Business growth is directly linked to consistent lead-gen efforts and outcomes. At the same time, B2B SaaS lead generation is becoming more complex and competitive with time. Each industry, product, and service requires a tailored marketing approach.
Adapting to the latest trends, introducing automation in their workflow, and addition of AI tools can change the lead gen game for marketers. Scaling a SaaS business is their prime goal as per the growth objectives.
Despite all the challenges it is a workable marketing approach that delivers extraordinary results. Here we go with some worthy B2B lead generation strategies that can help your SaaS business get more sales.
Article Summary:
“SaaS is a competitive marketing niche because of its rising demand across industries. Every startup even established businesses invest in their ongoing lead generation process. Leads are contact details of prospects that can be turned into paying customers. SEO, social media advertising, SEM, LinkedIn Ads, webinars, and cold email outreach are some key methods to generate leads for SaaS companies. “
What Is SaaS Lead Generation?
Lead generation is the first and most important aspect of the B2B sales funnel. It focuses on contact information like the name, company, job position, phone, and business email of a potential client. B2B stands for marketing efforts that focus on businesses rather than consumers, like a business aiming to sell something to another business.
Multiple marketing channels, including emails, SEO, and social media, are used to acquire qualified leads. For better ROI you need to focus on a specific audience that has a strong interest in your product or service. Both sales and marketing teams play their part in successfully implementing B2B marketing strategies.
Why Is B2B SaaS Lead Generation Important?
A consistent sales pipeline is mandatory for business growth. All the marketing efforts have an end objective called “more revenue”, which can be only accomplished with a strategic approach and comprehensive strategy.
Stats reveal that 54% of marketers spend nearly half of their marketing budget on lead generation. So the importance of B2B leads is obvious and can be said as a primary sales medium.
Also Read: How Does Lead Generation Work?
SaaS Lead Generation Process
Finding a sales-qualified lead is a challenging task. The right selection of marketing channels is the first crucial step that turns the table. Generally, two lead generation methods are used by SaaS businesses:
- Inbound Lead Generation
- Outbound Lead Generation
The inbound method yields the best conversion rate and provides a quick sales cycle. It is used to generate more qualified leads using search engines, social media, and other online advertising channels. At the same time, the outbound method is solely dependent on the outreach efforts.
It brings relatively raw leads that require more nurturing measures. Emails, DMs, and cold calling are some of the key channels involved in it. The complex sales puzzle requires an extraordinary approach to solve.
The B2B SaaS lead generation process can be divided into four steps.
1. Create Your Customer Persona
B2B lead generation is not just about getting contact information. Reaching the right audience can deliver surprising results with a higher conversion rate. Create a buyer persona with specific attributes that match your product or service.
2. Strategies That Align Your Sales Objective
The right combination of lead gen tools and strategies is the second most important part of this process. Either content marketing, cold emailing, or SEO choose the option that suits you best. From local lead generation to capturing the contact information of geo-specific customers, there should be clarity of objective before launching your campaign.
3. Marketing Channel And Campaign Setup
Next, you have to finalize the marketing channel that will be used in the process and create your lead generation campaign. Collect first-hand information and practical knowledge of marketing channels for success.
4. Collection, Qualification, And Prospecting
Once you have successfully launched your lead gen campaign on the right marketing channel, it is time to handle the lead data. The percentage of leads that convert into sales is not too high. So it is important to screen out the qualified leads having more conversion prospects.
Use CRM and lead-generation tools to identify your ideal customers. Also, emphasize the stage of the buyer’s journey like learning, considering, or being ready to make a purchase.
Also Read: B2B Lead Generation Definition And Overview
10 Best B2B SaaS Lead Generation Strategies
Instead of relying on a single lead generation strategy for B2B SaaS sales, use a diverse marketing approach by testing multiple options. However, they should fulfill conditions like specific audiences, interests, and industries you want to target.
A tailored approach with custom planning is necessary to hunt for marketing and sales-qualified leads. Here are some proven B2B SaaS lead generation strategies that can work for any business.
1. Search Engine Optimization
Despite the modern-day search ranking challenges and innovations in SERP, SEO is still a feasible option for B2B businesses to generate qualified leads. Here are some steps that you must take to take advantage of this strategy.
- Optimize your website for search engines
- Make web pages mobile-friendly
- Research and add keywords to relevant pages
- Use lead magnets to capture visitors’ attention
- Publish informational content and guides
- Build high-quality links from notable resources
You can’t crack the success code with the traditional approach. Like a single example of PBNs, the days of tricking search algorithms are gone.
Follow the best SEO practices, and create high-quality content that users and search engines love. Use guest posting and digital PR to secure backlinks for your pages.
2. Use Webinars For B2B Lead Generation
Webinars are an effective way to increase brand awareness and generate B2B leads. This strategy gained massive popularity during and even in post-pandemic circumstances. Educate your potential customers and build a trustworthy relationship. Address their pain points and present your product or service as a viable solution.
