Today, technology is evolving and making progress by leaps and bounds. Earlier, it was all about Artificial Intelligence (AI) being the next big thing and how it would impact everything, including business operations in the future. The AI-driven future is already here, making its presence felt like never before. AI is now playing a significant role in making B2B lead generation more efficient by automating the manual processes and providing real-time, actionable insights into customer engagement. Let’s discuss how AI is transforming B2B lead generation.
Smarter B2B Lead Generation with AI
- Identify the target audience: AI has thrown the guesswork completely out of the B2B marketing process. AI can help you identify your ideal customer profile (ICPs) based on preset criteria such as demographic, firmographic, and technographic data. It saves resources as intent data driven by AI will help you learn about the most promising B2B leads your marketing team should cater to, and the sales team can follow up to close more deals. AI makes the B2B lead generation process more targeted. For instance, if an IT services provider wants to find leads interested in cloud management, IT support, and cybersecurity services, it can rely on technographic data to understand the type of technology the company uses and the duration it has invested in its tech stack. It will also let them know whether they would opt for premium versions to upgrade their IT solutions.
- Build a robust database: Businesses often deal with inaccurate and incomplete data sets that make prospecting challenging. AI-powered sales intelligence software builds a list that matches the leads with their ideal customer profiles, and you have a prospect list ready to be targeted. Further, lead scoring software can help you uncover the high-intent B2B leads that the sales team can prioritize and hit the ground running with a database containing ICPs. Also, data enrichment services keep the data updated and accurate, leaving no stone unturned to enable the sales team to close more deals. Let’s take the example of a Tech SaaS company that wants to target healthcare and manufacturing companies to help them leverage the latest HR platforms for efficient workforce management. They can rely on databases powered by AI that rely on intent data to discover such organizations looking for managed IT services for HR platforms. Their sales teams can focus on high-intent leads from the data-enriched prospect list and aim for a high conversion rate. With AI, it can access accurate databases with reliable information and make its lead generation program a huge success.
- Waterfall Content Syndication: AI can help marketing teams identify the best platform to distribute content and reach the target audience beyond the company’s digital footprint. B2B businesses can recognize ideal platforms where they can get an opportunity to connect with their target audience. Artificial Intelligence can suggest the best time to engage with prospective buyers. The possibilities seem endless with AI integration. Let’s take an example of how an IT service provider can use AI to connect with decision-makers and IT leaders seeking digital transformation for their business, and migrate from on-premise to cloud solutions. AI can suggest the best platform for tech-oriented content and make it discoverable for IT leaders and top management interested in cloud computing services. Moreover, AI can recommend the best time to engage with prospects based on historic and technographic data. It will help them understand their precise requirements and engage them with relevant and value-driven content. The timing of engagement can help the IT business connect with its target audience at just the right time, increasing the probability of conversion.
- Hyper-personalization: B2B businesses can leverage generative AI to integrate hyper-personalization while communicating with the target audience. This is because prospects want businesses to do thorough research and engage them with the products and services based on their requirements. B2B businesses can leverage AI-driven personalization for audience segmentation based on previous interactions, demographics, and the latest industry trends. Let’s understand this with an example. A SaaS company that sells customer service management solutions and finance & operations software is eying different industries such as logistics and healthcare. Now, this SaaS company can leverage sales intelligence with AI-powered insights into the requirements of varied industries and offer solutions that will perfectly align with their needs. It increases the probability of conversions as the SaaS company can provide what the prospects are already looking for.
- Intent data: AI-powered intent data has revolutionized the lead generation process. It is interesting to learn about the prospects and anticipate their needs. It helps businesses to engage prospects based on their requirements. They need not guess prospects’ requirements anymore, as AI can let them laser-target their ICPs with the most relevant communication that the recipients will find relatable. Let’s take the example of a medical device manufacturing company that wants to liaise with hospitals and healthcare institutions, private clinics, and medical supplies distributors to sell its wide range of monitoring equipment. It can use firmographic and demographic intent data to identify prospects who are actively researching monitoring equipment such as ECG machines, blood pressure monitors, etc., and it can target them through tailored communication. It increases the chances of eliciting responses from them, engaging in meaningful conversations, and ensuring that the leads eventually decide to do business with the company.
- Chatbots: Chatbots are a quick and effortless way to engage with prospects, and AI has taken this technology to the next level. Businesses can automate the engagement process for queries such as product feature information or product recommendations. Automation can also help in booking an appointment with the company to kickstart the conversation. In this way, businesses can always cater to the requirements of prospects visiting their business or app and never miss an opportunity to connect and engage a lead.
- Automated emails: Earlier, the question was what AI can do for you. Now, it’s about what AI cannot do. B2B businesses can leverage sales intelligence by drafting emails with content based on the previous interactions of the sales team. It saves time, and the sales representative can focus on more meaningful conversations with the prospects and get more conversions. Personalized emails will resonate with the recipients, immediately attract their attention, and increase the probability of getting a response. Also, AI can suggest the most appropriate content that will appeal to prospects based on their user behavior and patterns. So, it boosts productivity and ensures agents focus on the conversions where their presence is necessary to help the prospect make a buying decision.
Final Thoughts
AI is evolving and transforming interaction with prospects and streamlining the buyer journey in the B2B marketing funnel. Businesses now know whom and when to interact with the right messaging, ensuring the lead generation process delivers the best results. They can rely on AI to generate high-quality B2B leads across the sales funnel.
Leveraging AI with the help of a lead generation agency
You can get assistance from Markable Solutions, a popular lead generation agency for tech-driven and AI-powered lead generation processes. We leverage AI in our different lead-generation strategies, such as personalized email marketing, waterfall content syndication, telemarketing, and other services. Book a free consultation to understand how we can help leverage AI-enabled technology in B2B lead generation and make it result-oriented.
Tune in to this space for more insights into how AI works as a catalyst in a lead generation campaign and becomes a sales enabler for your business.
