What is B2B Lead Generation: Ultimate Guide for 2024

The digital era has transformed virtually every aspect of life and work, including B2B lead generation.

The introduction of new tools and technology on the one hand, and increased customer expectations and market competitiveness on the other, have spawned new ways of conducting B2B lead generation.

What does this mean for B2B companies?

Well, any B2B business looking to stay competitive in 2024 and beyond should ensure that its B2B lead generation funnel is properly designed and optimized to:

Continuously attract and convert new quality leads.
Deliver a steady revenue stream.
Enable targeted growth and better scalability.

This is exactly why this article is here: to help you master the art of B2B lead generation and teach you how to build a high-converting B2B lead generation funnel step-by-step.

We’ll begin by drilling down into the basics.

What is B2B lead generation?

B2B lead generation is the process of identifying and attracting potential business customers - i.e., leads - who could benefit from your company’s products or services.

Unlike B2C lead generation, which targets individual consumers, B2B focuses on creating relationships with other businesses.

As a result, this process involves using various marketing and sales tactics to engage decision-makers within target companies and guide them through the buyer's journey, with the goal of converting them into long-term clients.

This would be a good place to break down other key differences between B2B and B2C lead generation for easier navigation and a better understanding of the two concepts.

Namely, although both approaches aim to generate more quality leads, they differ in terms of:

Target audience - This is the main difference, as B2B lead generation targets businesses, typically dealing with multiple decision-makers and longer sales cycles. In contrast, B2C lead generation focuses on individual consumers, often with shorter buying cycles.
Content and messaging - B2B marketing emphasizes expertise, ROI, and long-term value, often using in-depth content like whitepapers, case studies, and webinars. B2C marketing, however, focuses more on emotional appeals, brand experience, and immediate needs, often through simpler and visually driven content.
Sales process - B2B sales involve a more complex decision-making process consisting of multiple touchpoints and stakeholders, which requires personalized communication and long-term relationship building. B2C sales are generally more straightforward, with a focus on quick conversions and individual customer satisfaction.

Consequently, B2B lead generation funnels function differently than B2C ones, although they include the same stages.

Let’s get a closer look at a typical B2B sales funnel.

B2B sales funnel overview

The whole point of a sales funnel is to let you control a lead’s buyer journey, guiding them from awareness to consideration and, finally, decision.

The same goes for B2B sales funnels, with each stage including specific tactics designed to attract, delight, and convert business leads:

Awareness - At this stage, potential leads become aware of a problem they need to solve or an opportunity they wish to explore further. B2B marketers use tactics like SEO, content marketing, and social media to make their target audience (stakeholders of ICP-matching companies) aware of their solutions.
Consideration - Once a lead is aware of their need, they move into the consideration stage, where they research and compare different solutions. Here, B2B companies provide detailed information through expert resources such as webinars, case studies, and product demos to position themselves as the best choice.
Decision - The focus here is on reinforcing the value proposition, addressing any remaining objections, and guiding the lead toward a final purchase. Sales teams often play a crucial role in this stage by providing personalized offers, negotiations, and customer testimonials.

When guiding leads down the funnel, one key component to focus on throughout the customer journey is lead nurturing.

Namely, given the longer and more complex buying cycles in B2B, nurturing helps keep leads engaged and informed, ensuring they remain aligned with your solution as they progress through their decision-making process.

Effective lead nurturing strategies could include a variety of tactics, such as:

Personalized email campaigns tailored to specific lead segments (i.e., businesses that match your ICP, companies that have already expressed interest in your solution by attending your webinars, etc.).
Targeted content creation, with a focus on resources that bring clear value and are highly industry-relevant, such as detailed whitepapers, checklists, guides, etc.

Consistent follow-ups to address the lead’s specific needs or concerns.

All these efforts can pay big time by enabling you to increase conversion rates, shorten sales cycles, and ultimately build stronger and lasting customer relationships.

So, neglecting to invest in proper lead nurturing is a no-go if you want your lead generation funnel to yield actual results.

Why is B2B lead generation important in 2024?

The answer to this question is pretty straightforward.

If you don’t design and apply B2B lead generation strategies tailored to your business, objectives, and target audience, your business will go under before you know it.

Without quality leads, you can forget about successful conversions, regardless of how good your product actually is.

So, you must ensure that you’ve promoted your business through approaches carefully designed to reach, attract, and convert your ICPs.

However, as businesses become more digital and global, traditional methods of reaching and converting leads don’t really work anymore. This is urging companies to switch to new strategies and refine existing ones if they want to stay in the game.

