Monthly Archives: November 2021

As we move closer toward the end of 2021, it is time to analyze and recalibrate b2b lead generation and demand generation strategies for a more profitable 2022. B2B organizations adopted a lot of trends and techniques in 2021 such as intent data, ABM, conversational marketing and more. These will continue to be the most preferred techniques even in the year 2022. Lead quality, lead nurturing and data will also remain in focus in the coming year.

Let us see some of the top trends and techniques that will stay in focus in the year 2022!

Importance of Data-

2021 saw many marketers focus on one of the most crucial elements of successful lead generation – data! Lead generation is mostly about qualified leads; let’s say marketing qualified leads (MQLs) and about sales pipeline and shortening of sales cycle. These are the critical factors when it comes to successful lead generation and demand generation today. Data plays a vital role in getting all those good leads into the loop and converting them into business.

2022 will continue to be about how to leverage the incredible power of data. This will also include the enormous role that intent data has to play in the success of lead gen and demand gen. If you want to succeed in 2022, you must adopt intent data as one of your main stream activities. Adopt it to see its miraculous influence on lead generation and conversion.

Focus on buyer persona and personalization-

2022 will continue to be more about personalization! Personalization can only be achieved if you know the prospect well. Therefore, if you want to invest in personalization make sure you put in efforts to get to know the buyer persona and the person behind the prospect. This will enable you to come up with personalized communication and more customized strategies for better lead conversion.

The focus will continue to shift to communication, personalized communication and customer-centric sales. The change in approach in sales will continue to be more about the customer and having more empathetic communication even after the face to face trade shows and meetings will gear back in action.

Increasing demand of ABM (Account based marketing)-

Account based marketing showed much traction in the year 2021, as marketers realized the power of focus and a narrowed down approach through ABM for better business returns. Exclusive accounts that have high potential will now be targeted more frequently in 2022. Companies can look forward to hiring dedicated resources for account t based marketing to win the long term loyalty of customers.

Power of strategic email marketing-

Strategic email marketing will continue to reign in 2022 and beyond. Email marketing has been one of the most influential tools in reaching out to customers and also building solid relationships. 2021 was testimony to this fact and marketers have been reaping benefits from strategized email marketing as it allowed them to create more personalized communication, helpful in lead nurturing.

Marketers who are expecting good leads and quicker conversions can now look forward to working with b2b lead gen partners and companies. Outsourcing lead gen activities will continue to be more popular in the coming year as it will allow companies to invest their time in other crucial functions and business activities. Content and content marketing will also remain in focus and companies will now need to dedicate more time and money in creating outstanding content assets in 2022.

Conclusion-

2022 will carry forward some of the most happening trends of 2021. For smooth sailing in the year 2022, companies need to adopt personalization, ABM, intent data, lead nurturing, and other top trends. A change in approach will also prove to be beneficial along with inculcating a data culture in the company for better lead results. 

There’s a difference between capturing leads and creating demand for leads. In this post-COVID market, b2b organizations need to focus on generating demand as much as they want to focus on capturing new leads. Demand generation will help marketers sustain competition and create long term relationships with the clients for more sales.

One of the biggest mistakes that b2b marketers commit is to focus on the market that has active buyers alone. The other curious lot is the actual target audience that needs to be focused upon. This target audience will give them the opportunity to generate demand and offer prospects with solutions and services that will solve their business challenges.

You can establish your brand or brand reputation and also win loyal customers. This is precisely the target that marketers should reach out to, communicate, develop trust and build long term relationships that are critical for sustaining business in today’s b2b market.

Let us look at some of the primary goals that marketers need to focus upon if they want to grow their business-

• Create strong brand awareness and rapport
• Work on creating brand affinity and familiarity to capture the attention of leads
• Enhance your reach amid the target audience that isn’t exactly buying but looking for services that match their needs
• Drive product or service differentiation to stand out in the crowd and sustain competition
• Consider influencing buying decisions or engaging audience with offers that would be difficult to resist
• Communicate business value through a problem solving approach and being a solution provider for their business challenges
• Last but not the least, generate demand by understanding the exact needs of the prospect

These goals could prove to be some of the best and sure shot ways to generate demand and to help recalibrate sales and marketing strategies to be in-line with your demand gen goals.

