B2B Marketers to Focus on Generating Quality Leads Despite Challenges

New research indicates that although B2B marketers are struggling to generate quality leads, they see their budgets increasing in the near future to assist with their efforts.

The “2015 B2B Lead Generation Report” published by BrightTALK found that generating high quality leads is still the top issue for 59 percent of marketers. However, 58 percent expect their lead generation budget to increase in the coming year.

Other lead generation challenges for B2B marketers include a lack of resources (61 percent), lack of high-quality data (42 percent) and lack of target audience insight (38 percent). Additionally, 24 percent said they are unsure of how to gauge the conversion success of their lead gen strategy.

Despite these challenges, the data shows that marketers are aware of factors that can have a positive impact on lead generation. About 77 percent said that a having knowledgeable sales rep on hand is key during the conversion process. In terms of social media, 79 percent claim that LinkedIn is the most effective lead gen tool. Nearly 56 percent said that providing compelling content via email is essential during every stage of the buying process.

Identifying Lead Gen Objectives

The “2015 Lead Generation Trends” report released by Ascend2 in July 2015 indicated that marketers were sharply focusing on the quality of their leads. About 70 percent said this was their top objective, while 58 percent claimed they were focusing on boosting sales revenue. Approximately 54 percent were honing in on increasing their overall number of leads.

Forty-eight percent of respondents said that email marketing is the most effective lead generation tactic. Nearly 44 percent said landing pages are the most efficient, while 43 percent cited content marketing.

Screenshot taken from B2B Lead Generation Report.