Our research results and respondents’ comments make it clear that content marketing is a powerful channel for B2B lead generation. But while content marketing works, it doesn’t always work quickly. "Many companies need to understand that content marketing and SEO are likely the most time-consuming activities to see results, especially if you're just starting out and don't have an organic search strategy," says David Oragui of Grow Hack Scale. Jeanne Hopkins of Lola agrees: "When you start any lead generation marketing program for B2B sales teams, the demand generation team often struggles due to a lack of an email database, social media following, and brand awareness at events.
" "Paying for short-term leads through chinese overseas australia data paid webinars with personalized content, using paid social ads to generate interest, and publishing syndicated content may be the only game in town - at least initially." "But while you're using these short-term solutions," Hopkins says, "you should also be publishing content on your blog, optimizing your website for search, and using other content (podcasts, webinars, ebooks) to build your email database." That's the only way to lower your average cost per lead and invest in the future. "Paid acquisition allows you to test content to avoid long-term mistakes. Relevant, high-value content that supports product sales is a long-term play," she says.
Additional Channels and Tactics to Consider If content marketing doesn't seem right for your business — or if you haven't had much success with content marketing — don't despair. Our respondents suggested several other tools that were effective for their B2B businesses that you might want to consider. Consumer Review Sites "Consumer review sites are a strong source of high-quality links because the links that come from these sites are loaded with data and information," says Chad Zollinger of Best Company. "They are essentially well-informed sources. They already know the price differences and have determined that the final company is someone they want to work with.