Creating a lead generation funnel for a B2B business is no longer about building up a list of email addresses or sending out a promotional communication or two. Within a highly competitive and data-informed marketplace, a scalable lead generation funnel for a B2B business is required that draws in appropriate leads and converts these individuals into loyal customers over time.
What the Scalable Lead Generation Funnel does Not do
A scalable lead generation funnel does not break down as the number of visitors grows, the sales teams get bigger, and/or the markets expand but instead improves in efficiency as the years go by.
In the following tutorial, we will tackle the process of building and optimizing the B2B Lead Generation Funnel that can scale along with your business.
Understanding the B2B Lead Generation Funnel
A B2B lead generation funnel illustrates the process a potential consumer goes through from the first interaction with the brand to becoming a verified lead and eventually a paid client. While a B2C funnel is straightforward, a B2B funnel is longer and intricate since there are decision-makers involved.
If you are unfamiliar with the term or wish to develop a solid foundation of understanding, then this comprehensive guide to lead generation in the B2B market describes the basics as well as their placement in the marketing mix.
A common B2B funnels model has three major groups: awareness, consideration, and decision. Each group has varying messaging, content, or interaction requirements. Scalability is gained through optimizing each group for efficient performance, regardless of volume or complexity.
Why Scalability Is Critical in B2B Lead Generation
It is not uncommon for businesses to produce leads on a smaller scale but face issues once the growth speed increases. An un-scalable funnel would involve a lot of manual work or unqualified traffic. Conversion rates would dwindle down once the traffic increases.
A scalable lead funnel in the B2B industry eradicates the above challenges through the use of automation and data. It helps the company increase the volume of lead flow without affecting the quality. In addition, it improves the accuracy of the forecast. More importantly, it allows marketing to achieve revenues and not just the vanity metrics.
Defining Your Ideal Customer Profile and Buyer Personas
All scalable funnels have to begin with clarity. Prior to any spending on content, advertising, or software solutions, it is essential to have clarity on whom you are attempting to target. This begins with the development of an Ideal Customer Profile, also referred to as ICP.
Your ICP would usually consist of elements such as the size of the organization, the industry that the organization is in, the revenue that the organization generates, and the geographic region that the organization is in. After determining the ICP, you would be able to identify the types of buyers who actually make decisions in the organization.
When your funnel is built around a clear ICP and well-researched personas, scalability becomes easier because your messaging resonates with the right audience consistently.
Mapping the B2B Customer Journey
After identifying your target audience, it is essential to go to the next step of mapping the customer’s journey. It involves understanding how a prospect progresses from awareness to conversion.
During the awareness phase, the buyer is attempting to understand their problem. They will be searching for educational information, insights, and best practices. Here, you want to attract attention with non-promotional content, which will help you establish your brand as an authority.
At the stage of consideration, potential customers have begun evaluating solutions for themselves. Your competition is now being compared based on approach, suppliers, and tools. The content you put out now will be more specialized and will demonstrate your solution’s benefits for your potential customers’ needs.
At the decision phase, leads are almost at the point of purchase. Here, they require reassurance, proof, or clarity. Consumers find case studies, product consultations, or in-depth information about the product valuable in taking the process from interest to action.
Scalable funnels enable content and touches to remain focused on each part of the journey referenced above.
Choosing Lead Generation Channels That Scale
Not all channels scale equally.
A scaling channel: This is an important element of building out a scalable lead generation channel in B2B.
A channel that doesn’t scale:
Organic sources of leads, such as SEO-driven content, thought leadership, or having a strong LinkedIn presence, have the potential for scalability in the long run because they can compound. Good content attracts quality traffic long after it is published.
For example, if a company is using LinkedIn Ads or Google Ads, these types of ads can scale easily, while if a company is using ads in newspapers, magazines, or hoardings, these types of ads cannot scale easily. It also depends upon how well the ads are optimized if these types of ads are going
Outbound tactics like cold emails or LinkedIn outreach messages have the ability to scale if there are automation platforms that can help with personalization. The challenge is to automate outreach in such a way that it still remains relevant.
Creating High-Converting Lead Magnets and Landing Pages
Lead magnets play a critical role in converting site visitors to leads. A scalable funnel is built on lead magnets that provide long-term value and speak to your target market’s specific pains.
“The most common types of lead magnets are in-depth guides, reports related to an industry niche, templates for specific uses, webinars, and practical checklists.” These should target a problem that has been identified and should be related to the ICP.
Landing pages are important to have when it comes to conversions. A landing page designed well highlights one offer only, emphasizes value, and eliminates all distractions. Scalability gets enhanced when landing pages are done correctly to work hand in hand with your CRM solutions.
Automating Lead Capture and Nurturing
Scalability is made possible through automation. The human process of lead follow-ups and fragmented systems will not be able to support scalable growth. For a B2B lead generation business, a scalable lead generation process uses automation for the lead capture, nurturing, and routing process.
CRM platforms store all your lead information in a central location. You also get to use marketing automation tools that enable you to send tailored email sequences to your leads.
Moreover, for instance, if a lead downloads any resource, an automation can trigger a nurturing sequence that will educate the lead further. In this manner, no lead shall ever be ignored irrespective of the number.
Qualifying Leads with Scoring and Segmentation
When the volume of leads increases, not each lead qualifies for the marketer’s immediate attention in terms of sales. Lead scoring enables marketers to shortlist their leads for the purchase process. Scalable funnels separate genuine leads from those who are merely showing curiosity.
Lead scoring models involve demographic data, levels of engagement, and behaviors like repeated visits to the site or visits to the pricing page. Segmentation is a way to increase efficiency by dividing the lead pool on the basis of industry, job title, and funnel stage.
In this manner, by routing only qualified leads with a strong potential for conversion to the sales team, businesses can improve the conversion rate and avoid wasting time.
Aligning Sales and Marketing for Funnel Efficiency
An elastic, scalable funnel will not be effective without a well-aligned sales and marketing team. The definition of a qualified prospect, handoff points, and metrics may all be squarely addressed and defined jointly by the two teams.
Well-documented service level agreements (SLAs) can serve to clarify assumptions, while dashboard collaboration helps enable better visibility. Sales feedback helps to adjust targeting and qualifying criteria.
A unified revenue team means that the MQL and SQL stages improve in terms of funnel performance.
Measuring, Optimizing, and Iterating for Growth
Continuous measurement is key to scalability. Key metrics include: conversion rates, cost per lead, lead velocity, and customer acquisition cost. These metrics provide insight into funnel health.
Tracking data throughout the entire funnel allows businesses to find drop-off points and optimization opportunities. Even slight improvements in conversion rates can have a huge effect when introduced at scale.
A scalable funnel is never stationary. It is constantly in evolution through testing and learning.
Using the Right Tools to Support Scalability
Technology is a key factor in the scalable process of B2B lead generation. It assists in handling data and enhancing personalization with the least amount of manual effort.
For organizations planning to develop or enhance a scalable funnel, Tapistro can assist businesses in developing a system for B2B lead generation with a focus on growth, integrating their strategy and approach of marketing and sales for achieving overall success.
Conclusion
When it comes to building a scalable B2B lead generation funnel, there is more to it than just getting traffic or strategies. It involves understanding your customers intimately and optimizing based on customer analytics.
A scalable sales funnel built on strong ICPs from the outset, effective channels, automation, and sales alignment ensures a marketing funnel that produces not only leads but sustains growth for the entire business.
