B2B lead generation is a hot topic for every company in the B2B market.

Sales and marketing teams battle to be more creative and adventurous when it comes to finding more potential customers to keep the sales pipeline filled. But, with so many ways to generate B2B leads, it can be challenging to find a method that is repeatable, scalable and (most importantly) profitable.

34 tried and tested B2B lead generation ideas that work

To help out my fellow sales and marketing troopers, I’ve created this definitive list of B2B lead generation ideas for you to try out a few for yourself and get the cash rolling in.

Let’s kick it off!

1. Send cold emails to relevant contacts by solving a potential pain point for them

When you have targeted the right company and identified the right person you want to engage with, you want to craft a message that prompts your recipient to open, read and respond to your email.

Your subject line is the first thing to work on. It should be short and personalised and the purpose is for the prospect to open your email. Example: “Quick question, {{firstName}}”, “Idea about {{companyId.shortName}}”. Your email should also be fairly short (~100 words) where the first line is personalised to them specifically and could not be sent to another person. This appears in the preview of the email and again prompts them to open your email.

Once your email is opened, the body of your email should be brief and to the point. It should explain what you can do for them (not about how good you are but how good they can be). The call-to-action (CTA) will be to ask for a call or if your offer interests them. Sending cold emails is one of the strongest B2B lead generation methods around but you shouldn’t try to sell your product or service in the email, but aim to set up a sales calls.

2. Send cold emails to your decision-makers asking for a referral

The email will be sent to your ideal buyer where you will ask for a referral to the person responsible in the area of business you need. This does 2 things. It first prompts the prospect to reply and confirm that they are indeed the person responsible, or you misidentified the contact and you get the referral to the correct person.

The subject line should be short and actionable. An example can be: “{{firstName}}, can you refer me?”. The body of the email will be a potential problem they could be facing and that you want to offer a solution that could help them. The CTA will be to ask who the right person to speak to about it should be.

The email should be kept brief and the purpose is to get a response from the prospect which will then open the opportunity to book a sales call.

3. Send a cold email to a decision-maker by including a video of yourself pitching to them

A method that is not so widely used when prospecting via email is to record yourself delivering your pitch. This could be more effective than just text alone since it shows you’ve taken the effort to create it, especially if they can see it’s personalised to them in the preview of the video (i.e. if you are holding a sign with their name on it).

Being able to send videos to your prospects gives you the opportunity to show what you want to offer and deliver your message in a way that is personal (which is essential in B2B lead generation). Showing your face and letting your prospects hear your emotions will create some level of trust in you. The key is to keep the message personalised, also, if it’s funny and original you can be sure to stand out from the crowd and get that meeting booked.

Companies like Vidyard and Bonjoro are a great place to start if you’re looking for a platform for video emailing.

4. Send a cold LinkedIn connection request as an intro to target relevant leads

LinkedIn has over 700 million users who have created profiles you can directly interact and connect with.

When users create LinkedIn accounts, they will add information about themselves such as the company they work at, job title, work history, interests, previous social interactions and much more. All this can help you determine if they fit your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). This gives you plenty of information to personalise your message to them and can be used for any future B2B lead generation tactics (it will help you to stand out more as opposed to just a generic message).

You have a 300 character limit so keep your message brief, explain what you like about their profile and that you’d like to connect with them. You don’t need to pitch at this point since they can see your profile and see what business you’re in. The goal is to become a connection with the prospect. Once they accept, you have the opportunity to discuss your offer and you are able to send limitless direct messages to them.

5. Relate better with your B2B buyers using LinkedIn voice message (requires connection)

In addition to the LinkedIn message, a unique way to send a message is to use your voice. What makes this effective is that the recipient knows that you took the effort to record a message specifically for them.

Another great reason for its effectiveness is that they must listen to it to receive the message. Written text messages can be read without opening as it appears in a pop-up and takes little effort on the recipient’s part to read it, meaning it can often go ignored.

Although slightly more time consuming for both parties, a voice message can take the interaction a little further than usual. This simple change means the recipient has to pay attention and thus can yield a higher response rate than written messages.

6. Target high quality leads with LinkedIn Sales Navigator InMail (only if not connected)

If you need that extra boost when targeting your prospects on LinkedIn, InMail is your answer.

