In Capterra’s latest marketing survey, we asked B2B software marketers which topics they wanted to learn more about in 2014. Lead generation was the second most popular response, trailing only SEO in terms of topics software marketers cared most about.
It’s not surprising so many B2B marketers want to learn about new lead gen strategies, considering the immense competition we face in the software industry and the ever-evolving marketing landscape. Without continually improving and optimizing your lead gen campaigns, your sales pipeline would dry up pretty quickly! So it’s more important than ever that software marketers stay on top of the latest lead gen trends to continue to fuel their sales.
But what B2B lead gen tactics can we expect to take fire in 2014?
Here are 16 important B2B lead generation stats to guide your campaigns throughout the year.
1. The biggest challenge B2B marketers face in regards to lead generation is generating high-quality leads (61%). (Source: B2B Technology Marketing Community) <<Tweet this stat
2. The most effective B2B lead generation tactics are inside sales, executive events, telemarketing, tradeshows and conferences, and email or electronic newsletters. (Source: MarketingProfs) <<Tweet this stat
Source: MarketingProfs
3. For B2B software marketers, however, the top sources of new business are organic search, SEM/PPC advertising, and word of mouth referrals. (Source: Capterra) <<Tweet this stat
4. 84% of companies that have a CRM have a lead scoring process in place to determine the quality of leads. (Source: Direct Marketing News) <<Tweet this stat
5. 37% of B2B marketers are using marketing automation to generate leads. (Source: MarketingProfs) <<Tweet this stat
Source: MarketingProfs
6. 44% of B2B marketers have generated leads via LinkedIn, whereas only 39% have generated leads through Facebook and just 30% through Twitter. (Source: ReachForce) <<Tweet this stat
7. B2B marketers say that their greatest barriers to lead generation success are the lack of resources in staffing, budgeting, or time. (Source: B2B Technology Marketing Community) <<Tweet this stat
8. B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads than companies that don’t. (Source: WebDAM) <<Tweet this stat
9. Nearly 50% of B2B marketers’ lead gen budgets will increase this year, compared to 44% that will remain the same and 7% that will decrease. (Source: B2B Technology Marketing Community) <<Tweet this stat
10. 71% of B2B marketers use content marketing to generate leads. (Source: MarketingProfs) <<Tweet this stat
11. 49% of B2B marketers site social media marketing as the most difficult lead generation tactic to execute. (Source: eMarketer) <<Tweet this stat
Source: eMarketer
12. Between 5 and 10 percent of qualified leads convert for the majority of marketers. 25% don’t know their conversion rates! (Source: B2B Technology Marketing Community) <<Tweet this stat
13. People are more likely to visit a B2B tech company’s website after seeing a tweet from the company, getting them one step closer to becoming a lead. (Source: KoMarketing Associates) <<Tweet this stat
14. 49% of B2B marketers are heavily engaged in mobile marketing for generating leads. (Source: MarketingProfs) <<Tweet this stat
15. Content marketing generates 3 times as many leads as traditional outbound marketing, but costs 62% less. (Source: Demand Metric) <<Tweet this stat
16. Over 50% of B2B marketers do not use direct mail to generate leads. (Source: B2B Technology Marketing Community) <<Tweet this stat
Now it’s time to make your own statistics! Take what I’ve shared with you and apply it to your software company’s lead generation strategies. Maybe next year I’ll be sharing your incredible stat!
What other surprising statistics about lead generation have you come across?
The post 16 Surprising B2B Lead Generation Statistics appeared first on Capterra Blog.