How To Generate Quality Leads By Boosting Your Brand Reputation
Achim Klor
August 16, 2024
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2 min read
TL;DR
Building a reputable B2B tech brand is essential for creating the awareness, confidence, and trust that generates quality leads. Deep customer insights produce well-executed strategies that set the tone for communicating our unique value. And by showcasing our success with real-world customer stories, we gain the credibility we need to grow our brand reputation and win future business.
Key Takeaways
Build your brand early. Like building financial equity, early investment in brand equity supports sales, marketing, product, and CX teams today AND tomorrow.
Know your customers. Research and data help you understand your customers. They will tell you what to say and how to say it. Talk to them regularly.
Have a clear plan. A plan that is backed by real insight keeps positioning and messaging consistent across all channels. Clarity makes messages stronger and leads to higher-quality leads.
Focus on clear messages. Flashy design is less important than messages that solve problems and show your brand’s value. Communicate, don’t decorate.
Track and improve. Use historical and causal data to track your progress, predict your brand’s reputation, and improve your strategy over time.
A reputable brand reputation is the key to generating quality leads. It give sales, marketing, customer service, and product teams the “air cover” they need to succeed today and tomorrow.
Brand reputation is earned, not bought. It can take 3-5 years to build it up, but too often, impatience kills momentum before it has a chance to stick.
Building a trusted reputation requires a commitment to the customer experience. Proof points—case studies, client testimonials, online reviews, and peer recommendations—establish credibility. For start-ups, it’s best to keep things loose and rely on existing relationships to generate early wins that can start building these proof points.
Start-ups also face the immediate challenge of needing leads ASAP. This creates a “chicken and egg” dilemma where brand reputation takes a back seat to quick wins. The problem with this approach is that we forget about brand and rarely fix it (out of sight, out of mind). It’s best to drive awareness through word-of-mouth early on while staying focused on building brand reputation.
In this article, I’ll break down how to create a “lead machine” by focusing on four key areas: Insight, Strategy, Creative, and Metrics. I wrote about these pillars in 2010 and they still form the foundation of a successful B2B marketing campaign. Get them right, and you’ll drive more leads—today and in the future.
1. Insight: Get the Right Ideas for Generating Quality Leads
Everything starts with insight. Better insight always produces better outcomes. And if you’re a subscriber, you’ve already heard me “beat the drum” about customer research. What customers think and see drives the positioning and messaging that resonates with them. Without insight, we’re just guessing (cue the Dilbert cartoons).
How to Gather Insight
Talk to Your Customers: Interview them. Ask them about their needs, fears, motivations, criteria, and what they value most. They will tell you how to position your solution and how to communicate its unique value proposition.
Analyze Your Data: Use historical data from your CRM, marketing automation tools, and web analytics to dig into customer behavior. Look for patterns, trends, and correlations that can guide your strategy and strengthen your brand’s positioning and messaging. Causal analysis tools like Proof Analytics will help you understand the impact of specific actions on brand reputation and marketing time lag, which directly influences lead quality.
Study the Market: Keep an eye on industry reports, influencers, competitor activities, and broader market trends. Context is key for staying top of mind.
NOTE: You can also use surveys and focus groups but don’t go overboard or think they are good enough. Direct conversations are always better.
What To Do Next
Schedule at least 10 interviews with your best-fit customers. Why best fit? Because you want more of them. Understand why they chose your solution. Use this insight to fine-tune your positioning and messaging. If you don’t have 10 customers, start with one. For more on this, read How Deep Customer Insights & Brand Building Drive B2B Tech Success.
Review Your Data: Identify key metrics like customer retention rates, lead sources, and purchase history. Use this data, along with causal analysis, to refine your target audience and strengthen your brand’s positioning.
Research Your Market Niche: Spend an hour a week reviewing industry reports or competitor blogs. Note down any trends that could impact your brand strategy and lead generation efforts.
Two excellent customer research resources from Ryan Paul Gibson (L) and Olena Bomko (R)
2. Strategy: Align Your Brand for Effective Lead Generation
A Go-to-Market (GTM) strategy that’s rooted in solid customer insight is essential for generating quality leads. It ensures our brand message is consistent, clear, and relevant across all channels, making it more likely to attract and convert high-quality leads. Remember, brand reputation builds over time through a sequence of Awareness > Confidence > Trust and can take 3-5 years. Without insight, the business continues to struggle with each year feeling like Groundhog Day.
How to Build Your Strategy
Define Your Audience: Break down your market into clear segments. Know who you’re targeting and why. This clarity ensures your brand speaks directly to the right people.
Create Your Messaging: Develop messaging that highlights your brand’s unique value proposition, based on the insights you’ve gathered. Ensure it’s consistent across all touchpoints, and focus on building trust through clear, consistent communication.
Align Your Channels: Make sure your website, social media, email campaigns, and sales materials are all telling the same story. This alignment reinforces your brand and makes your marketing more effective.
What To Do Next
Create Audience Personas: Develop a detailed persona that represent your best-fit customer (usually NOT an individual). Start with one. Chances are your best-fit buying audience won’t change unless you sell into very distinct market niches. Use personas to guide your messaging and ensure your brand resonates with the right audience, leading to higher-quality leads. For more on this, read Build Winning B2B Sales Teams: Audience Personas for Procurement Decisions.
