The marketing technology market is expected to increase by 13.6% by 2020, reaching 8,000 solutions. The result is a tidal wave of customer confusion. You’ll have to compete with other brands for consumers’ attention whenever you launch a new product unless you’re Google or Apple. Doing the opposite is more accessible, right?
Successful lead generation is essential in today’s market. Due to the one-of-a-kind nature of the IT industry’s development curve, businesses need specialized methods of reaching consumers with their wares. Best practices for generating sales leads in the IT and software industries are discussed in this article.
In What Ways Might Technology Businesses Generate New Leads?
Rapid expansion may be seen in the technology industry. IT firms are constantly innovating to market their existing goods and services compared to more conventional businesses. They will even take a chance on anything if they think it has promising potential. A good example is the frequent introduction of brand-new product categories that did not previously exist within the company’s offerings.
Technology firms need effective marketing and quick, responsive lead-generating strategies to increase awareness of their brand, services, and products.
A potential customer interested in your offering is considered a lead. However, this in no way indicates that they are prepared to buy. In IT, IT, and SaaS businesses, the best way to generate qualified leads is to teach potential customers about your product or service’s advantages.
How Can You Tell Whether Your Conversion Rate is Increasing?
How to increase your conversion rate? The term refers to when a customer encounters an issue that your products can address, and your brand name immediately comes to mind. And at that moment, they are prepared to approach your business about making a purchase.
1. Consider your goals
The goals and desired outcomes of your technology company’s lead-generating plan are in place before its creation. Having them in place allows you to track your progress and ensures that everyone in your company is working towards the same long-term objectives.
OKRs are a popular technique among digital natives to unify a group’s efforts and ensure everyone pulls in a similar direction. Each group is actively involved in a very straightforward and brief procedure.
Establishing, monitoring, and adjusting (every three months) is accessible as required. However, feel free to modify the structure to better suit your purposes. Learn from Spotify, which went through hyper-growth but discovered that OKRs stifled them: The IT firm abandoned defining individual OKRs in favor of establishing overarching corporate goals and delegating execution to departmental teams.
2. Target your message to the right people by identifying who they are.
Creating a buyer persona or business-to-business ideal client profile is crucial for effective lead generation (B2C). This straightforward lead generation method provides IT businesses with more specific information about their potential client’s needs, goals, and purchasing patterns.
It also aids digital companies in attracting customers to the point where they are willing to share personal information (through forms, for example) to learn more about a product or service. Having various items available means, you can cater to a broader range of potential customers. However, you should ensure that they are all consistent with your brand.
However, keeping up with clients’ ever-evolving needs is the modern lead generation industry’s most significant difficulty. It is why it’s crucial to get client feedback regularly.
3. Value-add intent data
Eighty-seven percent of shoppers go online first when looking for a product, and they seldom consult a salesperson for help. They research all of their options for the best possible buying choice.
Intent data is beneficial for lead generation in the B2B technology industry. It’s a great way to get the eye of potential customers just as they start shopping around. Furthermore, before they find out who your rivals are!
Isn’t that enticing? Intent data consists of sales information that may be useful to capitalize on potential customers’ signals. It opens doors for you to introduce your wares to the appropriate people at the correct times, directing their deliberations in the right direction.
Intent-driven account-based marketing’s key strength is its ability to zero in on a specific demographic of potential customers. Instead of targeting a broad demographic, you might get started on particular lead gen initiatives.
By the end of 2022, Gartner anticipates that more than 70 percent of B2B marketers will leverage data from third-party intent providers for lead generation. Don’t wait any longer to contact a sales intelligence firm like Cognism.
4. Make use of concise movies to break down complicated information
Lead generation for IT firms and startups relies heavily on creating helpful and informative SEO content. Blogs are the preferred method of customer communication for most companies. Yet, experimenting is a cornerstone of IT businesses’ lead generation strategies —
Furthermore, recent reports suggest that Google prioritizes shorter movies when returning search results. It is a fantastic chance for up-and-coming names in the IT and software industries to get their names out there.
Tech companies should explore making short movies since they effectively communicate complicated ideas clearly and engagingly. Audiovisual product explanations are often well-received. In 2021, 78 percent of individuals downloaded an app or program after viewing a movie. Making a video that addresses the issues and highlights the benefits of your product is another option.
5. Get the right mix of audio and visual content
Creating gated content is a simple way for technology firms to attract new customers. You may compare gated content to a financial transaction, as it requires potential customers to provide their contact information in exchange for access to exclusive content (such as white papers and webinar recordings, you can convert audio to text online with Amberscript).
