Lead Generation Checklist for B2B Companies

Feb 26, 2025 | Strategies

Struggling to get high-quality B2B leads? Here’s a quick guide to help you improve lead generation, boost conversions, and align marketing with sales. Start with these key steps:

1. Understand Your Audience
   • Build detailed customer profiles.
   • Identify decision-maker roles in the buying process.
   • Research company data like size, tools, and growth indicators.
2. Optimize Your Website
   • Use simple, mobile-friendly forms with 5–7 fields.
   • Create focused landing pages with fast load times and clear CTAs.
   • Offer premium content like reports, guides, or webinars in exchange for contact details.
3. Leverage LinkedIn
   • Polish your LinkedIn profile with a professional photo and clear value statement.
   • Use Sales Navigator to target decision-makers and monitor activity.
   • Post industry news, company updates, and videos regularly.
4. Run Email Campaigns
   • Segment email lists by industry, role, and behavior.
   • Create personalized email sequences (welcome, nurture, decision).
   • Automate follow-ups based on triggers like form submissions or downloads.
5. Track and Improve Results
   • Use tools like Google Analytics, Leadfeeder, or Ruler Analytics.
   • Monitor key metrics like conversion rates and lead quality.
   • Apply insights to refine strategies and improve ROI.
6. Consider Marketing Agencies
   • Agencies can provide cost-effective lead generation services.
   • Look for expertise in Google Ads, SEO, and CRM integration.
   • Choose flexible pricing models like monthly retainers or cost-per-lead.

B2B Marketing Strategy: How To Get More Leads For B2B Businesses

Build Your Customer Profile

Creating detailed customer profiles is a game-changer for B2B lead conversion. Companies with well-documented personas are 71% more likely to surpass revenue and lead targets. These profiles are the backbone of personalized outreach and improved conversion rates.

Create Customer Personas

To build effective customer personas, rely on data from multiple sources:

Research-backed personas have been shown to deliver 73% higher conversion rates from initial responses to marketing qualified leads (MQLs).

Key traits to define in your personas include:

• Their role in the purchasing process
• Organizational challenges and objectives
• Technical needs and limitations
• Budget authority and approval cycles
• Pain points specific to their industry

These details help you zero in on the decision-makers who matter most.

Map Decision-Maker Roles

B2B sales often involve multiple stakeholders. Knowing who plays what role is critical.

"The SDRs use the platform daily, whereas the Sales Executives are more ad-hoc. They predominantly use the database for multithreading by finding contact details of decision-makers within existing accounts." – George Elsey, Sales Operations Analyst, Slalom

Here’s how to map decision-maker roles:

• Analyze communication patterns from successful deals.
• Identify key players such as champions, end-users, and technical evaluators.
• Monitor job changes for opportunities with new executives.
• Use intent data to spot who’s actively researching solutions.
• Develop tailored content for each stakeholder type.

Research Company Data

Take advantage of research tools to gather critical business details:

"Our sales cycle is typically 6-8 months long. At Cognism, we saw ROI in 8 weeks from intent data and direct dials. One deal pays for a year’s Cognism subscription." – Alexander Porter, Senior Business Development & Inside Sales Lead, Devo

Tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator or Cognism can provide verified company data. Combining accurate company insights with your personas and decision-maker maps ensures you’re targeting the right leads effectively.

Set Up Website Lead Capture

Turning visitors into qualified leads means using well-placed forms and targeted content effectively. A solid website lead capture system plays a key role in supporting your customer profiling and outreach efforts.

Build Effective Forms

The design and functionality of your forms can make or break your conversion rates. Here are some key tips to keep in mind:

"To optimise B2B landing pages, make sure your calls-to-action are short and direct. Leave no room for misinterpretation."
– Waseem Bashir, CEO of Apexure

Once your forms are ready, the next step is creating landing pages that keep visitors engaged and motivated.

Design Landing Pages

Landing pages should have a simple layout and clearly communicate your value. Here’s how to get started:

1. Page Structure
   Eliminate navigation menus to keep visitors focused on the form. Speed matters – 40% of users will leave a mobile site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. Use techniques like image compression and browser caching to improve load times.
2. Content Layout
   Highlight the main benefits above the fold using bullet points. A/B testing can increase conversions by up to 40%.

