5 B2B Lead Generation
Trends for 2022

If you’re a growth marketer who’s actively involved in lead generation, then you’re keenly aware of the changing trends that affect it. With all the buzz about AI, automation, and technology disrupting every industry, it’s hard to imagine that business-to-business (B2B) marketing will stay the same in 2022. Here are five predictions about how B2B lead generation will evolve in 2022:

 

1. The increasing importance of personalization in B2B lead generation
2. The rise of automation
3. Sink or Swim: adapting to changing buyer preferences
4. Social Selling
5. The growing importance of data analytics

Unsurprisingly, we can see that our five predictions are closely interconnected.  The rise of marketing automation has helped businesses scale their social selling activities, which is also known as social media lead generation. At the same time, utilising data analytics helps with the personalisation of that automated outreach, which is becoming ever more important as buyers preferences continue to shift towards hyper-personalisation.  Let’s take a closer look…

Trend #1: The increasing importance of personalization in B2B lead generation:

According to Hubspot, personalization is now the second most important feature that B2B buyers are looking for when deciding which company to buy from. And it makes sense – it’s easier to build trust between a business and a client when the client feels like they’re having a one-on-one conversation with the company.

Personalization is very important in B2B lead generation because you have to know who you’re talking to and what they’re looking for. You’re not just selling to one person. You’re selling to an organisation, and that means that this organisation has multiple decision makers and influencers who all have different opinions and needs. 

Trend #2: The rise of automation:

If you’re not leveraging marketing automation as part of your lead generation strategy, you’re missing out on a great opportunity. By automating your sales and marketing process, you can identify prospects and nurture them as they move through the sales funnel.

Marketing automation allows you to scale outbound marketing activities whilst collecting vast amounts of prospect and client data, which will help you communicate and engage with them on a more personal level. Doing so will help you nurture relationships with prospects and increase your chances of converting them into paying customers.

Trend #3: Sink or swim: adapting to changing buyer preferences:

There’s a lot of change going on in the market right now. Clients have higher expectations and if you’re not adapting to that change, then you’re going to get left behind. 

The best way to adapt to changing buyer preferences is to listen to your clients needs. You can use marketing automation to assist in monitoring buyer and client preference by automating quarterly feedback request emails or net promoter scores. Your clients can tell you what they want from you and how to better serve them.

Trend #4: Social selling:

Social selling is about using social media to generate leads for your business. Social media is becoming increasingly important in B2B marketing, with more than 50 per cent of B2B marketers saying that they are using social media to generate leads. 

The rise of social selling is directly related to the rise of social media, because social media has made it so much easier for you to connect with your target audience. Social media has given people the ability to connect with each other, but most importantly it’s given them the ability to connect with people they don’t know, so they’re constantly expanding their reach and brand recognition. 

It’s a great strategy for B2B companies that want to scale their sales efforts and save money on costly advertising campaigns. Social selling can involve things like Linkedin lead generation or utilising social listening tools to monitor conversations happening online which your company can jump into if they can add value. 

Trend #5: The growing importance of data analytics:

Lead generation is all about using analytics to understand who your customers are, what they want, and how you can provide it to them. The data you collect will tell you what your customers want, where they want it, and when they want it.

According to Hubspot, 89% of companies that use data-driven marketing report that they have generated more leads. The more data you have about your target market, the better you can tailor your message to them.

However, data analytics not only helps businesses better understand their client’s changing needs but also helps analyse which marketing activities are working or not, which helps make informed decisions about which strategies are the best ones to continue investing time and money into.