B2B Lead Generation Encyclopedia: Process, Tools & Strategies

Everything you want to learn about B2B lead generation is covered in this Encyclopedia!

Starting from processes, strategies, integrations from various tools, and a perfect automation framework. 

Read this till the end, and I promise you will score big time in generating B2B leads!

B2B Lead Generation: TOC

• What is B2B Lead Generation?
• Types of B2B Lead Generation
• Importance of B2B Lead Generation
• 7-Step B2B Lead Generation Process
• 14 Best B2B Lead Generation Strategies
• 14 Best B2B Lead Generation Tools
• Become A B2B Lead Generation Machine
• FAQs

What is B2B Lead Generation?

In layman’s terms, B2B lead generation (Business to Business lead generation) is the process of finding, approaching, and converting potential prospects into your customers. 

Technically speaking, B2B lead generation is the process of identifying and attracting potential clients or customers for a company’s products or services.

To save you from being overwhelmed in the beginning, we will start with types of B2B leads first. 

5 Types of B2B Lead Generation

We will cover 5 types of B2B lead generation in this section.

1. MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead)
2. SQL (Sales Qualified Lead)
3. IQL (Information Qualified Lead)
4. PQL (Product Qualified Lead)
5. SQL (Service Qualified Lead)

1. MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead)

Definition

A Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) is marketing qualified lead or someone interested in buying the company’s products or services. Also, it is someone who passes all the criteria for being your ICP as set by your sales or marketing team.

MQLs have typically interacted with your marketing efforts to a degree that suggests they are worth pursuing further.

Example

If Sara engages with Saleshandy’s content and fits the profile for their marketing software, she’s considered a Marketing Qualified Lead.

Level For Conversion

Although MQLs meet specific criteria set by marketing campaigns, they are still at a nascent stage in the marketing funnel. 

2. SQL (Sales Qualified Leads)

Definition

A Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) is someone who is ready to talk to a salesperson. Unlike Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) who are just showing interest, SQLs are interested as well as have an intent to buy. All it needs is a 1:1 with your sales team to have them aboard.

Example

Raj has demonstrated a clear intent to purchase by requesting a demo and discussing purchasing details. He’s a Sales Qualified Lead because he’s been vetted by the sales team and is ready for direct sales engagement.

Level For Conversion

Such leads meet your target-specific criteria and indicate the likeliness of converting leads into paying customers.

3. IQL (Information Qualified Lead) 

Definition

An Information Qualified Lead (IQL) is someone who wants to learn more about what a company sells but isn’t ready to buy yet. They are just starting to figure out what they need and are considering many more options for their purchase.

Example

Rachel is an information-qualified lead interested in learning about Saleshandy’s cold emailing solutions but has yet to show intent to purchase.

Level For Conversion

IQLs need further nurturing to determine their potential as a sales opportunity.

4. PQL (Product Qualified Lead) 

Definition

A Product Qualified Lead (PQL) is someone who has tried out your product and seems really interested in buying it. They’ve used a free trial or demo, and it looks like they might become a paying customer.

Example

Rahul’s extensive use of Dropbox’s free product makes him a Product Qualified Lead, likely to upgrade to a paid plan.

Level For Conversion

PQLs show a higher level of intent and are considered more qualified than MQLs. They have utilized your product extensively and are likely to make a deal.

5. SQL (Service Qualified Leads)

Definition

 A Service Qualified Lead (SQL) is a prospect who has indicated a need for service or support but may not yet be ready to purchase. 

They have expressed an interest in engaging with your company’s customer support or service team, often to understand how your product or service can address their needs or to receive assistance with a problem.

Example

Aura is a Service Qualified Lead, exploring how Zendesk can fit into her company’s customer support operations and engaging with the service team.

Level For Conversion

Service-qualified leads generally have a higher conversion rate than MQLs because they have already shown interest in understanding how the product or service works and how it can benefit them.

Importance of B2B Lead Generation

Let’s understand why generating leads is crucial for your business. We will show two types of importance,

1. Stage-Specific Importance of B2B Lead Generation 
   • Startups
   • Mid – Level Businesses
   • Mature Businesses
2. Universal Importance of B2B Lead Generation

1. Stage-Specific Importance of B2B Lead Generation 

In this section, we will discuss how B2B Lead generation is important for businesses in different stages of their business life cycle.

1. Startups

1. Market Entry: Essential for entering the market and establishing a presence. 

It is important to make your first few moves noticed because, as they say, the first impression is the last impression. Capture the attention of your audience with the first move.

2. Customer Discovery: Helps identify initial customers and understand market needs. You don’t know who your ICPs are in depth at this time. 

So, it is very important to use lead generation in B2B. You also keep identifying and updating your ideal customer’s checklist.

Also Read: 12 Actionable Lead Generation Strategies for Startups

2. Mid-Level Business

1. Growth and Scaling: Vital for expanding market reach and scaling operations. Now, you have competitors who are in a similar stage to yours. 

2. Market Positioning: It helps strengthen the market position and differentiate it from competitors. 

You need to tell the audience what you bring in for them, which your competitors are not. Only you know your strengths. Showcase them well and position your business firmly. 

3. Mature Business

1. Leading Market: Maintaining market leadership and exploring new opportunities. You are at a stage where sustaining what you created while managing the changes in the market is a daily life challenge. 

You can gain insights from your years of experience in lead generation in the B2B market.