"Moving B2B prospects from one stage to the next takes more than just a fancy website. You need focused, specific pages that speak directly to where your visitors are in their buying journey."
– Unbounce

After optimizing your landing pages, take it a step further by offering high-value content that aligns with your audience’s needs.

Create Premium Content

Premium content encourages submissions by providing something valuable in exchange for contact details. In fact, 74% of B2B marketers say content is their most effective tool.

"Most people will miss most of the emails in the sequence, or only one email actually piques their interest that day to engage and click. Therefore, every email should be a delivery mechanism for an always-on resource that can be consumed by the reader whenever it suits them. You want to give your audience the freedom to decide which content they consume."
– Alice de Courcy, CMO at Cognism

Use LinkedIn for Lead Generation

LinkedIn is a powerhouse for B2B marketers, with 89% using it for lead generation and achieving a lead conversion rate that’s 277% higher than Facebook and Twitter/X. To make the most of it, focus on refining your LinkedIn strategy to improve lead quality.

Set Up LinkedIn Profiles

Think of your LinkedIn profile as your digital business card – it’s often the first thing potential leads will see. Here’s how to make it stand out:

"Once trust has been lost, it’s nearly impossible for brands to rebuild sustainable, honest relationships with their customers." – Kevin Cochrane, former chief marketing officer, SAP

Once your profile is polished, use LinkedIn Sales Navigator for targeted outreach.

Master Sales Navigator

Sales Navigator is a game-changer for finding and connecting with decision-makers. Use its tools effectively with these tips:

Take Laura Heffron from Extended Stay America, for example. She used Sales Navigator to organize leads by role and location, positioning herself as a trusted advisor in temporary lodging.

"LinkedIn provides a trusted forum." – Laura Heffron, Regional Account Director at Extended Stay America

Combine these tools with a strong, consistent LinkedIn presence for even better results.

Build LinkedIn Presence

Posting engaging content regularly is crucial. In fact, LinkedIn pages that post weekly see twice the engagement. Here’s a simple content strategy to follow:

Try the 3-2-1 formula: share three pieces of industry-related content, two that showcase your company culture, and one promoting your solutions.

Greenhouse Software nails this approach. Their LinkedIn profile clearly communicates their value while maintaining steady engagement with their audience.

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Run Email Marketing

Email marketing offers a massive return, delivering $42 for every $1 spent. It’s also the top choice for 79% of B2B marketers when it comes to generating demand. This channel plays a key role in guiding leads through the sales funnel, from awareness to conversion.

Organize Email Lists

The foundation of effective email marketing is a well-organized list. Segmentation is key – businesses using segmented campaigns have reported revenue boosts of up to 760%. Here’s a quick breakdown of how to segment your lists:

For example, Sender, an email marketing platform, saw a 30% jump in open rates and a 50% increase in click-through rates after adopting segmentation. Once your lists are sorted, the next step is creating email sequences that resonate with each group.

Write Email Sequences

Email sequences are about creating value and building trust. Personalized messages can drive 6x higher transaction rates compared to generic ones. Below are some common types of sequences and their goals:

The goal here is to nurture relationships before pushing for a sale. Once you’ve mapped out your sequences, use automation to deliver them at the right time.

Set Up Email Automation

Automation takes your email marketing to the next level, allowing you to scale efforts while staying relevant. Lead nurturing automation can generate 50% more sales-ready leads while cutting costs by 33%. Here are some automation triggers to consider:

"Lead nurturing is like gardening… It’s about time, relevance, and a favorable environment to expect the growth from the seeds you have sown." – Banish Angural, founder of Banish Media

To get the best results, aim for email deliverability rates of 85%-95% and open rates between 17%-28%. Keep an eye on these metrics to continuously improve your campaigns.

Track and Improve Results

Keep a close eye on your lead generation efforts and make adjustments to improve both conversion rates and revenue. Research shows that while 79% of marketers prioritize lead generation as a goal, 80% admit their efforts are only somewhat effective. This highlights the importance of tracking performance and refining your approach over time.

