The right business-to-business (B2B) lead generation agency can determine your company’s ability to scale, which is why it’s crucial to evaluate their industry experience and track record.
An agency with a deep understanding of your industry will be more adept at identifying and targeting the right prospects, speaking their language and crafting messages that resonate.
So, you want to set clear expectations from the start.
Knowing what an agency can realistically achieve helps you align your goals and measure success effectively. Moreover, discussing their approach to lead generation, the metrics they use to track progress and the timeline for seeing results will provide you with a clear picture of what to anticipate.
Ultimately, setting expectations builds trust and ensures a smooth working relationship, leading to more productive collaboration and better outcomes for your B2B business.
| 1. B2B Lead Generation Services 2. A Combination of Lead Generation Strategies 3. Usage of Technology and Tools 4. Tracking of Performance and Returns 5. Communication and Collaboration |
B2B lead generation is about finding and attracting potential business customers who might be interested in your product or service. It involves using strategies like content marketing, email campaigns and networking to connect with these prospects and turn them into actual clients. It’s essentially laying the groundwork for building business relationships.
5 Things To Expect From Your B2B Lead Generation Agency
The right partnership with a B2B lead generation agency translates into higher quality leads — those more likely to convert into loyal customers. By thoroughly vetting potential agencies, you can ensure that they not only have the expertise needed but also a proven history of delivering results for businesses similar to yours.
Here’s what you can expect from a B2B lead generation agency:
1. B2B Lead Generation Services
When you partner with a B2B lead generation agency, you can expect expertise designed to boost conversion rates and overall business growth. Lead generation services can be categorized into the following:
• Lead Research: This is where it all starts. The agency will dive deep into your target market to uncover the most promising prospects. They use advanced tools and techniques to gather valuable data, ensuring you connect with decision-makers who are genuinely interested in your offerings.
• Lead Outreach: With your ideal prospects identified, the agency shifts gears to outreach. This involves crafting personalized messages and leveraging various communication channels to engage potential leads. The goal is to spark interest and open the door to meaningful conversations.
• Lead Nurturing: Not every lead is ready to buy right away. That’s where lead nurturing comes in. An effective agency will keep your leads warm with regular, relevant touchpoints.
In lead nurturing, an agency may use a mix of educational content, updates and reminders to guide prospects through the buying journey until they’re ready to make a decision.
These three categories paint the beginning of your sales pipeline as a B2B company.
2. A Combination of Lead Generation Strategies
To maximize your results, you can look forward to agencies blending a mix of lead generation strategies such as:
• Inbound marketing
• Outbound marketing
• Social media marketing
• Paid advertising
Inbound marketing focuses on drawing leads to you. Through demand generation and inbound marketing strategies such as content creation, search engine optimization (SEO) and value-packed resources like blogs, eBooks and webinars, your agency helps establish your brand as a trusted authority in your field.
On the other hand, outbound marketing takes a more proactive approach. It involves actively reaching out to potential leads through tactics like cold emails, calls and direct mail. Outbound marketing is all about putting your message directly in front of the right people.
Platforms like LinkedIn will also be utilized for social media marketing and demand generation. A skilled agency will harness the power of these networks to find and engage with B2B prospects. Through targeted posts, ads and interactions, they’ll help you build a strong online presence and connect with potential leads.
Sometimes, you need to put a bit of budget behind your efforts. Paid advertising, whether on social media, search engines or industry websites, can boost your visibility and attract high-quality leads. Your agency will craft compelling ad campaigns to ensure your investment yields significant returns.
By combining these services and strategies, a B2B lead generation agency can help you build a robust sales pipeline of potential clients.
3. Usage of Technology and Tools
The right marketing automation tech and tools can supercharge your lead generation efforts in several ways. First, it streamlines the process, automating repetitive tasks so your team can focus on strategic activities. Second, advanced tools provide deeper insights into your target audience, helping you refine your approach and connect more effectively.
Finally, the right tech stack enhances tracking and analytics, allowing you to measure success and tweak strategies in real time for continuous improvement.
Here are some marketing automation tools you can expect a B2B lead generation agency to employ:
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software like Salesforce or HubSpot is the backbone of any lead generation strategy. These platforms help track interactions, manage follow-ups and maintain organized records of every lead, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.
• Email marketing platforms like Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign make it easy to design, send and monitor email campaigns. They offer marketing automation features that send personalized messages based on user behavior, keeping leads engaged without constant manual effort.
• Sales engagement tools such as Outreach and SalesLoft streamline the outreach process. They help schedule emails, make calls and manage follow-ups, all while providing detailed analytics to refine your tactics.
• Social media management tools like Hootsuite and Buffer allow for efficient scheduling and monitoring of social media posts. These platforms are key to demand generation, ensuring your brand stays active and responsive on social channels where potential leads spend their time online.
