With an online blog full of relevant content and distribution through the right channels, digital leads can be converted into paying B2B customers. We show you what you need to keep in mind.
Customers are the pillars of any business that determine the level of success. If you seek them exclusively offline, the foundation of your company can quickly falter. You need to pick up your customers where they are easiest to reach and engage: online.
To acquire new customers only outside the internet robs you of a large part of potential customers and the chance to win them over in a targeted and strategic manner.
In order for sales to fully focus on closing and nurturing customers, marketing and sales need to work closely together.
Marketing takes on the task of tracking down valuable contacts online, converting them into known leads, and working them until a clear interest for an initial contact with sales becomes apparent. At this point, the qualified lead is handed over to sales, who in turn take care of the actual acquisition of new customers.
With the development of digital channels, new opportunities are opening up. Marketing addresses potential contacts earlier in the customer journey than was previously the case. With the help of the right content, a prospect can be actively guided through the customer journey without having to involve sales.
The sales department should only get involved when a clear interest on the part of the contact is signalled.
In addition to digital platforms, technologies such as marketing automation also help to automate recurring processes, personalize content, distribute it in a targeted manner across different channels and qualify each lead individually. The acquisition of new customers is thus automated to a certain extent and both marketing and sales are relieved of time-consuming tasks.
Learn now how to master B2B new customer acquisition with digital channels with the following 6 tips:
Consistently understand your target audience
Create relevant posts
Test different formats
Use gated content (lead magnets)
Use social media
To ensure that marketing is actually able to provide sales with relevant contacts, it is necessary to clarify in advance what constitutes a valuable lead. This requires close coordination between the two departments.
A clear definition of the target group helps to make the acquisition of new customers more efficient and to minimize idle time by the sales department.
For a targeted approach, the focus should not only be on one contact person, but on all decision-makers relevant for the purchase decision, i.e. the entire buying center.
Only in this way is marketing able to prepare all the necessary topics and information required for a well-founded purchase decision.
Online magazines and blogs are great for publishing informative articles around what your business has to offer, and from here, sprinkle them across various channels. This way, you'll pick up your potential buyer's needs before they even start looking at offers and vendors.
Source: ELPRO Company Blog
Of course, relevant content is essential for a blog. Relevant here means according to the needs and context of the interested party. Promotional messages and backgrounds about your company are out of place here.
An interesting article is the first point of contact on the road to new customer acquisition.
With the help of interesting articles, you create trust with your future customers and have the opportunity to show your own expertise in an informative context.
This form of B2B customer acquisition is more subtle than conventional, classic advertising, without losing its effect. On the contrary - it has a more sympathetic and less intrusive effect on many prospects.
If you want to highlight your expertise in certain topics and be able to respond more directly to open questions from potential customers without overloading the sales department, webinars and videos are suitable as a supplement to written articles.
Webinars give you the opportunity to pick up different prospects at the same time, address specific questions and add a personal touch
Each time you hold a webinar, you understand your customers better, collect typical questions and can answer them early in the customer journey.
Videos are suitable for achieving a similar effect independent of time. This format also allows for a personalized approach, but allows the recipient to access the content when it fits his or her schedule.
Well-made, clever videos stay in the mind, are a catalyst for attracting new customers and can be uploaded and shared on your own website, as well as on popular platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
So that your website visitors do not remain unknown users, but become known leads, you should use gated content or so-called lead magnets.
A lead magnet is a high-quality piece of content that a prospect receives in exchange for their contact information.
Gated contents and lead magnets thus have the same goal: to place an online form in front of a selected content (article, video, etc.) in order to effect the de-anonymization of a user and to pick up his attunement for a future contact.
This initial capture of interested contacts is an essential step on the way to successful new customer acquisition.
Social media channels, especially B2B focused platforms like LinkedIn or Xing, are great for distributing your digital content and increasing your reach. This way, you not only showcase your expertise to website visitors, but also to your extended network.
Source: Preview of a LinkedIn post with the Pedalix software
To reach additional prospects, published social media posts can additionally be shared by well-connected employees or pushed further with a small financial contribution.
Social media channels offer a unique opportunity to open a no-obligation dialogue with potential customers.
Whether the intended target group reacts to a post always depends on the content and the preparation of the post. For each post, think about what kind of engagement you want from your readers and how you can best activate it.
An interaction on social media thus further contributes to moving interested parties in the direction of new customer acquisition.
Another way to get your knowledge out to potential customers is to send personalized newsletters.
In order for a prospective customer to read a newsletter, it must have both a suitable subject line and content that is individually tailored to him or her.
Provide your newsletter subscribers with content that builds on their existing knowledge and takes the reader one step further in the customer journey
Source: Personalized Newsletter from Pedalix Software
Continue to use the newsletter to alert the prospect to additional content, such as an upcoming webinar.
With digital customer acquisition, you increase your reach and reach your target audience very early in their customer journey. With the help of relevant content in text, image, video or even webinar format, you have the opportunity to make your knowledge available to a wide audience and at the same time build trust
Through the targeted use of gated content, you identify your website visitors and create initial contact with potential new customers - without the cost-intensive use of sales staff.