January 29, 2024
Business to business relies heavily on lead generation via social – but is 2024 set to become a year of serious challenges for companies driving this activity? Brands may need to pivot to new techniques to make its effectiveness optimal.
Barriers to lead generation include:
- Cookie selection from users limiting tracking
- Download fatigue
- Saturation of ‘download now’ posts
As users feel a turn-off toward constant date-sharing, how to B2B brands alter their approach in demonstrating their value to the market?
Giving up information for free may be the best way format. Gating PDFs and white papers is becoming obsolete – they’re usually disengaging and everyone’s attention spans are shorter than ever (I hope you’re still with us by the way?)
Sales funnel solutions – alternatives to lead generation
When we think about lead generation via social – lead gen forms on LinkedIn more specifically – it’s known to be a very effective way of filling out that sales funnel. But the barriers above are starting to generate some discourse that, in a day where everything you do requires sign-up or data parting, in which you are then bombarded with email after email – the question for them is, is it really worth me downloading this?
Engaging content is always rewarding to a brand and using your best assets for lead gen campaigns may seem the smartest way to go about things – but in 2024 we expect that a change in tact will be required.
Lead generation may need a softer approach rather than a direct, in-feed autofill download.etc etc etc – and that means parting with your high value assets in a more meaningful, longer-term way.
Influencer marketing – lead gen’s good friend
The B2B marketing sphere is set to edge toward influencer marketing more than ever in 2024. As video becomes the most popular form of consumed content on social media platforms generally, we expect B2B to follow suit.
We don’t mean the standard corporate snooze fest videos – we mean personable, impactful and meaningful content. Think about how you can use your stakeholders to maximum effect – put them in front of the camera and get them to talk about the latest developments in the sector. There doesn’t have to be a golden nugget of information, or a sell of any kind – it’s about showing your brand understands what’s going on.
That’s knowledge – it builds trust – start here and the market will follow.
To summarise:
- Lead generation forms may become oversaturated in 2024, it’s worth considering alternative methods
- Don’t look for quick-win campaigns of a month long – plan long term and use nudge-nurture to garner interest and build trust
- Use video – invest in a professional video production person or company – brief them properly and trust them to deliver something social-first
- Use your stakeholders – don’t think about blog writing or thought-leadership articles on the website, think video and audio. Can you do a 30-second talking head to camera? Can you get a stakeholder and a customer to do a chat over Zoom to just talk about the sector and the developments? It’s basically a free-to-make podcast!
Need help putting any of these together? Contact us today.