• Lead enrichment tools like Clearbit and ZoomInfo enrich your lead data, providing additional information about your prospects. This means more personalized and effective communication, increasing the chances of conversion.
• Analytics and reporting tools with Google Analytics, along with specialized tools like SEMrush or Hotjar, provide invaluable insights into how your campaigns are performing. These platforms track website traffic, user behavior and conversion rates, helping you understand what’s working and what needs adjustment.
By leveraging these advanced tools and technologies, a B2B lead generation agency can deliver more qualified leads and streamline your sales process.
Related article: 35 Top AI Marketing Tools
4. Tracking of Performance and Returns
A top-notch B2B lead generation agency doesn’t just set the wheels in motion. They also keep a close eye on how things are running and where they’re headed. Here’s how they track and report performance metrics and the kind of return on investment (ROI) you can expect.
Agencies use a variety of tools and techniques to monitor and report on performance. They collect data from multiple sources, analyze it and provide you with clear, actionable insights. Regular reports, often delivered through dashboards or detailed documents, show how your campaigns are performing against set goals.
The ultimate goal of any lead generation effort is a strong ROI. By meticulously tracking performance metrics, agencies can demonstrate the value of their services. This involves not just showing the number of leads generated but also illustrating how these leads translate into actual business growth, be it increased sales, higher revenue or expanded market presence.
Here are some key metrics a B2B lead generation agency will track and report:
• Lead Volume: The total number of leads generated. This metric gives you a sense of the agency’s ability to attract potential customers.
• Lead Quality: Not all leads are created equal. This metric assesses the likelihood of leads converting into paying customers, often based on criteria like job title, company size or engagement level.
• Conversion Rate: The percentage of leads that take a desired action, such as booking a demo or making a purchase. This indicates how effectively your leads are being nurtured through the sales funnel.
• Cost per Lead (CPL): How much you’re spending to acquire each lead. Lower CPL is generally better, but it’s also important to consider lead quality.
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): The total cost of acquiring a new customer, including all marketing and sales expenses. This metric helps you understand the efficiency of your lead generation efforts.
• Lifetime Value (LTV): The projected revenue a customer will generate over their entire relationship with your business. Comparing LTV with CAC gives a clear picture of long-term profitability.
• Engagement Metrics: These include email open rates, click-through rates and social media interactions. High engagement usually indicates that your content is resonating with your target audience.
• Sales Cycle Length: The average time it takes to convert a lead into a customer. A shorter sales cycle often means more efficient lead nurturing and faster ROI.
By closely monitoring B2B lead generation metrics, agencies can demonstrate their effectiveness, identify areas for improvement and ensure a data-driven approach that yields measurable results.
5. Communication and Collaboration
A successful partnership with a B2B lead generation agency hinges on clear communication and strong collaboration. The best agencies ensure everyone stays on the same page and works together effectively to achieve your goals.
Your agency will likely implement the following practices to keep the lines of communication open and productive:
• Regular check-ins, whether weekly, bi-weekly or monthly, to discuss progress, challenges and next steps. These check-ins ensure that both parties are aligned and any issues are addressed promptly.
• Transparent reporting will be provided by agencies, detailing performance metrics, insights and recommendations. These reports are designed to be easy to understand, giving you a clear view of what’s working and what needs adjustment.
• Clear points of contact will be dedicated to you within the agency. They can be a single or a few individuals. This streamlines communication and ensures you always know who to reach out to with questions or updates.
Many agencies also use tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams or Zoom to facilitate real-time communication.
Now, here are collaborative processes an agency may work with you through:
• Goal Setting: At the outset, the agency will work with you to define clear, achievable goals. This could be anything from increasing lead volume to improving lead quality or reducing the sales cycle. Having these goals in place helps guide all subsequent efforts.
• Strategy Development: Collaboration during the strategy phase ensures that the agency’s plans align with your business’s unique needs and market conditions. You’ll have input into campaign tactics, target audiences and messaging to ensure everything resonates with your brand.
• Feedback Loops: An effective agency seeks regular feedback on their performance and suggestions for improvement. This two-way street of communication ensures continuous alignment and improvement.
• Shared Access to Tools and Data: To foster transparency and collaboration, agencies often provide needed access to their project management tools and dashboards. This allows you to see real-time data and progress, making it easier to stay informed and involved.
• Workshops and Training: Some agencies offer workshops or training sessions for their team. This helps ensure that everyone understands the tools and strategies being used and can effectively contribute to the overall effort.
A collaborative partnership approach not only boosts the effectiveness of your lead generation strategies and campaigns but also builds a foundation of mutual trust and success.
Let’s Streamline Your B2B Sales Pipeline for Better Conversion Rates
If you’re ready to explore what lead generation and nurturing can do for your business, Thrive is here to help.
On top of lead generation services, we offer other internet marketing services such as content writing and franchise digital marketing.
Talk to our team — let’s help you drive more qualified leads.