2. Sustainable Growth: Ensuring continuous growth and expansion into new markets or segments. 

Sustainable does not include only 1 vision. You must also focus on your plans for the coming years and move your customers with you when you enter a new market.

They are the ones who are going to become your base in your new era.

2. Universal Importance of B2B Lead Generation

Let’s look at some common importance that every business at every stage could get by doing sound B2B lead generation. 

1. Targeted Marketing  

You must have heard these famous questions every salesman faces in an interview,

 “How Would You Sell Me This Pen?”

The simple answer here is, do you even need the pen? If not, then there is no requirement for me to pitch you how futuristic this pen is. The same goes for B2B lead generation also. 

Let’s face it: we have a fixed budget, and we are supposed to do every marketing and sales activity from that budget. 

We don’t have money to waste, so it’s very important that you only pitch to people who actually want your service and not to the universe.

2. Increase Sales Opportunities  

Doing B2B lead generation can increase sales opportunities for you. It is in your hands. You can reach out to as many prospects as you want and keep expanding your horizon of the prospects. 

The more people you reach out to, the more deals you’ll be closing. 

3. Higher Business Stability  

B2B lead generation is tough, but at the same time, once you have cracked a customer, it is more likely that the customer will stick to you for a longer period. 

This is because the business does not have to keep on changing the products and services that they use because their team also gets comfortable and trained to use those things. 

Due to this, your business will gain stability in the long term when you keep on closing deals with high-ticket and mid-ticket clients. 

4. Better Long-Term Relationships With Customers 

When you are constantly connected with someone, you get an idea of what they want. That is what marketers keep trying to achieve. 

Only when you know what they need will you be able to solve it? And whoever solves the problems will get the business. 

So, it is very important to build relationships in lead generation in the B2B market. 

5. Better Market Insights  

You need to know what is going on in the market, what your customers and, more specifically, your competitors are doing. What are the upcoming trends and challenges for your market? 

Hence, doing B2B lead generation is important as it gives you knowledge and insights about the market that you are in so that you can plan your moves accordingly. 

There are many strategies to use, and you can switch your game according to the market’s demand. We will learn about the strategies in the next section in depth. 

6. Cost Efficiency

From the point on the targeted market, we already know about our budget for marketing and sales. But this is about being more efficient than other marketing efforts. 

While businesses use many channels for B2B lead generation, the most famous ones remain cold outreach. 

Reaching your customers via cold emailing or cold calling is something you can use without burning your pockets. 

7. Data-Driven Insights

Data is the king, and rightly so.

However, having data is not enough. Learn and analyze your data to make better and more accurate future decisions. 

Data can be your personal helper, telling you every little and big thing about your customers. This information is only available to you and can not be easily known by others. 

This can also be your unique selling point if you know how to personalize pitching for your customers better than the competitors.

7-Step B2B Lead Generation Process

In this section, we will learn the ultimate 7-step B2B lead generation process, which will help you organize and plan your prospecting journey.

1. Define Your Target Audience

It is crucial to get the first step right in b2b lead generation, identifying and defining who is going to be your customers very crucial. 

This, in technical terms, means identifying your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile). 

By identifying your ideal customers, you create a specific target for yourself and make your process of reaching out to them specific and time-saving. 

2. Create Compelling Offers/ Right Strategies

After knowing your ideal customers, you can lure them in and create the right strategies for them. 

Basically, remember that you are not the only one pitching your product to them. There are many more similar businesses that are trying to get their attention day in and day out. 

So, offer them something they can’t deny. Observe what your competitors are offering and what the customer’s favorite treat is, and create a deal they can’t ignore.

It’s not about creating one-time offers; you have to plan their journey and how to convert them into your customers.

3. Drive Traffic To Landing Pages

Leverage various B2B lead generation channels such as cold email marketing, content marketing, and more to drive traffic to specific landing pages where prospects can access the business’s lead magnets and offers.

4. Capture Customer Information

Once your prospect has reached your website landing page, entice them with offers and encourage them to fill out an informational form with their contact details to access the provided offer. 

5. Nurture Leads

After you have successfully captured the contact information of your prospect, you need to build an active relationship with the customer using personalized communication through various marketing channels and interest them in your latest product and service offerings.

6. Categorize Leads

Depending on the varying levels of interest and engagement of different customers, you may distinguish leads into IQL, MQL, PQL, and SQL based on their readiness to make a purchase.

7. Close Deals

After gathering qualified leads for your business, your sales team must engage with

the leads to address their specific needs and concerns. 

Also, the sales team must offer viable solutions for the problems by selling their products and services.

14 Best B2B Lead Generation Strategies

Now, the main part is B2B lead generation strategies.

In this section, we will discuss the most important and valuable B2B lead generation strategies. And learn about the B2B lead generation services that can help us implement them.

1. Cold Outreach
2. ABM Campaign
3. Social Selling
4. Paid Advertising
5. Content Marketing
6. Partnerships and Collaborations
7. Influencer Marketing
8. Lead Magnets
9. SEO
10. Communities 
11. Events/ Seminars/ Gatherings
12. Discussion Groups and Forums
13. Chatbots & AI Technology
14. Webinars

Also Read: 12 Actionable Lead Generation Strategies for Startups

1 Cold Outreach

While creating B2B lead generation strategies, it is very difficult to go and directly find your prospects. Then, the power of cold outreach comes into play. Cold outreach is said to be one of the most effective channels for lead generation. 

