What is B2B lead generation
B2B lead generation is the process of identifying, attracting and capturing potential business customers, then qualifying and nurturing them until they are ready to speak with sales or buy.
A B2B lead is usually a person who may influence or make a purchasing decision for a company. They might download a software guide, request a product demo or submit a pricing enquiry.
These actions identify the person as a potential lead. They do not necessarily mean the person is ready to buy.
B2B lead generation focuses on finding relevant prospects rather than collecting as many contacts as possible. Lead quality may depend on the prospect's company size, industry, business need, authority and purchasing potential.
B2B Lead Generation at a Glance
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| B2B | Business-to-business activity involving one business selling to another business |
| B2B lead | A person or account that may have a business need your company can solve |
| Lead generation | Attracting potential customers and capturing enough information to follow up |
| Lead qualification | Assessing whether a lead fits your target market and shows buying potential |
| Lead nurturing | Building a lead's interest and trust through relevant communication |
| Marketing-qualified lead | A lead that meets marketing criteria for further sales attention |
| Sales-qualified lead | A lead that sales considers suitable for direct sales engagement |
How Does B2B Lead Generation Work?
B2B lead generation usually moves through six stages, from defining the target customer to handing suitable leads to sales.
Define the ideal customer profile
Identify the companies most likely to benefit from your product. Useful criteria include industry, employee count, location, technology used, revenue range and business problem.
Attract the right audience
Publish or promote content and offers that address the audience's business challenges.
Capture contact information
Use a form, demo request, newsletter subscription, event registration or another conversion point to identify the prospect.
Qualify the lead
Assess whether the person and company match your ideal customer profile. Look for evidence of a relevant need.
Nurture the opportunity
Send useful content, case studies, product information or invitations that help the prospect evaluate the solution.
Pass suitable leads to sales
Sales contacts leads that meet agreed criteria and may be ready for a conversation.
B2B buyers often need more education and follow-up than consumers. Business purchases can involve longer buying cycles and several stakeholders.
What Are the Main B2B Lead Generation Channels?
Businesses commonly generate B2B leads through inbound marketing, outbound activity and account-based marketing.
Inbound Lead Generation
Inbound marketing attracts prospects who are already researching a problem or solution. Common examples include:
- Search engine optimisation and educational articles
- Downloadable guides, reports and templates
- Webinars and online events
- Product comparison pages
- Case studies
- Email newsletters
- Organic social media
- Free trials or product demonstrations
For example, a payroll software company might publish an article about reducing payroll errors. A reader who downloads a payroll checklist and provides a work email becomes an identifiable lead.
Outbound Lead Generation
Outbound lead generation proactively reaches potential buyers. Examples include:
- Cold email
- Sales development calls
- LinkedIn outreach
- Targeted digital advertising
- Direct mail
- Industry conferences and trade shows
- Partner and referral campaigns
Outbound activity works best when it targets a clearly defined audience and addresses a specific business problem. Sending the same generic message to a large contact list usually produces poor-quality leads.
Account-Based Marketing
Account-based marketing, or ABM, targets specific companies rather than treating every contact as an individual opportunity. Marketing and sales may coordinate advertising, content, email and outreach around a list of priority accounts.
Several contacts from the same company can represent one account opportunity. Salesforce describes this account-based approach as relevant in B2B marketing because multiple people may participate in a company's buying committee.
What Is the Difference Between B2B Lead Generation and Demand Generation?
Demand generation creates awareness and interest. B2B lead generation captures identifiable prospects for follow-up.
For example:
- A LinkedIn video explaining a business problem supports demand generation.
- A form offering a related research report supports lead generation.
- An email sequence that helps a prospect evaluate suppliers supports lead nurturing.
- A sales call with a qualified prospect supports sales conversion.
Demand generation does not always require a prospect to provide contact information. Lead generation normally includes an action that identifies the prospect, such as a form submission, demo request or event registration.
What Makes a B2B Lead Qualified?
A qualified B2B lead has both company fit and buying intent.
Company and Contact Fit
The lead may match criteria such as:
- Target industry
- Suitable company size
- Relevant job title or decision-making role
- Serviceable location
- Appropriate technology environment
- Business model or use case
Buying Intent
The lead may also show actions such as:
- Requesting a product demonstration
- Visiting pricing or product pages
- Downloading several related resources
- Registering for a buying-focused webinar
- Contacting sales
- Comparing suppliers
- Returning to the website repeatedly
A person can be a good fit without being ready to buy. For example, a senior manager at a target company may download an introductory guide while no active project is under way. That person may need nurturing rather than an immediate sales call.
What Is an Example of B2B Lead Generation?
Imagine a cybersecurity company that sells compliance software to financial services firms.
The company could:
- Publish an SEO article about preparing for a security audit.
- Offer a downloadable compliance checklist.
- Ask visitors for their name, work email, company and job role.
- Score leads from financial services companies more highly.
- Send educational emails and a relevant case study.
- Offer a product demonstration to prospects showing stronger buying intent.
- Send sales-ready leads to the CRM for follow-up.
The lead generation activity is not only the checklist. It is the complete process that attracts the right audience, captures information, evaluates fit and moves suitable prospects towards a commercial conversation.
How Is B2B Lead Generation Measured?
B2B lead generation is measured through lead volume, conversion, cost, lead quality, pipeline and revenue.
Useful metrics include:
- Lead volume: Number of leads generated
- Conversion rate: Percentage of visitors or prospects who become leads
- Cost per lead: Campaign spend divided by the number of leads
- Marketing-qualified leads: Leads meeting agreed marketing criteria
- Sales-qualified leads: Leads accepted by sales for follow-up
- Lead-to-opportunity rate: Percentage of leads that become sales opportunities
- Pipeline generated: Sales pipeline attributed to the campaign
- Revenue generated: Closed revenue linked to the lead generation activity
Lead volume is not always the best measure. A campaign that generates fewer leads but produces more qualified opportunities and revenue may perform better than a high-volume campaign.