B2B Lead Generation: Breaking Through the Boring
Is B2B lead generation, and B2B marketing in general, boring?
Judging by the mere existence of this blog, you’ve probably guessed that the answer’s not all that simple.
But, yes, in the past couple of years, the question has been asked more and more: is B2B marketing boring? And if, at the risk of painting with a broad brush, the answer is ‘yes’… how did that happen? And how do we change it?
Many in the industry are confident that a spike in creativity is just around the corner. In fact most of the B2B marketing events in the past year have heralded this hunch. And, in no uncertain terms, we’ve been heralding it too. So, without further ado, here’s how we’re breaking through the boring of B2B marketing.
You’re More Than an Extension of the Sales Team
If you’re forced to spend less time flexing your creative muscles and more time chasing sales, you’re bound to get bored sooner or later. What many businesses don’t seem to grasp is that, while they do go hand in hand often, sales and marketing exist as two separate functions.
Ultimately, lumping in sales with marketing at every turn will eventually be bad for everyone, including your audience. If the people you hired to be creative don’t have time to be creative, it’s going to show in your company’s content, and prospective clients & customers aren’t going to be satisfied with a weekly regurgitation of tired copy.
Drop the Jargon from Your B2B Lead Generation/Marketing
When you’ve been marketing the same products or services for a while, it can be easy to forget that not everyone in your audience is going to know what ‘gind’ means. Obviously that’s an extreme example because we completely made it up, but the point still stands: jargon will weaken your messaging. Just because you understand all these terms doesn’t mean your audience will.
Don’t be a B2B Lead Generation Robot
You’re not a robot, right? Right? Uh… answer faster, but no, you’re not. So don’t speak like one. A lot of the time B2B marketers are trying so hard to sound professional that they actually end up sounding like they were assembled after dark in a scrapyard. Be personable. If a little humour would be appropriate for your brand, then go for it. Everything within reason though. Keep your standup set for the weekend. No one wants to hear that. Sorry.
Humanise Your B2B Lead Generation and Marketing
Humanising your B2B marketing will allow your campaigns to tap into human emotions, and that’s really what it all comes down to. Forming a connection with your audience that goes beyond the surface level will make them far more likely to hear what you have to say. Align your content with the things that matter to the prospects that matter to you.
Be Different
Be different. ‘Wow, why didn’t I think of that?’ It’s far easier said than done, but when was the last time you actually tried something outside the box? If you’re focused on meeting your targets and basically nothing else, take a step back and you might find that your best ideas have been eluding you because you simply didn’t have time to think them up. So… break out the whiteboard. What could you be doing differently with your content? What are your competitors doing differently? Maybe the only person capable of breaking through the boring… is you.
Be Visual
Most whitepapers created for the purpose of B2B lead generation are made up of big walls of text, broken up by the occasional stock photo (and we can’t relate!). But you’re probably not going to keep your audience’s interest that way. Much like B2C customers would rarely suffer heaps of dry text, the same is true for B2B buyers. In fact, it’s true for just about everyone, excluding the occasional time traveller who’s never seen words before (but most of your audience probably isn’t that).
It’s easier than ever before to create compelling visuals and infographics. You can do so without ever having to pay a penny; apps like Canva are a great example.
Conclusion: Breaking Through the Boring (B2B Lead Generation)
So, is marketing for businesses boring? Sure. Sometimes. But by acknowledging that you’re more than just an extension of the sales team and dedicating some time to thinking outside of the box, you could be heralding a future where neither of the ‘B’s in B2B marketing stand for ‘bland’.
Wait, they both stand for business?
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