.jpg)
As the business world continues to evolve and become more connected than ever before, marketing strategies must adapt in order to keep up.
For example, in the past decade, B2B SaaS lead generation has undergone some major changes. Today, big data analytics, SEO and paid media (PPC ads) are key components of any effective marketing strategy in this space.
These tools have not only helped businesses to better target potential customers and engage with them effectively, but they have also opened the door for a range of other marketing techniques that were previously inaccessible.
At the same time, however, these technologies have also brought about new challenges for marketers. With such a wealth of customer data available at their fingertips, it can be difficult for businesses to sort through all of this information and identify what is relevant and what can actually be used to create effective campaigns.
Additionally, paid media and social media platforms often change their algorithms or introduce new features on a regular basis, which makes it challenging for marketers to keep up with these rapid developments and maintain a stable presence across all channels.
Despite these challenges, one thing is certain: marketing will continue to evolve as technology advances at an unprecedented rate. As long as businesses are able to embrace change and keep up with the rapidly-changing landscape
The battle for eyeballs has intensified in recent years, as consumers now have more choice and greater power to decide what brands they want to align themselves with. Marketers are now tasked with delivering an omnichannel experience across multiple channels at a scale never thought possible.
Lead generation in B2B SaaS is highly competitive. The barriers to entry are low and the customer acquisition costs are high. Successful SaaS brands must know how to generate leads at scale that strengthens customer relationships and build brand loyalty.
Coupled with the turmoil of the past few years, a number of important lessons have emerged to sustain B2B SaaS sales strategies. Here is a summary of the most relevant lessons drawn from personal experience and candid interviews with top marketers.
The most important marketing lessons for marketers for 2022 are as follows:
Although we are building on existing trends, our predictions are not merely inferences from current trends but rather new directions they could take in the future.
Our tips and actionable insights below will serve as a basis to develop a more comprehensive view of how digitalisation might change customer experience in 2022. This overview can serve as an input to develop valuable B2B SaaS lead generation strategies going forward.
Who we are: With over 25 years of experience, SnellMedia has created thousands of successful B2B Google Ads campaigns for clients primarily in SaaS, Manufacturing Automation and Healthtech.
Book a 30-minute consultation with a senior, Google-certified member of our team today. During the call, we’ll answer any Google Ads-related questions you have and audit your account to provide your marketing team with valuable feedback they can implement to double or maybe even triple your lead generation.
A lack of diversity can prove problematic to your B2B SaaS lead generation strategy, so it is advisable to diversify your traffic sources without spreading yourself too thin. This will help to ensure that you are not at the mercy of whatever ad or network change sweeps through the marketing industry. As an agency or business owner aiming for B2B SaaS lead generation, depending on one offer, product and channel is a risky strategy.
To remain competitive in today's world, companies must ensure their message is reaching its intended audience both on- and offline. This is done with a cohesive strategy, where omnichannel is the most in-demand option.
As customer experience improves, so too will your conversions, all things being equal, but it is crucial to not lose sight of future volatility. In other words, steer clear of complacency.
When things are going well, it usually means things are about to change. A balance of positive and negative foresight will help sustain PPC B2B sales lead generation strategies since it consolidates the company's readiness for industry disruptions.
Marketers are often too close to their marketing campaigns to see where they can improve. It's important for marketers to work with an outside perspective so they can see the bigger picture. Negative feedback, or criticism, is part of any marketing strategy and should never be avoided.
It is better to focus on the near-term possible negatives while adapting nimbly.
Hastily hopping from one ad platform to another or taking drastic measures like completely turning off ads because of low initial conversions without giving cognisance to conversion lift (conversions caused by your ads) will prove detrimental.
Instead, it is better to proceed slowly and take calculated steps that will give your company the agility it needs to take advantage of new opportunities when they arise.
As a SaaS agency practising B2B lead generation strategies, it is important to admit when you don't know something. Make your clients aware of areas where you need additional research, i.e., fair balance.
Fair balance of your strengths and weaknesses simply adds to your brand’s believability. For instance, if your products have some side-effects, it is a good strategy to lay bare all the facts so that your brand will come across as trustworthy when customers and prospects undertake further research. This will help you progressively build a reliable community when disasters like COVID strike.
Building a community takes the pressure off your bottom line when a traffic channel stops working. It gives you the opportunity to convert casual engagements into perpetual relationships. So, choose one channel, say YouTube, and work on building a community.