Reach out to your customers using cold outreach. Let’s understand them. 

• Cold Emailing/ Cold Calling

Cold emailing or cold calling is the most useful and cost-effective strategy any B2B business can use to find leads in bulk.

Basically, when you are trying to find your audience, and you do not have an idea where to find them, this strategy can be game-changing. 

To make this strategy even easier to implement, I’ll suggest a tool that will manage your B2B lead generation strategies, from finding leads to closing deals, as we discussed above. 

Saleshandy is a platform loved by many B2B lead generation marketers whose daily struggle is to find quality leads and build strong relationships with them.

Also Read: Cold Email Vs Cold Calling, Which one is more Effective in 2024?

2 ABM Campaign

ABM (Account-Based Marketing) is a lead generation method in which you assign a particular person to manage a key account (prospect) and focus on them. 

This method is proper when trying to get high-ticket clients, and you want to ensure that you understand their needs for the service. 

This way, the chances of you convincing them increase relatively high. 

3 Social Selling 

You create your brand and awareness by selling your product or service on social media. You engage people with your content and convince them to become customers. 

This method or strategy is helpful if your product is complex or you are in a highly competitive market where it’s essential to differentiate your product and spread informative and educational content. 

4 Paid Advertising

We will discuss this section category-wise to simplify it.

PPC

PPC (Pay-per-Click) refers to Google ads that appear at the top of search pages when you type keywords. 

How this works is that, you pay for words related to your business, and when people search on Google, your ad comes up on the top results. 

This increases the chances of people finding you. You can convert those people into your clients by convincing them with your website content. 

Display Ads

These ads appear on the top right side of your Google search page when you search for a keyword on Google.

These ads do not look like Google search results but clearly depict a digital ad format and are highly concentrated on word count. 

Social Media Ads

Social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook offer many variations of ads, such as photo ads, video ads, carousel ads, branded ads, explore ads, and more. 

Usually, B2B clients are not found on social media platforms as they mainly use social media for marketing purposes. 

Social media is useful only for businesses whose target B2B customers are active on those platforms and are looking for help. 

5 Content Marketing

Content marketing has many parts. A few mentioned below play a big role in generating B2B leads.

Blogs

This is one of the main types of content that B2B businesses use to rank top on Google using organic content and SEO. 

As business decisions of buying any service are based on very detailed information, blogs give them enough content that they can use to make the decision or convenience the decision makers. 

Case Studies

Do you know what will convince your clients more than you? It is your clients themselves. A solid convincer is someone who collects case studies from your previous clients and shows newer people how you helped. 

People usually believe people who are not out and out salesy. Case studies can do that for you because you are talking about what happened rather than just giving promises that things will happen. 

Guest Posting

Going direct is good, but creating an image of your brand and creating brand authority in your prospects’ heads is an indirect way of convincing them to be your customers.

Guest posting is when you go to other businesses’ pages and write content for them. By doing this, you create an image of an expert on the topic whose knowledge is respected and accepted. 

And if they listen to you, they will buy from you! Period!

News Updates

Well, don’t get the word wrong. You don’t have to publish about yourself in print media or any news channel. 

Rather, update people on what is going on in your business and how you are growing and improving periodically. 

Use articles. A newsletter can give your prospects an idea of your commitment to growth.

If you can create this picture of your vision and growth in your prospects’ heads, they will also join you on your journey and become your loyal customers. 

This is the power of keeping your audiences involved in your journey.

Video Marketing

Use any video format, be it YouTube video content, Instagram reels, or any short or long format, to create awareness about your product.

While many people use written content, with changing times, a new generation of people prefers using video formats to understand any new product.

It’s easier and more engaging, and they can multitask while watching your content. It’s a win-win for them. 

I know it takes more time to create video content than a written piece, and surely it demands more capital to shoot professional videos, but if your investment is for the long term, it is worth it!

6 Partnerships & Collaborations 

Don’t you have too many people on your team to do all the above stuff for you? That’s okay; many businesses like yours are also in their starting phase and can’t afford to have a big team of writers, editors, and video teams. 

You can find businesses that complement yours and hope to create something that will stimulate both of your businesses. 

Note that this is not only for people in their starting days; established businesses also use this tactic to benefit from the crowd of complementary businesses and expand their pool of prospects. 

7 Influencer Marketing

Now, we will discuss a few tactics for utilizing people’s power. So, if you have people like that, keep on reading!

Experts Knowledge 

If you have people in your business who are respected in your industry and their words are well received by the people, use that to your benefit and spread valuable information about your business to your audiences. 

This content can be in any format, but the main factor that will sell that piece of content is the name attached to it. 

Influencer Marketing/In-House Experts

Do you lack experts on your team? No worries; find people who can do it for you.

Find an influencer in the market who is authoritative and credible in your industry.

Collaborate with them to redirect their audience to your platform. 

Using this strategy, you can speed up your marketing and lead generation process, as these are the most effective ways to achieve the most results in today’s world. 

Podcasts

Another way of utilizing people’s power is by making interesting long-format video content called Podcasts. 

The audience for Podcasts is increasing daily as they are easy to follow, people can do them without interrupting their routine, and because they are a long format, they get to understand the topic in depth. 

Hence, it becomes convincing for them, as they have been with you until the end of the podcast and understand every point you made. 

