B2B Marketing and Lead Generation Strategies for Tech Businesses

Our world has been profoundly changed by the digital revolution. Today, we are witnessing how the business world is adapting to conscious customers who no longer accept the traditional marketing methods. Customers now know they have the power and have many options competing for their attention.

And, when it comes to lead generation of niche businesses like B2B tech, there is a whole other story to tell because we are talking about selling complex technologies with high price ranges that can alter an organization's business processes. This is why B2B sales cycles tend to last for weeks, even months.

In this environment, generating quality leads translates into becoming a trusted brand whose identity, marketing actions, and product features are in line with one another. This is why a growth mindset is imperative for tech businesses. Only then can you establish a sales pipeline that will bring you sustainable success.

So how can B2B technology companies embrace the growth mindset in all marketing activities? How can you build lead generation strategies in this competitive B2B tech market?

Simple. Check out our compilation of game-changing marketing and lead generation strategies for tech businesses below.

1. Define Your Buyer Personas

To reach and attract quality leads, the first step is to know who the target of your offerings is. These personas should be semi-fictional representations of the stakeholders in the sales process that typically include a budget holder that usually has the final say, the

champion who finds your solution beneficial, the influencers who have an indirect impact on whether the deal will close, and a blocker who has the power to stop the deal from closing.

But when it comes to the B2B tech industry, we are talking about an average of 8.2 stakeholders who are involved in a B2B buying decision process. These decision-makers include C-level executives, technical and financial experts, people who are negotiating the legal terms, gatekeepers, and even IT vendors that the company is already partners with. 

Hence, defining your personas should be the first step for identifying not only your targeted leads but also what demands your umbrella brand or different solutions provide for.

Now, let’s have a look at how to gain data for persona creation:

1. Internal check-up: This stage is where you analyze your business model, cost structure, distribution channels, sales process, operating and target markets, and current lead generation and marketing activities covering the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion). 
2. External check-up: After you analyze your business internally, run an external analysis to position your brand covering the 4Ps. This phase should include your top 3 to 5 competitors in the industry to help you gain valuable insights about your market and build your marketing strategy accordingly.
3. Customer insights: Now that you have identified your personas, you need to structure your marketing activities according to them. And your current, potential or lost customers will give you the necessary insights to understand their business, goals and challenges, pain points demographics, and purchasing preferences.
4. Identifying customer touchpoints: And lastly, keep in mind that you are trying to reach a very niche audience with different challenges and therefore, you need to decide the right points of interaction. Hence, before you move on to lead generation campaigns, make sure you have the answer to this question: Where do your visitors hear about your brand?  

2. Upgrade Your Digital Assets

In order to lead and attract your qualified leads, you need to be visible to them: 74% of B2B buyers do about half of their research online before they make a purchase.

This is why search engine visibility is crucial for your tech business. It is because, through this visibility, you can reach and attract high-quality leads as they look for solutions you can provide. 

So before you take marketing actions, first, make sure you have a well-designed website or a simple landing page. Because no matter the action you make, it will lead people to your online assets, which are the digital representation of your tech business. Hence, it needs to be well-optimized and attractive for a good user experience. And, keywords play an imperative role in your SEO (search engine optimization) activities to become visible. 

Only after you make sure you have an attractive website and landing page can you move on to marketing actions that will reach & attract leads.

3. Generate Leads with Growth Marketing Strategies

1. Raise Awareness With Paid Media

Although paid media requires a budget, if you have just started your business and aim to make a name quickly, you can allocate a budget for paid media along with content marketing. The most popular paid media channels include Google Search, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google Display, Universal App, and Native Advertising Platforms. And here are the strategies for raising awareness:

Google Search: Make sure you add paid search campaigns in your marketing efforts to get quick results because they will help you reach your target audience without struggling with complex SEO algorithms.   

To launch a search campaign, you need to do keyword research and analyze your competitors' keywords. During this phase, you can utilize tools like Semrush and BuzzSumo.

Facebook/Instagram: Facebook and Instagram offer a variety of ad formats from single image to carousels while offering detailed targeting options. This will empower you to benefit from the demographic info you gather from these ads and apply them to your other marketing activities.

You can also target lookalike audiences who are likely to be interested in your product because they have similar characteristics to your existing customers.

LinkedIn: One of your main B2B paid actions should include LinkedIn ads. Because the niche audience you target might not be using other platforms as they search for high-tech solutions. Consequently, it enables pinpoint and high-accuracy targeting in B2B that will bring you high-quality leads. 

Google Display: In Display advertising, you can get traffic by displaying banners on YouTube, websites, or related applications.

Also, keep in mind that YouTube is a great tool that creates emotional engagement. Hence, as a B2B tech business, it might be useful for promoting your high-tech product in a more engaging manner.

Universal App: If your tech product is a mobile app, or includes one, you can specifically benefit from Google Universal App Campaign Placement. This is because, with Universal App campaigns, you can promote your app on other apps, Google Search Network, Display Network, Google Play, or YouTube.