Pro Tip: Celebrate every follower or subscriber as you grow. Then when there is a dip in traffic going forward, you’ll have somewhere to go.
As a marketer, you need to adapt to the ever-changing marketing environment. To be prepared for all eventualities, marketers should be agile and flexible. We can't predict the future but we can prepare for it.
Indeed, 74% of marketing leaders state that "adaptability" will be the most valuable skill in the coming months. In this digital era, with the constant stream of content, brands and marketers need to be ahead of the curve to ensure that they are anticipating changes in customer needs and staying relevant. Innovative marketing techniques have never been more important.
With the number of people accessing the internet and mobile devices having grown since COVID struck, it makes sense for marketers to go where their audience is – online.
The “digital-first” marketing strategy is a shift from traditional marketing strategies that relied on TV commercials and print ads as their main methods of advertising and promotion. This approach is not new to marketers; however, the difference is that it has become more popular than ever before as the digital world expands.
The digital-first approach helps marketers understand more about their audience and what they want from them. It is therefore not therefore that video has emerged as supreme within this strategy.
A survey conducted by Wyzowl in 2021 found that 93% of marketers considered video to be essential to their marketing strategy. This was the highest percentage since 2015. But of course, video isn’t the only effective path when it comes to digital. Virtual events are also a great way to provide more information, better customer service and more opportunities for interaction.
With the shift in consumer behaviour to a digital landscape, virtual events allow you to create a more personal connection with your audience by inviting them into your space. This is what makes virtual events so important now. But it is impossible to capture all the traffic manually considering the fact that online numbers have skyrocketed. This is why the use of automation as a supplement has taken off.
Automation is a hot topic in the marketing world right now, and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. That’s because it fills a need. Marketers are drowning in emails, and one of their biggest complaints is that they don’t have time to respond to everyone.
Marketing automation responds to those emails for them, which means they can spend more time on content creation, social media management and other essential tasks.
Leveraging marketing automation is essential for businesses today. By collecting data about potential customers and using machine learning and AI to analyze that data, businesses can create more targeted and effective marketing campaigns. For the future of B2B sales, we believe that marketing automation will become even more important, as it allows businesses to respond quickly and effectively to changes in the marketplace.
Empathy is the quality of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to and indirectly experiencing the feelings, thoughts and experiences of prospects and customers. Empathy has long been an important quality for businesses to have, but the pandemic has accelerated this trend. Today, potential buyers demand empathy rooted in offerings and marketing campaigns (they want to be heard).
Sales and marketing need to work together in order to improve their lead generation, conversion rates, customer retention rates and revenue. Communication inconsistencies lead to task duplications which results in a bad customer experience. On the other hand, effective collaboration between your sales and marketing teams will translate to the effective acquisition of new high quality leads, as well as reconversions of existing customers.
Quality B2B sales leads can come from many different sales and marketing channels. In our experience, the key ingredient in generating more leads is improving the synergy between marketing and sales teams. A cohesive lead-gen strategy can be boosted with:
The important things for businesses to consider after 2021, summarised earlier in this article, can be encapsulated in the following key takeaways and tips for the future:
For instance, you bought your groceries online, but drove down to the shop to collect them. An example is UberEats.
So, in-shop conversions - where people come into your shop after seeing your ad (called conversion lift) are essential to be aware of, albeit untrackable. Not giving enough credit to your ads for conversion lift will prove detrimental.
Turning off such ads could lead to a total decline in conversions because they are an essential part of your acquisition strategy. But how can we know or measure the effectiveness of ads offline? Pro Tip: Ask your customers where they got wind of your product or services in order to track the source of offline sales.
In a nutshell, the major area of focus is figuring out the points of inflection between offline and online and improving the synergy.
Is your marketing team overwhelmed by the turmoil and cut-throat competition in the B2B marketing space? Do you need help growing your business online?
SnellMedia can provide the online marketing services you’re looking for. With over 25 years of experience, we have created thousands of successful B2B Google Ads campaigns for clients primarily in SaaS, Manufacturing Automation and Healthtech.
Book a 30-minute consultation with a senior, Google-certified member of our team today. During the call, we’ll answer any Google Ads-related questions you have and audit your account to provide your marketing team with valuable feedback they can implement to double or maybe even triple your lead generation.