8 Lead Magnets

Do you have extra time? Can you create something free for your prospects? If you are ready to go the extra mile, this section is for you!

Freemium Services (Partial Free Tools)

While creating your tool, keep a section free for your users so that they can get an idea of its quality.

For example, if you use Grammarly, you can use a part of their writing service for free. Now, you can use the free section, get the hang of the tool, and decide whether you want to go for their premium plan.

Psychologically, you are also luring them in by getting them used to using your product whenever they think of that help. Their brain will recognize your product with the main product as their solution. 

So, it is time-consuming, but the returns can be impressive if you can put in that one-time effort. 

Free Guides

Do you have a technical product, and you frequently receive feedback and reviews from customers who feel confused while using products in your industry? 

This is your chance to create free guiding materials to help people solve their doubts. 

By doing this, you will make the prospect believe that they should come to you if they feel confused. 

You can then redirect them to your product with the marketing magic using your words.

Free Sessions

Do you feel that your prospects need specific and personalized information or help? Try offering free sessions to guide them through your product.

You might feel that way, but it will take time and manpower! Yes, it will, but you know what? 

If a person comes to your product and is willing to take the time to understand it, the chances of him being convinced by your product and becoming a customer are very high. 

So, if you are short on manpower, you can manage it by limiting the time and topics and making it available for high-ticket clients, but do try it, as it is a money-making strategy!

9 SEO 

Now, let’s look at how SEO can work for you!

Use Long Tail Keywords

We all know about the power of main keywords and ranking for those, but people usually overlook optimizing long-tail keywords.

Here is an example of a long-tail keyword

Main keyword: Shoes

Long Tail Keyword: Best running shoes for flat feet

These keywords are usually used by prospects who want detailed information on your product and are searching for a solution. They are your niche prospects as they are not searching for keywords that cater to many things. 

They are searching especially for your niche. 

By optimizing this strategy, you can ensure that that section of prospects is diverted to your business, as the competition on those keywords is also less intense. 

Rank For Competitor’s Words

Want to take a shortcut and have immense faith in your product’s superiority over competitors?

Well, first of all, kudos for creating valuable products. Secondly, you can use your competitors’ keywords and outrank them using top-notch SEO practices.

For Example, Nike ranking for “Adidas running shoes.”

This way, when your competitor’s prospects find them on the internet, they will find you first. If they see you offering more value than the competition, they will easily switch to you.

This strategy involves getting paid for doing excellent work and focusing on solving real issues!

10 Communities

Do you have people on your team who are great at communication and creating curiosity? Use that talent for your benefit. How? Read to know!

Facebook (Meta) Community

Facebook, also known as Meta communities or groups, is still very active, and many still use it. 

Join the groups that talk on topics related to your businesses and help educate people. 

Raise interesting questions and create curiosity in the heads of your prospects. 

To date, Facebook has one of the biggest group crowds, which is useful for finding people from your niche. Use it to your advantage. 

Linkedin Community

Linkedin is a no-brainer when talking about B2B lead generation ideas. The majority of you are probably using it. 

But for those new to the market, leverage linkedin groups by sharing expertise on the topic.

LinkedIn is very respected by businesses, and many decision-makers use the tool for research and to gain insights into any pain points they might be having.  

So, be in the right place at the right time and use LinkedIn communities!

Slack Community 

Slack communities are used by professionals only, so your chances of finding your ideal B2B customer increase greatly. 

People in Slack communities do not want to find any other details; rather, they just want solutions for their work pain points. 

Find people from your niche and help them by solving their issues. Start pitching your product. 

11 Events/ Meetings/ Gatherings

Is your business particular and popular location-wise? 

Then, you can utilize this specificity of your business by attending a big event, gathering things happening in your locations, and spreading awareness and knowledge about your product. 

Meet new people who might need your product and guide them personally. These events can also be beneficial for networking. Find people with whom you can collaborate and generate leads together. 

Note that even if you are not going to a specific event, enough global events are going on that you can attend and do the same.

12 Discussions & Forums

Do many people discuss topics related to your businesses, and do you have frequent debates and sessions?  We can get their attention to the right place by using the strategies mentioned below. 

Reddit

Reddit needs no introduction as a problem-solving platform. People from around the world use Reddit to find answers to their queries. 

Your identity is also hidden on Reddit, so you can take advantage of that feature and find hidden gems of knowledge that can help your business. 

Use Reddit groups to make people aware of your product. Use it to create a perception in our prospects’ heads that you have the domain authority, and they can trust you regarding your industry. 

Quora

Quora can also be used for similar purposes. You just need to find people in your niche and start talking to them.

Solve their problems. Create curiosity and brand authority with your content. 

You can choose any 1 from the 2 options by observing where you will get the maximum output. 

13 Chatbots & AI Technologies

Installing chatbots on your website allows you to leverage the benefits of technology. Chatbots and AI technologies help a lot when you have bulk interactions. 

Chatbots solve questions based on your prospects’ generic answers while giving them the feeling of someone being there for them personally. 

In the same way, Implementing AI technologies can personalize your generic communications with your prospects. 

This is a time-saving strategy if you have to deal with bulk interactions. 

14 Webinars

Do you want to interact with specific decision-makers or people who will use your product on the job and solve problems in small groups? Go for webinars. 

