A well-crafted B2B tech marketing plan keeps one goal in focus: Leads. Getting your product or service in front of your target audience members so you can move them from awareness to action.
But before you can move people through your business’s marketing funnel, you have to find the right people to market to on the right B2B lead generation channel. And in today’s hyper-digital world, it can be a challenge to select the channels that will have the highest impact for your organization.
Since you probably can’t (and probably shouldn’t) chase them all, where should you start?
In this post, we’ll explore the most effective B2B lead generation channels for businesses in the B2B tech space, with actionable guidance on how to leverage each one. We’ll cover the following:
- Search Engine Optimization
- Pay-Per-Click Ads
- Social
- Programmatic Display
- Email Marketing
- Influencer Marketing
- And the Content Marketing materials you’ll need to support your efforts
When we’re done, you’ll have a clear idea of which B2B channels you should focus on so your marketing efforts start driving greater results.
Let’s get started with the materials you’re going to need for your channel efforts, such as Lead Magenets, FAQs sheets and high-quality content marketing materials that educate your target audience members.
Content Marketing
High-quality content educates, answers, and engages your audience—all while organically driving traffic to your website. It’s is relatively inexpensive to produce compared to traditional media and paid advertising and can be leveraged in many strategic ways.
Lead magnets, for example, are more than words on a page. Consider incorporating visual or interactive content like short-form videos, infographics, and webinars that break down complex ideas quickly. This type of content builds trust and pushes potential customers further in the sales funnel.
Gated content like e-books, whitepapers, and subscription lists—where users exchange contact info for downloadable resources—can also be a great warm lead gen tactic for your sales team.
Lastly, content does not promote itself. Create a distribution plan to get your content featured on partner websites and social platforms where audiences can begin to engage and share your brand with others. (Pro tip: several of the other B2B marketing channels below will serve as the distribution vehicle for your content marketing materials.)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Another strong B2B marketing channel is search engine optimization (SEO).
Millions of buyers use search engines daily to find answers to their problems. When your product or service answers their problem, you want your site to be the top result.
SEO is the set of practices that can make that happen.
Use these SEO tactics so that search engines drive right-fit traffic to your website, allowing you to generate warm leads.
- Thorough keyword research helps you understand which keywords and phrases your target audience is searching for. Armed with relevant keywords, you can optimize your website content and rank higher in those search results.
- Rankings are also affected by outside elements like backlinks, social media, and online reputation, as these improve your website’s credibility. Reach out to partner websites or publications to feature your brand and provide a backlink to boost your off-page optimization.
- Content creation and SEO go hand-in-hand. In addition to looking for keywords, search engines also favor websites that produce unique, high-value, relevant content regularly. Consider starting a blog where your team can consistently add high-quality content to your domain.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is a staple B2B lead generation channel in every modern business— because practically everyone is on social media.
LinkedIn is no longer just a job board – it’s the leading B2B marketing channel with almost a billion users and over 63 million companies listed on the platform. Linkedin gives businesses both organic reach and paid ad options. The latter allows you to target your posts to specific users based on job title or industry and collect quality lead contact info.
Twitter is another great platform where brands can show their personality and build awareness and cultural relevance. Twitter also offers a myriad of paid ad options, including precision location and follower ads, helping you to target prospects who are likelyinterested in your products.
Some tips for social media boil down to engagement, expertise, and experience. Engage your users by posting consistently and finding a balance between paid and organic ads. Share informative posts so that users associate your brand with expertise. And lastly, focus on providing a good user experience because everyone wants to work with people they like.
Email Marketing
Email may not feel cutting edge, but practically everyone in business still uses email every single day—which makes email a powerful B2B marketing channel with real potential for lead generation. Email marketing (especially cold email templates) works best when recipients are targeted with personalized and relevant offers.
Not sure how to build a valuable contact list? There are several effective tactics, including:
- Purchase a lead database
- Use scraping tools to gather emails from social media groups
- Manually collect contact info on LinkedIn or at in-person events.
As you grow your list, eventually, you can segment your list into smaller sub-groups and disperse content that is more relevant to each group.
The principles for effective B2B email marketing are pretty simple:
- Research what time of day your target audience is likely to check emails
- Craft a catchy subject line
- Use personalization
- Make an irresistible offer with easy CTA buttons
- Optimize emails for mobile readers
- Use A/B testing and monitor which templates perform better
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
While other tactics like content creation, SEO, and email marketing are long-term games, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can have a near-instant impact: as soon as you pay for a campaign, ads appear in front of interested or qualified leads.
Google Ads is by far the most commonly used PPC platform because of its direct link to Google search. Google Ads show up in searches as well as on the broader web thanks to the company’s ad network.
Social PPC is also an option, where you can target your ad to groups based on demographics or interests.
There are few necessary steps to optimize your PPC campaigns. Just like with SEO, your ads need to use high-performing keywords and compelling language. Other vital steps:
- Set up thorough, careful geotargeting
- Build conversion-oriented landing pages relevant to search terms or ad keywords
- Customize your bidding strategy
When optimized and monitored properly, PPC advertising is highly effective, quick-return B2B marketing channel for generating leads.
Influencer Marketing
Another social B2B marketing channel to explore is partnership with an influencer. We know the term “influencer” brings to mind some pretty cringeworthy and very consumer-focused stuff. But influencer marketing exists in the B2B space, too, where it’s decidedly less cringe-inducing.
Working with an influencer gives you reach into their established social and business networks and can lend you some of their social proof.
Giving an outsider creative control to make content for your brand is a big deal, so finding the right partner is key. Some things to consider when searching for the right collaborator:
- Do they post quality work?
- Are they reaching people in your target audience?
- Do they have an engaged community?
- How large is their reach?
- What other brands have they worked with?
Ready to Leverage these B2B Channels?
The B2B marketing channels we’ve shared with you here have been proven to deliver powerful results in lead generation. Of course, B2B marketing strategy is always evolving, and the right mix of channels for your business depends on what you do and who your market is.
Remember: every business is different, and there’s no single magic formula. Instead, you’ll need to experiment, iterate, and build a comprehensive lead gen strategy that brings the most value to your business.
Check out our eBook for more tips on refining your B2B lead channels.
And if you’re ready for a growth marketing partner to help you supercharge your marketing approach, we’re here to support you. Reach out to our team to begin the conversation.