Install Tracking Tools

To get a clear picture of your lead generation performance, consider using these tools:

While Google Analytics is excellent for understanding website traffic, it doesn’t track individual lead journeys effectively. Tools like Ruler Analytics can fill this gap by linking multiple touchpoints to revenue. Combining these tools ensures you have a more complete view of your lead generation efforts.

Monitor Key Metrics

Tracking the right metrics can significantly improve your results, with conversion rates potentially exceeding 50% and ROI increasing by 10–30 times. Focus on metrics that reveal lead quality, response times, and the revenue impact of your efforts.

"When lead generation is the goal, the metrics need to tell you about the number, purchasing intent, and revenue-generating potential of the prospects entering your sales funnel." – Trendemon

These insights will help you identify areas to improve and fine-tune your strategies.

Apply Data Insights

Poor lead qualification accounts for 67% of lost sales. Use your data to continuously refine your approach:

• Run A/B tests on landing pages and emails.
• Use lead scoring to qualify prospects more accurately.
• Apply multi-touch attribution to identify your most effective channels.
• Leverage predictive analytics to target the right audience.

For example, Cognism uses a rapid response system to contact inbound leads within three minutes, achieving a 70% success rate in early interactions. Since half of qualified leads aren’t ready to buy immediately, it’s equally important to develop nurturing strategies that guide them through the purchasing process.

Work with Marketing Agencies

Many B2B companies team up with marketing agencies to boost lead generation efforts. The lead generation market is expected to hit $9.5 billion by 2028, with outsourced solutions delivering 43% better results than in-house efforts.

CS Digitall: Lead Generation Services

CS Digitall offers a mix of services, including Google Ads, Meta Ads, SEO, and CRM solutions. These tools are especially useful for B2B buying cycles that often stretch beyond four months.

"Google Ads give advertisers very targeted control on the types of users they bring in, since it’s keyword-based. We can hone in on very relevant keywords that specifically speak to things users are actively seeking, leading to lower acquisition costs."
– Sam Yadegar, HawkSEM CEO

Beyond individual services, working with agencies provides additional strategic benefits.

Why Partner with an Agency?

Specialized marketing agencies can enhance your lead generation efforts in three key ways:

1. Cost-Effective Solutions

• Agencies often deliver leads at a lower average cost: $53 per B2B lead.
• Flexible pricing models to suit different business needs:

2. Specialized Expertise

• Agencies bring advanced tools and proven techniques to the table.
• For example, Brandcave used Leadfeeder’s filtering to generate 200 qualified contacts in just one day (Dealfront, 2024).
• They also offer industry-specific insights and strategies.

3. Scalable Operations

• Agencies can quickly adjust strategies based on performance data.
• They provide flexible resources to match your business needs.
• This approach is favored by 66% of U.S. companies aiming to stay competitive.

When choosing an agency, look for proven results, clear communication, and case studies that back up their claims. While upfront costs may seem higher than in-house options, the long-term benefits and improved focus on core operations often make the investment worthwhile.

Checklist Summary

Generating B2B leads effectively demands a structured approach that emphasizes quality over sheer numbers. Here are some key areas to focus on:

These areas provide a solid foundation to start refining your lead generation efforts.

Implementation Guide

Once you’ve nailed the checklist, it’s time to put these ideas into action:

1. Start with the Basics
   Begin by focusing on the core elements. As Margaret Lee from Belkins explains:

   "Marketing is a long-term game and you need to first invest before harvesting. To start some SEO content, PPC, or outbound, you need about $15,000 to $20,000 monthly. If everything is done right, in 4–6 months, you can get a positive ROI".

2. Track and Fine-Tune
   Keep an eye on key metrics to gauge your progress. Irina Yelisova, Belkins’ content manager, shares:

   "In 5 months, downloadable files helped us capture almost 600 leads. We’ve qualified 9% of these leads with different statuses. We also have 49 opportunities and 2 closed deals. Not much, not bad either. Even some captured leads who went with competitors are our potential clients. Why? Our sales executives can follow up and close them if the competition is underperforming. For other leads, it’s bad timing and our sales team can connect with them later. This makes lead capturing a beneficial and long game.".