Webinars are a great way of inviting people and showing them live how your product will solve their pain points and create a personal bond with them, which you can use in retargeting.

These sessions are usually conducted with limited seats to make them more focused, but if you have a generic idea about the product that you want to spread, you can also invite people in numbers. 

14 Best B2B Lead Generation Tools

Now, we will give you a tool based on your strategy. So, whatever approach you use, we suggest a tool to simplify your life. 

Note that we will only be talking about the key features of the strategy. Usually, B2B lead generation software like this has many features, but we don’t need to know them here.

B2B Lead Generation Tools: TOC

1. Saleshandy
2. Linkedin
3. Google Ads
4. Contently
5. Salesforce Partner Relationship Management (PRM)
6. Buzzsumo
7. Beacon
8. Semrush
9. Linkedin Community
10. Hopin
11. Reddit
12. Intercom
13. Zoho Webinar

1. Cold Outreach Tool: Saleshandy

When it comes to Cold Outreach, I can’t help but suggest Saleshandy to you!

Hold on, don’t think that I am biased.  I have facts to prove this claim. 

B2B lead generation is tough, but it is not without the right tools. It is an all-in-one cold emailing tool.

Saleshandy offers a B2B lead database of 700M+ to choose from. So, never worry about finding more leads. 

Also, converting your leads is kinda time taking. But not really with Saleshandy!

Use Saleshandy features like email tracking, document tracking, automated follow-ups, list segmentation, sequence score, email personalization, etc, to make your lead generation process easier.

Saleshandy works like magic for both beginners and professionals with its clear UI/UX.  

If B2B lead generation is something that is holding your business back, your solution is just a click away. 

Key Features

• B2B Lead Finder: Saleshandy’s B2B Lead Finder allows you to find your ideal prospects among 700M+ leads. This makes it easier to prospect leads, filter them, and reach out through a single platform, avoiding the back-and-forth between multiple tools.

• Native Integrations: Saleshandy’s integrations for every lead generation stage make using your existing workflow or applications easier. You can connect 6000+ applications and create a seamless flow to improve productivity.

• Unlimited Clients: Saleshandy’s agency features let you manage all your clients under a single roof. You can manage their activities, outreaches, and performance and update them about progress with view-only mode.

• Unlimited Email Accounts: Connect unlimited email accounts with Saleshandy to achieve high deliverability, ROI, and the best results from your campaigns. You don’t have to pay for every seat, reducing costs and helping scale your lead generation better.

• Email Outreach Automation: You can create personalized email campaigns using Saleshandy’s auto follow-up emails feature and streamline your outreach efforts. This helps you achieve better customer response rates and acquire more quality B2B leads. 

• Sender Rotation: The Sender Rotation splits your email sending volume amongst multiple email accounts. You can connect up to 50 email accounts and use them to generate multiple emails. This improves the chances of your email landing in your recipients’ primary inbox. 

• Sequence Score: The Sequence Score tool provides insights on essential metrics of your emails, like the open rates, reply rates, click-through rates, etc. Using this feature, you can optimize your emails and create more efficient emails to attract valuable leads. 

• Spintax: Spintax spins the content of your emails to give it a unique shape and form. This enables you to send more personalized emails with different values and offerings.

• Email Tracker: The real-time email tracking feature Saleshandy notifies users when recipients open their emails or click on the links provided. This helps sales professionals to identify and procure leads who show interest in their business.

Pricing

Customer Rating

• 4.6 out of 5 ⭐ based on 500+ reviews

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2 Social Selling Tool: LinkedIn

There is no need to introduce LinkedIn, but we will have a look at what LinkedIn has to offer, especially in terms of becoming a social selling. platform. 

Key Features

Although Linkedin has a ton of features, for now, we will talk about the features that will help us get more B2B leads.

Profile creation  – Create your profile and start creating a personal brand to get recognized as a Linkedin Top Voice in your domain. 

Connections – Find like minded people from your niche and start connecting with them. You can engage with them to build a network before pitching your business.

News Feed – Use this feature to publish articles and new updates about your business. Ask your audience to sign up for your newsletter by sending them requests. 

Linkedin Messaging – If you want to connect with your first-level connections, you can do that easily. But for people who are not following you yet, you can send them 1 message. 

However, if you buy LinkedIn’s premium plan, you can message people and interact with them whenever you want.

Linkedin Learning – Linkedin provides you with many short and long-term courses (some of them come with certification) that you can use to build your knowledge around the upcoming tech happening in your industry to stay updated. 

Groups – As discussed above, These are basically the communities where people connect to talk on specific topics to share their knowledge or to seek help whenever they need it. Leverage this feature to spread knowledge on your product. 

Company Page – Create a company page and start sharing details about your company. By doing this, potential visitors (who can be prospects) can see what you do and connect with you if they feel your company solves their problems. 

Publishing Platform  – Publish articles on topics and collaborate with experts on burning questions of your industry to help people solve them. 

Endorsements and Recommendations – While building your personal brand, if you want to appear more trustworthy, try getting endorsed or recommended by experts in your workspace. Visitors to your profile can see it. You can get endorsed for the skills you have. 

Analytics and Insights – Everything is better with analytics. Linkedin also provides analytics to observe how your profile is performing, who is engaging and how many people from your industry are interacting on your profile. 

LinkedIn provides many more useful reports, but you need to have a paid plan for that. 