Native Advertising Platforms: These platforms offer you a higher click-through rate (CTR) than typical display ads and allow your ad to blend in organic content on a website. Adding these platforms to your paid actions will empower you to reach your leads since today's customers value branded content.

Sponsored Content and Native Advertising Platforms

2. Generate Organic Traffic with Content Marketing

In Isoline Communications’ Content Marketing Insights survey, 78% of tech B2B marketers found that the best way to generate leads was through content. In your content marketing activities, you need to focus on various forms of content including social media posts, blog posts, and, especially for B2B businesses: ebooks, infographics, and webinars to reach your audience at the right touchpoints.

The topics you focus on in different mediums will be what differentiates you from your competitors. Because when it comes to tech businesses, you need to show that you are a thought leader in your niche industry to gain trust and turn your visitors into prospective buyers. Only then can you attract them with a call to action in your content offerings and get their contact information.

So, when you research topics, make sure you offer information and value to your audience. In doing so, you can analyze your competitors' offerings; track industry trends, forums, and customer surveys to understand your audience's goals and challenges.

Also, one important thing to consider is creating content according to your buyers’ journey. For instance, if you want to raise brand awareness, make sure you offer inspiring content while avoiding technical jargon. Because in the awareness stage, you need to explain how your product solves a particular problem. So, always make sure you target the critical keywords of your industry with SEO activities and focus on how your customer is searching for you. For example, they may not search for you as "the best ERP vendor"; instead you can reach them if you include the long-tail keywords like "how can I improve my business processes".

3. Connect Through Social Media

Social media is a powerful tool to connect with your audience with a conversational tone. To generate leads as a B2B tech company via social media, make sure you benefit from the best practices for each social media platform. Here are the growth tactics for B2B tech companies to utilise these platforms:

LinkedIn: 

• Join industry-specific groups and build a professional network.
• Tag others while promoting success stories and industry awards.
• Get engagement via industry-specific influencers.
• Benefit from Inmail, a premium feature of LinkedIn, is often used in B2B sales to send customized messages to people outside of your network.

Facebook: 

• Join industry-specific groups.
• Work together with industry influencers.
• Share announcements and promote events.
• Facebook states that their videos get three times more engagement than other content. It also revealed that live videos are shared more than any other regular video. Hence, you can make live broadcasts with Facebook Live and put them at the forefront of your activities on this platform.
• You can also take advantage of the 360 ​​Photos feature, which attracts more attention than regular images. Here you can have interactive conversations, virtual tours and show the background of an event or your product in detail.

Twitter: 

• The most effective action you can take to announce your brand on Twitter is real-time posts on a current topic. For instance, some of you will remember Oreo's viral Twitter post when the electricity went out in the Super Bowl. 
• Remember that on Twitter, we are "catching the agenda". Hence, it is important to participate in industry-related conversations, events and work with influencers to promote your brand on this channel.
• Of course, it is imperative to use hashtags specific to your industry and brand on Twitter. But note that overusing hashtags can be unattractive, so avoid using too many.
• Also, you need to use more conversational and friendly language on Twitter than on other platforms.

Instagram:

• Utilize different content mediums such as stories, reels, posts in live streams.
• Collaborate with influencers.
• Humanize your brand with employee branding and partner stories.
• Get visibility utilizing hashtags. 

Youtube:

Youtube is the second most popular search platform after Google. For this reason, it is very effective to create content in the titles that you think your target audience would search. You can use the following tactics in gaining new subscribers and increasing viewership rates:

• Create educational videos about your business: For example, you can make a video answering all the questions concerning "how to" use your product.
• List content videos: For example, you can make a video covering the top 5 technology developments of the week.
• Include influencer content: This can include an influencer taking over your channel for a certain period or videos with influencer participation. For instance, Vodafone used influencers to address the digital parenting issue and other social responsibility topics without directly promoting the product.
• Mind the video length and keywords: Of course, the videos should not be too long and you must include the relevant keywords in the video title and tags.

4. Build Trust Through Earned Media

Ad content aims to encourage customers to discover a product, but real product experiences are the most reliable way to attract potential customers. And this is where Earned Media comes to play.

Earned Media is the content that includes recommendations, reviews, reposts, word of mouth, or shares. Below are the types of earned media that will empower your B2B lead generation strategies:

Types of Earned Media

5. Offer Free Trials

As a B2B tech company, one of the most effective lead generation strategies is offering free trials. In this way, you can provide prospective customers with a solid opt-in offer to show the benefits of your product or service. These trials can focus on how your solution ensures a quick ROI and automates certain business processes, etc. 

Hence, to reach high-quality leads, make sure you add a free trial section on your landing page. It will not only help you attract prospective buyers into your sales funnel but also encourage them to give you valuable feedback about your product and services.

Upgrade Your Business with End-to-End Lead Management

Lead generation strategies cover only the first phase of lead management. And lead engagement and nurturing are the game-changers for your tech business to ensure an unbreakable B2B sales funnel. If you want to benefit from our growth services for end-to-end lead management and gain a competitive advantage, we are ready to help.