Many companies that are used to investing in events as a primary mechanism to generate B2B leads suddenly have to find alternatives to keep feeding their pipeline.

Additionally, many become risk-averse and will experience a knee-jerk reaction to any “non-conventional” initiatives, especially if they don’t understand fully what the alternatives are. In this context, the companies that will pivot fastest – and are able to redirect their resources from the face-to-face paradigm to a digital approach – will also maximise their chances to come out on top. What differentiates them from the rest? And how can you accelerate your own digital lead generation?

Here are 5 enablers for you own digital B2B lead generation:

1. Knowledge is power (part 1) – Understand the tools and technology associated with digital prospecting

Although your company and staff may have been using these tools on the fringe of their daily activities, digital prospecting will require many of these tools to take center stage. LinkedIn should no longer be used as a self-promotion tool, or glorified resume, but rather as part of an integrated strategy for identifying, connecting with, and engaging new leads. Is the lead generation part of your workflow integrating seamlessly into your system of records, while enabling outreach sequencing? Do you have a good understanding of the services you can deploy to engage with your prospects if you need to do a screencast, live demo or training? You should!

2. Knowledge is power (part 2) – Harness data across touch points, link them and generate new insight

The building blocks of social media are the same across companies but the content you put out there, whether curated or original, needs to nudge your prospects towards your pipeline by piquing their interest and flipping a mental switch to “contact these guys now!” The only way to know that your resources are well spent and efforts are steering in the right direction is by constantly testing ideas, keywords and formats. Having a well thought out strategy, clearly highlighting expectations through measurable objectives, is key. These metrics will change as you refine your approach over time, but in an environment where everybody is trying to figure themselves out, having a consultative approach and open mind will go a long way… as long as you deliberately create data and are able to generate insight by using cross platform associations.

3. Be agile – Facilitate rapid decision making through actionable measurements

Your data is only valuable if it generates actionable insights. As mentioned above, your content needs to change often, part of a deliberate and delicate succession of moves to win over the interest of your prospects. Once you have access to new insight, holding onto “old” concepts may not be the best way forward. New suggested approaches may sometimes seem counterintuitive but new ideas need to be tested in order to

1. reach more of your target audience
2. capture their attention
3. have them contact you.

Being willing to be flexible in this new set of circumstances will definitely enable you to identify the way things work and, just as importantly, the million other ways things are not going to work right now.

4. Specialist integrated skills – Rely on competent people who are effective in cross-functional teams and able to integrate technology and data for digital marketing purposes

This may seem like a hindsight 20/20 statement but having team members who are fluent in the way technology works and are knowledgeable about the myriad of services out there that enable digital marketing and lead generation, is a tremendous asset right now. However, having tools in your arsenal does not necessarily mean that you have the skills or experience to use them in a synchronized manner. Being able to rely on your team to add to the conversation and letting them lead is in itself an exercise of leadership, but the most effective outcome will come from successful integration of these skills in cross-functional teams.

5. Strategic partnerships – Instead of going at it alone, enroll the expertise of an agency that has the knowledge, expertise and resources to accelerate your digital lead generation strategy

Okay, so maybe you’re not geared for any of the points above from a structural perspective? Either way, companies, even digital natives, seldom go it alone. So why not enroll the help of a partner who is already fluent in digital prospecting, has the structure to support such efforts and the experience to do it? The right partner has already tried a million and one ways to build a digital strategy around lead generation and is currently engaged in dozens of conversations related to this challenge. Finding an agency to help you navigate the technology landscape to generate data and insight presents the benefits of increased agility with better capacity planning and speed to output.

If you’re looking for a partner to help you with your digital lead gen strategy, click here to arrange an obligation-free chat with one of our strategists.