Sales Navigator – People finding prospects use this to connect with their prospects and attempt sales. 

This feature can also be used to find details about your prospects and pitch them with personalized content for better engagement. 

Events – Create events and ask people to join to talk on important topics. Events can be held at individual and company levels. 

Pricing

• Free LinkedIn Account (basic)
• LinkedIn Premium Career: $29.99/month
• LinkedIn Premium Business: $59.99/month

Customer Rating

4.5 out of 5 based on 1021 reviews

3 Paid Advertising Tool: Google Ads

B2B lead generation usually happens using organic marketing. But many times, you need to get help from paid marketing, too. Google Ads is one of the most used advertising platforms for B2B marketers. 

Key Features

Let’s have a look at Google ads and what it has to offer. We will see how they can work for you in different use cases. 

Google gives us many types of ads to choose from. We will learn what will help us as a B2B lead generation service.

1. Search ads—The ads that appear at the top of Google search results when people search for keywords. B2B businesses use these ads the most to capture the audience into their pool. 

2. Display ads -These ads appear on the top right side of your Google search page when you search for a keyword on Google.

These ads do not look like Google search results but clearly depict a digital ad format and are highly concentrated on word count.

Pricing

Google Ads offers many pricing plans. Check out the Google ads pricing plan here.

Customer Rating

4.3 out of 5 based on ‎1942 reviews

4 Content Marketing: Contently

While writing content for so many tools, it becomes difficult to manage and post.  

Contently is a tool that can do all this for you. Let’s learn how Contently can help you manage your content easily. 

Key Features

AI content suggestions – Write content using some help from Contently, using the tips given by AI content suggestions. 

Intuitive content calendar: Book and plan everything in advance and never miss a deadline. Book your calendar for smooth execution. 

Content workflow and brief templates – Create content workflows and use brief templates 

Content command center

Intelligent talent recommendation – Don’t you have people who can write for you? No worries, you can choose from their talent pool, and they even suggest the best-suited people as per their understanding. 

Content and multimedia editors – When they give you writers, they should also give you editors, right? Why not? Well, they do give you editors. So, you always make sure your content is correct. 

Voice and tone analyzer—Like many content writing tools, Contently also provides the feature to maintain your brand’s voice and tone. It gives you suggestions on how to improve your tone to match your audience’s understanding better. 

Automated content optimization and governance – got to match to do and can’t do everything manually? Use Contently’s content automation feature to 

Analytics – Everything is better with analytics. 

Measure key content marketing efficiency metrics such as average completion time, user workload, and user delays to identify bottlenecks, increase output, and demonstrate team improvement over time.

Pricing

Contently has an on-demand price request feature.

Customer Rating

4.6 out of 5 based on 96 reviews

5 Partnerships & Collaborations: Salesforce Partner Relationship Management (PRM)

Is making partnerships your ideal strategy? Then, Salesforce Partner Relationship Management (PRM) can be your go-to guide. Let’s see how this can help you in that. 

Key Features

Experience Builder – Ensure your partners have a fantastic experience with engaging and personalized content. 

AI Management—Managing and personalizing so many partnership accounts can sound daunting, but not for you. Salesforce provides an AI management tool that can automate all these tasks in seconds!

AI Analytics – Want to grow more by evaluating your partners’ likes and dislikes? You use AI-driven analytics to come to your next decision with precision. 

Pricing

Customer Rating

4.3 out of 5 based on 105 reviews

6 Influencer Marketing: BuzzSumo

Working with influencers? Need help finding the right match? Use Buzzsumo for a one-stop solution!

Key Features

Find Influencers – There are multiple ways you can find your ideal match. Let’s see their easy process to find a perfect influencer for your business. 

1. By influencer by topic – Find topics that are widely discussed and popular, and see who has a big say. And choose the correct match for you. 

2. By matching content – Find influencers who match your style, and your brand voice and select the ones with the help of analytics. 

3. By amplifying your and your competitor’s content – Use the tool, enter the URL of your competitors’ content piece, and that’s it! You” ll get a list of the competitor’s visitors. 

So, people who can become your visitors soon! Look at what is working for your competitor and plan accordingly. 

Content Analyzer – Use this feature in every step to analyze content from influencers around the world and select what works best for you. 

Pricing

Customer Rating

4. 5 out of 5 based on 102 reviews

7 Lead Magnets: Beacon

Want to walk the extra mile for your prospects? Use Beacon to ease the pain of working extra.

Key Features

Create Multiple Lead Magnets: Using Beacon, you can create multiple lead magnets, such as ebooks, checklists, workbooks, and more.

Create Personalized Lead Magnet: This lead magnet builder tool lets you create your personalized lead magnet. The feature is a straightforward drag-and-drop model. 

Seamless Customization: You can use images, text, and more to customize the content piece according to your brand. Then, you can save your template and use it in the upcoming lead magnets. 

Pricing

8 SEO: Semrush

Can’t ignore SEO, can we? Semrush is one of the tools when it comes to managing SEO-related activities for your business. Let’s understand how many ways Semrush can help you. 

Key Features

Keyword Research – Know the keywords and choose the best keyword for your business to rank on. 

On-page SEO—Optimize your on-page SEO using Semrush’s feature. This will ensure that your page ranks easily on Google. 

Local SEO—If you have a location-specific business, this feature of Semrush can be very valuable. You can optimize your local SEO and increase your chances of being discovered by local B2B people. 