This cost-effective lead gen strategy is equally important for established businesses and startups. Offer unique incentives like exclusive guides, offers, and discounts for the participants to encourage them to participate. Studies reveal that almost 80% of people are willing to give their contact details to join webinars.
3. Pay Per Click Campaigns
PPC is the most common B2B strategy that every business uses in their marketing campaigns. It isn’t confined to just Google Ads, there are several other alternatives like Facebook Ads, LinkedIn, and Pinterest Ads.
It is preferably used by those B2B businesses that want quick results. Use A/B testing in your PPC campaigns to get the best outcomes. Create intent-based responsive ads with complete research to get the maximum ROI.
4. Social Media Presence
Social media is the undeniable reality of this century and can be a good resource to collect B2B leads. Both paid and organic social media marketing methods work. Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and Instagram are some of the key platforms that have billions of active users.
Create and publish quality content that satisfies the user’s needs to earn their trust. Engage with the community and ask people to share your content. For paid social media marketing use the A/B testing method using different audience personas. Direct people to internal lead collections, forms, or external sources sources and landing pages.
Majority of the international brands give importance to their social media presence. Promote your exclusive content which can be a video, carousel infographic, and PDF guide.
5. Create A Lead Magnet
Lead magnets are designed to get contact information offering different incentives in return. It can be based on the following ideas:
- Free feature/tool
- PDF guide
- Webinar free entry sign-up
- Weekly newsletter
Many B2B SaaS businesses offer free trials as their lead magnets. It serves multipurpose marketing objectives and customers can try the product before making a purchase.
6. Personalized Landing Page Creation
A landing page is designed to land visitors in the right place and offer them what they are looking for. A personalized landing page helps in securing more B2B leads as compared to the general web pages. It is usually the first interaction of the visitor with that brand or business. So include social proof, links, and a single CTA.
Catchy headlines also encourage visitors to act, so use your copywriting skills to stand out. If you can afford add live chat option in the landing page for instant interaction and guidance. However, chatbots are good alternatives for answering general queries and educating visitors.
Use interactive content to grab the attention and reduce clutters or any distractions that can impact the lead collection. Make it easier for visitors to make their decisions instead of creating confusion through complex UX/UI.
7. Add Reviews And Testimonials
The addition of existing buyer reviews and testimonials increases the trust of visitors. Create a separate section for them on your homepage, landing page, and other key pages that are used for lead-generation prospects.
A vast majority of people prefer a product or service with positive reviews as compared to the others. Integrate or import your reviews from third-party sources like G2, and TrustPilot.
Reach out to existing customers to ask them about a review or testimonial. Keep things fair and improve the product quality to avoid negative reviews. Reviews on social media pages are also considered an important trust element.
8. Request For Invites And Referrals
There are several benefits of creating a strong relationship with existing clients. Offer them additional incentives and perks through referrals. A customer who has been satisfied using your SaaS for the last few months won’t mind inviting their colleagues, friends, and relatives to use it.
Frequently reach out to your customers and ask for their feedback. Then request repeat buyers to recommend your SaaS product to others in their circle for some incentives. Like a 20% discount on their next subscription, a $10 fixed commission value, and free 1-month access to the pro subscription.
Take this as an opportunity to scale your SaaS with more conversions. A successful referral program can bring long-term benefits to your marketing plan.
9. Publicize Successful Case Studies
Case studies provide in-depth insights into businesses experiencing growth with your SaaS product. ROI-conscious business managers prefer to go through this type of content to finalize their decision. Publish successful case studies and share them with prospects through social media and email marketing.
It is considered a popular content type that helps in generating more B2B SaaS sales. They are mainly used to compel the MOFU and BOFU sales journey. It is a successful content marketing strategy that makes decision-making easier.
10. Cold Email Outreach
Cold emailing includes the prospects that are not in your emailing list or newsletter. You can’t predict the interest of such recipients in your product. That is why a compelling and brief email with a creative subject line is preferred to get their attention.
Email marketing is still the most effective lead gen strategy with a high conversion rate. It plays an all-around role in lead generation, nurturing, and conversion. Here are some ideas to improve your cold email outreach campaigns.
- Segment your audience with different tags
- Verify email addresses to reduce the bounce rate
- Use short and personalized subject lines
- Avoid using too many links or CTAs
- Create a crisp email body with professional sign-offs
- Use business emails for sending email sequences
Many lead generation tools can help in finding industry-specific prospects. Use them to build a cold emailing list and verify their details. Pick the right sending schedule that delivers the best response rate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Wrap-Up
B2B SaaS lead generation is becoming more challenging with the growing competition. However, a diverse marketing approach can work in finding ideal customers for your SaaS.
Use CRM software to manage your lead-generation efforts in one place and increase the retention rate. Track and analyze the insights of B2B lead generation campaigns to enhance the ROI.
Sales growth is the prime objective a business wants to accomplish through different lead generation strategies. There are still many options out there along with the above-explained practices.