Technology / Internet
How to use digital marketing for lead generation post COVID
12 Sep 2021 at 03:39hrs | Views
Meta: Are your marketing events generating worthwhile leads are they? Here's how you can use digital marketing for lead generation in the post-Covid-19 era.
By now, most brands have realized that business will never go back to what it was before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Marketers who relied heavily on big events, in-person meetings, networking, and direct sales watched as their time-tested practices dried up quickly.
To make matters more interesting, B2B buyers expressed a preference for self-service and remote interactions. They demand convenience and speed as they seek information, place orders, or arrange services.
This shift in mindset and dealings meant many B2B sellers had to change their modes of operation. They also had to align their lead generation efforts to the rules that govern the digital marketing space.
Some succeeded, but many others are still trying to find their way. Here's how to use digital marketing for lead generation post-Covid-19.
1. Content Marketing
At least 70 percent of internet users learn about products or services by reading through content before making a purchase decision.
Today's B2B consumers are smart and resourceful. They look past traditional advertisements and into the actual value of what they want to buy.
Content marketing aligns with buyer behavior to provide quality and informative content that educates and guides audiences on relevant topics.
Here's how you can tap into this strategy:
- Know your buyer. Start by creating your ideal buyer. Research businesses that can use your solutions, their challenges, and the questions they typically ask. With this information, you'll know what content can meet their needs
- Choose content types that work for your target audience. Some audiences like video, others prefer data-backed white papers, infographics, and ebooks. Gate your most valuable content to ensure you get your audience's contact information for use in lead nurturing.
- Create lead magnets such as cheat sheets, checklists, templates, eBooks, Guides, or tutorials. Effective lead magnets should be easily accessible and solve user problems in an easy-to-digest manner.
- Syndicate your content. Upload your content to authoritative third-party sites that also target your ideal buyers to maximize exposure and increase engagements.
- Choose appropriate distribution networks. By appropriate we mean the platforms where your target audience hangs out. They could be LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, or Quora.
2. Create Interactive Virtual Experiences
Using virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology.
Virtual events sometimes fail to elicit the responses marketers want. Your audience may feel detached or skeptical about what you're telling them. VR and AR technologies can help promote your offerings in a way that feels more genuine to your audience.
So, you are not just speaking at your audiences, rather using immersive technology that allows them to engage with your offerings more closely.
The ability to explore in 3D and "try before buying" makes conversations richer and meaningful, generating more interest than a static picture would.
As they see how their businesses will benefit when they adopt your solutions, lingering doubts can be put to rest.
AR and VR are perfect where multiple decision-makers are involved in purchase decisions. You can delight them with interactive experiences that highlight top features, technical specifications, and other benefits of your products/services.
As a result, the decision-makers retain critical knowledge of your offerings, pushing them to decide quicker.
3 Cold Calling
With the onset of the pandemic, many companies shied away from cold calling. They felt as though they were intruding on businesses already suffering the effects of the pandemic.
Well, research shows that up to 69 percent of buyers accepted cold calls from new providers in the past year.
Business operations are still pushing forward, and demand is there. Brands are still looking for solutions the pandemic notwithstanding.
Here are tips to help you leverage cold calling:
- Research the prospects on your list. Segment them in their respective industries and look up the challenges they experience.
- Trying to warm up cold calls by dropping the prospect a quick email or LinkedIn message. You can also use a short video to pique their interest and lay a foundation for the call.
- Use a call guide to direct the conversation and help you cover your main points. Start with greetings, introduce yourself, and tell the prospect why you're calling. Include objections, negative responses, and your response.
- Practice calling. Internalize why you're making the cold calls -other than to meet your target. Conduct mock calls with your teammates to help you navigate easy and tough conversations with grace.
4. Invest in Video Marketing
Videos are valuable long-term assets you can use to attract and nurture leads.
On the surface, they look simple. All you need to do is to put someone in front of a camera and have them talk about your products/services, right?
Not really.
Video requires planning. Planning helps you create videos that your target audience finds relevant.
Relevance isn't just about the meat of the discussion, but also addressing the unique needs in the different stages of the buyer's journey.
Videos that attract visitors to your site include explainer videos and whiteboard videos.
Those that push leads to convert include content promo videos, how-to-videos, webinars, and product demos content. Case study videos and testimonials are perfect for convincing prospects to close the deal.
Here's how you can generate leads using video marketing:
- Gate video content. Audiences will be required to share contact information to access the video.
- Conclude videos with a clear call to action. If you don't tell your audience what you want them to do next, they will probably leave or seek more information elsewhere.
- Slide contact forms into your audience's field of view that present offers related to the content they are viewing or have just finished viewing.
5. Social Selling
If you have business pages on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, you're probably already social selling.
But what is social selling, really?
This strategy involves zeroing in on B2B prospects on social platforms and building rapport with them.
The goal is to share valuable information about your services, subtly creating an interest in your followers so they can engage in further conversation.
Bombarding prospects' inboxes with unsolicited information isn't part of social selling. It's spam and can get you blocked. In a hurry. Don't do it.
If you want to build meaningful connections that provide an opportunity to engage with potential leads, here are some best practices:
Build your brand by creating interesting and valuable information. You'll be positioning yourself as an industry expert. Doing so shows prospective buyers that you're not there to just get something, but to give something as well.
Use social listening and monitoring tools to know what others are saying about your industry, your brand, and your competitors. Be on the lookout for pain points and requests that you can solve.
Be real. These are social networks. Talk like a human and have genuine conversations with your contacts. Nothing beats real human interactions when building relationships.
