3 Ways to Improve B2B Lead Quality

It doesn’t matter how many leads you get if they are no good. They eat up your marketing budget and waste the time of your sales team.

But if you are getting “garbage” leads, what can you DO about it?

Below are three ways to profoundly improve the quality of your B2B leads so you can grow revenue faster.

Improve the Value of Your Lead Magnet

• Want people who aren’t just tire kickers??
• Want leads that are later in the funnel instead of earlier??
• Want to get more value from your leads?

To generate better leads, first evaluate the quality of what you are offering. A “free guide” that’s a thinly disguised sales brochure isn’t going to cut it. Neither is a white paper that educates but doesn’t help prospects take action. Don’t just grab an asset from your marketing library and hope people want it. Put in the effort to create something that they MUST have.

What works best? A tool, a template, or a comparison matrix is often an attractive lead magnet for someone who is currently in market and trying to fix a problem or find a solution. SEO research is a GREAT option for identifying the things people are actively looking for to make progress on their goals as a buyer.

Here's an example of the keyword opportunity around "Business Strategy Template":

What about webinars as lead generators? Webinars DO still work to fill the funnel with high quality leads, but you MUST figure out the right topic (and have the right title).

Bonus tip: If you want to further qualify webinar attendees, consider adding a smaller, private group event for attendees to offer even more value. This will help you cultivate VIPs (Very Interested Prospects).

#2 Improve Lead Identity Resolution

If you can’t figure out how to get in touch with your leads after they fill out a form, that’s a problem. Too many people will use throwaway email addresses out of habit. In the B2B space, that’s a disaster. Your forms should always be set up to require that visitors use a business email to access your gated resources.?

In CRMs like SharpSpring or HubSpot, this is as simple as toggling on a switch.

If you are using Gravity Forms or other WP plugins to capture information on your site, you may need an additional plugin like this one to allow you to block web visitors from using their Yahoo, Gmail, and other non-business email accounts when filling your forms.

What other information could you ask for on a lead capture form?

You might want to find out their role or industry, company size, top challenge, etc. The higher the value of the lead magnet you are offering, and the better your landing page, the more information you can ask for on a form.

We’ve found that adding video to a landing page with a company executive showing a sneak peek of the lead magnet is a great way to build confidence. It even improves the percentage of people who will include their phone # when they fill out a form. It doesn't have to be a fancy video. Just a Zoom screen share can work quite well.

Here's an example:

Improve Sales/Marketing Alignment

Without visibility across your ENTIRE marketing/sales pipeline, it isn’t possible to validate or improve lead quality. Having your CRM set up properly to allow tracking at each step is vital for lead evaluation and scoring.?

Your Sales team also needs to be giving specific feedback directly to Marketing about lead quality.

This can’t be vague feedback like, “These leads are no good.”

It needs to be specific such as:

• “We are getting leads in the wrong industries or roles”
• “We are getting leads who don’t have the budget to afford what we sell”
• “We are getting leads who don’t understand what our company does”

This is the kind of feedback that helps Marketing improve targeting, messaging, and lead qualification.

Don't Miss This Opportunity to Improve Your Marketing

Want to learn more about reasons your marketing isn't working the way you want?

Dacia Coffey is doing a free live Zoom to talk about this in detail on Friday, April 21s. Click the image below to register.

As always, if you want to learn how The Marketing Blender can help you get MORE from your budget and drive results for revenue growth, my calendar is here . Let's talk!

#leadgeneration #revenuegrowth #b2bmarketing #leadmagnet #marketingstrategy