Being on LinkedIn means you are willing to connect with other business professionals since everyone is interested in ways to better themselves or their business. Delivering your proposal to a prospect while career and business goals are on their mind can be an effective strategy.

As opposed to chat messages on the platform, InMails are used much more infrequently and require investment on the sender’s part. As well as being able to go beyond the connection request’s 300 character limit, InMails appear to be a message of value and may less likely be ignored as it’s sent to a more exclusive inbox.

7. Cold call a decision-maker and ask if you can pitch them

This is one of the most effective B2B lead generation methods as it involves engaging with the decision-maker directly. There is no waiting for their response or thinking if your message was delivered. Since it is a cold call, it is important for you to acknowledge that you have called them in the middle of their workday and that they have no idea who you are.

When making a cold call, your first words to the prospect can make or break the call. Along with your choice of words, you also have your energy and your vocal tonality to use in delivering your message exactly as you intend (tip: actually smile as you speak, they will hear it). Firstly, there’s no need to introduce yourself (they won’t care too much to know your name nor the company you’re calling from – they will ask otherwise). Instead, your first line should be similar to: “Hello, I’m going to be honest with you, this is actually a cold call, would you let me have just 30 seconds to tell you why I’m calling?”. The transparency should put the prospect at ease and generally will give you their time.

Asking for permission shows you respect their time. Stating the length of time you want helps them to know what to expect. And the directness of the ask demonstrates confidence in your offer and should create enough interest for them to say “Sure, go for it”. Using this approach gets to the point fast which is good for both parties. Your goal is to either book in a second telephone call (for about 10 minutes discussion) or book a meeting with them to demonstrate your offering.

8. Cold call a potential lead to share a white paper with them

Most people who fit your ideal buyer would have received many cold calls and quite possibly have mixed opinions about it depending on how bad their experience was. So many salespeople just read their sales script in a robotic fashion trying to take more of the prospect’s time without giving any value first.

This B2B lead generation tactic is to specifically just give value to them. The topic of your white paper should be highly relatable and demonstrate that you understand their possible pain points. This does 2 things. First, you stand out from the other cold callers by not trying to pitch them. And second, you have a reason to reach out again since you want to know their thoughts on it.

Demonstrating a clear and unbiased argument within your white paper can help start conversations with your prospects which can increase the likelihood of them wanting to learn more about what you offer.

9. Generate leads through community channels by joining relevant conversations

There are many messaging platforms that enable hundreds or even thousands of people to participate in conversations. By using the features available on the platform you are on, you should be able to filter keywords, track specific conversations, and message people directly.

Although some community channels do not allow users to pitch their offer (otherwise it would be a terrible experience for everyone), you can instead specifically search for conversations where others are discussing problems they are facing and then (strategically) explain that what you offer may help them.

Some communities can be strict when it comes to solicitations as it defeats the purpose of helping one another through adding value. You do not want to be ousted as being “salesy” so ensure your proposal is done from a position of value instead of being a blatant pitch.

10. Use 3rd party B2B prospecting for qualified leads

Maybe one to be considered for smaller companies. You need a sales team to bring in new business, but you need new business sales to pay for a sales team (a bit of a chicken and egg situation). Committing to building your own sales teams can be a tricky thing to do but utilising B2B prospecting services can be helpful.

The time and money spent on building your own sales team could be off-set by having another company do the prospecting for you and send you sales qualified leads. This way when you speak to the prospect, they know who you are and already have some interest making it easier to close the sale.

11. Send cold emails to potential B2B buyers along with physical mail

An oldie but a goodie. Since electronic communication on its own is so easy and quick to use these days, it can be difficult to get a response from a prospect. Direct mail is going back to sending physical mail whether it be printed letters, hand-written letters, or gifts.

The effort of someone thoughtfully sending a physical item will not likely go unnoticed. In particular, a hand-written letter will nearly always be read due to its personal touch.

It’s a great way to develop a relationship if the product or service you are selling is high ticket. Adding direct mail to your cold email (referring to the item you sent to them) can generate good traction and may yield strong ROI. If you want to know more about direct mail automation, check out a few platforms here.

12. Optimise your newsletter to convert subscribers into sales opportunities

Subscribers to a newsletter could be considered as leads since they were interested enough to sign up for it. But you need to turn your subscribers into willing buyers.

