We define lead generation as getting a person interested in your product or service. Product led growth companies don't generate leads, they generate signups with a product that sells itself. They have no need for a formal sales process.
If you run a sales process this article is for you, if you have product led growth business model this isn't for you.
Outsourcing lead generation can be a great way to reach your target market and reach potential customers. Return on investment should be the number one consideration you make when deciding if it's right for you.
Lead generation companies exist because they are able to get results for their clients, but it's important to pick the right one for you. They should have expertise in your industry, or with products like yours. The channel they specialize in should be one that is effective in reaching your target audience.
Personalized email campaigns are a great way to generate leads. Scraping tools are making it easier to do high quality research. AI tools are making it easier to personalize emails at scale.
We have been doing cold email marketing for over three years, and the return on investment is still there. This is a cost effective way to get in touch with the right people at the right companies.
Content creation focused on gathering customer contact information for your sales team. This includes blogs, whitepapers, guides, and case studies. Content marketing can be a good way to generate a consistent lead magnet.
Content marketing companies that can handle this for you, or you can do it on your own. You should work with companies that understand your market or create the content yourself if you choose this channel. AI tools that create content are becoming more popular, but we're still skeptical of their efficacy. Human generated content is still the most engaging.
LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook can be good B2B marketing channels depending on your target market. Sharing industry insights, engaging with followers, and participating in relevant discussions can help you connect with potential leads. Thought leaders are able to generate lots of sales leads by building a strong following.
Social media marketing (unpaid) isn't a sales channel that you can outsource. Your followers will know if you're an expert or not based on the content of your posts.
Hosting webinars or online workshops allows you to showcase your knowledge and interact with potential clients in real-time. This not only positions you as an authority in your field but also provides an opportunity to collect leads.
Generating registrations can be tricky, but this is an effective channel if you can build interest in your events. This is not a business development method that you can outsource. Experts on specific topics must conduct the webinars and events focused on their area of expertise.
Optimizing your website for search engines ensures that your business appears in relevant search results. This organic traffic can lead to high-quality leads who are actively seeking solutions. AI search is potentially a massive disruptor in this space, so some companies may be reluctant to invest.
HubSpot had a massive inbound lead generation engine but they lost 80% of their SEO traffic this year. This illustrates some of the risk with SEO as a strategy. Surfer breaks down what happened to HubSpot in this article.
Hacked BD considered outsourcing our SEO efforts, but decided against it because of concerns over quality of the content.
Investing in targeted ads can yield immediate results. Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads allow you to reach specific demographics, ensuring that your message reaches the right audience.
PPC advertising agencies have been around for decades and they are ROI focused. This can be a great channel to outsource if you have budget to invest.
Building relationships with other businesses can open doors to new leads. Collaborating on projects or co-hosting events can expand your reach and enhance credibility. Partners that have sell-through agreements can be a great way to break into new accounts. We are not so hot on in-person events, but they work for some industries.
You can hire in-house sales people to network and build partnerships for you, but this is not a channel that we would outsource.
Cold calling is making a comeback as an affective way to build a sales pipeline.
You can hire companies that have SDR's/BDR's that will cold call for you, but the quality will not be high. Your own business development team that knows the product will be much more effective. We do not recommend outsourcing. There is reputational risk to having less-informed sales reps call prospects for you.
Lots of companies want to buy leads instead of paying a lead generation agency a monthly fee upfront. UpWork is full of companies posting for commission-based outbound, but they typically don't get a lot of proposals. The proposals they get are unlikely to be from freelancers or agencies that do high quality work.
The best people don't work exclusively on commission because they can find someone to pay them upfront. You don't want to take any risk paying them, so why would they want to take the risk working for you?
I would suggest testing lead gen channels yourself and establishing a clear ROI if you don't have budget to outsource. Once you know that a channel works you can hire someone to manage it, which reduces your risk.
Overseas firms that will take on commission-only clients exist, but I would recommend caution before hiring them. They focus on winning lots of deals with no upfront payments or guarantees, knowing they won't retain them all. You put your reputation at risk if they do low quality work that doesn't land and damages your reputation.
Hacked BD only works on commission for clients involved in M&A deals. M&A transactions can reach 8 figures, so the commissions can be large. M&A deals are easier to pitch and the cold email interested rates are much higher. We are still careful about who we choose to work with on commission because we're taking more risk with these clients.
You should consider outsourcing b2b lead generation if the following sounds like you:
Avoid outsourcing B2B lead generation if you sell a lower ticket product and you don't have an enterprise option. You can do marketing to generate signups, but if you don't run a sales process it doesn't make sense to do lead gen.
Most companies only make purchasing decisions if they can impact a major KPI they are tracking. The best KPI's to impact are revenue growth and cost savings. Find a way to impact these KPI's and you'll have better conversion rates with your lead generation programs.
Companies that don't have a clear ideal customer profile should hold off on lead generation efforts. Spending on building a pipeline before you know who you are selling to can be a costly mistake.
First Page Sage published a report (pictured above) that has data on lead costs for many different industries. This data blends multiple channels and reflects total marketing spend.
Cold email is cheaper for almost every industry listed above which is why we think it's such a good channel.
Cold email marketing is a good b2b lead generation strategy because email is the most used form of business communication. Everyone checks their email every single day. It can work for you if you have prospects with a problem that you can solve and a compelling value proposition.
Cold email infrastructure is becoming easier and less expensive to set up. The infrastructure is easy to scale when you want to send more volume. Your primary domain has zero spam risk if you use a separate dedicated sending infrastructure. Companies like Infraforge allow you to buy domains and email addresses in bulk.
You can target thousands of prospects daily with cold email without breaking the bank.
Setting up cold email automation on your own comes with some risk. Cold email's popularity as a lead generation channel has made getting into the inbox harder. Working with an agency like Hacked BD that specializes in cold email can help you avoid some of the pitfalls. Request a consultation if you'd like to learn more about our process.
