Going Smaller With Lead Generation This 2018?

There are only a few days left before 2017 finally comes to a close. You might have noticed that there are a lot of articles-more so than usual anyway--about incoming marketing trends and methods for 2018, some of which may include B2B marketing and lead generation. 

Amongst the sea of predicted oncoming trends, we've found a certain suggestion that is definitely worth noting, and perhaps even applying in your lead gen methods next year:

Going Smaller.

It is well known in the B2B marketing field that events and conventions are gold mines for getting leads.

According to a lead generation research report by marketing blog Chief Marketer,

"... live events tied with SEO as the second most effective channel for producing the highest ROI leads."

Putting this into consideration, one of the site's writers also a marketer, notes that their efforts in local business lead generation were much more effective when they did not join in large events. They actually found that it was more efficient to host small events on their own.

The writer states that:

"Instead of trying to get in front of as many prospects as possible, what if we just got in front of the right prospects, where we controlled the environment without any competitors in the room?"

When you think about it, it does make sense. Having a mindset of "quality over quantity" is important when it comes to B2B marketing. It is not about how many leads you get; it doesn't matter if most of them can't be converted in the end, anyway. What is important is finding the right people.

Imagine this scenario:

You're a marketer for a software development company. You go to a major event and manage to snag a hundred leads. Feels great right? But in the end, after contacting all of them, only ten of the leads decide to avail your services. It seems like you worked so hard for so little, right?

Now picture this next scenario:

What if you organized a small convention for your company? Only fifteen people attend, and it feels like you've failed miserably in advertising. But alas, they all agree to enter into a deal with you. The small number lets you promote your services with a more personal touch, since you have more time to spend with each lead.

In which situation did you gain the most from? Which was the more efficient method for you?

Scaling down your efforts and targeting a smaller but more relevant pool might actually work better for you. After all, you'll be aiming straight for the people that are the most likely to sign a contract with your business. What's important now is that you analyze your data more closely in order to make your lead targeting more precise.

But this philosophy doesn't have to apply only in events where you have to do the promoting in person. You can also do this in, say, social media. Among all the social media channels, LinkedIn by far has the most promise for B2B lead generation. So instead of casting a wide net on different sites like Facebook and Twitter-the latter of which doesn't have a great track record in B2B-why not focus more on LinkedIn?

Going smaller may seem counteractive if you want to get more business, but it's actually the opposite. It makes you less likely to waste time on ineffective leads, and helps you improve your targeting game with local business lead generation.

by: Donald Smithon 
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9855331