The new, more dynamic landscape creates a mix of both new challenges and opportunities to generate more quality leads and conversions, including:

Increased competition - As more companies invest in high-converting strategies like digital marketing, the competition for high-quality leads has intensified. To stand out in a hyper-crowded market, businesses must leverage unique value propositions, innovative content, and exceptional customer experiences.
Changes in buyer behavior - Today's B2B buyers are more informed and have higher expectations. They conduct extensive research before engaging with sales and marketing teams, often preferring self-service options and peer reviews. This shift requires businesses to provide valuable, easily accessible information throughout the buyer's journey (e.g., comprehensive documentation and help centers, ample social proof, interactive demos, etc.).
Technological advancements - While technology offers opportunities for automation and optimization, it also presents challenges in terms of integration and staying updated with the latest sales tools, or they risk falling behind. Businesses must continuously evaluate and adopt new technologies to remain competitive in lead generation.

Despite these challenges, the current market also offers opportunities for agile and innovative businesses.

By leveraging tech innovations, such as AI-powered tools, automation, and advanced analytics, you can:

Run more efficient and highly targeted lead-generation campaigns.
Streamline critical sales and marketing processes.
Gain deeper insights into customer needs and preferences, allowing you to tailor your lead generation efforts more effectively.

The role of data in B2B lead generation in 2024

Data also plays a critical role in successful lead generation today for leads and businesses alike.

On the one hand, leads have more easily accessible information at their fingertips than ever before, enabling them to carefully research your solution and the alternatives. As a result, delighting them is much more difficult than before the rise of the internet.

On the other hand, you can make data one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal, as it can help you:

Improve targeting - You can identify the most promising leads based on behavioral data, past interactions, and predictive analytics. For instance, tools like Warmly can identify your website visitors and reveal valuable B2B and intent data, helping you understand which leads are most likely to convert right now.
Enhance personalization - Tailor marketing messages and content to the specific needs and preferences of individual leads or segments. Again, using the intent and B2B data Warmly unearthed, sales teams can create highly personalized, contextual messages bound to resonate with leads.
Optimize campaigns - You can continuously monitor and refine campaigns based on real-time data, ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently and effectively. Various analytics tools can help you understand which of your campaigns are working well, identify bottlenecks, and pinpoint what resonates best with leads.

This way, you’ll show your leads exactly what they want to see and hear, enabling you to position your product as the best solution for their pain points and needs.

Key strategies for effective B2B lead generation

When it comes to the most efficient strategies for successful B2B lead generation, it’s important to differentiate between outbound and inbound marketing strategies you can leverage.

Typical inbound strategies include:

Content marketing and SEO
Social selling
Lead magnets and landing pages

Nurturing email campaigns (i.e., emails sent to newsletter subscribers, leads who downloaded an ebook, etc.)

Outbound, on the other hand, focuses on:

Cold calls
Cold email campaigns
Networking events

Advertising

Each approach has its own pros and cons, so it’s best to combine them to maximize your reach.

Namely, inbound is generally focused on long-term relationship building that takes more time, whereas outbound lead generation provides more immediate results but loses something on engagement levels.

And now, without further ado, here’s our pick of the best B2B lead generation strategies - both inbound and outbound - that you can implement throughout the sales funnel for optimal results.

1. Developing a strong value proposition

This is the first step to creating a high-converting B2B lead generation strategy, as it enables you to set your brand apart from the competition and position it as the ideal answer to your leads’ needs.

Therefore, a compelling value proposition should clearly communicate your business's unique benefits and solutions while addressing the specific pain points of your target audience.

When developing a strong value proposition, you should focus on showcasing:

How your tool helps solve your leads’ problems and needs - For instance, if you have a marketing automation tool, you should highlight points like increased productivity and efficiency across levels, better results than when handling tasks manually, etc.
What makes your tool different from all the other similar platforms - This can include factors like price, unique features, convenience, a solid free plan, etc.

Once that’s completed, ensure that your value proposition is prominently featured in all marketing materials, including your:

Website

Social media profiles
Content
Email campaigns, etc.

2. Optimize your website

Your website is another critical part of any B2B lead generation strategy because it introduces your brand to potential leads and can be used as a powerful tool for nurturing and converting them.

For optimal results, your website needs to check several boxes:

It has to follow SEO guidelines - Its structure (title tags, meta tags, etc.) and technical aspects (loading speed, mobile optimization) should meet SEO requirements in order to rank higher on SERPs and drive more organic traffic to it.
It has to be easy to navigate - All the crucial bits, such as your blog page, help center, pricing, features, etc., must be easy to find. If you make leads waste too much time finding what they need, they’ll simply switch to the competition.

