Digital lead gen for B2B tech companies is tough right now.

Our trusted media partner Andrew Matler, Editor of iTWire, summed it up in a recent conversation. He shared that lead gen moves in trends: “Before Covid it was all about thought leadership, and compelling gated reports were successfully driving high-quality leads. Then when COVID hit, everyone was lonely and had more time in their days. Advertisers would create a webinar, send out the invite and 30+ people would register and actually attend.”

But now we have AI – people have all the information they need on tap, and we’re back to being time-poor and quite happy not to engage with other humans when we can get instant gratification from machines. On top of that, businesses are operating in a volatile geopolitical climate where it’s hard for anyone to be certain about anything – including budgets, technology needs and even their jobs. As a result, potential buyers are likely to be holding their cards closer to their chests.

So how can we work to win new customers in a tricky climate? Here’s what we know.

1. GTM planning is critical

Assuming you already have a strong value proposition, in-market narrative, solution and offering, the next step is execution planning.

This means exploring and assessing all the relevant channels and activities available to you, with a special focus on finding GTM opportunities and communication platforms that are likely to be less competitive and more affordable. Examples include membership associations or less traditional media that still have a decent following among the right audience. These might even be professional or personal networks that you are engaged with, or events and sponsorships where you could have a presence and create an attractive value exchange between what you can offer attendees and what you could get in return.

In this market, your GTM plan needs a structured test-and-learn approach and should ideally be backed by a commercial model that sets acceptable benchmarks and gives you visibility of performance once the activity goes live. This enables you to quickly ditch what’s not working and continually build on success. But beware of inflated response rates and engagement numbers provided by media platforms. I think a good rule of thumb is to take their average numbers and reduce them by 20% to be conservative.

2. Look for a GTM partner, not a platform

The golden goose is finding a platform or publication that behaves like a partner. One with members or subscribers that align with your target audience criteria, and whose owner or leadership team appreciates the value you’re offering their audience and is invested in a partnership approach – a win-win for everyone. Unfortunately, too many digital media platforms have a low-care approach: they charge upfront, inflate the numbers, set and forget, and then show zero accountability for the results. By doing careful research, it is possible to find platform partners who are invested in the opportunity for their audience and in the long-term commercial potential for their business if they actively get behind your effort. You might also be able to collaborate if they have a respected journalist or leader within their organisation who can support and scale your activity through their network. Once established, keep them close so you form a deeper partnership and explore other opportunities as the need arises, with confidence that you have a trusted partner who can deliver proven results.

3. Offer multiple ways to engage

With people empowered by access to complex and highly tailored information at their fingertips, it’s important to consider where your target audience is at and what they might need. As no two businesses or leaders are the same, offer a selection of calls to action (CTAs) that appeal to prospective customers across different points of their journey. Information still has its place, whether written, audio or video. But what more tailored, tangible things can you offer? Instant assessments around their specific needs, answers to their specific questions, or connections with other humans that AI can’t replicate – online or in person. You might also offer complimentary planning and discovery sessions, or entertainment around the focus subject.

I tested this concept of having multiple jump-off points back in the 90s when I ran one of the largest direct mail wine clubs in the world, and I repeatedly found that the more offers and experiences I put in the mailing pack, the greater the response rate and the higher the numbers of orders, average order value and overall revenue. And this finding has stood the test of time, stacking up in digital campaigns today – so long as the choice is structured so it doesn’t overwhelm.

4. Be prepared to pivot

There are many agencies who have ‘out-of-the-box’ lead gen packages such as:

• Creating a thought-leadership piece and syndicating it across media platforms and briefing an outsourced SDR to follow up on the leads
• Running an online event through a third party
• Setting up a Google or LinkedIn paid campaign

Without active pushing and nudging, these approaches don’t work, especially in this climate. You need a team that is going to own it, stay on top of the activity as it happens, and keep all the platform partners engaged and delivering against the promised activity and results. Your agency should be able to identify early where performance expectations are not being met and which elements are within their control to address – whether it’s redirecting budget towards other activity that is working, throwing something else into the mix or pivoting the program with a platform partner that is willing to rise to the challenge and see what more can be done.

A live pivot example

We recently had this exact scenario with a NEXTGEN SMB program. We saw early that the thought-leadership content asset we had created was only resonating with some of our audience segments, so we knew we needed to pivot. We also knew we had all the elements for success, including:

1. A supportive client NEXTGEN, who deeply trusted that our recommendations were focused on driving the shared goal
2. Three amazing partners who are leading the way in AI, Cloud and Customer Experience (CX) – themes at the heart of our campaign – and who were all highly invested in the SMB market
3. A great story and content to offer (and an incentive to sweeten the deal)
4. A fantastic relationship with technology media partner iTWire, who had a deep respect for what we were offering and saw the opportunity to educate and support their audience, as well as the potential to learn from it and repackage it into a commercial advertising package for other clients going forward
5. All parties were up for the adventure and were prepared to invest their own time and resources to drive the results

And with a pivot, the Live Executive Q&A Series was born: an opportunity for iTWire’s Global Head of AI, Alex Zaharov-Reutt, to host 3 sessions covering our campaign themes: AI, Cloud and CX.

Readers and attendees could ask questions and get direct and honest answers from our expert partners, with the offer of a complimentary assessment or discovery session to keep the conversation going. Readers came along and asked their questions across the 3 x 45-min sessions.

This proactive pivot drove significant brand and profile awareness for our expert partners and lifted the lead tally by 63%.

As Andrew from iTWire put it: “In another 12 months audience behaviour may have changed again. People may become tired of looking up every answer through AI and start looking for more human interaction and some light relief.”

At Rocket Science, we help B2B tech companies plan lead gen campaigns that move with the times. If you want a second opinion on your program, we’d love to chat.