B2B Lead Generation Online: 3 Examples of Successful Campaigns

The big promise of Online Marketing is lead generation; bringing in new leads (and revenue) through the online channel. For a long time, this was relatively easy because in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. If your brand had a good website, new customers would quickly find you. If you also paid attention to SEO – online visibility – you probably ranked at the top of Google. Potential customers called to make appointments themselves.

But nowadays, everyone has a (decent) website, and many entrepreneurs have invested in good visibility. Search for an accountant, machine factory, or real estate developer, and you’ll get dozens of companies that can help you. Can you get high enough on that list and convince the customer to get in touch?

Ranking well in Google often requires months of effort. In this article, we discuss another path to online marketing success through three practical examples: how to use a lead generation campaign to approach, persuade, and convert people with a clear purpose. The cases cover the following aspects:

• Articles
• Whitepaper creation
• LinkedIn Advertising

Lead generation articles for Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ (a concert hall in Amsterdam)

Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ is an iconic concert venue in Amsterdam with a large hall and various other spaces that are perfect for cutting-edge, groundbreaking music. But what makes this venue perfect for concerts also makes it a unique location for corporate events. Merkelijkheid’s business rental team worked on creating articles for every stage of the customer journey.

For example, we wrote articles about online and hybrid events and the unique possibilities of the building. These articles allowed potential customers to quickly understand the opportunities and possibilities. They were placed on a special landing page for corporate events and then disseminated to a very specific target audience through both organic reach and LinkedIn Advertising.

Because consumer activities at Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ typically took precedence, there was a great opportunity to use LinkedIn exclusively as a communication channel for corporate rentals. This significantly increased visibility and, as a result, the number of inquiries.

B2B lead generation and conversion in the high-tech industry

NTS is a leading tier-1 system supplier of complex opto-mechatronic systems and mechanical modules for markets such as Semiconductor and Analytics. Their expertise continues to grow, and to raise awareness among both new and existing customers, they asked Merkelijkheid to help them develop high-quality Whitepapers. The goal? Initiate conversations about their wide range of high-tech solutions, expertise in manufacturability, and series production capacity.

We interviewed technical specialists at NTS and wrote comprehensive, in-depth whitepapers on various topics such as digital printing and cleanliness. What sets us apart is our ability to have conversations with technical specialists while also presenting their story in an engaging, more commercial manner. Additionally, we provide photography, design, and document layout services as needed.

For an example, you can visit NTS’ digital printing page.

The first whitepapers we wrote for NTS generated several concrete leads right away, and, perhaps even more importantly, convinced a technical specialist to join NTS. The subsequent whitepapers have been used both internally and externally with great success, and we continue to work on expanding this effort.

LinkedIn Lead Generation Campaign

Eventfabriek, based in the iconic A’DAM Tower, provides both live and online events for renowned brands in the Netherlands and abroad. Although the brand was already active in online events before the pandemic, they saw significant opportunities when the world shut down. They approached Merkelijkheid to help them generate leads.

Through LinkedIn Advertising, we were able to reach the target audience of event and marketing professionals with several targeted campaigns. The first campaigns focused on brand awareness, followed by a website traffic campaign, and finally, a lead generation campaign. This approach ensured that the target audience knew the name Eventfabriek and had even visited the website before encountering the lead generation campaign. This approach helps maximize the results from the advertising budget and campaign.

The result was not only the 77 leads and 38 contact moments that came from the campaign but also the 4 articles and the whitepaper that we produced. These also represent clear SEO value, and the campaign can be reused later at significantly lower costs. We discuss this case extensively in our portfolio.

Online lead generation in B2B

An online lead generation campaign in B2B relies on the right approach. Understanding the customer journey, keyword research, target audience, and knowledge of your product or service are essential for building an efficient, successful campaign. These elements come together in content, which is the way to convince your target audience of your expertise or product quality and then convert them.

Finally, sales can also engage with these leads much more purposefully. Since potential customers have already been introduced to your product or service, you can delve much deeper into their needs and objections during a conversation. In practice, we see a much higher success rate with leads that come into contact with brands through this approach.

Merkelijkheid supports companies in all aspects of lead generation. We conduct research together with your team, create a plan, execute it, and report the results. You have control and can steer towards results. Want to know more? We’d be happy to tell you more about the possibilities.