It has to convey your value proposition clearly - As mentioned above, your website is one of the key places to position your value proposition. That way, new leads will know what to expect from the get-go.
It needs to include CTAs - Implement CTAs that urge leads to take action that will lead them further the sales funnel (convert into an MQL, SQL, or paying customer). Ensure that the CTAs are contextual and relevant to the landing page they’re on to increase the chance of leads clicking through.

Once all this is done, a question remains:

How to capture all the leads who’ve landed on your website.

You could use lead-capturing forms and magnets, but not all leads will be compelled enough to fill them out or download these resources, meaning many will go to waste.

This is why you need a website visitor identification tool like Warmly.

The platform can identify both companies and actual stakeholders visiting your website in real-time, at the same time uncovering relevant data on each identified lead, including:

Essential contact data (name, email address, phone number).
Detailed B2B data (firmographics, technographics, etc.).
Intent data (insights into leads’ interactions with your website and their entire digital buyer’s journey that help you pinpoint which leads are at the brink of conversion right now).

By leveraging solutions like Warmly, you’ll be able to kill several birds with one stone:

You can assess how well your website attracts your target audience. If most of your visitors don’t match your ICP, it’s a clear sign that something is off.
You’ll tap into a rich lead pool of companies that have already shown interest in your product by surfing your website.
You’ll be able to pinpoint the hottest leads and focus on them from the get-go.

3. Leverage content marketing

Content marketing remains one of the most powerful strategies for lead generation in general, including B2B.

Namely, by creating and sharing valuable, relevant content, businesses can attract, engage, and nurture leads throughout the buyer's journey.

Additionally, positioning your brand as a thought leader in your industry can build trust and credibility, making it a crucial part of lead nurturing and helping you convert leads into customers more easily.

The content you should focus on can include:

Blog posts - Just make sure that the blogs you publish are relevant to your audience, i.e., that they help them find a solution to their problems, answers to their questions, etc., while at the same time adequate for subtly pushing your product as the best solution.

Whitepapers and case studies - B2B audiences are much more demanding than B2C ones, as you have to impress and hook other industry experts and stakeholders. This means you need to focus on expert content, such as whitepapers and case studies, that position you as a thought leader and provide potential customers with significant value.
Educational videos and podcasts - Going beyond the typical content used in B2B can help you cut through the noise more efficiently. Engaging videos and podcasts that break down relevant topics can also help you reach more leads, create trust, and build brand authority.

4. Use social media platforms

Social media platforms can be particularly useful for building relationships with potential leads and nurturing them over time.

Namely, you can use social media to share valuable content, engage in conversations, and provide insights that address the needs of your target audience.

LinkedIn is probably the most famous social media platform used for B2B sales and lead generation and for a good reason - it gathers together professionals across industries and borders, providing B2B companies with a rich lead pool.

To efficiently use LinkedIn for B2B sales and lead gen, there are several steps to take:

Optimize your profile - Make sure that your company profile stays true to your overall messaging and value proposition while at the same time introducing your brand to potential leads in a clear and compelling way.
Invest in LinkedIn Sales Navigator - This is virtually a must if you want to run LinkedIn lead generation campaigns, as it enables you to apply more advanced search filters, get lead suggestions based on your previous searches, etc.
Post regularly - Make a habit of sharing compelling and relevant posts. These can include your views on current industry trends, valuable tips for practitioners in your target vertical, links to interesting articles, useful infographics, and more.

Engage with leads - No point in being on social media if you don’t interact with your network. Like, reshare, and comment on other people’s posts, join groups and relevant discussions, and more, to build meaningful relationships and show leads you can be trusted.
Urge leads to action - Using interactive content like polls or simply asking for your leads’ opinions, questions, or comments in your posts can get you a long way. Getting them to actively participate will make leads feel more valued and see you as more of a friend or a thought leader than someone trying to sell at all costs.

5. Focus on email campaigns

If you think cold email is dead, think again.

Email campaigns remain one of the most effective and reliable strategies for B2B lead generation, as they provide direct, personal, and measurable ways to reach potential leads and nurture them through the sales funnel.