Help, instead of sell-

This can be the foundation of all your demand generation initiatives. The change in your sales approach will make the prospect see you in a different light. As they see you as someone who wants to help them more than someone who wants to sell to them, they will then show interest in communicating or engaging further with you.

Empathy and willingness to listen are the key characteristics in establishing relationships today. Communication is extremely crucial and so are the content and content marketing initiatives. Insightful content is one of the best ways to offer them with valuable advice or facts that can actually accelerate their decision making process.

Content syndication:

If you are serious about demand generation, content syndication has to be an important part of your demand gen strategy. But remember, that it’s not just content syndication, but it is the quality of content that you end up distributing. Before you focus on the means to distribute content, focus and have dedicated resources churn out insightful, helpful, relevant and meaningful content that can influence the prospect and motivate them to contact you.

Conclusion-

B2B marketers have been investing their valuable time, efforts and money in generating leads through various different techniques. However, today’s trends are all about generating demand with the help of various innovative initiatives with bigger returns in terms of sales.

For any b2b marketer, there’s nothing more delightful than having a constant flow of quality leads that convert easily. Demand generation is one of the most potent and lucrative activities that can shorten your sales cycle, help get good leads that convert easily and enhance sales and ROI.

Lead generation techniques are evolving and the new and innovative methods are bringing success to b2b marketers. Amid a plethora of techniques, there are some that you need to be pay close attention to, especially in 2021.

The pandemic brought in a lot of changes in the way people do sales. The b2b market had to face a lot of challenges with trade shows and face to face meetings coming to a complete halt. Though this pause is slowly waning away, b2b vendors, service providers and organizations have to reconfigure their strategies in order to adjust with the new consumer mind-set and the changes in the market dynamics too.

Lead generation has always been the fuel for b2b sales and ROI. B2B customer journey has taken to digitization in a major way. Considering the myriad changes in the market over the period of 2020-2021, here are some peculiar trends to observe-

• Importance placed on customer’s voice 
• Customer-centric sales and marketing activity
• Increased activities to enhance brand awareness
• Use of email marketing to reach the right target audience
• Use of social media for brand recall and customer engagement
• More focus on generating demand
• ABM gaining more and more importance and focus
• Sales and marketing alignment being prioritized
• Focus on content and content marketing initiatives to drive traffic and to attract leads
• Messaging and communication undergoing a lot of  change to be able to strike the right chord with target audience
• Increased use of content assets being offered to add value to lead generation and demand generation
• Content syndication gaining more importance for enhanced reach and collaborative efforts for lead generation
• Shortening the sales cycle with more innovative approach and a change of mind-set

Other than the above, here are some more top lead generation trends to pay attention to in 2021-

• Personalized reach with intent data-

To know exactly where the buyer is in the buying cycle, intent data is the best tool one can use. Intent data can help marketers to get a comprehensive idea and knowledge about the prospect. You can then reach the prospect using the right techniques and converting the lead into a customer faster.

The best thing about intent data is that you can personalize your outreach efforts far more effectively and with faster results.

• Sales and marketing alignment-

Lead generation has a lot to do with the alignment between sales and marketing. Often, the sales team needs more high quality leads from marketing. There needs to be proper, streamlined communication between sales and marketing teams in order to know what the other team is doing in terms of strategy, metrics used, analysis of results etc. This can prove to be a win-win for both the teams and it can help the organization get the best leads and convert them too in less time.

Conclusion-

After having used some tried and tested and even traditional methods of lead generation, now is the time for marketers to either combine these or get on with some new, innovative and smart strategies that are in-line with today’s market and with the changing needs of the customers. No matter what you use, if you prioritize personalization it can help streamline many of your lead gen goals with great results.