Draft Key Messages: Write a messaging manifesto that highlights your brand’s unique value proposition, positioning, and sales pitch. Make sure these are clear, concise, and aligned with the insights you’ve gathered.
Review Channel Alignment: Ensure your website, social media, and sales materials are consistent and aligned with your brand strategy. Adjust where necessary to keep everything on point and focused.
Download this Free Go-To-Market Strategy Template:
3. Creative: Deliver Clear Communication and Build Proof Points
Creativity in B2B isn’t about flashy designs—it’s about delivering value. Content should differentiate our brand by addressing our audience's needs, not by how it looks. Yes, it should be well-designed and “on brand,” but that doesn’t mean going overboard with “artsy decoration.” Good design communicates. Bad design decorates. Too often, marketing creative becomes a committee project that ends in silly taste debates. Focus on showcasing value and credibility via proof points like case studies, client testimonials, testimonial videos, social proof, and online reviews. Leave the art to the galleries.
“If it doesn’t sell, it isn’t creative.”
David Ogilvy
How to Execute
Develop Valuable Content: Focus on creating content that educates and solves problems for your audience. Your website is your primary source for whitepapers, case studies, reports, and how-to guides to reinforce your brand’s expertise and authority. Start with early wins and existing relationships to build these proof points.
Prioritize Clarity: Ensure your messaging is straightforward and jargon-free. Simplicity beats cleverness in B2B, and clear communication strengthens your brand’s credibility, making it easier to generate quality leads. Use proof points to back up your claims and build trust.
Use Multiple Digital Channels: Use social media, email, videos, and your website to distribute your content where your audience is most active. Consistent, well-targeted content helps build brand recognition. Highlight your proof points across these channels to provide evidence of your brand’s reliability and success. The more you show up, the more you stand out. But it doesn’t happen overnight.
What To Do Next
Plan Content: Outline 3 pieces of content that address your audience's biggest challenges. Start with a whitepaper, a blog post, and a case study that highlight market insight, competitive shortcomings, and your brand’s strengths. Use these as proof points to build credibility. For more on this, read How to Write Case Studies That Help Win B2B Tech Sales.
Simplify Your Messaging: Review your existing content and strip out any unnecessary jargon and fluff. Think mobile-first. Focus on clear, direct language that reinforces your brand’s value. Incorporate testimonials or reviews where possible to add credibility.
Optimize Distribution: Choose the 2-3 digital channels that are most effective for reaching your audience. Develop a content calendar to keep your efforts consistent and aligned with your brand strategy. Feature client testimonials, social proof, and case studies prominently to demonstrate your brand’s success. If you need help creating case studies, check out these three examples. #StealLikeAnArtist
Webflow integrates various ways to consume their customer success stories.
4. Metrics: Measure and Optimize to Ensure Consistent Lead Generation
We can’t build and maintain brand equity without knowing what’s working. Tracking our marketing performance helps us refine our strategy and ensure our brand continues to grow. Causal analysis plays an important role by helping us measure and forecast brand reputation and understand marketing time lag, which directly impacts lead quality.
“What you see determines what you understand, and that, in turn, drives your decisions.” Mark Stouse, CEO, Proof Analytics
How to Measure
Set Clear KPIs: Identify the key metrics that matter most to your business and brand, such as lead conversion rates, website traffic, customer lifetime value, and brand reputation. These metrics will help you gauge the quality of your leads and the effectiveness of your efforts.
Use the Right Tools: Use web analytics, CRM data, marketing automation tools, and causal analytics to track your performance in real-time. This data is critical for making informed decisions that strengthen your brand.
Test and Learn: Regularly test different approaches to see what resonates best with your audience. Use these insights to continually optimize your strategy and reinforce your brand. Regular interactions with customers is also a great way to test and learn.
What To Do Next
Define KPIs: Select 3-4 KPIs (not 50) that align with your business goals and brand strategy. Make sure they’re measurable and actionable, and track them consistently. For more on this, read B2B Brand Marketing: The Long-Term Play for Sustainable Growth.
Implement Tracking: Ensure all your digital channels are set up with analytics tools. Regularly review the data, including causal analytics, to spot trends and adjust your strategy as needed to maintain or improve lead quality.
Run A/B Tests: Identify one area of your marketing to test—like email subject lines or landing page layouts. Analyze the results and iterate based on what you learn to continuously optimize and strengthen your brand.
ProofAnalytics.ai is the only causal analysis tool that can measure brand reputation and marketing time lag.
Final Thoughts
Trusted brands get put on the shortlist. We don’t buy reputation, we earn it. The process of triggering awareness, confidence, and trust in our brand can take years, but it’s the foundation for winning new business now and in the future.
Remember: No one ever got fired for buying IBM for a reason.
To emulate IBM’s legacy, always put the customer first, deliver value, and build up case studies, testimonials, and online reviews. Update or replace success stories as you continue to build up your reputation.
Whatever you do, don’t wait or set your brand reputation aside. Every moment your brand lies dormant is like taking years off the life of your business. Start taking these steps now to build a brand reputation that will drive your company’s success today and tomorrow. Invest in brand equity as you would financial equity.
If you need specific advice for your B2B tech firm, reach out. I’m always happy to chat.
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