The purpose of a newsletter is multi-faceted. It can entice anonymous website visitors to sign up and provide contact information, it can be used to provide news and updates whilst keeping your company in their minds when the need arises, and it can be used to retarget unconverted leads.

Firstly, know your audience. Consider what content they relate to and how frequently you should send your newsletter out. You should also have an attractive headline, strong images, and a single actionable CTA of what you want them to do next whether it’s to start a free trial, book a demo, or to read your white paper.

13. Host a webinar and capture more B2B leads

Webinars can take a lot of effort to put together. They can run for at least an hour and would need to be planned well enough to provide value throughout in order to keep your audience engaged.

Before hosting, you need to know who you are going to target as well as what content they will be interested in. Diving deep on a topic of interest will likely result in a strong turnout. Since people see webinars as high-value content, the registration process is great for B2B lead generation as it captures lots of information from attendees since they would be more willing to share about themselves.

After the webinar, the attendees should perceive you as an authoritative figure on the topic and you can offer your CTA of choice. You can also send follow up email sequences to further nurture them and also repurpose the webinar content into bite-size video clips, infographics or blog posts.

14. Host a podcast and attract high-quality B2B leads

Podcasts are a great way to get the attention of a prospective customer for a long period of time. There are only a few forms of media that allow you to do this which makes it really effective for B2B lead generation. The beauty of this audio channel is that listeners can do other things at the same time which makes it easier for them to consume your content.

It is a free way for people to easily gain valuable information that would otherwise take way too long to consume in other content forms. It helps build credibility to your company and offer you the chance to show off your knowledge on the topic.

You can also invite other guests and experts in your field. This way you not only get to tap into other people’s knowledge but also their audience as well. Being able to dive deep into a specific niche gives listeners a chance to learn things that might not be so readily available which can help drive more traffic to your website.

15. Use YouTube to build your B2B audience

Video content can provide viewers with the ease of learning certain topics at their own pace. Videos can be long or short, humorous or formal. The idea is to attract the right audience and deliver the right message that creates interest in your company.

The YouTube platform has a great social aspect that allows viewers to comment, like, share and subscribe to you. You are also able to create playlists that group videos of a certain topic in one place.

By having a mix of long and short videos, you can keep viewers on your channel for longer and build a subscriber base from it. The captured leads can be from direct searches to your website or links within the description of your videos. By understanding your video analytics and optimising your title and thumbnail, you can steadily increase viewership and subscriber count.

16. Engage with your potential buyers on Twitter

Utilising Twitter to reach your target market can be a highly effective B2B lead generation strategy. Many people use this platform as a source of real-time news and live updates, but also to engage in conversations.

You will want to build your follower base by producing high-value content fairly frequently (a few times per day). Every Tweet you post does have a character limit but still contains enough space to provide content of value. Over time you will attract more followers by people searching for keywords and also gaining visibility as you comment on other influencers’ posts.

You will want to take advantage of automation tools to put out content consistently such as your recent blog posts or interesting facts and figures. Also, studying your analytics and finding when the best times of the day and week are for posting certain content will help gain more traction for others to like and retweet your posts.

17. Build a community of prospective buyers on Facebook

Not known as a platform for B2B sales but Facebook has numerous ways to engage with your potential customers and generate leads for your business.

A few ways to generate leads are to create a company page, join Facebook Groups, Facebook Live, and actively create content.

By providing lots of valuable content and just overall being engaging on the platform, your profile page will get more followers and you will naturally create brand awareness. Once your follower base begins to grow, you can start engaging with them directly by hosting live Q&A sessions, audience polls, and online webinars.

18. Turn your LinkedIn profile into a B2B lead generation magnet

As the largest platform for professionals, LinkedIn is a great place to build your brand and raise more awareness for your company. There are many ways to utilise LinkedIn to attract inbound leads and generate more interest in your company, but here we’ll look at profile pages.

We all have profile pages but many are not optimising it in a way that will generate leads. All B2B salespeople should have their profile page designed with the visitor in mind. The headline should be clear and for the prospect to know what you do. Your ‘About’ section should be written like a sales page that describes how you’ve helped companies get the results they want. Address any possible objections that help the visitor to see you as an authority figure in your field. There should also be clear contact details for them to call or email you.