However, to get the results you want, there are several key areas to focus on:

Build targeted email lists - Rather than sending generic emails to a broad audience, focus on building lead segments based on criteria such as industry, job title, company size, or past interactions. This allows you to tailor your messaging, making your emails more relevant and increasing the likelihood of engagement.
Personalize everything - When it comes to personalization, it’s important to know that it extends beyond just personalized greetings. It can include things like customized product recommendations, content suggestions, and offers based on the recipient's behavior or preferences.
Use attention-grabbing subject lines - The subject line is often the first—and sometimes only—thing a recipient sees, making it crucial for sparking their interest. Subject lines should be concise, clear, and relevant, enticing the recipient to open the email.
Don’t forget to include a CTA - Once opened, the email’s content should have a clear and strong CTA that guides the recipient toward the desired next step, whether it’s downloading a resource, signing up for a webinar, or contacting your sales team.

6. Implement marketing automation and AI tools

Marketing automation and AI tools can help you scale B2B lead generation efforts while maintaining a personalized approach.

Automation tools can streamline email marketing, lead nurturing, and customer segmentation, allowing your team to focus on higher-level strategies.

Email drip campaigns are the one marketing process that’s most commonly automated, as putting it on autopilot can help you reach more qualified leads in less time.

Get a tool that can:

Automatically add leads who match predefined criteria in email cadences.
Ensure that each email is personalized (based on the lead’s interests, interactions with your website, downloaded content, etc.).
Send emails and follow-ups in specified frequencies.

AI-powered tools, on the other hand, can predict lead behavior, pull relevant information based on predefined criteria, and personalize messaging thanks to their ability to analyze large datasets and detect patterns.

This makes them perfect for:

Lead enrichment.
Lead scoring and qualification.
Powering smart chatbots.

7. Host and attend networking events

In-person, virtual, and hybrid events can also be leveraged as a solid B2B lead gen strategy, enabling you to:

Connect with key stakeholders from companies fitting your ICP and build rapport.
Position your brand as an industry leader.

Both hosting and attending these events can help you generate leads, each in their own way.

When it comes to hosting events, you should focus on:

Choosing the right format - Depending on your target audience and goals, decide whether a virtual, hybrid, or in-person event is most suitable. Webinars, roundtable discussions, and industry conferences are all effective formats for B2B networking.
Curating valuable content - Content is king, even in networking events. Aim to deliver high-value content that addresses your target audience's key pain points and interests. This could include expert panels, keynote speeches, and interactive workshops that not only engage attendees but also showcase your expertise.

Engage attendees - Encourage your audience to participate actively by implementing things like Q&A sessions, live polls, or breakout discussions. This interaction not only enhances the attendee experience but also provides valuable insights into their needs and challenges, which can improve your follow-up strategies.
Collect leads - This is the key advantage of choosing to host your own event, as you can use registration forms, surveys, and interactive tools like polls to gather information on attendees.

At the same time, attending industry-relevant events can also help you generate more quality leads, as you can:

Focus on connecting with key attendees - Research the attendee list beforehand and pinpoint the prospects who might be the best match for your product and service so you’ll know who to prioritize and how to approach them.
Maximize booth engagement - When it comes to industry conferences and trade shows, you should ensure that your booth or exhibit (if you have one) is visually appealing and staffed with knowledgeable representatives who can engage attendees. Offer incentives like free trials, exclusive content, or giveaways to attract visitors and capture their contact information.
Leverage speaking opportunities - If possible, secure a speaking slot at the event. Presenting at an event gives you a platform to showcase your expertise to a large audience, positioning your company as a leader in the industry and attracting potential leads.

How to build an efficient B2B lead generation funnel step-by-step

Finally, once you’ve explored all these strategies and narrowed down on the ones you’d like to implement first, it’s time to design your very own B2B lead generation funnel.

Here are the key steps you should follow to ensure that each funnel stage performs the best it possibly can:

Define your target audience, ICP, and unique value proposition - This step precedes actual funnel building because you can’t do much unless you know who you’re supposed to target with it. Determining who your target audience is, defining ICP attributes, and crafting a compelling value proposition enables you to create a funnel optimized for companies most likely to convert.
Leverage software tools that can help you maximize conversions - Data enrichment platforms, website traffic identification solutions, chatbots, sales automation, and various marketing tools can all be used to strengthen and improve your funnel.
Attract leads with TOFU content - At the awareness stage, you must attract and capture leads’ attention by providing educational and informative content that helps them understand their challenges and potential solutions. Key strategies include content marketing and Search Engine Optimization, as well as lead magnets.
Nurture them by leveraging MOFU content - In the consideration stage, you need to deliver deeper insights into how your product or service can solve leads’ specific problems while at the same time building trust and meaningful relationships. Effective strategies at this stage include email campaigns, case studies and testimonials, product demos, and webinars.
Convert them with BOFU content and strategies - At the decision-making stage, your goal is to convince leads that your solution is ideal for their needs by removing any remaining doubts and objections and urging them to take action. Strategies include free trials, personalized meetings, special offers, etc.
Focus on retaining customers - The relationship doesn’t end at conversion. Post-conversion follow-up is crucial for building long-term relationships and encouraging repeat purchases. The best way to achieve this is to provide excellent onboarding and overall user experience, continuously engage with customers through check-ins and personalized offers, have good customer support, etc.