Be consistent. One post may not garner many shares but don't give up. Diligently work towards establishing your authority and building relationships with your contacts. Congratulate them on milestones and reach out to contacts you haven't heard from in a while. Over time, your efforts will bear fruit.
By now, most brands have realized that business will never go back to what it was before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Marketers who relied heavily on big events, in-person meetings, networking, and direct sales watched as their time-tested practices dried up quickly.
To make matters more interesting, B2B buyers expressed a preference for self-service and remote interactions. They demand convenience and speed as they seek information, place orders, or arrange services.
This shift in mindset and dealings meant many B2B sellers had to change their modes of operation. They also had to align their lead generation efforts to the rules that govern the digital marketing space.
Some succeeded, but many others are still trying to find their way. Here's how to use digital marketing for lead generation post-Covid-19.
1. Content Marketing
At least 70 percent of internet users learn about products or services by reading through content before making a purchase decision.
Today's B2B consumers are smart and resourceful. They look past traditional advertisements and into the actual value of what they want to buy.
Content marketing aligns with buyer behavior to provide quality and informative content that educates and guides audiences on relevant topics.
Here's how you can tap into this strategy:
- Know your buyer. Start by creating your ideal buyer. Research businesses that can use your solutions, their challenges, and the questions they typically ask. With this information, you'll know what content can meet their needs
- Choose content types that work for your target audience. Some audiences like video, others prefer data-backed white papers, infographics, and ebooks. Gate your most valuable content to ensure you get your audience's contact information for use in lead nurturing.
- Create lead magnets such as cheat sheets, checklists, templates, eBooks, Guides, or tutorials. Effective lead magnets should be easily accessible and solve user problems in an easy-to-digest manner.
- Syndicate your content. Upload your content to authoritative third-party sites that also target your ideal buyers to maximize exposure and increase engagements.
- Choose appropriate distribution networks. By appropriate we mean the platforms where your target audience hangs out. They could be LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, or Quora.
2. Create Interactive Virtual Experiences
Using virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology.
Virtual events sometimes fail to elicit the responses marketers want. Your audience may feel detached or skeptical about what you're telling them. VR and AR technologies can help promote your offerings in a way that feels more genuine to your audience.
So, you are not just speaking at your audiences, rather using immersive technology that allows them to engage with your offerings more closely.
The ability to explore in 3D and "try before buying" makes conversations richer and meaningful, generating more interest than a static picture would.
As they see how their businesses will benefit when they adopt your solutions, lingering doubts can be put to rest.
AR and VR are perfect where multiple decision-makers are involved in purchase decisions. You can delight them with interactive experiences that highlight top features, technical specifications, and other benefits of your products/services.
As a result, the decision-makers retain critical knowledge of your offerings, pushing them to decide quicker.
3 Cold Calling
With the onset of the pandemic, many companies shied away from cold calling. They felt as though they were intruding on businesses already suffering the effects of the pandemic.
Well, research shows that up to 69 percent of buyers accepted cold calls from new providers in the past year.
Business operations are still pushing forward, and demand is there. Brands are still looking for solutions the pandemic notwithstanding.
Here are tips to help you leverage cold calling:
- Research the prospects on your list. Segment them in their respective industries and look up the challenges they experience.
- Trying to warm up cold calls by dropping the prospect a quick email or LinkedIn message. You can also use a short video to pique their interest and lay a foundation for the call.
- Use a call guide to direct the conversation and help you cover your main points. Start with greetings, introduce yourself, and tell the prospect why you're calling. Include objections, negative responses, and your response.
- Practice calling. Internalize why you're making the cold calls -other than to meet your target. Conduct mock calls with your teammates to help you navigate easy and tough conversations with grace.
4. Invest in Video Marketing
Videos are valuable long-term assets you can use to attract and nurture leads.
On the surface, they look simple. All you need to do is to put someone in front of a camera and have them talk about your products/services, right?
Not really.
Video requires planning. Planning helps you create videos that your target audience finds relevant.
Relevance isn't just about the meat of the discussion, but also addressing the unique needs in the different stages of the buyer's journey.
Videos that attract visitors to your site include explainer videos and whiteboard videos.
Those that push leads to convert include content promo videos, how-to-videos, webinars, and product demos content. Case study videos and testimonials are perfect for convincing prospects to close the deal.
Here's how you can generate leads using video marketing:
- Gate video content. Audiences will be required to share contact information to access the video.
- Conclude videos with a clear call to action. If you don't tell your audience what you want them to do next, they will probably leave or seek more information elsewhere.
- Slide contact forms into your audience's field of view that present offers related to the content they are viewing or have just finished viewing.
5. Social Selling
If you have business pages on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, you're probably already social selling.
But what is social selling, really?
This strategy involves zeroing in on B2B prospects on social platforms and building rapport with them.
The goal is to share valuable information about your services, subtly creating an interest in your followers so they can engage in further conversation.
Bombarding prospects' inboxes with unsolicited information isn't part of social selling. It's spam and can get you blocked. In a hurry. Don't do it.
If you want to build meaningful connections that provide an opportunity to engage with potential leads, here are some best practices:
Build your brand by creating interesting and valuable information. You'll be positioning yourself as an industry expert. Doing so shows prospective buyers that you're not there to just get something, but to give something as well.
Use social listening and monitoring tools to know what others are saying about your industry, your brand, and your competitors. Be on the lookout for pain points and requests that you can solve.
Be real. These are social networks. Talk like a human and have genuine conversations with your contacts. Nothing beats real human interactions when building relationships.
Be consistent. One post may not garner many shares but don't give up. Diligently work towards establishing your authority and building relationships with your contacts. Congratulate them on milestones and reach out to contacts you haven't heard from in a while. Over time, your efforts will bear fruit.
Source - byo24news