In addition to this, all profile visitors should be followed up. A simple “Hi, thanks for checking out my profile, is there anything I can help you with?” can prompt them to engage in a conversation with you which can help gain some extra B2B leads.

19. Post regularly on LinkedIn to build your personal and company brand

LinkedIn has a great way of connecting everyone together. Since it knows your 1st, 2nd and 3rd-degree connections, your content will be visible for all your 1st-degree connections (direct connections). But whoever interacts with your post (i.e. like, comment or share) will now be visible to their 1st-degree connections. So you can see how your content can get in front of thousands of people quite easily.

Publishing posts is generally your bread and butter way of generating demand. It can be anything like your personal thoughts on life, industry insights, sharing wins and losses for the day, etc. People who enjoy reading your content will be sure to engage with your posts.

You can also post links to your website or to new blogs which will increase traffic to your website. As people become more familiar with your posts and as you build your personal and company brand, you will generate more visitors to your profile pages for them to learn more about how you can help them.

20. Share your expertise on Quora and draw B2B leads to your profile

Quora is a platform where users go to post their questions and find their answers. The hardest part about B2B lead generation is finding out who is actively searching for a solution that you provide. Quora would be one of the top places to go to find that out.

Before you go to the questions you will need to optimise your profile. You want to think of your profile page similar to a landing page where other people can see your credibility in the field they are interested in. With this, you can search for keywords and questions that you feel you can provide value by answering. Some questions may be recent and others may be older. But if the question is popular and gets a lot of views, your answer can be seen and read for a long period of time.

To bring leads back to your website, you can strategically place a link to your company after you have provided your answer. Since you added value first, people will trust you more and your website will be seen as an additional piece of value.

21. Create a high converting landing page to increase your B2B sales

Your landing page doesn’t necessarily need to push for a sale. It can seem a bit pushy if it’s a visitor’s first time on your website. Instead, use it as a way to give something of value to them.

Your landing page should be highly optimised towards your target market. Depending on the source of the traffic, your page should be specifically designed to give them the knowledge that they were looking for. This page is separate to your homepage and solely focused on getting them to take the action you need to move them further along the sales cycle. Key aspects are a strong headline that highlights your sales proposition, a CTA for the prospect to take action, and a B2B lead generation form to capture their details.

Since the same landing page will generally not work a second time someone visits it, there are a couple of ways to encourage them not to click off and to take the appropriate next steps. The first is to limit the number of buttons to just the ones that will result in lead generation (i.e. so they can’t click onto another part of your website). Secondly, to have a low-friction request for basic contact information to make it easier for them to complete it such as only their name, email and phone number for your sales team to follow up with.

22. Connect with potential leads in real-time with live chat

Having a live chat enables website visitors to reach out and connect with you to ask questions or want further help in their purchasing decision. Without this channel, potential leads can easily leave your website and look for their answer elsewhere.

A live chat generally appears as a popup to website visitors. But pushing this too forcefully will cause them to have a negative experience on your website. Optimising the timing of the popup with a question such as “Hello, is there anything you are looking for?” can spark more conversations with your prospects. A couple of ideas when to prompt them in a discussion can be if they are browsing certain pages (features or pricing) or staying on a particular page for some length of time.

This helps you engage appropriately with higher quality B2B leads who show strong interest in your company.

23. Embed AI chatbots onto your website to turn visitors into B2B leads

AI chatbots are a great way to get your website visitors interacting with you. Many people want to research your company at their own pace. But when a question arises that they need answering, reaching out to a sales rep may be the only option. This can create friction and the extra barrier can cause them to leave your website.

Using an AI chatbot can solve this problem. Using B2B data such as demographic and location data, chatbots can help personalise messages to provide useful and relevant information. By letting the person know that it is a bot, potential buyers can be more likely to ask questions knowing they’re not going to get pitched to and stay on your site for longer. The chatbots can also qualify visitors by asking questions and offering multiple choice answers. This can result in directing them to further resources or to ask for contact details to book a demo.

These chatbots can run 24 hours a day and frees up sales reps to spend more time to engage with more leads. When the conversation becomes more complex, a handover to live chat or a phone call can create a smooth transition. Sales reps will also have all the information they need about the visitor to give them the best customer experience.

