Digital marketing continues to gain ground as a primary source of leads for B2B companies. Recent research shows that digital marketing has replaced the traditional marketing funnel and become the primary source of leads for businesses. With so many channels, tools, best practices, and strategies available how do you know what to focus on? What are the best ways to generate leads? How can you measure ROI on your digital marketing efforts? This Beginner’s Guide will answer these questions and more. Read on to discover everything you need to know about generating leads with digital marketing.
What is digital marketing?
Digital marketing is the process of generating leads and sales using online advertisements and marketing campaigns. This includes everything from creating online ads, to search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, and more. There are many different channels and strategies you can use for digital marketing. The channels range from paid ads to organic search results. The strategies include things like building an email list, publishing long-form content, and more. The goal of digital marketing is to drive people to your website. Once on your website, you want to generate leads (phone calls, emails, or forms). Then, you want to turn those leads into customers. Digital marketing covers every aspect of advertising online, from website design and development to social media management and paid advertising.
Digital Marketing Strategies to Generate Leads
If your marketing efforts are not focused on generating leads, you are missing out on a huge opportunity. The lead generation process is the key to any successful B2B marketing strategy. You need a system where you can capture potential customer information and nurture them through the sales cycle until they become customers. Lead generation is the process of creating and nurturing prospective customers that turn into paying customers. Successful lead generation requires a strategic approach: you need to know your target audience and have a plan to reach them.
Understanding the B2B Lead Generation Process
A successful lead generation process will put you in front of your ideal customers at the right time. Whether you sell products or services, you are likely selling to businesses. While B2C companies can rely a little more on word-of-mouth and social media, B2B marketing has a much more complex lead generation process. Businesses are more skeptical of new products and services and are less likely to jump on the bandwagon. They are more likely to be researching a product and looking for trusted sources that can help them make a decision. You want to understand what your prospects need or want and how you can help them. You want to engage with them at every stage of the buying process and be there when they are ready to buy.
Video Marketing to Generate Leads
Video marketing is one of the most effective ways to engage and convert leads. According to Hubspot, 67% of business buyers watch video content before making a buying decision, and 90% of customers say that video content has helped them understand a product or service better. Video is a great way to explain your product, service, or company culture. It can be used as a webinar, embedded in your blog, or shared on social media. There are a number of different ways to create video content. Here are a few examples:
– Screen captures of how your product or service works
– Company culture videos
– Product demos
– How-to videos
– Explainer videos, like how your product or service solves a problem
Blogger Outreach to Generate Leads
Many B2B marketers have outsourced most or all of their content creation, but they often misunderstand the value of this relationship. It is not just about getting backlinks, it is about building genuine relationships that can help your business. – Blogger outreach can be an effective way to gain exposure and build relationships with thought leaders in your industry. You can reach out to bloggers who have written relevant posts and offer to write a guest post on their blog.
Website Advertising to Generate Leads
Website ad management has become a central component of most digital marketing strategies. According to a study conducted by Marketing Sherpa and reported by eMarketer, digital ad spending in the B2B sector is expected to continue to increase annually, rising from $57 billion in 2017 to $80 billion in 2020. Some of the most common website advertising tools for B2B marketers include retargeting, paid search, and paid display likes vectorgi. Retargeting is showing ads to people who have visited your website or app. Paid search ads show up next to search engine results for keywords that people might search for. Paid display ads are shown on websites that partner with your company.
Conferences and Events to Generate Leads
Conferences and events are great ways to expand your network and generate leads. Finding the right events to attend can be difficult, but there are a few things you can do to make the process less overwhelming. First, you will want to select events based on the attendees you want to connect with. Next, you will want to make sure you have a plan for how you will approach attendees and make connections. Finally, you will want to make sure you follow up after the event.
Summary
Digital marketing is the process of generating leads and sales using online advertisements and marketing campaigns. Digital marketing covers every aspect of advertising online, from website design and development to social media management and paid advertising. Video marketing is one of the most effective ways to engage and convert leads. Blogger outreach is an effective way to gain exposure and build relationships with thought leaders in your industry. Website ad management has become a central component of most digital marketing strategies. Conferences and events are great ways to expand your network and generate leads. Digital marketing is the primary source of leads for B2-B companies.