3. Consider Expert Help
   Collaborating with specialized agencies can improve the connection between marketing and sales, leading to better-quality leads and higher productivity.

Building a strong B2B lead generation strategy takes time and steady effort. By sticking to this roadmap, you’ll be well-positioned to see consistent results.

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Content Marketing ROI: Measuring Success in 2025

Feb 17, 2025 | Strategies

Measuring content marketing ROI is now a top priority for 78% of B2B marketers in 2025 – up from 65% in 2022. Why? Businesses need to prove the value of their content strategies and optimize budgets. Here’s what you need to know:

• Key Metrics: Focus on user engagement (scroll depth, interaction rates), sales impact (multi-touch attribution), and long-term customer value (CLV).
• Challenges: Tracking ROI is tough due to cross-channel complexity, privacy regulations, and delayed B2B attribution. Solutions include AI-driven attribution models and first-party data strategies.
• AI Tools: Platforms like Contently, Amplitude AI, and Adobe Experience Platform are transforming ROI tracking by automating analysis, improving personalization, and predicting performance.
• ROI Formula: ROI = (Revenue – Investment) / Investment × 100. Example: A $10,000 content investment generating $50,000 revenue delivers 400% ROI.
• Boost ROI: Refresh content regularly, use AI for real-time updates, and prioritize high-impact formats like videos and strategic partnerships.

Core ROI Metrics for Content Marketing

User Engagement Data

When it comes to tracking user engagement, there are three key metrics you need to focus on. For 2025, the most important ones include scroll depth (how much of your content users actually consume) and interaction rates (clicks, shares, and other engagement actions).

Tools like heatmaps can help pinpoint where users drop off, while social analytics give you a clear picture of how and where your content is being shared.

These insights play a critical role in shaping AI-driven strategies (discussed in Section 4).

Sales and Revenue Tracking

Advanced multi-touch attribution models now make it easier to understand content’s role throughout the sales pipeline. For example, Salesforce data reveals that prospects who engage with three or more pieces of content tend to close deals that are 25% larger.

Integrated tools allow businesses to track how content influences every stage of the buyer’s journey. Leads who engage with content are nearly three times more likely to convert compared to those who don’t.

Long-term Customer Value

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is becoming a go-to metric for connecting content engagement with long-term revenue. It’s especially useful for addressing B2B attribution challenges. For instance, SaaS customers who interact with educational content tend to have a 30% higher lifetime value.

Additionally, data shows that customers who engage with advanced content within their first month are 50% less likely to churn over the next two years. This shift toward measuring long-term impact has led businesses to prioritize post-purchase content engagement as a strong indicator of retention and upsell opportunities.

How To Measure ROI of Your Content Marketing

ROI Calculation Method

To build on the long-term value metrics from Section 2.3, calculating ROI requires a clear and structured approach. This includes accounting for both direct and indirect revenue contributions.

Total Cost Analysis

Understanding your total costs is the first step. Here’s a breakdown of typical expenses:

*Based on SMB marketing agency benchmarks.

Use automated tools to track and categorize these expenses across departments and platforms. This ensures you have a clear picture of where your money is going.

Revenue Assignment Methods

Attribution models powered by AI can help link your content efforts to revenue. One of the most effective methods is data-driven attribution, which uses machine learning to evaluate how each touchpoint contributes to a sale.

For instance, if a $10,000 sale is made, the attribution system might distribute the revenue like this:

• Blog post (first touch): $3,000 (30%)
• Email campaign (nurturing): $5,000 (50%)
• Product demo video (conversion): $2,000 (20%)

This level of detail allows you to calculate ROI for each content type and channel. Recent studies show that 68% of high-performing content marketers rely on advanced attribution models to assign revenue accurately. These models work hand-in-hand with AI tools, as discussed in Section 4.