Rank Tracking—Monitor your keywords and content’s performance. This will help you optimize your content periodically to maintain your position in the Google search results. 

Link building – As we know, having quality backlinks is crucial for your SEO strategy. This feature will help you find quality backlinks and use them to strengthen your SEO. 

Competitor SEO analysis – While checking what you are doing is important, keeping an eye on the competitors can’t be ignored. Competitors can use your keywords and rank on them to take away your traffic. 

The sub-features of Semrush also qualify as prominent features. Here are the things you can do with Semrush’s tools.

• Backlink Analytics
• Backlink Audit Tool
• Backlink Gap
• Bulk Analysis
• Domain Overview
• Google Looker Studio connectors
• Keyword Gap
• Keyword Magic Tool
• Keyword Overview
• Link Building Tool
• Listing Management
• Log File Analyzer
• My Reports
• On-Page SEO checker
• Organic Research
• Organic Traffic Insights
• Position Tracking
• Ranks
• Sensor
• Site Audit

Pricing

Semrush plans start from: $139.95/monthly

However, there are many plans you can check out as per your requirement

Customer Rating

4.5 out of 5 based on 2111 reviews

9 Communities: LinkedIn Communities

Are you thinking of building your reputation by providing expert knowledge on Communities and groups? Well, I have the best tool for you. 

Linkedin Communities is one such tool that many people use to create communities that help educate people and clarify many doubts. 

Key Features

Discussion and Interaction: Members create posts to share articles, ask questions, and start discussions. Others can comment, leading to interactive discussions. Group managers can send announcements for essential updates.

Group Management: Managers and moderators use tools to approve or remove posts, manage member requests, and enforce rules. Admins can invite, approve, or remove members.

Networking and Connections: Members can view a directory of all group members, send direct messages, and connect with professionals.

Content Sharing: Members share documents, links, images, and videos within the group.

Notifications and Updates: Members get notifications about new posts and group activities. They can also receive email digests summarizing recent activities.

Customization and Personalization: Groups set their own rules, customize their appearance, and establish their identity with a logo and description.

Search and Discovery: Members can search for content, posts, or members and use topic tags to find relevant discussions.

Pricing

LinkedIn has a free version, but you must go for a premium if you want to try special features. 

One more offer is especially for students: if they use Amazon Prime, they get a six-month free plan. However, you can confirm this on their page.

Premium pricing:

• Free LinkedIn Account (basic)
• LinkedIn Premium Career: $29.99/month
• LinkedIn Premium Business: $59.99/month

Customer Rating

4.5 out of 5 based on 1021 reviews. 

10 Events/ Meetings/ Gatherings: Hopin

Want to streamline and manage everything for your upcoming events? Use Hopin. 

Hopin has a chain of features to ensure smooth progress and completion of your events. 

Let’s discover how many ways Hopin can help you manage your next online event. 

Key Features

Schedule webinars – schedule webinars in advance to ensure your attendees have enough time to prepare for the webinar and keep their calendars booked. These features help increase the availability of your guests. 

Share pre-recorded content: Want to take one step ahead? You can share basic pre-recorded sessions with your guests to get a step ahead and start talking about the main topics rather than wasting time on regular hows and whens.

Record webinar: Want to keep a copy of what you discussed to analyze it afterward? Or to give your guest a recap? Use the Hopins record webinar option to keep a copy of your event. 

Test webinar: Hopin provides an option to ensure all your settings and branding look perfect before starting the actual webinar. 

Brand your webinar: Want to give your event a live feel? Hopin’s branding features allow you to choose colors and images according to your brand to personalize the event for your guests. This feature gives your guests a connection with your brand, and they can relate to it when they see it anywhere next time. 

Use emojis to engage with the audience: Who doesn’t like emojis? In a live conversation, when a person is talking, and you don’t want to disturb the flow of his dialogue, sharing emoji reactions works best.

This gives the speaker a confirmation that the audience is engaged and is with him. Also, it gives users a feeling of being involved with the speaker. 

Pricing

Customer Rating

4.5 out of 5 based on 899 reviews

11 Discussions & Forums: Reddit

Your strategy is to create an image and positive reputation before reaching out to your customers, so go for Reddit.  It is where people usually go with their questions and look for answers from experts. 

You can provide precise answers about your business by helping people on Reddit. For each answer you give and every question you ask, you can earn “Karma.” Your karma shows your authority and trustworthiness on the platform.    

Key Features

Let’s understand Reddit better by looking at its features. 

Forums called subreddits – These are individual communities within Reddit, each focused on a specific topic or interest. 

Subreddits are labeled as “r/” followed by the topic, like r/technology or r/fitness. You can follow the ones you like, and posts from those communities will appear in your feed.

Upvote– When you see a post or comment you like, you can upvote it. This makes the content more visible and gives it a higher score.

Downvote—Users can downvote content they find irrelevant, unhelpful, or inappropriate. Downvoting decreases the content’s visibility and Karma.

Reddit Awards—These are virtual awards that users can give to posts or comments they find exceptionally good. They can be bought with Reddit Coins, which are purchased with real money. Awards often come with perks for both the giver and the recipient, such as extra Reddit Coins or premium membership.

Although all the chats follow the same basic format, moderators can add specific icons, banners, and “flair” (Tags)

There are other valuable features to improve the conversation and make your profile personalized. Here are they,

Avatars: Users can create fun characters on Reddit to show who they are. They can dress them up with different clothes and accessories.