The best way to grasp what an efficient B2B lead generation funnel looks like is through a practical example using Warmly as our lead generation tool of choice:

Design a compelling company website - Follow the guidelines explained above and optimize your website for your target audience and SEO requirements. Make sure to include all the relevant sections that can help raise brand awareness, such as a blog page, feature breakdown, etc.
Implement website visitor identification tools - Use solutions like Warmly to detect website visitors and narrow down those who are most likely to convert.

3. Engage high-intent sales leads - Use Warmly’s AI Chat function to engage and further qualify leads. The chatbot can be trained to engage only leads who show high buying intent or all website visitors by:

Sending personalized, contextual messages based on info such as the lead’s name, company, the page they were surfing, etc.
Offer additional resources based on the content the lead was consuming (e.g., send a case study detailing how a product feature they were exploring helped another company overcome a specific problem).
Ask questions to urge them to interact with your brand and qualify them (questions like “What brings you here?” or “How can I help you today?”).

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Book meetings.

4. Nurture them through personalized LinkedIn and email campaigns - Warmly’s Orchestrator can automatically add leads who match specified criteria (e.g., engaged with the chatbot, visited the pricing page, came back to your website several times, etc.) in nurturing campaigns by:

Sending a personalized LinkedIn request or DM.
Sending a personalized email that can include special resources leads may find useful (free checklists or templates), exclusive offers, customer testimonials, etc.

5. Convert them by leveraging the insights Warmly provided - Ensure that your sales reps nail every sales meeting by providing them with actionable insights on each lead, including their buyer intent level, interests, pain points, etc. That way, they’ll be able to tailor their approach to every individual lead, improving the chance of successful conversion.

How to measure the success of your B2B lead generation funnel

Once you’ve designed and applied your B2B lead generation funnel, monitoring it to ensure it’s performing as intended is crucial.

There are several key metrics you should track to understand how effective your B2B lead gen funnel is:

1. Conversion rates show the percentage of leads who progressed from one funnel stage to the next. There are several to keep an eye on:

Visitor-to-Lead - The percentage of website visitors who provide their contact information in exchange for a resource or lead magnet or exhibit high-intent behavior.
Lead-to-Marketing Qualified Lead - The percentage of leads that meet the criteria set by your marketing team to be considered qualified (e.g., attended a webinar).
MQL-to-Sales Qualified Lead - The percentage of MQLs that are deemed ready for direct sales engagement (e.g., requested a demo).
SQL-to-Customer - The percentage of SQLs that ultimately convert into paying customers.

2. Cost per lead, which measures the average amount of money you spend to acquire a single lead. To calculate it, divide your total lead generation costs by the total number of leads generated.

3. Customer lifetime value, which estimates the total revenue a business can expect from a customer over the entire duration of their relationship, helping you better understand overall customer acquisition costs. To calculate it, multiply the average purchase value by the purchase frequency and the average customer lifespan.

In addition to helping you figure out how your funnel is performing, these metrics are critical for one other thing - determining the ROI of your lead generation efforts.

To calculate it, use the following formula:

(Total Lead Gen Revenue - Total Lead Gen Costs) / Total Lead Gen Costs x 100

To accurately measure ROI this way, you’ll need to:

Track all revenue generated by various lead-generation channels.
Include all costs associated with lead generation, such as marketing spend, software subscriptions, and labor.
Analyzing CLV in relation to CPL provides additional context, helping you understand the long-term profitability of your lead generation efforts.

Start generating more quality B2B leads today

Ready to fill your pipeline with quality leads?

All it takes is following our guidelines and tried-and-true practices to start successfully generating and converting hot new leads.

Warmly can help you optimize your lead generation efforts and reach your goals faster by:

Detecting high-value leads on your website.
Engaging and nurturing them via automated campaigns.
Enabling reps to reach out to hot leads straight from your website.

Or book a live demo and test the waters first.

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