B2B advertising, with its long sales cycles and relatively thin data density, has never been easy. And cookie-disappearing tracking disorder is about to make it difficult.
This means that some of the pervasive flaws I’ve seen in legacy B2B lead generation accounts over the years are about to produce even more shaky results.
Even without talking about cookies and alternative measurement setups, there is a better way forward for lead generation in 2024. This article will examine:
Which brands are still wrong about the fundamentals of their main generation. How to align your offer and funnel stage. How to align channel mix and funnel stage. How to qualify users with content.
What Brands Get Lead Generation Wrong
The biggest mistake I see brands make with lead generation is misjudging (or ignoring) the intent of the lead.
A common example here is asking a prospect to request a demo, which is a leap of faith that will very rarely be rewarded with a positive ROI, or pestering prospects to download content to engage in sales.
The second big mistake is that brands will stop measuring beyond leadership, leading to misappropriation of budget and uncovering blind spots in performance.
Movement between funnel stages, lead quality, and lead progression to MQL > SQL > opportunities > closed deals are vital for lead generation marketers to understand. This allows you to evaluate the performance and optimization priorities of your campaigns and spend your budget where it has the greatest impact on results.
Dig Deeper: Top 5 paid search B2B lead generation strategies for 2024
How to align your offer with the user’s funnel stage
I use this chart all the time with my clients (and sometimes in my articles for Search Engine Land):
The top of the funnel is about educating and engaging with the user:
What they have to learn. What challenges do they have to solve? What they need to know about their problem.
At this point, it’s about engaging with their pain points and starting to build trust more in what they need to solve than in who solves it for them.
The middle of the funnel start tying solutions to problems and present your brand as an option:
Why your solution works. How is it different from your competitors? The results you’ve achieved for brands with similar challenges.
This stage assumes that the user has got their head around their challenge and is now actively researching solutions to help them.
The lower part of the funnel brings more excitement and third-party evidence. This stage assumes users have a list of solutions in mind and are looking for reassurance, based on case studies and testimonials, that yours is yours. This is also when you can start betting on urgency, with limited sales windows or expiring promotions.
The most important thing to remember from all of this is that thoughtful nurturing is key to good lead generation. If you’re using bottom-funnel tactics for people who haven’t heard of you yet, you’re just wasting time and possibly turning users off your brand.
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How to align channel mix and funnel stage
Top of the funnel channels
Starting with awareness/top-of-funnel targeting should mean starting on LinkedIn (and, for some brands with access to the right audience, possibly Facebook).
My first choice is always to start with LinkedIn prospecting because:
Costs are cheaper for top-of-funnel engagement than lead generation or conversion. LinkedIn’s company-based targeting means you can go pretty broad and still stay within your ICP.
LinkedIn is a great place to educate users and position your brand as a thought leader; people go to LinkedIn to consume content, perhaps in the form of advertisements from thought leaders, and are open to high-quality informational engagements.
I approach Facebook prospecting with caution, but it may be worth a try based on your audience.
Retargeting channels and funnel media
Once someone has engaged with your brand and content, you should have started narrowing your audience.
Whether you’re retargeting people engaged with your content, focusing on accounts that have engaged with sales in some way, or channeled audiences, we recommend choosing the following combinations of ad types and channels of tools like Clearbit or 6Sense:
LinkedIn sponsored content and conversational ads. Facebook and Instagram integrated ads or video ads, with messaging that aligns with your audience and funnel stage.
Given my thoughts on Facebook prospecting, you might be surprised by my preference here. But you’ve already defined the audience.
Facebook/Instagram can help extend the reach of Audience Match beyond LinkedIn (where we’ve seen a huge degradation of Audience Match) and retargeting costs are usually lower.
Bottom of funnel channels
Focusing on users who have engaged with high-intent content or visited your site multiple times is a crucial audience for this stage.
Ensuring paid search coverage and high intent SEO queries are the bread and butter capturing intent at this stage, but paid social media is a great way to generate that last step of intent by using social proof like case studies, testimonials, etc. and sealing the deal with demo offers.
These will be your highest engagement costs of the campaign, and they should be, as leads at this stage are (assuming you’ve qualified them along the way) very valuable.
Dig deeper: How to implement a full-funnel PPC marketing strategy
How to qualify users with content
This happens throughout the entire funnel, and a lot of that work is done with the type of content you’re offering.
For example, your content should help the platforms’ bidding and targeting algorithms identify problems, solutions, etc. of the audience (Facebook’s algorithm can do this, but it doesn’t have the important layer of business targeting that LinkedIn has).
There may also be ways to increase engagement within your ICP by speaking directly to them in your copy. Identifying opportunities to call your audience in messaging is a great tactic.
For example, if you’re targeting CFOs, try “CFOs’ Favorite Answer to {Challenge} in 2024” or something similar that lets them know your content is for them.
The advantage here is that the more you align your messaging with your ICP, the more you can delineate who is outside of your ICP and shouldn’t have to worry about engaging with your ad.
Dig Deeper: Paid Prospecting for Lead Generation: Tips for New Accounts on Limited Budgets
Aligning Tactics with Intent: A Better Approach to B2B Lead Generation
Above all, remember to consider the user’s mindset when developing your lead generation campaigns.
No:
Ask too much too soon. Get silly with the retargeting frequency. Move in spending for lower funnel involvement without just a how to.
Cookies or not, sticking to these principles will help you eliminate a lot of waste from your lead generation campaigns and prevent your brand from developing an aggressive reputation.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
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