24. Gain exposure on B2B review websites by encouraging customers to leave detailed reviews

Most B2B buyers today will have done some research themselves on the different companies who offer a solution they need. Reading reviews and testimonials on company websites are helpful but may not be enough. External review websites such as G2 and Capterra are often a go-to place when deciding on which company to reach out to.

To gain a strong presence on this platform, you should reach out to your current customers and ask them all to leave a review. You do not just want “5 stars” across the board as this will appear to be disingenuous. Rather, encourage your customers to give detailed reviews and to be sincere as this will help you to also better your product or service. You should ideally hope to have a final score between 4.0-4.7/5 (if it’s too good it can raise suspicions and negatively impact your image).

Any potential customers who read your reviews will have a sense of trust in your company. Being able to see the pros and cons of your company as well as your customers’ opinions will surely help you to generate leads.

25. Publish a white paper to enlighten your B2B buyers and demonstrate your company’s expertise

Writing a white paper has an excellent way of attracting the right audience. With it, you can build credibility and gain their trust making it easier to generate high-quality leads. Offering it further along the buyer’s journey can help convince them that you understand their pain points as well as removing any doubts they may be facing.

Understanding who your target audience is and identifying their problems is a great starting point. You will need to provide solutions and conduct research to back your claims. This is generally a piece of long-form content of around 3000 words with a style writing that is quite formal and authoritative. It must also be informative and any points you make must be supported by strong evidence (found from statistics or studies of respected sources).

Readers of a white paper can show higher purchase intent than readers of other forms of written content. This is due to the investment of time to read as well as the desire to solve the problem that they are facing. To increase your chances of generating leads, ensure the bias of your white paper is neutral and does not come across as a sales pitch. By positioning your company as a thought leader, any potential B2B buyers will view you as trustworthy and be more likely to engage with you.

26. Publish eBooks to deep-dive on a key topic

When your content on your website is not quite enough, an eBook can be an enticing way for a prospect to know more about your company. This type of content is typically gated which means people must provide basic information about themselves to download the material.

Anyone who does download it has expressed interest in your product or service and has the potential of being a high-quality lead. Your eBook needs to be about a topic your target audience cares about. Doing some keyword research will help you see what others are searching for and it should be around 1500-2500 words.

Since it is essentially a book, ensure you have a clear structure to your writing. A contents page can help readers navigate to what they are looking for. Use of graphics and colours is a great addition as you can emphasise certain points and draw the reader’s attention to what you want them to focus on. All this can help build your brand to be perceived as a knowledgeable and reliable resource.

27. Utilise keyword research tools to boost your B2B lead generation

The foundation of all your marketing should start with keyword research. Keywords can be a single word or long-tail which consists of multiple words that people use when searching for content online. By tailoring your content towards certain keywords you can meet the needs of any potential buyers who are actively looking for it.

People who search for information generally use search engines. Depending on what type of content they want will determine what search engine they will use. A popular search engine for written content would be Google and for video content would be YouTube. Each has algorithms that match the keywords used in someone’s search against content that best suits the intent of the search. Your goal is to rank as high as you can on the search results and attract potential leads to you.

Using tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush will help you choose what keywords you want to rank for as well as the number of searches each keyword gets. Single keywords can be very popular making it hard to rank on. However, long-tail keywords are more specific and open the opportunity for you to create content that would rank in that niche. By having a more focused keyword, you can target an audience with higher purchase intent and create more valuable content.

28. Generate highly targeted leads with PPC campaigns

If you want to scale your B2B lead generation you can take advantage of PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns. By identifying the keywords that indicate buying intent for a product or service that you offer, you are able to have an advertisement at the top of the page for prospective customers to see first.

By controlling when you want your ads to run and what geographies you want to target, you can optimise your campaign to get the most amount of relevant clicks to your ad. You will have to pay for every time someone clicks onto your ad so ensure you are only bidding on the most relevant keywords. You will then want those who click your ad to be directed to a landing page that encourages them to take action. Since you’ve already paid for the click you need to be converting those leads into sales or demo requests.

Try not to be too broad with your search terms as you may end up paying for a lot of irrelevant clicks. Also, be sure to add negative keywords which are terms you want to exclude from your results.

