Lead Generation Mistakes Every B2B Marketer Should Avoid

B2B lead generation is a complicated process and even most experienced marketers can make mistakes. This leads to the generation of poor quality leads, which can have a negative impact on business. However, commercial enterprises can now increase their chances of identifying and avoiding common mistakes.

 In this article, we will discuss about some of the most common B2B lead generation mistakes so that you remain careful about them. Let us begin. 

Not defining target audience clearly

In order to have a successful lead generation strategy, you should clearly define your target audience. Investing in B2B lead generation efforts without a clear Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is not a good decision because the lead generation efforts will fail miserably, thus leading to wastage of money and resources. An ICP will include specifics like type of industry, size of the company, revenue and geographical location. Without a proper ICP, your messaging will miss its mark and campaigns will fail to resonate with the audience. 

Let us understand this with the help of an example. A software company targeting ‘all businesses’ may waste money on small retail shops when their products are best suited for mid-size technical firms. 

You can conduct market research with the help of experts, using various kinds of advanced tools. Define your ICP properly. This will make your efforts effective and investment fruitful.

Giving more importance to quantity over quality

One of the major mistakes which business owners make during B2B lead generation is to give more importance to quantity over quality. Generating a large volume of poor quality leads will clog your sales pipeline with uninterested prospects. This will overwhelm sales team and reduce conversion rates. 

High quality leads are ideal for your ICP and they are ready to engage with your company. Prioritizing quantity usually results in chasing uninterested prospects, thus wasting time and money. You can avoid this problem by implementing lead scoring based on criteria like job title, company size or engagement. You should review the lead quality with the sales team for the purpose of ensuring alignment. 

Ignoring buyer persona

B2B purchases generally involve several stakeholders, such company owners, CEOs and managers, each with unique requirements and pain points. Generic messages fail to addresses these nuances, thus reducing engagement. This is the reason why you should give importance to buyer persona.

A buyer persona will give a detailed information about stakeholder’s roles, objectives, challenges and decision making power. For example, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of a company will give importance to technical features whereas the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) will prioritize Return of Investment (ROI). Without a buyer persona, your outreach will be irrelevant. 

You can find out information about the prospects and analyze LinkedIn profiles for building detailed buyer personas. Include demographics, pain points as well as preferred communication channels and use them for creating targeted messages. 

Effective B2B lead generation is a strategic process which requires precision, adaptability and deep understanding of target audience. By avoiding common mistakes, you can build a robust pipeline of top quality leads which drives meaningful outcomes.