December 19, 2023
While B2B brands continue to push for leads by any means necessary, LinkedIn’s lead gen forms are more popular than ever. Great for the platform – but for the brands using it, and their audience, it could be doing more harm than good.
We’re all aware of what signing up or passing on email details will lead to – a barrage of emails or even an increased level of ads across other platforms and mediums (see YouTube – relentless!). But from a B2B perspective, the result can be similar. Work email inboxes fill up, LinkedIn direct mail correspondence increases and even ads in feed may take on a greater frequency.
The push for B2B lead gen forms on LinkedIn are likely rising as brands and their campaign managers look to hit KPIs and bring new customers into the funnel. But everyone is aware of what lead gen forms represent and what comes from them – even with an autofill option, taking the pain out of it, the result of passing on details can put people off passing on details, leading to more and more questioning whether it’s truly worth it or not. Can ad money be better spent in other ways?
But if I don’t do lead gen forms, how do I gather leads?
The simple answer is – the old-fashioned way. Putting a gate on valuable content in itself is quite old-fashioned, but in a bad way – you’re essentially putting a barrier between yourself and a potential customer.
The two best ways outside of lead gen forms is to utilise a nudge-nurture strategy, laced with effective social selling.
We talk about nudge-nurture a lot! It requires patience and time, but that’s the only way to build trust with customers. It’s giving your evidence for an understanding of their issues and a willingness to give them value for free – people remember that and appreciate it; if the content is good enough, they’ll come back.
Social selling has evolved; it requires a similar process to nudge-nurture – but adopted in a personal way. It’s simple enough but it’s about finding those personnel at your business who want to be brave and regularly post content. This isn’t about DM’ing all the prospects, it’s about posting valuable nuggets of information that tie in with your overall brand message. Repost content and make it more personable. People will greatly value it. Build it and they will come, as the saying goes.
Ultimately, lead gen forms have their place and can be effective in topping up the sales funnel – but unless you’ve nailed your targeting and your message, as well as the visual (this is soooooo important) you’re throwing money down the drain anyway. We expect 2024 to see more lead gen forms being used by many B2B brands – it could bombard your audience and frankly put people off. Maybe, do something different to them.
If you need some guidance on how to get your B2B lead gen running on social most effectively, contact us today.