As technologies become more advanced, the fierce competition between tech companies grows. This is especially true when it comes to IT lead generation.
But before everything else, let me tell you this: lead generation for technology companies isn’t really about getting IT leads per se but about generating high-quality IT leads that convert. Moreover, your tech company has to stand out globally against your competitors, who can offer services remotely and at a reduced cost.
So, as an IT or technology product/service provider company, how can you ensure that your company overcomes this challenge and rises above the competition?
Steps to Attract High-Quality Technology Leads
It occurs when your brand instantly pops up to your potential customer’s mind upon encountering a problem that your product addresses. At that juncture, they are inclined to initiate a sales dialogue with your company. Here are the steps you can take before setting up your IT services lead generation:
Set your goals and objectives
Define your ideal customer profile (ICP) and adapt it to your target audience
Create a compelling value proposition
Step 1: Set your goals and objectives
Before mapping out any B2B lead generation strategies for your technology company, it’s crucial to outline the objectives and key results you aim to accomplish. This process simplifies progress evaluation and ensures the alignment of strategic goals throughout the organization.
Think of the OKRs methodology, for example, which is used by Google and other companies as a goal system to foster a cohesive movement towards common objectives. This approach proves effective due to its simplicity and rapid implementation, engaging every team member.
You can implement, monitor, and reassess (quarterly) as necessary. While adhering to the framework, be open to customizing it to suit your specific requirements. For instance, Spotify, amidst rapid expansion, modified its approach by relinquishing individual OKRs in favor of corporate-level priorities, empowering teams to devise their own path to achievement.
Step 2. Define your ideal customer profile (ICP) and adapt it to your target audience
Identify the specific type of companies and decision-makers you want to target.
Who are the people you are trying to attract?
Where are they located?
What are their demographics?
With this information in mind, you can then design a marketing strategy for your technology company that will be effective in attracting these people. For example, maybe you are looking for IT professionals who are interested in contract work. You find out that the majority of your target audience is located in different countries.
The more specific you are, the better! By understanding your target audience, you will be able to create a marketing strategy that will help you reach them.
Step 3: Create a compelling value proposition
What does this mean? A great value proposition will show your target audience how your product or service solves their problems.
For example, if you provide IT asset management software, your value proposition might be: “Our IT asset management software will keep your IT infrastructure and systems up and running, ensuring that your company is always running smoothly and efficiently.”
Your value proposition should be specific and reflect what your product or service can do for your customers. You can also create a value proposition canvas to help you better understand and visualize how you can position your business’s product or service around your target market.
The goal is to show your audience how they will benefit from using your product or service. This will make them want to learn more about you and contact you for more information. The more they like what they see, the more likely they’ll become a lead.
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Of course, as an IT company, one of your most important campaign goals is to optimize your lead generation and motivate prospects to take action. This means making your landing page easy to navigate and highly interactive. This is the first impression they get of your company, so you need to make sure that all the information they need is right there.
You can also have multiple landing pages depending on your different campaigns or products. However, you need to make sure that each landing page has the right information that highlights your product and provides a call to action. This call to action can be anything from a free trial to a link for more information or even an interactive form to request more information. You want your landing page to serve as an avenue straight into your sales funnel.
Once you have your landing page, make sure it is also optimized for multiple platforms. A good landing page will be legible across multiple devices. You do not know what platform your prospect will be accessing your landing page from, and as much as we conduct business over computers, there has been an uptick in mobile business. Making sure your website is navigable on a mobile device is a simple step that will expand your opportunities tenfold. With a mobile presence, your company is always an option, even on the go.
2. Offer free trials
Offering free trials is a great way to generate IT leads because it allows your potential customers to know exactly how your product or service will benefit them. For simpler services, this trial period could be a few hours or days, and for more complex products, it might be a few weeks or months.
A trial could be available for an extended period of time but with limited features. Regardless of what you decide to take with your free trial, make sure your customer is able to get hands-on experience with your product.
This provides several benefits. For one, it is an easy way to show exactly how your product works in their business. Metrics and data can only tell a customer so much, and they may struggle to visualize how a product will benefit them without firsthand knowledge.
Additionally, free trials can also serve as a gateway to a purchase. Many buyers are hesitant to jump straight into a purchase, especially when that purchase is expensive or long-term, but a trial period allows for the buyer to gradually acclimate to your service and mitigate some of that hesitation.
3. Maximize online engagement: webinars, videos, and surveys
In B2B, content marketing is one of the most common ways to attract leads, but you need to understand that not everyone is a fan of reading. In the technology industry lead generation, prospective buyers have to do a lot of reading to find the right business. Therefore, you can set yourself apart from the rest by breaking up the monotony. Provide audio experiences or interactive ones.
