It tops almost every B2B marketer’s agenda: how can we meet our lead generation targets? We’re judged on the number and cost of Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) that we deliver – and if that flow doesn’t keep up, we come under pressure. Leads matter. However, not all leads matter in the same way.
As marketers, we don’t just want impressive lead generation performance – we need impressive and measurable revenue performance. If we can demonstrate the value of leads as well as the quantity and the cost, we find ourselves in a far stronger position. That’s why the most effective lead generation strategies don’t just optimise around generating more leads. They optimise around generating the leads that are most likely to convert to valuable customers. They integrate with and support sales to help those conversions happen.
For this latest post in our case study series, I’ve pulled together six of the most inspirational stories of B2B marketing teams deploying smarter lead generation to help their businesses grow. These are businesses that don’t just smash their lead generation targets; they deliver profits, sustainable growth, and boost productivity and morale in the process. Every single one of these businesses has been able to transform the value of lead generation by focusing their strategy on LinkedIn:
· Templafy generated 25 MQLs a week for a 475% Return on Investment (ROI)
· Reed Exhibitions used LinkedIn to generate 20% of all revenue for its SNSR risk and security expo
· Matmatch built the business model for its engineering materials platform, by growing its pipeline of suppliers 10x
· Alliance Manchester Business School filled courses faster with benchmark-beating click-through and engagement rates
· Comarch filled its new business pipeline two years ahead of schedule to drive growth in a new market
· Audi built a pipeline of high net worth buyers for its new A8 model through a video view rate of 35% and a click-through rate of 5.7%
The stories of these six businesses show how sophisticated lead generation strategies do more than just keep sales happy – they drive measurable business growth. Here’s how they did it:
Effective lead generation builds on awareness and engagement
Lead generation is a lot easier when people know who you are – and know the type of value your solutions can provide. That’s why many of the strongest-performing lead generation campaigns on LinkedIn have two elements to them. They drive awareness of what a business has to offer through targeted video, ads and content in the feed, and combine this with a direct, personalised call to action, often through Sponsored InMail.
Many successful lead generation campaigns are also very successful brand-building campaigns. Matmatch and Comarch both fall into this category, building awareness among audiences that had little familiarity with these businesses to begin with. What distinguishes them from other successful brand campaigns is the way they focused on building that awareness among a specific target audience that they had identified as part of the lead generation strategy.
When the engineering materials platform Matmatch needed to increase the number of its enrolled suppliers, it started by distributing strongly branded, animated videos that showed how signing up could provide access to new customers. It then followed up by targeting the same audience with Sponsored InMail offering a free demo of the platform.
Similarly, when Reed Exhibitions launched the SNSR Expo, a new risk and security conference for the Middle East, it led with thought-leadership content on risk and security issues and then used engagement with this content as the starting point for the lead generation and nurturing process. Reed Exhibitions used LinkedIn conversion tracking to identify the businesses whose employees were engaging with the content, and then used LinkedIn Sales Navigator to identify and reach out to the most likely decision-makers at those businesses.
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