What Are the Best Ways to Do B2B Lead Generation?

Over 60% of marketers consider lead generation to be their greatest challenge, and 53% of marketers throw over half of their budget behind generating leads. That’s a lot of resources–and frustration–tied up into one aspect of marketing strategy.  

The good news for B2B software as a services (SaaS) is that the market is growing. In 2022, the SaaS market is expected to grow by 12%. However, the competition is increasing with it. Are you doing everything you can to set your service apart?

When developing a B2B SaaS marketing strategy, lead generation is important when considering the often lengthy sales cycle. You need prospects to get interested in your service, sign up for a free trial or demo (and use it), purchase a basic plan, then upgrade to premium features.

In this post, we’ll go over how to improve lead quality in SaaS, so your sales team can invest their time in the prospects that are most likely to convert.

Which B2B Lead Generation Strategies Work Best?

Now that we have your attention on the value of qualified leads, how do you generate them? Since a qualified lead looks different for each business—and each product—the first step is to identify your ideal lead. A great model to use is BANT:

Budget: Can they afford your service? 

Authority: Is your contact the decision maker?

Need: What problem is your service solving for your lead?

Timing: How long is your ideal sales cycle? When are your leads most likely to buy?

Once you’ve identified your ideal client, you can then implement lead scoring. Lead scoring takes into account the most important characteristics of a prospect and ranks them, so your sales team can prioritize their efforts.

More Lead Generation Strategies

With a lead scoring system, you can save time and optimize resources. Here are a few more methods to get the most out of your SaaS marketing strategy:

• Quantity vs. Quality: Would you rather have three cars that could break down any second or one that’s reliable? When it comes to lead generation, it is best to prioritize quality over quantity. Having 100 leads won’t do you any good if they don’t convert. And, once you get good at connecting with high-quality leads, you can ramp up the quantity again. 

• Trust the Data: Numbers don’t lie (as long as you can make sense of them). An insightful strategy makes use of internal data that you are already collecting and external data from ad campaigns. At times, marketing can feel like shouting into the void; it doesn’t matter what you say and nobody is responding. With the right team analyzing your data, you can make decisions that connect you with the leads that are most likely to respond. At Statwax, we’re BIG on data, and we would love to see where it could take you. 

• Experiment: Even the best prepared marketers can’t get everything right the first time. There is still a lot of information that’s unavailable, like what exact segments your competitors are targeting. To get the most out of your campaigns, we recommend setting aside some of your budget for experimentation. This allows you to still move forward with your strategy without falling into the trap of playing it safe. Give yourself the chance to turn “Aha moments” into a competitive edge. 

When it comes to implementing your strategy, there are a number of lead generation tools at your disposal:

• Paid Search: These are the ads that show at the top of the search results when you look up a question. The leads that see your ad are already interested in the problem that your software solves. What a match!

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Below the paid ads are pages that have the best search engine optimization. This involves including relevant keywords in your content and answering commonly searched questions to become a trusted authority. Like with paid search, this method connects you with leads that are already interested in the type of service you provide. However, SEO strategies take longer to be more effective than paid search. 

• Social Media: Social media can be used as a paid or organic reach tool. LinkedIn can be one of the most useful platforms for B2B SaaS content, as posting and promoting helpful content can establish you as a thought leader in the industry. When people think of a problem, they’ll think of your software as the solution.

With the right combination of strategy and tools, your SaaS can gain an edge in an increasingly competitive market.  

Where Do Most B2B Leads Come From?

The answer is—drumroll please—it depends. 

Each service has a unique target market, so the best ways to reach that market will be different. Again, trust the data. See what worked in past ad campaigns and what didn’t so you can formulate the best strategy moving forward. Not sure where to start? That’s where our team of Statwax data-nerds comes in. We find the insights that no one else can to give your SaaS a competitive edge.  

What Are Best Practices for Lead Generation? 

If you are ready for higher quality leads to result in conversions, be prepared to reevaluate your marketing strategy, experiment with and optimize campaigns, and make data-backed decisions. Does this sound like a lot? It doesn’t have to be, and you certainly don’t have to go it alone.

At Statwax, we look beyond just finding you higher-quality leads. Our data masters partner with your team to find and act on valuable insights. We drive conversions to customers that celebrate your service and come back for more. 

Successful B2B Lead Generation Examples 

Still unsure of the benefits of partnering with a SaaS marketing team? Here are some of the recent successes we’ve won for our clients:

• Increased market qualified leads by 14.7% while managing yearly ad spend
• Achieved 3.4X return on advertising spend for three consecutive months 
• Increased revenue per customer by 37% while delivering a 4.27X return on total investment

If you’re ready to see results from a marketing partner that lives and breathes data—and acts on it—contact us today to see how we can bring your business qualified leads.