Warning: 25 Reasons Your B2B Lead Generation Is Failing (And How To Fix It)

About Scott Lambert

Here are 25 reasons why your lead generation efforts may be failing

Principle one:

Your Lead Generation Process Is Not Mapped Out From Top To Bottom With A Full Understanding Of Your Ideal Buyer Persona’s “Buyer’s Journey.”

Your Buyer Persona (Or Qualified Lead) Has Not Been Accurately Defined Or Developed.

The Focus Is On “Quantity” Of Leads Instead Of “Quality” Of Leads, Wasting Precious Sales And Marketing Resources Chasing Down Bad Leads.

Realistic Expectations Were Not Accurately Set Up Front Based Upon Marketing Process And Key Understandings Of Your Key Performance Indicators. (KPI)

Purchased Or Rented Email Lists Were Used In Your Marketing Campaign

There Are Content Gaps In What You Are Providing Your Ideal Buyer Persona At Each Stage Of Their Evaluation Journey Or Decision-Making Process. 

Content That Your Ideal Buyer Is Seeking Is Not Being Developed And Published On A Consistent Basis.

You May Be Creating Content That Is Too Self-Promotional, Meaning It’s All About You, Your Company, Your Products And Your Services Instead Of Publishing Content Around Your Ideal Buyers’ Challenges, Pain Points And Opportunities.

Principle two:

You Are Not Being Found In Search Engines For The Most Relevant Key Phrases Related To Your Company, Your Buyers And The Information They Seek.

You May Not Be Reaching Your Target Buyers At The Point In Time When Their Needs Or Interests Are Greatest.

There Is No Real Social Media Marketing Strategy. 

There Is A Lack Of Key Content Publishing Efforts Such As eBooks, White Papers, Case Studies, Guides Or Check Lists That Buyers Read During Their Buyers’ Journey And Evaluation Process.

You Don’t Have A Subscriber Base And Have Not Created A System To Gain A Subscriber Base In Order To Send Them Relevant Newsletters, Announcements, And Valuable Content Offers.

Principle three:

Your Content Does Not Focus On Your Buyer Persona’s Pain Points And Challenges, Or The Opportunities They Seek.

And You May Lack Compelling Incentives Or Relevant Content Offers To Encourage Your Prospects To Convert To A Lead.

The Content That You Have Is Not Aligned With Your Buyer Persona’s Evaluation Journey.

Your Website Pages, Landing Pages, And Emails Lack Calls-To-Action [CTAs] To Encourage Your Visitors To Act.

Your CTAs Send Your Visitors To Unappealing Or Seemingly Unrelated Landing Pages That Do Not Sell The Value Of Your Offer.

You Allow Visitors To Download Content Offers Without Having Them Complete A Form To Capture Basic Information.

Your Content Offer Should Be Free, However It Should Cost Your Visitors A Little Information About Themselves So You Can Continue To Market To Them.

Your Forms Do Not Feed A Marketing And Sales Contact Database That Enables You To Track Everything That Your Visitors, Prospects, And Leads Do.

You Do Not Promote Compelling Content Offers To Your Visitors Based Upon Your Buyer Personas.

Even Though You Are Writing Good Content Geared Toward Your Buyer Personas, You May Not Be Putting Your Best Foot Forward Due To Silly Grammatical Mistakes That Undermine Your Credibility.

Your Conversion Process May Not Be Optimized For Mobile Users. 

Principle Four:

Your Marketing Team Is Not Effectively Qualifying Leads For Your Sales Team Through A Lead Nurturing Process.

Not All Leads Are Qualified Or Sales-Ready.

You’re Not Testing And Tracking Which Blog Articles, CTAs, Landing Pages, Content Offers, Email Subject Lines, And Social Media Posts Are Generating The Best Leads.

Your Sales Team Is Operating Blind By Not Having Key Tools, Such As A CRM, That Allows Them To Track Everything A Prospect Or Lead Has Done When Interacting With Your Company’s Digital Assets.

Key Marketing & Sales Tools (Marketing Automation And CRM) Help Provide Actionable Intelligence For Both Your Marketing & Sales Team.

Keys To Success for your lead generation efforts

Create an effective strategy

Set A Marketing Budget & Align It With Your Revenue Goals

Ensure You Have Adequate Marketing Skills & Resources Internally

And/Or

Partner With A Certified Marketing Agency.

Align & Integrate Your Marketing & Sales Strategy, Methodology & Processes

A Few More Notes…

Start simple. Start here.