Private Chat Rooms: Reddit has private chat rooms where people can talk one-on-one or in small groups, away from the main forums.

Other Discussions: Reddit hosts special events like AMAs (Ask Me Anything), live talks, and events where users can chat with experts, celebrities, and exciting people.

Pricing

Although a lot of people enjoy Reddit’s free version, that is enough for them. Reddit does offer them a premium plan. 

Premium Plan

• 5.99$/ Month
• 49.99$/Year (Save 30%)

Customer Ratings

12 Chatbots & AI Technologies: Intercom

Intercom is a technology lead using AI that helps speed up your chatting and other AI lead tasks. It can be used if you want to get a better answer rate, answer accuracy, and answer quality than other AI tools. 

Key Features

Fin AI chatbots—If AI is empowered, chatbots can become very useful for businesses. They can provide custom answers according to your support content. 

AI-enhanced inbox – This feature is helpful for people managing responses directly from email inboxes. 

If you are receiving many conversations via email, you can use chatbots to sort out generic conversations and give users instant replies. 

Fin AI copilot—Want to help your agents? The intercom has a product called a copilot that will be your agents’ on-duty helper with regular tasks. 

This will ensure your agents’ productivity in more important tasks and save them from regular burnout. 

AI Insights and Reporting – Done everything using AI but still want to reduce the efforts? Use Intercome’s insights and reporting feature to get a compact and well-tabled version of your data. 

This feature in your kitty will guide you on your customer’s regular queries and help you decide which problem to solve first. 

Pricing

Customer Rating

4.5 out of 5 based on ‎3053 reviews

13 Webinars: Zoho Webinar

If you choose to do webinars as your lead generation strategy, Zoho Webinar can be your go-to tool for planning and executing webinars. 

This type of tool can be useful for businesses that have many technical aspects to their product/service and want to clarify clients’ doubts about it. 

Key Features

To understand Zoho Webinar better, Let’s have a look at their 

1. Registration
2. Webcasting
3. Analytics
4. Record Webinar
5. Promote Webinars
6. Source Tracking
7. Attendee Engagement
8. Virtual Background

As registration is simple to understand, we will discuss the main feature of hosting the webinar and what things you can do while doing it. 

With Zoho Webinars, you can invite up to 5,000 people to your webinar. If you have a separate YouTube live, an inbuilt feature redirects your attendees to YouTube without any additional hazards. 

Now, let’s dive deep into other features you can utilize while hosting a webinar. 

• Record webinars
• Share material
• Promote
• Surveys
• Raise Hand
• Interactive town halls

Another feature that can be very useful after the webinar is done is,

• Webinar analytics
• Source tracking

These features will help you retarget your B2B sales leads the next time and help you understand them better, too. 

Pricing

Customer Rating

4.5 out of 5 based on 32 reviews

Become A B2B Lead Generation Machine

If you want to generate B2B leads for your business, Saleshandy has all the answers to your questions. 

Starting from email personalization, AI automation, Analytics, Lead finding, and Lead enrichment. You name it, we got it!

And you know what? You don’t have to trust me. We offer a free trial so you can check yourself and make your own decisions. 

By adopting proven strategies, utilizing the required tools, and leveraging the right B2B lead generation services, you can generate a steady flow of high-quality B2B sales leads for higher sales opportunities, enterprise growth, and business success.

FAQs

1. What Is B2B Lead Generation?

B2B lead generation, or a Business to business lead generation, is the process of finding, connecting, and converting potential interested people into your customers.

2. How To Do B2B Lead Generation?

Doing B2B lead generation is a simple, at the same time, multi-dimensional process. There are many variations from which you can choose from. Here is a simple 7-step process that you can follow to do B2B lead generation.

1. Define Your Target Audience
2. Create Compelling Offers
3. Drive Traffic To Landing Pages
4. Capture Customer Info
5. Nurture Leads
6. Categorize Leads
7. Close Deals

3. What Are The Best Ways For B2B Lead Generation?

There are many ways to generate B2B leads. Let me list 4 for you. 

1. Use referrals for existing leads
2. Find tools that provide leads
3. Use free tools from where you can find leads.
4. Create partnerships with complementing tools to redirect potential leads.

4. How To Generate B2B Leads For Free?

There are ways to collect leads from social media and LinkedIn. You can then do cold reach, which is free. However, to give you more options, here are some free tools for lead generation for B2B. 

• Linkedin
• Lusha
• Hubspot

5. How Much Does B2B Lead Generation Cost?

Well, it really depends on the strategy you choose. There are some strategies like attending events or writing on social media that can be free, but you can also use tools that provide you with B2B sales leads and nurture your leads. 

I would suggest starting spending low and gradually increasing the amount. This will also give you time to pick the best strategy for your business and then spend all out on that.

6. What are the stages of B2B lead generation?

There are a total of 7 stages in performing lead generation. Here are they,

1. Define Your Target Audience
2. Create Compelling Offers
3. Drive Traffic To Landing Pages
4. Capture Customer Info
5. Nurture Leads
6. Categorize Leads
7. Close Deals

7. How do I get new B2B leads?

You can get new leads for your B2B business by using free platforms like linkedin, or you can invest in good platforms like Saleshandy, where you can collect good B2B leads.