers, or webinars as a way to generate customer interest. Other organizations might be more interested in attracting leads to a direct sales conversation and would adapt their methodology to meet that goal.

Many businesses choose a mix of both methods and use lead generation in both sales and marketing to accelerate their growth.

How Do You Generate B2B Leads?

Leads can be generated in a number of ways. You might choose to host closed webinars where a potential customer trades his contact information for entry; create downloadable content that a person can access by providing their email; send out targeted email campaigns; employ chatbots on your company’s website, or simply cold call a targeted list of prospective clients. You can also contract with a B2B lead generation company to provide you with quality leads for a postal, email, or telemarketing campaign.

Once two-way communication has been established between the lead and a business, the lead is considered “generated” and a sales conversation can begin.

What is Your Lead Generation Method?

At Reach Marketing, our successful lead generation method is based on growth, using both outbound and inbound tactics to nurture audience growth, engage potential customers and facilitate a future sales conversation between your organization and mature leads. We focus on producing higher quality leads, which ultimately accelerates your growth faster than lower quality, higher quantity leads.

Is External Lead Generation or Internal Lead Generation Better?

Internal lead generation refers to having an internal team develop your leads; while external lead generation involves hiring a third-party service to develop leads for you.

While there are benefits to both styles of lead generation, external lead generation is generally considered to be more cost-effective, more aptly targeted, and produces higher quality leads than internal lead generation. This is because an external service typically specializes specifically in lead generation, and thus has a larger portfolio of businesses and contacts across a range of industries, thus amplifying your message across a more extensive market. External sources are also more skilled at developing well-matched leads, meaning that you are more likely to have a successful sales conversation once the leads are passed to the sales team.

How Much Does B2B Lead Generation Cost?

Lead generation can be charged per lead, or per month, depending on your organization’s specific needs. An average cost per lead might be ten cents; while an average monthly lead generation service might range from $3-5k per month.

Is Lead Generation Worth it?

If your goal is growth, then lead generation is worth putting resources towards. Businesses can grow in two main ways. You can dedicate more marketing dollars to encourage existing customers to spend more on your products or services, or you can add new customers. If you choose the second growth tactic, then lead generation is essential to your growth strategy.

How Long Does It Take to See Results from B2B Lead Generation?

Many B2B purchases involve approval from multiple decision-makers, especially ones with a high-ticket expense, so often they have a long sales cycle. Typically, they have timelines that can range from 6 months to 2 years or more.  The longer the sales cycle, the longer it will take to generate the full benefits from lead generation.

What Results Can I Expect from Procuring B2B Lead Generation Services?

The ROI on lead generation services is usually dramatic. Potential customer pools increase exponentially, and if your sales funnels are effective, then sales will quickly follow. If you have any questions about lead generation services, please contact us today.

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