Latest trends in B2B lead generation in 2018

Today, sales is driven by new and emerging technologies, with influx of new insights,  consumer behaviour evolves fast. According to Heinz Marketing and CaliberMind, “State of B2B Revenue Marketing” report, B2B marketing leaders struggle to hit revenue goals, 67% of marketers are accountable for revenue, but only 35% are confident in their ability to meet their company revenue goals.

B2B marketers are pressed to come up with new lead generation strategies in such a landscape. Strategies like SEO, content marketing will continue to thrive, while other methods push their way through due to the shifts in how customers want to be engaged on and offline.

The secret sauce to effective B2B lead generation in 2018 is to adapt to the ever changing new trends that are relevant and effective and to keep optimizing marketing strategies. Here are 10 B2B lead generation strategies that should help you navigate the shifting sands of lead generation in 2018:

Continued development and adoption of marketing automation tools

Marketing automation is a tactic that ensures that there is relevant and timely content to right prospects. A smart engagement platform is the only way to deliver that kind of communication at scale, help master the art of retargeting and deliver answers to questions as the company grows.

Thomson Reuters testifies that their revenue increased by 172% when they adopted a marketing automation solution. Marketers use all kinds of tools to drive revenue — from Customer Data Platforms for data centralization and self-service analytics, to workflow automation and attribution. B2B marketers rank marketing automation as on of the best ways to generate better and more qualified leads.

Engage with Artificial Intelligence tools

80% of B2B marketers believe that Artificial Intelligence in B2B marketing will revolutionize the field in the next 5 years. AI and marketing go hand in hand since AI-powered messages are tailored for target customers and triggered at the right time and are highly contextual.

Through chatbots, one can autonomously engage website visitors and automate business transactions. Additionally, integrating AI into your lead generation strategy creates new avenues for process efficiency and optimization.

Go Social

Social Media is a popular channel for not only B2C brand, but just as effective for B2b lead generation. With a focused strategy, give your brand a boost with content on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Quora and any other social platforms relevant to your market and get the attention of new leads.

Results come from being active and reactive on each platform. To automate this process, there are various tools and apps to schedule posts, share, tweet and socially engage. These tools also provide analytics to make sure the brand optimises content marketing to the fullest.

Take the account based marketing route

ABM is a strategy for growth by focusing on best-fit prospects and customers. According to study, more than 70% of B2B companies have staff that are fully or partially dedicated to ABM programs.

ABM focuses on a few large and important accounts or those potential accounts that hold  greatest promise. ABM helps drive organizations toward ROI and measurable sales results based on marketing campaigns and integration with sales efforts.

Keep up with mobile optimization for website

According to Google, 50% of the B2B queries are raised through smartphone users and is expected to rise to 70% by 2020.  Moreover, From July 2018, Google’s algorithm will change to focus on site on website with better and  faster loading speeds. Most B2B buyers use web search as a first stop in the decision-making process, and slow loading sites can reduce sales.

A mobile optimised site impacts the way prospects interact with site. Specifically, when mobile can accelerate time to purchase by 20% by increasing efficiency in decision making and enhancing team collaboration. Optimizing website for smartphones will not only prove to be beneficial to B2B marketing goals but can also help buyers make business decisions efficiently.

Make use of Micro Influencers

Influencer marketing is stronger than ever; domain and industry influencers play a major role in effectively communicating  brands message to the audience. 2018 sees a shift to engaging with influencers with influencers that have a following in niche segments. Such micro influencers may have a smaller following but their relevant level of influence remains the same.

These micro-influencers are relatively untapped despite their huge potential for reaching new audiences effectively. What’s more, they tend to cost less and aren’t sick and tired of unsolicited approaches from other brands.

According to Forrester’s B2B Marketing Playbook For 2018, “The next wave of competitive advantage for B2B companies will come from taking swift action based on deepening customer knowledge and delivering what their customers want before their competitors do”.

In case of lead generation, strategies that worked in previous years may no longer work and give optimal results. Emerging trends can provide valuable insights and a change responsive strategy.