3 Underrated B2B Lead Generation Channels You Should Test Right Now For Less Than $100 Per Day

·

·

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

The number one question on every B2B marketer’s mind in the age of content marketing, social media marketing and email marketing automation is how to reduce customer acquisition costs while still generating enough leads to grow their business.

Some B2B marketers have turned to Facebook Ads, Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads only to discover that the problem persists – cost per lead is increasing on these ad networks too because more businesses are using them to get in front of their target customers.

Others have chosen to do more of the same – create more free content, promote that content to their email lists and share it on every social media site they know about.

I can’t fault them for doubling down on marketing tactics that are already working.

But if you’re the kind of B2B marketer who wants to get more out of your marketing efforts without outspending the competition, your next best option is to use cost-effective lead generation channels that other B2B marketers in your industry are not even thinking about.

Let’s look at a few of these channels my colleagues in various industries are currently testing and how you could also use them to get more leads and increase sales for your business.

Local Advertising

If you’ve ever received a postcard from Google or a letter from a credit card company in the mail, then you’ve seen one form of local advertising in action. In addition to direct mail, you can reach your target customers within a specific zip code using TV, newspapers and magazines.

Online marketing gurus will have you believe that local advertising isn’t as effective as digital marketing for B2B lead generation because it’s untrackable or that your target customers simply don’t consume local media. But the numbers tell a different story.

According to the DMA’s direct mail statistics, customer response rate for direct mail increased by an impressive 43% in 2016, while prospect response rate more than doubled. Additionally, people of all age groups are interested in receiving direct mail and respond to them.

Here’s another reason you should consider local advertising for boosting your B2B lead generation. Chances are, most B2B marketers in your industry have diverted their marketing budget towards online advertising methods, which means there is more space to advertise in local media than there is demand for it.

If you paid attention in your economics class, you know that’s good news.

Since there’s more supply than demand, you can get these spots at a much lower price than you’d expect, without spending endless hours negotiating with publishers.

Also, marketplaces like Adverator makes it easier than ever to find the right TV spots, newspapers and magazines without hiring a social media and digital marketing agency. They provide a do-it-yourself way to reach people who are likely to purchase your product or service.

As you can see in the image above, it’s possible to generate B2B leads based on your target customers’ interest and current situation using local advertising.

For only $580 – about $10 per day – to get started, local advertising can definitely help you reduce your customer acquisition costs, so take advantage of it before your competitors do.

Account-Based Marketing

At some point in your career as a B2B marketer, I’m confident you’ve compiled a list of target companies you’d like to do business with, found out who the decision makers are in that company and reached out to them directly so that they could be your internal advocates.

You may not have realized you were using account-based marketing then, but it’s still an effective way to boost your lead generation and push your products and services.

In fact, you can automate the entire process using services like Albacross to identify where the people who visit your website work and the decision makers at those companies.

You also get their social profiles, mailing address and direct email address, all at no cost to you.

The main reason you should start testing account-based marketing in your B2B marketing efforts is that, 7 decision makers are involved in most buying decisions at a typical firm with 100 – 500 employees and the sales process is 22% longer than 5 years ago.

Using account-based marketing and marketing automation software like Albacross, you can start fishing with spears, instead of fishing with nets as you currently do with content marketing.

You’ll be able to identify target companies, engage with them with a personalized campaign, and build lasting relationships that lead to new opportunities and increased sales for your business.

The free version of Albacross’ account-based marketing software will help you identify decision makers, reach out to them with one-to-one email and convert them into customers.

However, if you’d like to increase brand awareness across the entire company and shorten your sales cycle, you should consider using their advanced features to advertise on premium, global publishers like Forbes, Business Insider, CNN and The Financial Times.

You can get started with a paid account-based marketing campaign for only $500 – that’s about $16 per day – so give it a go and get your B2B lead generation back on track. 

Digital Self-Publishing

As you know, there’s no better way to persuade customers to do business with you than to show them that you’re an expert in your field. And one of the fastest ways to establish your authority is to write and publish a physical book; a book you can sell or giveaway to your prospects.

However, the work involved in publishing and distributing a physical book discourages many B2B marketers from ever using this cost effective method to generate leads and increase sales for their business.

What if you could get the same effect of publishing a physical book, without all of the hustle?

Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing and other self-publishing platforms like Leanpub makes it possible to position your business as the market leader in your industry by providing valuable information to people who might be interested in your products and services.

This method works really well for B2B businesses that have a proprietary, step-by-step method for achieving results for their customers. You simply document your process, show your readers how they could implement it themselves and publish your book to Kindle or Leanpub.

With a good title and proper optimization on these self-publishing platforms, potential customers who are looking for information on how to solve the problems that your business solves will find and purchase your book or download it for free.

Some readers of your book will choose to implement your process themselves, but the majority who want expert guidance and are ready to invest so that they could achieve the desired results faster will seek you out and purchase your products and services.

Just make sure you create a simple contact form where you’d direct readers of your digital book.

As for getting the content, you can interview an expert in your business for about 90 minutes and transcribe the audio using services like Rev. You’ll then hire a freelancer from Fiverr to edit the transcript and a designer from 99designs to create a professional book cover.

Your initial investment for publishing your digital book would be around $500 – that’s about $16 dollars a day, but you’ll be able to use this book to generate quality leads for years to come.

Your Idea Next Step

I’ve shown you three underrated B2B lead generations channels my colleagues are testing right now to boost their lead generation and how you can also use them in your business.

If you want to get more out of your marketing efforts without spending more money and time, local advertising, account-based marketing and digital self-publishing are great options.

I recommend you get started with account-based marketing today because it requires the least investment and it’ll give you the insights you need to self-publish the right digital book and choose the right local media to advertise in. 

About the author:

Dave Schneider is the founder of LessChurn, churn reduction app. In 2012 he quit his job to travel the world, and has visited over 65 countries. In his spare time, he writes about SaaS and business at DaveSchneider.me.



Tags