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Customers are increasingly demanding more from B2B organizations. You no longer want to be treated as "leads" in your system. They want simple, fast and intuitive solutions to their complex problems. And they have options. This is where an advanced lead generation strategy comes in.

The new generation of digitally savvy customers researches a large part of their products online. In fact, today's customers are usually 57 percent in the decision-making process before connecting directly to a company for the first time. In most cases, they have already assessed your products based on your digital platform.

At the same time, the goal of lead generation has evolved to meet these changing customer habits. Lead generation is less about finding new customers than it is about ensuring that you find new customers. According to studies, 80 percent of B2B companies state that customer expectations are higher due to their experience as consumers. Successful companies improve their lead generation strategy by creating better digital experiences that help build lasting relationships with customers. They offer sophisticated, relevant interactions that address complex customer needs – without the customer having to speak directly to a sales representative.

Executives who focus on better experiences and better service benefit from the advantages. An Accenture study of B2B organizations found that 96 percent had higher profitability and 97 percent had a higher market share due to these efforts. With better experiences and a better lead generation strategy, your company can grow significantly over the long term.

If your company is digitally mature and struggling to overcome the burden of an aging lead generation strategy, here are four steps to better lead generation.

Step 1: Identify your target customers

At the beginning of the customer journey, customers may become aware of your product or service, but are not yet ready to buy. Some might not even be viable buyers. Maintaining a relationship with those who are ready to move into the buying phase will help improve the quality of leads. Recognize that names are not derivatives, just names. Instead, find your target customers to build a head start.

Generating and identifying quality leads requires effective tactics and targeting methods. First identify all characteristics of the target customers. Think of them as your ideal customers and returning customers. This information can be called up via existing contact forms, registrations for special offers and newsletters.

Second, you create customer personas based on these characteristics. You probably have to define more than one person. For example, engineers in the manufacturing industry are often a target. They also have special needs – they need technical information that addresses concerns about “fear of failure” and is validated by other engineers. And a purchase is often required for the purchase phase.

A marketing automation tool that uses AI-based account profiles and selection helps to optimize this process. With predictive ideal customer profile models, you can rank your entire database in seconds. This gives you an overview of which accounts are more likely to be converted to earnings.

You want these names to interact meaningfully with your company. A committed customer expects relevant communication from your company. Once a person interacts and meets your goal criteria, you can start delivering engaging content.

Step 2: create engaging content

Once you've identified your target customers, the next step is to create high quality, engaging content. Develop content that is useful for your audience. Creating content for the purpose of content is not as effective as creating a well thought-out content strategy.

According to Accenture, “80 percent of frequent buyers state that they have changed suppliers at least once within 24 months.” The reasons for their shift in attention are due to a number of factors. One of the main reasons is that B2B organizations do not meet customer requirements. From the first contact to the purchase process, customers want a more meaningful dialogue with organizations.

Imagine content as fuel for all of your marketing campaigns. This can take the form of blog posts, articles, case studies, and with the help of video, audio, and images. Content that is tailored to your key people also performs better.

In addition, great content has a diverse impact on your business. It will affect brand preference and affect future purchases. It generates social media releases and incoming links. It also has lower resource costs than many other marketing tactics.

Overall, content marketing generates higher quality leads than the traditional outbound marketing model.

Step 3: increase traffic across channels

Next, you want to direct traffic through your digital channels. Customers want a balance between technological comfort and relationship-based engagement, which shows that your company understands their needs. Building an integrated, fluid, and engaging experience across all channels and at multiple touch points in the relationship helps increase traffic.

You can do this by using tactics such as email and social media tools to get potential leads to the landing page. Because customers interact with each other across multiple digital devices and channels, your content, processes and digital assets perform best when working on one of the devices or channels used by the customer. With the right marketing automation tool, you can create personalized marketing campaigns across channels without IT support.

Remember that leading B2B marketers provide relevant content that is consistent across all channels for each audience. By consistently integrating into all channels, you can get to know your audience better and create more robust customer profiles.

Step 4: convert visitors to leads

The final step in improving your lead generation is conversion. There are a few tactics you can use to capture leads. First, guide customers through the customer journey to identify protected content that they find useful. Second, let visitors fill out forms to access white papers or eBooks. Finally, carefully design the landing pages using offers, forms, and calls to action.

You also stay agile by using a marketing automation tool to distribute content and connect with customers. This is especially helpful for small marketing organizations. With the right marketing tool, you can create, automate and measure campaigns across channels, regardless of the size of your team. With additional insights into customer behavior, you can quickly respond with targeted messages that guide customers through the buying cycle.

Sales and marketing partnership is the key

An improved strategy for lead generation is only part of the overall picture. Improved integration between sales and marketing helps increase customer leads in many ways. Data monitoring and analysis form the basis for better lead generation. Therefore, data exchange between sales and marketing teams is essential.

B2B organizations that use customer data, analytics and marketing automation tools to generate and manage leads will have greater success in engaging and outperforming the competition. With a tool that enables sales allocation, you can understand, demonstrate and optimize the effects of marketing on the entire company.

Learn more about digital innovations in the manufacturing industry.