Ensure your customers know what is beyond the entrance to increase the likelihood of a purchase. According to the findings of the 2021 Material Preferences Study, consumers are looking for content that is either research- or influencer-backed, visually appealing, or both. They are willing to give up their contact information for:
- Publishing a White Paper (57%)
- Electronic books (54%).
- 50% of all industry newsletters
However, you can’t just rely on gating everything and hoping for the best — Gated vs. ungated material is a topic of discussion in the marketing world. While software firms may benefit from the leads generated by gated content, the trust and brand recognition cultivated by ungated material are invaluable.
That’s why influential software firms use the principles of Pareto’s rule, which states that 20% of your target audience will generate 80% of your business. They generate record-breaking income by gating just 20% of their material and making the remaining 80% freely available.
6. Inquire about the product’s quality from buyers.
Requesting reviews from satisfied customers is a tried and true method of generating new business from existing clients in the technology industry. Buyers put more stock in other buyers’ opinions than in the claims of corporations, just as we would question friends and relatives before making a significant purchase. That’s why it’s so essential to have evaluations from current customers that are honest and up-to-date.
While some reviews will come in naturally, you may encourage more from your already onboarded consumers by sending them a special offer through email. It’s the best place for potential customers to research your business and evaluate it against competitors in the IT sector. It helps young IT businesses keep up with the established ones.
Check out what review sites your rivals are focusing on by googling them. Check out the sites that evaluate them to see whether they’re worth joining.
7. Provide a free version or a free trial of your goods.
Leads may also be generated by IT and SaaS firms by providing free trials of their products or providing access to the product’s core features for a short period (freemium model). Both tactics offer potential buyers a risk-free way to evaluate a product or service before making a purchase.
Intangible product and service sales, such as software, applications, games, and analytics, benefit most from this method of generating sales leads. Instead of explaining the product’s worth to potential customers, letting them try it out for themselves is far simpler.
It’s ideal for startups in the technology sector to use this tactic since it lessens the burden on sales personnel and requires less aggressive marketing. Customers are more likely to provide their information if they feel they would benefit.
8. Provide online seminars and demonstrations of your wares.
According to the 2021 Demand Generation Benchmark Survey Report results, webinars are the most effective content format for speeding and converting leads in the middle and late phases of the sales funnel.
A few commenters also shared exciting anecdotes about:
- Approaching potential customers directly for a sell
- Happenings in a simulated environment
- Showcases of software in virtual reality
IT businesses should use these strategies if they cannot offer customers free trials. It provides essential information that is easy to understand and put into practice. Cognism found that thirty percent of marketing spending was allocated to webinars in 2021.
They have found this approach helpful in communicating with their audience and generating more qualified leads. You’ll have readily shareable material if you ask additional tech experts to contribute to the webinar.
Webinars are an excellent way for IT companies to generate leads, but low attendance is the biggest problem. The best webinar lead cadences are detailed in this definitive guide.
9. Construct a content marketing pipeline.
The simplest method for software firms to get new customers is to provide them with a pleasant experience. Lead conversion rates may be improvable by addressing consumers’ most pressing issues.
You should tailor your content to the three sales process phases for the best results with inbound lead generation. As soon as they become aware of a problem, consumers go online for solutions, often in white papers or how-to manuals written by industry professionals. Next, they look for potential causes by investigating current remedies. The purchaser then shortlists a few possibilities, each carefully considered before making a final selection.
Companies in the technology sector may utilize this kind of lead generation to position themselves at the forefront of their industry. We aim to make accessible, informative, engaging, and timely material.
One way to improve your sales is to learn as much as possible about your buyer’s journey so you can tailor your approach to them. As a consequence, the process of transformation is simplified.
What Percentage Of Your Website’s Visits Come To It “Organically.”
The percentage of website visitors who become leads is known as the “traffic-to-lead conversion rate.” The percentage of people who clicked through your offer’s landing page or email. A website’s conversion rate is the percentage of visitors that become leads.
How much it will cost to bring in one new customer or “lead.”
Technological organizations need specialized approaches to lead generation, sustain growth, and remain competitive. The foundation for effective lead creation is goal setting and regular monitoring. Intent data makes it simple for B2B technology enterprises to establish ideal client profiles and generate leads.
Software as a service (SaaS) and startup software companies may increase the leads they get by publishing subscriber success stories on review websites and giving complimentary trials and free versions of their products.
Instead of only focusing on landing page optimization, IT businesses should construct a content sales process that mirrors the buyer experience and try out various content types such as short clips, webinars, direct demonstrations, and gated material.