Webinars
Webinars are one great way to educate potential IT leads about your tech product in an interactive environment. There is a human touch to webinars that cannot be captured through text on a screen. Also, webinars can be recorded and made available for future viewing, allowing for this content to be reused to capture new leads.
Video
On the topic of recording, video is also an effective way to net new IT leads. Because videos are easy and quick to consume, prospects can learn a lot about your company in a short amount of time. For every article you have about your business, try having a related video that summarizes the information. That way, prospects who have less time can digest this information quickly. Meanwhile, prospects who have more time can watch the videos to get a taste of your content and then delve deeper into your more complex articles if they are interested.
Surveys
Finally, surveys are another way to get engagement while also providing an excellent metric for improvement. The first benefit of hosting surveys is that you can use them to collect a list of names and contact information from interested prospects. You can send out emails or have surveys available on your website, but the focus should be on what tech buyers want. By asking questions, you can optimize your marketing and get a better idea of what types of offers to make to prospects.
4. Establish a reputation
When potential customers are researching services, they will be comparing and contrasting several different options before making a decision. For this reason, it is important to make sure your business has a social media presence, case studies, or whitepapers that showcase what makes your product unique.
By supplying your prospects with high-value comparisons with clear data, you also provide the path of least resistance when it comes to information. This makes your product or service more accessible to prospective customers who may otherwise struggle to wade through technical information. Additionally, it allows you to build up your brand’s reputation yourself; you set the tone of the conversation and do not have to worry about the prospect finding the wrong information from secondary sources.
5. Partnerships & Collaboration
No man is an island, and no business is an island, either. The online marketplace is one big web of connections, and so tech companies benefit greatly from partnerships and collaborations that help expand their network. Collaborating with influencers on social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, and others is one way to generate buzz about your products before they hit the market.
Additionally, by partnering with other businesses in your field that are not direct competitors, you can support one another’s services and boost each others’ audiences with your own. Partnerships with other businesses can act as free marketing if you are both vouching for each other.
Even businesses outside the tech industry can help. There are a number of lead generation companies that offer their services to the tech industry and will help you hone your lead generation process. By working with an IT lead generation agency, you gain access to a team of professionals who can perfect your strategies and optimize your lead generation.
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Expert Tips to Generate More Information Technology Sales Leads
So, as an IT/Tech company, what do you need to do to attract the best quality IT leads? Well, it starts with a couple more questions:
Who are you talking to?
What are you talking about?
Who are you talking to?
The first step in acquiring quality information technology leads involves understanding your ideal customer and creating a buying persona. This entails identifying key decision-makers and researching their online presence to streamline outreach efforts.
However, it’s crucial to recognize that decision-making dynamics vary across companies, with job titles not always indicative of authority. Factors like company size and structure influence decision-making roles. Therefore, defining the type of company that stands to benefit from your product or service is essential before pinpointing decision-makers.
Next, what does your decision-maker look like? Who do you want to be talking to? They should have criteria similar to your ideal market.
You can get that information by looking at your existing customers as well as your late-stage IT leads. Look for common threads as you create a picture of your decision maker — the more detailed your ideal customer profile (ICP) is, the easier it is for you to find them.
What are you talking about?
According to APM Digest, the competition to attract key decision-makers in the tech industry has intensified over the years, with successful vendors demonstrating consistency, agility, and trustworthiness in adding value to clients’ organizations. However, other critical factors contribute to their success, including:
Customer Service and Response Time: Exceptional customer service and prompt response times are imperative for lead conversion and client retention. Saleslion highlights that 80% of new leads failed to convert. A Harvard Business Review study revealed a sluggish response time among US companies, with only 37% responding to client inquiries within an hour, leaving others waiting for up to 42 hours or receiving no response at all.
Understanding Business Goals: Aligning with clients’ business objectives is vital for assessing product/service fit and fostering meaningful partnerships.
Post-Sales Support: Building long-term relationships hinges on robust post-sales support, signaling commitment to client growth and success. Noted speaker John Maxwell emphasizes that nurturing leaders within client organizations amplifies influence and market leadership.
Long-Term Viability: Ensuring long-term viability entails having a unique selling proposition, a stable customer base, a competitive advantage, and financial stability.
Trough Product Portfolio Knowledge: Comprehensive product knowledge empowers sales and customer service teams to address inquiries and concerns effectively, reinforcing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Wrapping It Up
After all’s said and done, at the end of the day, securing IT leads is critical for building business, and by employing the right lead generation strategies, you can ensure that your sales funnel is full. There are far more than these steps and strategies that will benefit tech companies, but by starting small, you can figure out which strategies work for your business. From there, you can experiment with different combinations and find new strategies. It is important to remember why you are employing certain strategies and how they are beneficial to your business. Asking these questions can open a gateway to more niche strategies that are catered to your business.
With any luck, you’ll find the right combination of clarity, content, and community to keep your IT leads coming.
