Is lead generation a vital aspect that businesses cannot ignore? The answer is YES!
But why should businesses ensure lead flow into their sales pipeline?
Let us consider a scenario where a business fails to generate any leads. Zero lead generation directly impacts its profits, as no new users are added to the customer base, there are negligible sales, and the venture’s revenue numbers hit rock bottom. Hence, for any business to prevent its profits from spiraling down, it needs to choose the right strategy and latch on to the correct trend to maximize lead generation.
With 61% of marketers considering lead generation a challenging task, the real hustle for B2B companies is finding the right channel to chase the target audience. Here are some recent statistics and trends that will provide eye-opening insights for businesses to develop the best lead-generation strategy.
The global B2B lead generation services market valued at USD 21825.3 million is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.27% to reach USD 41417.63 million by 2028. This robust growth signifies the imperative nature of lead generation for business growth.
The global B2B lead generation services market valued at USD 21825.3 million is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.27% to reach USD 41417.63 million by 2028. This robust growth signifies the imperative nature of lead generation for business growth.
According to research insights from Blogingwizard, 85% of B2B marketers prioritize lead generation as their primary marketing goal, and 53% of B2B companies spend 50% of their budget on lead generation. The mean cost per lead across industries is stated to be $198.44. Did you know, on average, how many leads do organizations generate per month? The answer is 1877. Of the generated leads, 4 out of 5 are considered as marketing qualified leads (MQL).
Did you know the IT and services industry generates more leads per month than any other sector? The IT and services sector secures a top spot in the lead generation race, leaving behind other industries by generating an average of 3,660 leads per month and the highest MQL rate of 83%.
A myriad of methods exist to generate leads. However, every business needs to ensure due diligence before embarking on its lead generation journey. A tactic or strategy that clicks for a business in the retail sector might not fetch the same results for an enterprise in the healthcare sector. Hence, here are relevant lead generation statistics for businesses to analyze the impact of every available technique and create a mix of various methods to gain quick lead wins.
Email marketing ticks several boxes for businesses, including lead generation, lead nurturing, and conversions. Due to this, 78% of companies use email marketing to generate leads.
Email marketing offers businesses several avenues to target their prospects with hyper-personalized content. From using first names to catchy subject lines, emails let businesses engage with their audience and nudge them in their buyer journey. Emails sent at the right time with relevant content can work wonders and give significant results, empowering B2B marketers to transform prospects who are just browsing into ready-to-buy users.
The average open rates of emails vary across industries, with the education sector topping the chart at 28.5% and retail at the low end at 17.1%. Users’ inclination toward remote learning due to the pandemic’s impact might be a valid reason for such open rates. Over the years, the average open rates for email have witnessed a surge of 3.1%, indicating that, as a communication channel, it can provide a good reach for businesses.
To obtain the best outcomes, marketers must also focus on which day of the week they send emails to the audience. According to insights from Campaign Monitor, emails sent on Mondays have the highest open rate of 22%, and Wednesdays and Tuesdays have the highest click-to-open rates of 10.2% for emails.
Email marketing allows marketers to connect with customers via their data and reach customers’ inboxes where they already are. With 60% of users making a monthly purchase after being influenced by an email, it emphasizes it as a vital marketing strategy. Additionally, as it enables businesses to monitor and measure the outcomes as a marketing method, email campaigns are a preferred choice to generate leads. With email marketing contributing 22% of leads, it will remain the go-to strategy for B2B businesses.
The best lead generation strategy for targeting prospects in the early stage of a buyer’s journey is content marketing. According to Parse.ly, 3 out of 4 marketers prefer to use content marketing as a first step in lead generation to obtain high-value inbound leads. Around 85% of B2B businesses are taking the content marketing route to win leads. If marketers stay alienated from this strategy, they will definitely lose out to their competitors.
Based on the research insights derived from Semrush, lead generation ranks among the top goals of content marketers across the globe. 36% of marketers prefer to achieve their lead targets via content marketing, while 47% boost their brand awareness through high-value content, and 37% rely on content to attract website visitors.
Content marketing as a strategy can be a game changer if the content is designed to generate awareness and interest in an early stage. With many content formats available, which is the most impactful for lead generation? Podcasts top the chart, with 77% of B2B marketers routing for it, with blog posts taking the second spot with 76%, followed by video.
Even top-notch lead generation endeavors supported by apt technology fail miserably when the content strategy is not in sync with the buyer’s need. Content marketing is not just about filling up web pages to gain search engine’s attention. The best results are obtained only when content marketers focus on sharing valuable, relevant information with their audience to foster trust.
Over the past five years, the monthly Google search volume for social media marketing has witnessed an upward trend of 225% while that for TikTok ads is up by 99X! These numbers speak volumes about the social selling trend that global businesses have latched on to.
Since their inception, social media platforms have come a long way in terms of how users utilize them. They are not merely communication platforms for personal and social connections; they are sites that can provide good visibility to businesses and are the best source to generate ample leads.
With 4.65 billion people across the globe being active on social media platforms, businesses hesitant to embrace social selling will miss out on numerous opportunities for growth. Owing to this massive user base, around 68% of businesses have embraced social media marketing to ensure constant lead flow into their sales funnel and 90% of B2B marketers believe that social selling transformed their enterprise’s growth trajectory.
According to Sprout Social, around 74% of social media users are eager to see 1 to 2 posts per day from businesses they intend to purchase from. It gives B2B marketers a vast scope to showcase their offerings and nudge users to become loyal consumers.
TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and more are available for businesses to promote their offerings and gain leads. But which platform do B2B businesses rely on the most? LinkedIn tops the chart, with 41% of B2B marketers using it to generate leads. As the platform allows them to target a CEO to an entry-level job title, it is the most engaging environment for collaborating with people with a work mindset. Followed by LinkedIn, B2B business’s choice of social media platforms to procure leads include Facebook and Twitter.
Generating leads is a battle half-won for businesses. The next crux of the matter that needs to be tackled is nurturing leads and converting them to users. Lead nurturing is a vital aspect of an enterprise’s success. With an apt lead nurturing strategy in place, B2B marketers can guide their prospects through the buying process. By addressing their problems with valuable information and personalized attention, they can kindle a trust factor that paves the likelihood of conversion.
Numerous channels can be leveraged for nurturing leads. While each channel allows businesses to reach a different target audience, certain channels have given effective results for B2B marketers. According to research insights from Sales Mate, emails are the most preferred channel, contributing to 78% of lead nurturing, followed by websites at 48% and social media at 39%.
As nurtured leads make 47% more large purchases than non-nurtured leads, a correct lead nurturing strategy is imperative for businesses to thrive in the competitive B2B ecosystem. It takes approximately ten marketing touches to nurture and convert lead. 68% of companies are optimizing website landing pages to nurture leads and are utilizing various formats of content marketing tactics, including white papers, webinars, infographics, and more. Out of the content formats that can aid in lead nurturing, white papers top the chart with 83%, followed by e-books with 71%. Apart from this, 84% of businesses rely on form submissions for lead conversions, 50.3% use phone calls as a touch point, and 33.2% use live chat.
Businesses can unlock future growth and success by generating new leads every month. By combining strategies like content marketing, email marketing, and more, businesses can create lead-generating ecosystems that will persuade ready-to-buy prospects to become loyal customers.
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