Sample ROI Calculations

Here’s how ROI might look for different content formats:

The formula is straightforward:
ROI = (Revenue – Investment) / Investment × 100

For content with long-term value, include the Lifetime Value (LTV) of customers. For example, a $60,000 content investment that brings in 10 customers with an LTV of $5,000 each results in a long-term ROI of 733%. This ties directly to the CLV tracking methods discussed earlier in Section 2.3.

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AI Tools for ROI Tracking

Modern AI tools are transforming how businesses track ROI by automating processes and offering smarter insights. Here’s a look at how these tools are making an impact:

AI Analytics Tools

AI-powered analytics platforms are pushing the boundaries of what traditional tools can achieve. For instance, Google Analytics 5.0 now uses natural language processing to provide conversational insights.

Amplitude AI offers several key features:

Emily Chen, HubSpot‘s Director of Content Marketing, reported a 37% rise in content engagement and a 22% improvement in lead quality after adopting Albert.ai in Q2 2024.

AI Content Targeting

Adobe’s Experience Platform stands out for its ability to personalize content using AI. By identifying patterns tied to high-value customer behavior, it supports strategies like those discussed in Section 2.3 on Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). Persado’s AI, for example, has achieved an average campaign performance lift of 41%.

Key features of AI content targeting include:

• Instant audience segmentation based on engagement signals.
• Dynamic content customization tailored to individual user profiles.

Market Analysis Tools

BrightEdge’s ContentIQ is a leader in competitive intelligence for content marketing. Using machine learning, it analyzes market trends and competitor strategies, providing actionable insights for improving content.

Crayon, another tool, tracks competitor engagement and messaging daily, offering insights that can inform budget decisions. These tools help marketers overcome attribution challenges, much like the proxy metrics discussed in Section 1.2.

Notably, 61% of marketers now consider AI a crucial part of their data strategies, according to recent studies.

Methods to Increase ROI

Building on the AI tracking tools discussed earlier, these strategies use automation to help boost returns:

Content Update Process

Regularly refreshing content can increase ROI by 67%. For instance, a B2B company saw a 35% improvement in blog ROI by using AI to identify updates and adding videos.

When updating content, focus on ways to improve engagement, such as:

• Adding videos and infographics to make content more interactive.
• Ensuring mobile optimization to cater to the growing number of mobile users.
• Adjusting for voice search compatibility to align with smart assistant trends.

Budget Planning

Effective budget allocation, as outlined in earlier sections, ensures resources are directed toward impactful areas while leaving room for experimentation. Here’s a suggested breakdown:

• AI tools and automation: 20-30%
• Video production: 30-40%
• Content distribution: 15-20%
• Strategic partnerships: 10-15%
• Performance marketing: 10-15%

AI Performance Updates

AI tools like Amplitude AI offer real-time adjustments that can significantly improve results. For example, a SaaS company achieved a 28% increase in blog post conversion rates by leveraging AI for real-time updates. These tools enhance performance by:

1. Adjusting headlines and CTAs based on user engagement patterns.
2. Using historical data to predict success and fine-tune content.
3. Optimizing cross-platform distribution automatically for better reach.

Conclusion

Small Business Guidelines

Small businesses often encounter challenges when it comes to measuring content marketing ROI. However, focusing on key metrics can lead to impressive outcomes. For instance, a small e-commerce company boosted its ROI by 25% by concentrating on email and blog conversions. These strategies build upon the AI tools and customer lifetime value (CLV) methods outlined earlier in Sections 4 and 2.3.

Here are some key areas to focus on:

Action Steps

To put the frameworks from Sections 3-5 into action, follow these steps:

1. Align your KPIs with your business goals.
2. Use AI-powered analytics for deeper insights.
3. Create a system to score content based on performance.
4. Train your team to interpret and act on data effectively.

Start by conducting a detailed content audit. Focus on aligning content KPIs with your objectives, integrating AI tools, setting up a scoring system, and ensuring your team is equipped to handle data analysis.

Keep in mind, 42% of B2B marketers find it difficult to measure ROI consistently. You can tackle this issue by establishing clear metrics and conducting regular performance reviews. As discussed in Sections 4.1-4.3, AI-driven analytics have made advanced ROI tracking more accessible. These tools can offer predictive insights, improving ROI prediction accuracy by as much as 30%.

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