29. Apply link building strategies to rank higher on your search terms

There are many factors that are considered in order to rank organically on search engines. The link building strategy is used to create backlinks by having other websites link back to yours.

When other websites (with higher domain authority) link back to your website, your domain authority increases, thus, ranking you higher on your keywords. This also helps increase traffic and also have your page index faster. By using keyword research tools to analyse the keyword phrase you want to rank, you can see which websites are ranking the highest on them. A great strategy to build your backlinks from these websites is to do ‘guest blogging’.

Find out which of those higher domain authority websites accept guest posts and write a blog showcasing your expertise. When you include a link back to your site, this will not only target a new audience but also benefit your website SEO.

30. Generate more B2B leads from your website using web forms

Your website should house a wealth of information about what your company does and how it can help other businesses. A website visitor can be curiously reading through various blogs and resources but that doesn’t help you if you don’t know who they are.

A webform can be used in multiple ways to generate leads and its primary purpose is to encourage your visitors to leave their contact information. It can be used to download gated content (such as an ebook), sign up to a newsletter, or just to get in touch with you. Having a visitor leave their information is a strong indicator that they want to learn about you more and shows purchase intent.

Having web forms strategically placed around your website will boost your B2B lead generation process as it will continuously prompt them to fill it out. You should also study the analytics of its performance and adjust where necessary such as seeing what content people are most interested in. A/B testing the number of fields to fill out can really help determine a lead’s readiness to buy (i.e. those who fill out 10 fields are more invested than those who are only willing to provide their name and email address).

31. Embed exit-intent popups to grab the attention of potential leads

This is your last-ditch effort to capture your leads who visit your website. Your potential buyer has made their way to your website but is about to click off. Whether they’ve gotten the information they need or hopping over to another website, an exit popup is a powerful B2B lead generation tool to grab their attention before they’re gone.

Your exit popup should be clear and bold with a strong offer that creates urgency. Whether it’s a discount, free trial, or an exclusive content material that they may want to read later, you can capture their information before they’re gone.

As well as a strong offer, your CTA should emphasise the reason they should click on it. For example “Download Now!” can be adjusted to “Get My Free ebook!” as it highlights the result of their action. Another use of a CTA can be to highlight other people who benefited from the offer. Instead of “Subscribe to our newsletter”, it can be better to write “Join the other 34,123 professionals like you”.

32. Use visual infographics to share knowledge and insights

Everyone consumes content differently. Depending on the schedule, how the workday is going, or even mood, people will have varying amounts of time to view certain pieces of content.

For those prospects who are short on time and want a quick break, infographics provide bite-sized pieces of content that are easy to read and visually attractive. They can be processes, lists, stats and figures, strategies, step-by-step guides, etc. There are many uses you can get out of an infographic.

To generate leads these can be shared on social media, within emails, or as gated content on your website. The pure value people can gain will increase your credibility and trustworthiness. They can also instil ideas that encourage them to check out other resources that dive deeper on the topic.

33. Fix broken links and pages to stop losing potential leads

Broken links and pages can destroy your B2B lead generation efforts. You’ve worked hard to get more visitors on your website but if they come across 404 pages or broken links they’re likely to click off your website.

Not only does it damage your branding but also your SEO which will impact how you get organic traffic. Using Google Analytics or website audit tools will help you identify and fix them.

34. Create use case studies and in-depth guides to win leads over

It’s great to have content on your website that provides information and knowledge but if you want something that really gets readers thinking it’s the use of case studies and in-depth guides.

Your case studies will demonstrate how you have helped your customers achieve certain business goals. Have a few case studies covering customers across different industries and company sizes to help potential leads picture themselves in it. Social proof like this is great for B2B lead generation as it tells the story about how they were doing previously compared to how they are doing now since using your product or service.

In-depth guides are similar in the way that readers can see your expertise in your field. Those who read in-depth guides show strong interest in that topic and are clearly looking for a solution. In either case, these materials show your credibility and give readers the extra push to want to learn more about your company.

Newer readers

For those that are unfamiliar with hubsell, we provide an end-to-end B2B prospecting solution with on-demand generated B2B data and multi-channel personalised outreach automation software to generate sales qualified leads.

Book a discovery call if you are interested in scaling your lead generation.‍